The Common Room Showing 901-950 of 1,208

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

Carlos laughed. "If that's true, then I'm going to hunt down the guy who decided not to invite us and I'm going to find out where he sleeps and put a giant spider there or something like that. Because nobody has a fiesta without inviting Carlos Rivera." He returned her smirk as he said this, clearly amused--though she was right, the common room did seem unusually empty today. "Maybe it's just me," he suggested, and as he spoke his smirk turned into a grin. If there was one thing he had a knack for, it was humorous self-depreciation. "I mean, I've pretty much got a reputation for being the craziest nutcase in this place. Maybe they all found out I'd be in here and scrammed."

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

Juana gave Carlos an incredulous glance. He looked totally harmless to her- a fly would tease him without fear. Why on earth would anyone be afraid of sweet Carlos Rivera? She kept these questions to herself and decided that patience would give her that answer. It was obvious that he hoped for her to stick around, and she supposed that she could oblige to that. Then she would see why Carlos thought if himself as so dangerous to the community around him. "Based on what I've seen around here, you're by far one of the most sane patients they have around. I don't think it's to do with you."

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

Carlos's smile faltered, almost without him noticing it, and it was then that he realized that Juana didn't know. She had absolutely no idea about the beast, or the episodes, or the things he could do when trapped inside of them. He realized that he desperately didn't want her to find out--but, as his mother always told him, honesty was the best policy. And so he spoke. "No se, me amiga. Puedo ser bastante significa." A slight sigh accompanied these words, and Carlos gave a little shake of his head. It was certainly nice of Juana to say those things, though. It made him feel just a little better about St. Peter's and its patients: not everyone was a bloodthirsty maniac. Not everyone was like him.

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

Juana's full lips pulled down into a pouty frown when she saw the smile falter. Her keen eyes seemed not to miss anything with him. "No me creo." She shook her head at him firmly, eyes flashing almost angrily at him. "I wouldn't have come up to you at all if I had seen you as a peligro threat." It was true, though. Anyone that Juana thought of as even mildly dangerous to her, she tried her best to avoid them so that they wouldn't bother her, and then she wouldn't bring attention to herself. She wouldn't believe it until she saw it for herself. Until then, Carlos would remain the adorable slightly younger boy who wanted nothing more than to get her to trust him.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

Carlos's shrinking smile flipped upside down completely and became a little frown. Roxanne had said the same thing, when he'd met her, and he had played it off, simply told her to be careful and then forget about it. But these days...could he really do that, now? The beast was becoming stronger with each passing day (or so it seemed) and his breakdowns were becoming more and more frequent. Sera was almost too afraid to get close to him now, let alone try to help him out; for the most part, the Hispanic was very nearly on his own. He didn't want Juana to find this out the hard way. "Gracias por el comentario, Juana, I appreciate it--but no matter what you think, the fact remains that I am peligroso. Es cierto." He trailed off, sounding uncertain. He didn't want to scare his tentative new friend away, but if she asked, he decided, he would have to tell her about the beast, about his little problem. It wasn't fair to keep her in the dark; because she might have to pay for it later. It was a painful thought, but it was there. And it was true.

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

"De nada," Juana purred brightly, but her face remained pulled down into the small frown not much unlike Carlos's own. She began to grow the slightest but worried -and for the first time in what seemed like a long time- for Carlos and what was haunting him. She wasn't going to lie, she liked that she was able to care and worry about someone else, if only a little bit for now. She frowned more deeply now, her eyebrows pulling together, furrowing her forehead into long, lean wrinkles. "Pero, amigo. Su estas un bueno chico. ¿Por que su piensas su estar peligroso? No es creíble a mi." Su estas simpático, y dulce y amigable. She didn't say that, of course. She thought he would find that strange, and they were only observations, nothing special for the boy to get his hopes up for.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

Carlos smiled, very tentatively. "Again, I thank you--but it really would be in your best interests to believe me, Juana. I've got my own problems; no one in here doesn't--the thing is, mine are a little more..." Obvious. Permanent. Deadly. "...pronounced, I guess you could say. You ought to ask around; you'll hear las historias de horror from just about everyone, I'm sure." But he looked a little pained when he said that, as if he didn't want her to go asking at all. And he didn't; enough people had been scared away from him by exaggerated--or worse, completely true--rumors to last him a lifetime. He didn't want Juana to be among their number. Because, though it was a little odd to be admitting it (considering how secretive she had been with him) he liked the golden-eyed Hispanic girl. She had a sort of charm about her, a certain allure that so many other patients didn't have. She was kind enough to defend him when she had no reason to do so. And to Carlos, that meant a lot. That meant the world.

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

The Hispanic girl saw the pained expression, and figured that contrary to his words, Carlos did not want her inquiring about him to other patients. She decided that if she were going to attempt a trust-filled relationship with someone, she would have to go by their wished, even wishes that went unspoken. She would have to trust that he would tell her when he felt ready. As he had discovered with her already, it was best not to push a subject that the person didn't want to discuss, and it was clear that Carlos didn't want to tell her about the secret he kept, and she was okay with that. She understood him perfectly when it came to subjects a person didn't want to discuss. Instead of pressing him, she shrugged her shoulders. "Esta bien, amigo. I'll take your word for it, I suppose?" She dropped the subject by leaning back against the couch and crossing her legs tightly across the other.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

"Gracias. For now, that'll do." A smile replaced Carlos's strained grin and he, too, leaned back. "We can have heartfelt story time later, if you want. When there's not a secret fiesta going on and we don't have to worry about anyone having more fun than we are without our knowing it." He laughed, and threw Juana a wink. "Sound good?"

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

The golden-eyed girl allowed herself a small smile that felt like her lips were being pulled by someone above her, strings attached to her lips and a small chuckle that was forced, too. Still, they looked and sounded perfectly natural to anyone but herself. "Sonidos bien, amigo." She agreed with a nod. Juana couldn't tell, but with some time and a little bit of work, it seemed that a nice friendship was thinking of forming between the teo patients.

[Fade? XD]

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

((Fade.))

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

Ruby was having quite the good day today. Though Raven had been discharged a little while before, she hadn't seen hide nor hair of him--or of Morgan, for that matter--and at the moment, nothing could have made her happier. It seemed to her that she wasn't actually going to get in trouble at all, and that was something she wanted to celebrate. So she'd coaxed a box of chocolates out of one of the staff (the deaf girl who she'd talked about with Felix in the basement; Harper, she thought) and sat on the couch eating it now, her bare feet swinging back and forth in rhythm, a smile on her lips. Now all she needed was to find Felix; maybe he would share some of the chocolate with her. It was a lot for a girl to eat, even a seven-year-old who loved sweets as much as she did.

[Annie, Have no fear of perfection-- you'll never reach it.]

"Hey there, sweetie." The words echoed throughout the room, and they were accompanied by a soft-smiled little boy. He put on such smiles for Ruby, and Ruby alone, and seeing a similar grin on the girl only made his own brighter.

The young murderer sat down beside his shadow girl, comfortably resting an arm around her shoulders and twirling a strand if hair around his shoulders. He squeezed her shoulder in a hug and offered a smile. "You seem to be doing rather well today, my dear," he mentioned, a little goofy grin in place.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

" 'Cause I got the Harper lady to get me some chocolate!" Ruby said with a giggle. She tossed the arm that wasn't busy rooting around in the box around Felix and returned his little hug. "Plus also I haven't seen Morgan or Raven or any of the mean people around in forever. Even the shadows are being nice to me now." And they were: Felix's shadow had given her an amiable wave as it darted in preceding the boy it represented, and it now sat comfortably perched on the table, chatting with another patient's shadow. The green-eyed girl's grin widened as she looked up at her knight in shining armor. "I've been great," she told him, "but how've you been lately? Better?"

[Annie, Have no fear of perfection-- you'll never reach it.]

[Man I'm already sad.]

Felix's wide smile only brightened at her words, and he squeezed her shoulder. "Hey, that's great." His words were soft, and his tone filled with warm approval. "I'm certainly glad to hear that."

At the mention of Harper, he chuckled a little. He wasn't surprised; Harper was quite honestly the nicest person at thus asylum, and he himself had spoken highly of Ruby countless times. "As for myself, I'm doing much better, thank you for asking." He pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head, with his warm smile still just as big.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

"Good!" Ruby chirped, and looked just as happy as a calm as she began to thump her heels in rhythm against the couch. She offered him the chocolate with a wide smile. "Want some? I can't eat all of this by myself, Mommy says not to. I'll get sick or something." She might as well share, she decided; after all, there would be more where this came from if she played it right. She could ask Harper if she had any more a little later on, once she thought of another way to butter her up.

[Annie, Have no fear of perfection-- you'll never reach it.]

"Well, now, if your mommy says so then it's not my place to let you break her rules." Felix offered a wink to Ruby, and delicately took one of the many chocolates. After chewing, as he of course still had his sense of manners, Felix added on, "Besides, I'm sure you'll get plenty more from Harper. She's not hard to convince." It was as if the little psychopath read Ruby's mind, and he smiled at her with a little laugh. "Keep up the good behavior and I'm sure you'll get all the chocolate you want."

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

Ruby laughed, a girlish, pretty sound, like the twitter of a bird. "That's good, then!" she said, and smiled even wider. "Becase I love chocolate. Chocolate is my favorite food, even though Mommy and Daddy say that it shouldn't be because it's not good for me." A slight roll of her eyes came--a gesture she'd picked up from other, less kind patients (and even somewhat Felix himself)--and gave a little sigh as if this fact was disappointing. "I don't really care though, 'cause it tastes good. What's your favorite food, Felix?"

[Annie, Have no fear of perfection-- you'll never reach it.]

"Mmm, probably pasta. My mom used to make the best spaghetti, and even mac n' cheese." Felix grinned, a little wistful smile in place as he thought of his mother's lovely cooking, though at Ruby's first statement he chuckled. "Oh, now, chocolate isn't that bad for you. Even a little bit every now and again does wonders for your health."

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

"Yeah, but I want to eat it all the time." Ruby giggled and gave the boy a teasing poke in the stomach. "And my parents say that if I do that I'll get all fat like that mean man who lived down the street at our house. He used to, anyway, but then some police officer guys caught him doing something to his friend or something and they took him away in their fancy police car." She frowned a little at this memory--it had troubled her when she saw it, and she didn't quite like remembering it now--but a curious expression quickly claimed her features. "What were your neighbors like, Felix?" she asked, curious to know. She realized that she knew very little about the boy's home life besides the fact that he had killed before. She figured that now would be as good a time as any to ask.

[Annie, Have no fear of perfection-- you'll never reach it.]

Felix pursed his lips in concentration, an odd expression of deep thought in place. "Well, I lived in a suburb, which is a big neighborhood with stuck-up rich people who all act the same. Pretty much everyone was the same: really fake and really sickeningly-sweet." He frowned a little at the thought, remembering how his mother would always have the women over for bunco. "There was one lady, though, Miss Bennett. She was really old and really sweet and she always had me over to play piano."

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

Ruby made a face. "Ugh. That sounds awful. I'm sorry." She tilted her head a little, remembering the day she had stumbled upon Felix in the music room, playing and singing that lullaby. Perhaps she would ask him to sing it again sometime--it was very pretty. "How long have you played the piano, Felix?"

[Annie, Have no fear of perfection-- you'll never reach it.]

"Mama forced me into lessons when I was three. I only ever liked it when Miss Bennett let me come over, though. She always had the best smelling house, too." At this, Felix smiled, baby-blue gaze looking down at Ruby as he spoke. He absentmindedly twirled a strand if her hair around his finger. "It smelled like cookies and cake batter. Plus she always let me eat the raw dough." The little murderer even laughed a little. "Which I'm sure your mother would definitely not approve of."

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

Ruby grinned, a little impishly. "Well, Mommy makes cakes sometimes too. She brought me a piece last week--and back when I still lived at my house and not here I could lick the beater thingies if I didn't make a mess or anything." Something that she hadn't been particularly good at doing. She laughed a little at a memory that only she could see, hiding a smile behind her hand. Their black lab had also been a fan of cake batter--and he would sometimes stand up on his hind legs to get at it. "What about pets, Felix?" she asked aloud. "My family has a dog. He's big and black and his name is Midnight. Do you have any pets?"

[Annie, Have no fear of perfection-- you'll never reach it.]

The little boy shrugged. "I don't know. While I was there we had a big Doberman named Diohgee, but he ran away when my parents started fighting." At this memory, Felix certainly didn't smile. He could easily remember the days in his room where he would listen to his father scream and his mother cry. Most definitely not a fond memory.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

"Diohgee?" Ruby's brows knit together. What a funny name. "What kind of name is that. Felix? It sounds all weird." She of course knew what Dobermans were and looked like, but she couldn't for the life of her picture on of the big black-and0red dogs with such a strange name as Diohgee.

[Annie, Have no fear of perfection-- you'll never reach it.]

Felix chuckled. "I named him when I was little; mama was teaching me how to spell things and I was so proud that I could spell "dog" that I would only call him that. I guess it kind of stuck." Felix laughed again, gently squeezing her shoulder. "I will admit, it's nowhere near as creative as Midnight." He winked a little, a teasing grin in place.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

Ruby giggled a little, of course picking up on the tease. "I dunno," she said, grinning. "There was some really nice people named de Waal that had a biiiiiig black dog named Anubis. Mommy says that name was really creative, 'cause it's old." She tilted her head, looking up at him curiously. "Who's Anubis, Felix? Was he important or something? Is that why someone would name a dog after him?"

[Annie, Have no fear of perfection-- you'll never reach it.]

"I think he was some Egyptian god, or something. The ancient people had different gods for things, instead of just one god." Felix chuckled a little; Ruby's innocence never failing to amuse him. "I think Anubis was the god of the dead, or something. He looked like a dog."

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

"A jackal!" Ruby said suddenly, snapping her fingers in triumph. "Mommy said something about a thing called a jackal. They're supposed to be kinda like dogs, only bigger and thinner and not black. Also they're mean. They live in the desert or something." She could certainly understand why the Egyptians had chosen to make their god of death look like one of them, certainly. Her father had showed her pictures when she asked; and jackals were odd looking creatures indeed.

[Annie, Have no fear of perfection-- you'll never reach it.]

"See, you're smarter than me," Felix laughed, ruffling Ruby's hair with a grin. "I certainly didn't know that. You're too smart for your own good, sweetie." A playful wink was offered; Ruby always told him how he knew so much more than her, and it was nice to let her live in his limelight for a while.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

"You're smart too!" Ruby protested, delivering a little swat to Felix's arm. A little pout--that was still looking just a little bit like a smile--had claimed her expression. "So don't you say that you aren't or even think it. You know tons of stuff that I don't know. Like what deaf is. And how to use knives and stuff. And also how to fight off meanies like Raven." Something that, the little girl thought, she would never get to master no matter how hard she tried. People like the Indian just scared her so bad, she couldn't imagine for a second doing anything other than running from them. Standing up to them was completely out of the question.

[Annie, Have no fear of perfection-- you'll never reach it.]

"Oh, hush, enjoy the compliment already!" Felix chuckled a little, shaking his head at his girl with a little smirk in place. "And also who said we were talking about Raven now, huh? Let's not talk about him." Felix pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head. "What's your family like, Ruby?"

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

"Hmmmm." Ruby frowned a little at this question, and her brows drew together in thought. "Well, Mommy and Daddy are both doctors. Mommy's name is Annabel too and she's real short, like me. She has really long hair that's kind of blonde and kind of brown and her eyes are blue. She's the best mommy in the world, I think. She likes to make stuff like cakes and cookies and brownies when she's not on the computer doing doctor stuff. She works with a lot of sick people at a hospital. Daddy is really big, and his hair is light brown and his eyes are green like mine. His chin is all scruffy 'cause he only shaves sometimes, but I don't mind. He's really nice and laughs a lot and does a lot of work with...with..." Ruby struggled for a moment to find the word she was looking for. "Trauma patients, he said. Like people who are in accidents and then their family dies. He makes them feel better."

[Annie, Have no fear of perfection-- you'll never reach it.]

Felix sat back with a smile, a warm, happy expression in place. He enjoyed hearing of Ruby's home, her life, her days outside the asylum. "Oh, doctors are cool. My dad was just a stupid politician; that means he worked in the government and made laws and stuff." Felix stuck his tongue out a little and sighed, though he put a bright smile in place. "Are they nice?"

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

((That should be a politician's official definition in the dictionary. XD))

"Yeah!" Ruby nodded enthusiastically, her smile widening further. "They really are. Sometimes they bring me stuff like sweets even though they aren't supposed to and sometimes they convince my friend Lucy's parents to let her come visit me, even if they don't want her to because I'm supposed to be crazy and stuff." A sad little pout shaped her lips at this thought, but the shadow girl quickly shook it off. Today had been such a good day; why ruin it by thinking about what a bunch of stupid grownups told her parents? It wasn't true, anyway.

[Annie, Have no fear of perfection-- you'll never reach it.]

[Especially with the "and stuff" xD]

Felix arched a brow. "Now, that's not very nice. You're probably one of the least crazy people here." Felix spoke with a little smirk in place, gently and habitually rubbing the girl's tiny shoulder.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

"Yeah, I know, but Lucy's parents are meanies." Ruby's left hand curled into a loose fist at her side, a sign of irritation. She loved Lucy, but the little girl's parents? Not so much. "Lucy is really nice, though. She was my best friend before I had to come here and I met you. We're still friends, but just not as good as we used to be. You know, because we can't play together or anything anymore."

[Annie, Have no fear of perfection-- you'll never reach it.]

Felix nodded. "Well, hey, if you keep doing this good, maybe you'll be out and about soon enough." He offered a warm smile, taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze before standing. Everything was so good; he didn't want to leave, but Harper had began to place him under a very strict schedule, and unfortunately his time was up. "Well, darling, I must unfortunately leave you now to finish all that chocolate yourself. Harper wants me back." He gently pressed a kiss to either cheek, and one to her nose. "You should have good days more often; I enjoy them." Felix grinned, and then gently squeezed her hand in a goodbye. "I'll try and see you later, honey. Have a good day." With a warm smile, a soft wave, and no clue that he would never see his shadow girl alive again, the little murderer then proceeded to press a kiss to her lips (a cute, affectionate kiss belonging to a nine-year-old), and turned his back, making his way back to his room.

[Fade?]

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

((Goddamn it, how depressing. Fade.))

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

[Guys. Tears. No. Stahp. I. Can't. Feels. Hurt. :'(]

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

On this particular morning, Raven was not a happy camper. Rosemarie had screwed up, and Rosemarie had screwed up bad. She'd done exactly what he told her not to do: she'd failed to have a decent plan, gotten her ass kicked, and made herself a brand-new enemy all over the span of two hours. What was worse, he hadn't heard about any of it from the former Hunter herself--all through gossip, though excited patients. The Phoenix girl, as he'd expected she might to some degree, had snapped and nearly cut off Rosemarie's ear and just barely avoided amputating the fingers on her hand by the time it was all over. And the sadist-in-training hadn't even had the brains to try and threaten her into silence. Now she was going to get caught, and the Indian decided immediately that she was going to deal with that little mistake herself. Quite frankly, in his own opinion, his foolish young student deserved everything she got, and until she realized what an idiot she was and/or something drastic was done to her, he was through trying to help. If Rosemarie wanted to keep shooting herself in the foot--time after time and warning after warning--let her. He wasn't her father, and he was by no means going to continue fighting her battles if all she did was scorn him. Not after this.

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

Rosemarie had been hiding from most nurses the past few days. Phoenix had squealed, obviously, and Rosie knee she was wanted for her consequences. The former Huntress was beginning to realize she had, again, messed up and she was definitely frustrated. At first, everything had gone smoothly, and she was doing good, and then she had struck a pretty big nerve it had seemed, then everything had gone tumbling down hill and getting worse. The nurses were looking for her (for what? The padded room again), she had pissed off another patient, and she hadn't found Raven yet. No doubt he had already heard about the events that had occurred, but Rosemarie was looking for him to tell him, regardless. She walked into the common room, and smiled when she saw the man she'd been looking for. "Hey, I've been looking-" she stopped, smile melting off of her face when she saw the stormy one on his. He was pissed, she knew, and more than likely, he was pissed at her for what had happened. Shit.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

"For me?" the sadist finished for her in a low voice. Anger rolled off him in waves, and as Rosemarie had the nerve to smile at him after all this idiocy, he made a simple decision: if she were to come any closer, she was going to taste the back of his palm. This was not a matter she ought to be smiling about, and if she didn't know that, then she was more of an idiot than he'd thought. Luckily--or perhaps unluckily--for them, the common room was completely empty. That was precisely why Raven had chosen to wait for her here in the first place. He said nothing more to his misguided pupil, only glared at her with almost palpable fury. The words in his eyes were obvious enough that he need not speak them: What. Have you. Done.

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

Rosemarie nodded, watching him with a careful gaze. She had been looking for him, to tell him what had happened, but it looked like she was too late. As she had expected, he was furious. It didn't even go that badly, she thought in protest to his angry glare, but kept her mouth shut. That wouldn't get her anywhere good, and would probably only enrage the Indian more if that was even possible. She was now seeing how empty the common room was, and she didn't like it. Now with Raven's rage she didn't. "Yeah, I came to tell you about what happened with Phoenix," she explained as she walked across the common room, making sure to stay out of his reach for now. "But it looks like someone already did." A sigh and a little shake of her head. Rosemarie's eyes met his hard ones, trying to conceal her emotion, but the frustration and worry were still there, still readable.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

"And would you care to tell me, Miss I-Have-A-Plan, why I didn't hear about this from you?" The Indian's voice was low, a growl that just barely held back what was an untapped reservoir of anger. It took all of his will not to lunge across the couch and hit her right then and there--it helped that Phoenix had already done so (he could see a large bruise beginning to form on Rosemarie's jaw.) To prevent any rash decisions, Raven crossed his arms firmly over his chest and settled back into the couch, though he was anything but relaxed.

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

"Because they found you more quickly than I did?" She suggested, knowing before it came out of her mouth how terrible it sounded. It was a pathetic excuse, and not even all the way true, but it was pretty much all she had got for the time being. "I did have a plan," she reminded him, trying to keep the snarl out of her voice. He was already obviously pissed off, she could see, and at least trying to control his temper. She didn't need to be setting him off. Besides, what did she have to be angry about with him? Nothing. He hadn't done anything wrong and she had to remember that and control her own temper before it got her into trouble again. "It was going good, fine," she insisted angrily, though the anger wasn't directed towards Raven. "Then she snapped and everything went downhill."

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

"No fucking shit, Sherlock!" Raven exploded. Almost without realizing, he started out of his chair and towards Rosemarie, nearly snarling himself and making no effort to hide it. "What did I tell you about the skunks?" he shouted, throwing his hands in the air so as to avoid striking Rosemarie. "Goddamn it, what did I say? I told you to be careful! Be easy! If you actually listened for once, you wouldn't be in as much trouble as you are right now!" This time he did come to her, nearly throwing himself down on the couch where she sat. He snatched at her hand and gripped it tightly as a substitute for an actual stroke--what he was doing now ought to hurt enough. "You know what, Rosemarie Toom? Inadá?" he said in a low voice. "I'm done digging you out of your graves. You're going to get what you get--and rest assured that your certainly going to get something, of not from the nurses than from Phoenix von Brandt--and I'm going to stand idly by and watch. Suffering is a wonderful teacher. Nobody knows that better than me. But I have a feeling that over the next few weeks, you're going to learn it just as well."

((I think this Raven is scarier than psycho-Raven. He's at least predictable when he's in a mood.))

[*~Silvypoo~* (Chaser of Artemis), Life's a dance, you learn as you go.]

[Much scarier.]

The former Huntress hadn't expected it when he came running at her, and she didn't have time to react. She shrank back as far as she could into the couch, the pain in her hand was uncomfortable, and she felt as if he were close to breaking her bones. She clenched her hand over his, trying to wriggle her hand out of his grip, but only in vain. There was no hope for getting out of this predicament, Raven wasn't going to let her. He was scaring her now, maybe more than he ever had before. "I told you, I did try to be careful, I swear I did!" She realized she was nearly yelling in his face. Taking a deep breathe, she started to get herself under control a bit more. "Yeah, I went too far with the the skunk, I got that now. I'm pretty sure you told me to hurt the skunks, too," he pointed out, trying to keep the snippiness out of her voice. She didn't really care that Raven didn't want to help her out of the graves she made for herself. After all, she had never remembered asking him for her help.

[Hope , I belong here more than they do.]

(("And maybe you could help me?" ~Rosemarie Lia Toom, file room. :P))

"I said threaten the skunks," Raven snapped back. His tone was not snippy--and rather prissy, he thought--as hers was, but low and angry. "You obviously don't know the difference. I don't know if you've realized, Rosie, but Phoenix is the sort of girl who everybody loves but nobody knows very much about. She can make your life--our lives--absolutely miserable. Her mother had the doctors wrapped around her finger during her stay--now the daughter does too. Why the hell do you think she was even allowed to keep the skunks? She's got the staff on her side, Rosemarie, and no matter what she does or what you say against her, they're going to take her word over yours every single time--especially now. You did not build your reputation. After this, you built hers." At the end of this little rant, the Indian was very nearly breaking the little bones in Rosemarie's wrist--he was certainly squeezing hard enough to cut off circulation. But he didn't notice; he was focused solely on the older girl, who had made a promise, broken it, and now had the nerve to give him lip. Who, exactly, did she think she was? He was the elder in this situation--and she would do well not to forget it.