greatexpectations | i'm a slow dying flower; the frost killing hour

Caterina slips into the coma visibly ill beforehand. Another "cold" had plagued her. She spent the days before the deep sleep reassuring Abel it would pass just like all the others. The cardinal certainly hoped it would. She would hate to be a proven liar. This turn of events would only undermine her briefly if the duchess had reawakened as herself. She didn't.

It was as if someone flipped a switch. Bitter years of illness, loss, and longing were suddenly and brutally behind her. She wakes up again in a spot she occupied years ago. The experiences in Haven pale compared to the horror of losing Alessandro, her beloved AX, and finally the Vatican. Her eldest brother had lived up to all her worst expectations of him. In the end, he had doomed their brother and the Vatican with his carelessness, hatred, and rash behavior. Only charred remains were left of all she had loved and protected so dearly until that evil heart got the better of her.

Still, Caterina shudders briefly at the memory of being possessed by monsters and all the other hardships she endured here. They were so insignificant by comparison now, but the fresh memories of those ancient wounds still held power. Not for long though. She won't allow this terrible place the satisfaction of reminding her of the times when her heart was weak. It was already stealing her precious, oh so limited time.

Instead, she regards her surroundings with cold eyes as she slowly steels her heart once more. There was no need for it here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"--Caterina?"

The voice comes in rather abruptly from the common bedroom Caterina shared with her housemates, Abel stood inside of it wearing the familiar expression of a man deeply concerned. The glass of water in his hands is all but forgotten-- he's caught sight of her awake for the first time in days-- days she's spent looking sick and weak and so fragile, and his eyes are widening sharply in surprise.

"Cater-- Caterina! You're--"

Awake? Astute as ever. The priest is jogging to her bedside, hastily sloshing water over the rim of the cup in his urgency to put the stupid thing down; he's leaning over her with worry stark in blue eyes. This was no normal 'cold' or fit of 'allergies;' she had been unreachable and in poor vitals for days, now. "--take it easy... You've been-- sick." Yes. 'Sick.' "Are you alright...?"

She is more surprised than she should be to see Abel again after all these years. This is the one from her memories; the kind man with a fragile heart... the one who still loved her. Caterina sits up when all she wants to do is sink further into the bed. This is the Abel she had loved once yet she couldn't wish herself further away from him if she could. This is the cruelest thing Haven could have done to her aside from raise her worthless older brother from the dead.

The silence is heavy coming from her. She doesn't even lift her head to look at him; keeping it trained on the sheets beneath her hands. Perhaps even Abel as dense as he could be in regards to her heart could pick up the warring emotions within the "little girl" he still favored. There is overwhelming grief and hurt outweighing the sickness by far. Caterina hones in on it for a reprieve because she knows who can make her functional again. He'd been doing it long enough now.

"Is Kampfer here?"

He would have to be a blind man not to notice the struggle in her expression; it spurns a confusion in him -- an uneasy feeling he can't dissuade from sticking around. Had she been dreaming? Having nightmares? The look in her eyes is...

Unnerving.

But he doesn't have long to dwell. The question she inevitably asks is yet another thing he hadn't seen coming, and Abel is briefly taken off his guard by it. Kampfer...? Of all things, the first thing she asks after is--

"...did he... do something to you?"

It occurs to him quickly and suddenly. Had Kampfer hurt her somehow? Was this prolonged, coma-like sleep his doing? He can already feel the overprotective anger bubbling up like acid. No way... but that would be the only reason that his name would be the first thing from her mouth, right?

Caterina shakes her head. He still believes she's something worth protecting. Of course he does. It wouldn't be enough to wound her. Haven had to casually toss salt onto it. Look at how he loves you. You can pretend to be his still. You can get away with it. Abandon your quest to make all those deaths not be for naught....

Her shoulders quiver. She hates herself for even considering taking advantage of the situation. Abel will find her worthless soon enough. Why prolong it? She has better things to do. "I need him. He can make me well enough to get out of bed." It's one of the first truths she's said in long while. As much as Caterina hates the man, he'll keep her alive as some kind of twisted trophy for his amusement. She's in no position to be offended over it. "So is he still here?" She pauses a moment, considering and hoping. There is someone who will do as she says in a more timely matter so Caterina adds, "Is Tres here?"

"You... need him?"

He echoes the statement dumbly. If he had been taken aback before, he simply looks to be in a stupor now. She needs... Isaak? She's entrusting Isaak with her well-being? Abel feels the cold pit in his stomach growing greater with each passing second; something clearly isn't right here...

"...if you're not feeling well, then-- I'll find someone to help, Caterina." His voice takes on a slightly imploring edge, the unease seeping into his tone as he rests his hands lightly at her shoulders, trying to ease her to lay down again. "There's no need for you to go that far." How could she even reach such a conclusion? It's blown him for a loop-- a big one.

"No, Tres... he left a while ago, remember?" It's beginning to frighten him. She seems out of it-- or what he perceives as 'out of it' for his lack of context. "Just lay down, and I promise-- I'll find someone who'll be able to make this better in no time. You'll see."

It'd be easy to lay down and go back to bed. She wants to more than anything. Her body is so weary from fighting a disease without proper treatment. How long has this been going on? Caterina can scarcely remember even with the information suddenly being available to her.

In the end, she summons the strength to refuse him. Caterina won't let her heart be weak anymore. The memory of Alec who suffered for it allows her to knock the hands at her shoulders away. Caterina snaps loudly in frustration and pain, "No, I will not lay down! I will decide what's too far or not so don't you dare deny me this!"

Abel left her alone with Tres. She had to turn to monsters in order to make things right. He doesn't have the right to take it all back like it never happened.

It's... a shock, to say the least. To find his hands knocked away where he had been trying to gently goad her to lay down is... decidedly unexpected. The look on his face clearly displays as much, along with a confusion-- a spike in that concern.

"...Caterina, you're-- not... not making sense."

It's a soft effort to dissuade her from the path she's seemingly chosen with force. He has no idea why she's gotten such an idea into her head, but relying on Kampfer? The mere suggestion galls him. She would be safer in a pit of vipers than so much as extending a finger to that man.

"Maybe it's... the fever. You can't really mean that you want Isaak to help you."

Could she...? There's simply no way...

She sees his confusion. It's like being transported to the past over and over again. Caterina can hardly stand it. "It's not your concern," she states coldly. She wants to be furious; to make him hurt as she has. The energy isn't coming to her. Caterina needs nothing more than a long rest. How could she do that with him here? It will undermine her position within the Orden even if it isn't hard to simply be in the same room as Abel.

"Leave me. I want nothing more to do with you." She rather risk dying here alone and returning later than spending any more time like this.

I want nothing more to do with you.

Blue eyes widen.

"...you want me to... go?"

She seems-- angry at him, somehow. Hurt, and he can't understand it. He's missing something, and that niggle in the back of his head warning him that all isn't right just increases the longer this discussion continues. Something isn't right... no; something is glaringly wrong, but he can't see it. What--? What is he missing? Is this something of the city's doing? Another incident to pit them against each other, manipulate their hearts and minds and...

"Caterina, I'm not... leaving you." He would never leave her, especially when she was in such a vulnerable position -- and not in her right mind, clearly. Asking after Kampfer? She's treating him like...

Like he's the enemy.

i'm a slow dying flower; the frost killing hour

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject