Petal 03 -- Open to Action

[shylyintrepid]

[When the feed starts, Jehan is clearly not in his cabin. He's down by the shore.

And he's been crying. His voice is hoarse and when he speaks, his accent is a bit thicker than usual]

If...if anyone else knew Zane, son of Venus, he...

[He wants to say "died". Died would be so much easier than the truth]

He was a...he was an agent of the Red Room. This entire time. He...he was here to spy on us.

[And he cuts the IM. As he does, you can see him break down yet again. It's going to be a long time before he recovers from this heartbreak]

Comments

[ospreyed]

No. [She says finally, surprised by the sound of her own voice.] It's not fair, Jehan. It's really fucking not. None of this is.

They say all is fair in love and war, but y'know what? Fuck. That. Because to leave you here like this? It's not fair. It's cruel. You, out of everyone else here, don't deserve this. You don't deserve to have, on top of everything, have your heart broken by some asshole who knew exactly what he was doing, and strung you along the whole way. That's sick. There is something seriously fucked up with him if he was going to betray, not just us, you like that. [There's fire in her voice as she speaks, not even looking at Jehan.]

I know some bad people. But he's got to be one of the worst. And hearing that isn't going to help you. because you know that. But you still love him, and that's- that's okay. And nothing I'm going to say is going to change that. because if it did, I'd say it.

[Woah, words words words. Carefully, she reaches out and wraps an arm around Jehan's shoulders, pulling him in towards her. This is entirely new territory, but she knows that, secretly, when she gets like this, that's exactly what she wants someone to do for her.]

[shylyintrepid]

[Jehan leans against Eponine. He won't hug her since that makes her uncomfortable, but he appreciates the hug and the words]

It isn't fair, but it's equally cruel. Maybe that's what they mean. That doesn't make it any less unfair, though.

[And she's right. He does still love Zane a little. He sighs]

...you don't think it's stupid that I'm hurt this badly and yet I still miss him, yeah?

[ospreyed]

No, it doesn't. Life isn't fair, and I can promise you that. But it's still utter shit.

[she gives him a small squeeze.] No. I don't think it's stupid at all. You just got your heart run over and spat on. I've been there.

[shylyintrepid]

Yeah, but you probably hurt the guy. I couldn't. I couldn't even shoot him.

[ospreyed]

[She's silent for a moment, weighing Jehan's words over in her mind. Oh, she wished she had. But that wasn't how it had gone down. Not at all. She'd yelled and screamed, and he had, too, and a few hours later, he kicked her out of his apartment with a patronizing kiss telling her he'd see her soon.]

No. I didn't. [She was still, in a way, sort of with him.]

[shylyintrepid]

I'm sorry.

[But it actually makes him feel a little better, hearing that. If tough Eponine couldn't do it, then it wasn't that big a deal that he couldn't do it. It meant it was normal, natural to be so horrified and hurt that you can't react like you should]

[ospreyed]

Don't be. He would have killed me if I had.

[She's nonchalant enough about it, it could almost be an exaggeration.]

But this isn't about me. It's about you.

[shylyintrepid]

You'd've got him first.

[He has no doubt about that. When she says it's about him, though, he sighs]

There's way more at stake here than my broken heart but...I just don't care. I feel awful for it, I mean, I'm not hurt physically or anything. It feels like it though. Like I was gutted with a rusty knife that's on fire while someone tore my heart out with tweezers.

[Only Jehan]

[ospreyed]

No. You wouldn't have. Not him.

[she shakes her head.] So? If there's something anyone is allowed to be selfish about, it's how much their lives suck. You may not be as bad off physically as others, but right now, in this moment, this is the worst thing that's happened to you. And you're allowed to feel like absolute shit.

[shylyintrepid]

[He nods a little]

What's worse is I can't even go home. Everywhere I look, there's going to be a reminder of him and I can't hide in my garden back home and forget about it and heal a little and then come back to face it. I have to pour lemon juice on the wound.

[ospreyed]

One thing I learned is pouring salt in the wound helps it close faster. [The things you learn!][She's blocking out the not going home thing.]

When you think about him... And it gets to be too much... [Oh gods.] Just find me.

[shylyintrepid]

[He didn't expect that. He nods, though]

Thank you, Eponine. You...I think I may need the less delicate sort of comfort a little. At least for a while. Until this hurts less.

[ospreyed]

[She didn't expect it, either, to be honest. This whole thing is strange, and tomorrow, she's going to think this entire thing is a sort of dream. A really weird dream where she's giving good advice and opening up about tough stuff and touching people.

Mother fucker.]

Y'want booze, pot, I've got it. Y'wanna hurl knives? [She makes a small movement with her right hand, one of her rings disappearing as she holds out a small knife for him.] they always come back to me.

[shylyintrepid]

[He smiles a little]

The knives, sure. I won't get you in trouble for borrowing those.

[ospreyed]

If you do, it's worth it. C'mon. [She takes her arm from around him and moves to her feet, making the same movement with her left hand to produce another knife.]

That tree, right there. [she points.] Go for it.

[shylyintrepid]

[He takes the knife and stands, moving closer to the tree and making a vine wrap around it. The vine is thick enough that the knife won't hurt the tree and the dryad living in it.

He pauses, takes aim, and throws the knife. It misses]

Damn.

[ospreyed]

[She usually asks nicely first. She's on decent terms with a few dryads.

A few moments later, a ring materializes back on her finger, and she switches the knife in her left hand for her right.] Actually not too bad. Watch. [She places a finger along the edge of the knife and brings her arm back before sending it forward, releasing the knife and snapping her wrist forward to give it a nice spinning motion. The knife hits it's target, and she hands another one to him.]

It's an extension of your finger, hold it like that.

[shylyintrepid]

Like when I throw pens at people?

[What, that's typically what he has on hand and is fairly tame if thrown. He's good at throwing them, too.

He bites his lip, focusing and doing his best to mimic Ep. The knife hits, but it bounces off]

Damn.

[ospreyed]

...Yeah. Kinda like that. [She watches him as he takes aim again, nodding. And then the knife makes contact and she's actually smiling a little.]

There ya go! You at least hit the target. Y'just gotta worry about angle and the amount of speed behind it. You throw too slow, and: [She takes aim again, purposefully tossing the knife with less speed. It rotates less, and clatters uselessly against the tree.] that's what happens.

[shylyintrepid]

May I try again?

[ospreyed]

Throw to your hearts content. [She hands him another knife. Already the ones that they have thrown have reappeared on her fingers.

[shylyintrepid]

[And Jehan does, over and over again until he's not crying anymore and is just mad. Mad at himself, at Zane, at Markel, at Gaia, at whatever convinced Zane to join the Red Room, at Chiron and Mr. D for keeping him from his home, at the world for being so unfair that this is life when he's done nothing to deserve it.

He eventually as two blades stuck in the vine. He hasn't noticed]

[ospreyed]

[And Eponine just watches, occasionally giving him a few words of advice, but for the most part, she only hands him knives when he needs them. It takes some time, but finally, she's smirking at him again.] Jehan! Slow your roll! Check it! [She points at the tree.]

[shylyintrepid]

[He stops in the middle of grabbing another knife and looks. He doesn't smile, but he does seem a little calmer]

I finally got some.

[ospreyed]

You did. [She stands up from the position she's taken on a nearby log.]

[She looks at him, still smirking. His tears are dry, and he seems better. For now, at least.] You're not too shabby. [And now, she realizes almost too late, he probably has some valuable insight into her character.]