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It's Me Again {Eckhart}

Started by Celegwen, March 25, 2018, 04:03:26 PM

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Celegwen

@Eckhart_Von_Musel


The swift blur of passing trees and brush started to slow, and the carriage lurched to a stop. Vivianne DeGrance rocked forward, groaning slightly from the unforeseen movement. She braced herself, sitting up and seeing the carriage door open to the driver's concerned face. "Miss, this is where we part ways," he said.

"Zantaric is still almost half a mile away," the girl said with a frown tugging at her lips. "Why are we stopped?"

"I'm sure as shit not goin' into Zantaric. People get robbed bad, so you're on your own if you decide to go in."

Vivianne scoffed, shaking her head briefly. She winced, jumping down from the carriage. The fight with Wasp had left her with some decent injuries, but she wasn't too worried. Nothing was fatal, and Alderon was a miracle worker - from what she remembered. The girl adjusted the bloodstained wrap around her left arm, touching the almost healed injury across her lips. Half a mile on her injured calf wasn't going to be fun, but she had to do what she had to do.

By the time she reached the city, Vivianne was limping pretty badly. She locked eyes with a young man in a green suit atop a horse. He trotted up beside her, claiming to simply want to help a pretty lady. He gave her a ride to Hildegarde's apartment building, then parted ways with her.

Nothing's changed... Vivianne thought to herself, not sure if it was a good thing or bad thing.

She opened the front door, preparing to make the climb, when someone stood in her way. A girl with green eyes and a good over her brown hair stood in her way. Vivianne looked the girl up and down, then furrowed her brows.

"Who are you?" She asked, holding her side, suddenly aware of the injury to her side that was mysteriously causing her pain. It was probably stress and anxiety, so she put it from her mind. "I'm expected, so if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to go in."

Eckhart_Von_Musel

It was always something

Joan O'Reilly stared at the trespasser sternly. A pair of arms materialized in front of her as she crosed her own, threatening to strike the woman. "Get lost, bitch." she said, completely deadpan. "Nobody comes in without a napkin."

Celegwen

"I traveled two weeks to get here from Serendipity," Vivianne started. "I was protecting Hildegarde's brother from the other gang's assassin. Not to mention, I fought that fucking assassin toe to toe, so forgive me if I'm not really willing to deal with a guard with attitude problems. Please, just tell Hildegarde that Vivianne is here."

She winced, straightening herself and narrowed her eyes at the other girl. I didn't think I was gonna have to jump through hoops to see Hildegarde again.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"Teenage Wasteland."

It happened so fast that it was hard to see. Joan's face remained expressionless as one of the arms struck a blow at Vivianne's injured side, bringing the girl to the floor. Were she to look up, Vivianne would see the hazy image of a hooded figure fading away behind the guard.

Joan blew a stray hair out of her eyes. "Watch your attitude, girl." she said calmly. "Just because Hildegarde wants you here doesn't mean you get to give me lip."

Celegwen

Crack!

A wave of agony surged through her body, as Vivianne was slammed to the ground by a blow she was certainly not in any shape to deflect or avoid. "Son of a... fuck!" It was more of a breathy cry than actually formulated syllables.

She turned onto her ride side, clutching her left side with her right hand. On top of the pain from the hit itself, Vivianne felt the warmth and wetness of her blood from the reopened stab wound. She squeezed her eyes closed, suddenly short of breath with an urge to throw up. Coughing not as violently as she felt, she saw splattered blood droplets and tasted her own blood. Fucking cunt, she thought, taking slow, stabbing breaths, you broke my fucking ribs.

Slowly, the girl moved to lean up, tucking her hair out of her face. Vivianne felt a little lightheaded, but she had fought in worse states than that, so she refused to show real weakness. "It's...been a long...few weeks," she said in separate breaths. "Sorry. Can I see...my old friend?"

Eckhart_Von_Musel

The sound of bones breaking was interesting. It sounded a bit like a carrot being bitten into, or like a pile of autumn leaves being stepped on. Joan had personally loved the noise since she was a child- it relaxed her.

She stood over the assassin, eyes cold. "Much better." she said flatly. The hooded girl pointed to the flecks of blood on the ground. "I'll get some towels so you can tidy that up, it's rude to make a mess in somebody else's house."

A faint buzz in Joan's ear got her to pause briefly. Her eyes narrowed, until the light tug on her shirt alerted her to Terrence's presence. "Joan, I'll take it from here." The teenager said, scowling. "Thank you."

Joan nodded and leaned back up against the wall as Terrence glared at the visitor. "Stand up." he said bitterly. "Let's get this over with."

Celegwen

It took a great deal of effort to actually get to her feet. If she had been able to remain standing when she was hit, it wouldn't have been as big of an issue, but this one definitely hurt.

Vivianne's attention was drawn to the boy when the other girl looked his way. She squinted her eyes, trying to figure out why he looked so familiar. Is that the kid who used to follow Hildegarde around like a puppy? She thought to herself. Timmy? Thomas? Whatever. Not important right now.

She breathed shallowly, giving the boy a short nod. "So, what should I be expecting in there?" She asked, trying to mask how nervous she felt to actually step into Hildegarde's apartment after the years they had spent apart.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Terrence turned away from Vivianne, scowling. He quickly began to ascend the stairs, not caring if the assassin was able to keep up with him or not. His eyes narrowed as she asked his question. "I don't know." he said darkly. "But if you try anything funny, you're getting gutted."

Celegwen

"Little late for that, if you ask me," Vivianne mumbled more to herself. This was probably the warmest welcome she would expect from Zantaric. Nothing had changed, though why would she expect it to have? She followed the boy in silence, keeping her eyes locked on him. If she remembered correctly, he tended to elude people pretty easily, so she didn't want him to just slip from her sight.

Reaching the apartment, the girl waited for...Trevor?...to open the door. Vivianne mainly focused her energy on not completely flipping out when she saw Hildegarde for the second first time.

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"And you're sure about this?"

Hildegarde sat on her couch, playing with her hair nervously. Belladonna sat on the floor in front of her, ears pressed against her head. "Well, it's certainly not what he thinks it is." the cat meowed, the tip of her tail twitching slightly. "You forget, he's my second- Vanya showed me what the real thing looks like." 

Hildegarde looked away, her face an odd cross between a grimace and a sneer. "Are... we sure he's not just, y'know..." She paused as she struggled to find the right word. "...Inept?"

Belladonna's tail swished angrily. "He's not inept." she hissed. "He's actually quite good, given he's essentially trying to hammer nails with a handsaw."

Hildegarde exhaled sharply. "Yes, yes, I know." she said shakily. "I... just don't want her to have been right, is all." 

The cat's whiskers twitched. "Well, that's something you'll need to work out on your own. Personally, I think she was right about a lot of-"

Belladonna was cut off by a sharp rap on the door. Hildegarde froze, then gave the cat a dry look. "We can continue this later." she muttered as she stood up. Opening the door, she froze again- this time with a look of fear on her face. "Vivianne! Sweet Ansgar, are you okay?"

"Oh. Speaking of people your brother doesn't like." Belladonna meowed from inside the room. "I hope you realize how upsetting this will be for him."

Ignoring the cat, Hildegarde took her old friend by the shoulder and led her to the couch. "Terry, get Eckhart now." she said quickly. "This is an emergency I think."

Celegwen

"No, I-I'm fine," Vivianne sputtered quickly. She knew she was in pretty bad shape, but it wasn't like she was going to die from it. "I've had worse, really."

The girl smiled at Hildegarde, glancing around the apartment. She really doesn't change anything, she thought to herself. Curious.

Vivianne's eyes widened suddenly, shifting slightly on the couch and holding her ribs. "Wait, Eckhart?" She said pressed. "No, why? What about Alderon?" She pursed her lips for a moment. Someone probably killed him for running his mouth. Vivianne gasped before she could laugh. "I don't want to be a bitch when I just got here, but are you going to stay? If you wouldn't mind, I'd really kinda like to talk to him. We didn't leave on such great terms."

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Hildegarde gave her old friend a dry stare. "Viv..." she said slowly. "...I gotta stay. Ecks is really scared of you, he'd have a meltdown if I left you two alone."

"Entitled, isn't she?" Bella meowed, jumping onto the arm of the couch. "You know, wanting to spend time with him alone provides a lot of evidence to my theory..."

Hildegarde shot the cat a look. "Bella, this is not the time to discuss how fuckable he is." she said flatly. "Knock it off." As the cat tried to contain her laughter, the gang leader looked back at Vivianne. "Sorry. I'm only bringing him here now because Alderon is on leave. I need him to feel safe."

Celegwen

'Ecks is really scared of you.' She didn't care about the cat's snide remarks. That sentence just played back in her mind.

Vivianne dropped her head backwards releasing a long, painful sigh. She looked at Hildegarde, forcing a half-hearted, understanding smile and nodding briefly. "I didn't want to lie to him," she said, a tone of guilt in her voice. "He saw me in the mirror, and I panicked. I wanted to tell him the truth, but I was afraid he would get rid of me, and I wouldn't be able to protect him."

She straightened herself, fingers nimbly undoing the clasps in the front of the corset she wore over her shirt. The girl leaned back slightly once it was off and turned to the side. The left side of her shirt was stained with blood, and she lifted the shirt off of her stomach. She didn't care that Hildegarde was there when she did this, especially since the two of them had seen more of each other than just their sides.

On her ribs, a reopened gash was oozing blood. "Son of a bitch," Vivianne mumbled, breathing heavily. She forced a chuckle, which make her start coughing again. She undid the fabric wrap from her left arm, revealing the three healing slashes from the fight. Quickly, she covered her mouth when coughing to avoid getting too much blood in the apartment. Looking back, Vivianne shook her head at Hildegarde. "That elf bastard picked a wonderful fucking time for his damned vacation!"

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Hildegarde smiled gently. "She's hurting as much as he is..." she thought sadly. "I gotta fix this, or it'll blow up in my face..."

The gang leader sighed. "I know why you did what you did." she said reassuringly as Vivianne took off her shirt. "But you need to understand just how- oh holy fuck, what happened to you?" Blinking, Hildegarde swallowed nervously. "You're right, this is the worst time..."

Celegwen

"Wasp happened," Vivianne said with a gentle shrug. "I went to talk with her to get her to stop hunting your brother. Thought it was going well, but she changed her mind. Both of us walked away with..." She made a circular motion, gesturing to the visible injuries. "Bottom line, she said that Eckhart wouldn't be in danger from her as long as you leave her alone and he stays out of Ketra."

She winced, inching to sit upward a bit more. Vivianne pressed her right hand against the gash, trying to keep as much pressure on it as she could. Wasn't exactly an easy feat when simply breathing was difficult. Her vision was blurring and it felt like staying awake was taxing, as time went by. She started thinking, calculating the time that had passed since her injury had reopened. Though she was cold, there was sweat on her brow and palms, though her hands might just have been from the blood.

Glancing down at her exposed stomach, she huffed. No bruising, so I'm not bleeding internally. Swallowing nervously, Vivianne took slow breaths to keep herself calm. "He has to get here a minute ago, or you have to get me whiskey, a needle, thread, and preferably a clean wrap." She squeezed her eyes shut momentarily. "And a field of oxygen, if you wouldn't mind?"

Eckhart_Von_Musel

Hildegarde's eyes narrowed. "I'll do you one better Viv." she said with a grimace. "Hold tight, kay?" 

Standing up, Hildegarde slammed on the wall twice with her fist. "CHRYSANTHEMUM!" she yelled. "GET YOUR FREAKSHOW ASS IN HERE RIGHT NOW!"

After a few moments, a blonde woman with sunken in eyes poked her head into the room. "Uhm..." she said slowly, seemingly frightened. "You... you need some-"

"Fix." Hildegarde said angrily, pointing to Vivianne. "I don't have time to pretend to like you today." 

"Wow." Belladonna meowed dryly. "Feeling forgiving today?"

Chrys swallowed nervously, and stepped inside the room. "You..."

"Now, Chrys."

Visibly sweating, the woman stepped foward. She gingerly touched the assassin's injury, which immediately disappeared- as if it had never been there at all. Hildegarde looked at the no-longer-injured girl, and then at Chrys. "Good. Now, get out."

As the midwife hurriedly left, Hildegarde gave her friend a half smile. "Feeling better?" 

Celegwen

Vivianne took the first unlabored breath in what felt like a month. Her eyes widened, and she looked at Hildegarde, touching where her injuries had been. After the other woman had left the apartment, she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Hildegarde.

"Who was that?" She asked, still touching her ribs. "Why did she look so afraid?" The girl smirked, looking at the ground briefly. "Thank you, by the way. Does she owe you money or something?"

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"She's..." Hildegarde struggled for a moment, trying to think of how to best describe Chrys to someone unfamiliar with her. "She's our Wasp... if that makes sense."

"Ooh, not going to tell her about the childfucker yet?" Bella mewled pointedly. "She's gonna find out eventually you know."

Hildegarde gave the cat an exasperated look. "She literally just got here, fluffmuffin. She can get... properly introduced later." Looking back at Vivianne, the pink-clad woman grinned. "That's right, you haven't met everybody yet..." She tapped on her chin, happy to change the subject. "You know my Friend circle has, like, doubled in size, right?"

"Okay okay, but real talk." Bella said, whiskers twitching. "You do know that I could have healed her, right?"

Celegwen

Hildegarde doesn't play well with active assassins... Vivianne thought, keeping a smile to hide what she was trying to piece together. And Wasp sure as fuck doesn't heal, so that means this Chrys girl does some kind of serious damage. I'll figure that out later.

The girl chuckled lightly, giving a shrug. She combed her fingers briefly through her bangs, adjusting them to make sure her forehead was hidden, then bent down and picked up her corset. "I'd love to meet everyone," she said, putting the corset back on to cover the blood-stained shirt. The woman might've fixed her body, but the evidence of former injuries was still very visible.

When the corset was on, Vivianne looked around quickly and sighed a small breath of relief when she saw her satchel sitting next to the couch. She grabbed it and slung it across her chest, patting the bag and smirking at Hildegarde.

Opening the bag, Vivianne pulled out one of the mirrors with a small crack in the corner. "These are my treasures, so sorry if I'm a little paranoid about them." Putting the mirror back, she clapped her hands once. "So, I already met your new security! Who else have you added to your Friend circle?"

Eckhart_Von_Musel

"Oh, you met Joan?" Hildegarde said, standing up and smoothing out her dress. "I hope she didn't give you too much trouble, she can get a bit rowdy."

"By 'rowdy' you mean 'she will literally throw you through a wall if you annoy her', right?" Belladonna said, stretching. "Sarah told me about that, I would have loved to see it."

"Eckhart doesn't wanna do it." Terrence soft voice signaled his return. The teenager leaned against the doorframe, smirking. "He says- and I quote- 'get the pedophile to do it, she's a better healer than I am anyway.'"

Hildegarde frowned. "How could he even compare himself to her..." She shook her head. "Bullshit, go tell him that he's way cooler than Chrys will ever be. Stroke his ego, kid needs it."

The teenager disappeared, and Hidegarde gave Vivianne a pained look. "Ha, sorry you had to hear that..." She frowned. "You still want to talk to him? I think he needs space."

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