[center] [img]http://i.imgur.com/Fb1UXSA.png[/img] [img]http://i68.tinypic.com/mhf02b.jpg[/img] [h2][color=9e0039]Angélique[/color] | [color=a187be]Allison[/color][/h2] [color=silver][hr]𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟝, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕃𝕒 ℙ𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕒, 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕪𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / 𝕄𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕝 / / 𝟙𝟛𝟘𝟘 [hr][/color] [sub]Collab with [@Riffus Maximus][/sub] [/center] It took Angelique a while to finally get to the motel. After having breakfast with Ernest, the black-haired Aberration began wandering around town. Luckily for her, her changed appearance and scarf around her neck provided just enough disguise to roam about without attracting unwanted attention. However, she got a bit lost. While it had always been interesting to discover a new town, the brightness of the day was getting to the young woman's eyes. Thanks to the clouds, it wasn't debilitating dazing, but it was still too bright for comfort. She just couldn't wait to finally get a room at the motel and shut herself off in the darkness to let her eyes rest from all the exposed light she had been suffering through recently. After clearing up with the guards that she was Angelique Lachance, member of Experimental Unit B and returning from the hospital, she was allowed to make her way into the motel. She was quickly assigned a room number where she could sleep and rest until they were ready to leave town. However, it was a bit boring all by her lonesome self, in her little room. Wondering if there was anything in the motel worth using for entertainment, Angel walked up to the main lobby, She found some pens and paper. Now that she was thinking about it, she did promise Siena to write something for her and sing it along with playing her newly bought guitar. Now that she was bored and looking for something to do for a few days, maybe it was the time to try and get this thing started? Taking a comfortable seat, Angel began writing down ideas on a sheet of paper, all the while she started listening to her playlist on her phone. A freshly showered and clothed Allison made her way to the motel lobby, about to make her way to the hospital to see her friend. Fate, though, seemed to have other plans, as Angelique was instead there in the motel lobby. Allison was thankful, her rather sore body even more so. The brunette was about to call out to the metalhead before noticing that she had headphones in, deciding to instead sit near Angel. Upon closer inspection, the girl was doing some writing, likely of music if Allison had to guess. [color=a187be]"Hey"[/color] Allison said with a slight wave as she settled into her seat next to the metalhead. Despite being lost in thoughts as she submitted her mind to the process of lyrical pursuit, Angel caught a silhouette approaching her from aside and sitting down next to her. Her music was so loud she didn't hear what the other person said, so she turned her head to see who it was as she removed her headphones. It was her best friend, Allison. Immediately, whatever focused expression she had on her face transformed into a bright smile. Ever since they came back yesterday, Angel had wanted to see her friend, see how well she was doing after the fight. But the evening visits took all of her time and by the time she was done, her body wouldn't obey anything but sleep. [color=9e0039]"Alice! It's so good to see you alright."[/color] Angel replied, shooting herself from her chair to reach for Allison and give her a friendly hug. Allison was slightly startled by the sudden hug, but embraced it nonetheless. [color=a187be]"How are you doing? I would've gone to see you last night, but with everything that happened... I was exhausted. Sorry."[/color] For a moment, Allison considered telling her friend what happened with Kusari, but decided to leave it out. This wasn't the time or place to discuss something like that. [color=9e0039]"It's alright, I understand."[/color] came the reply from the fallen idol Aberration, offering her friend a comforting pat in the back before releasing the girl from her warm embrace. [color=9e0039]"It's been... quite a day." [/color] she added. [color=9e0039]"I was glad to hear you haven't been hospitalized. I take it everything went well for your team?" [/color] [color=a187be]"Yea..."[/color] Allison settled back in to her seat.[color=a187be] "I guess you could say that for my team. Lily and... Kusari..."[/color] Allison's eyes moved to the floor [color=a187be]"they're both fine."[/color] She took in a deep breath, as if hoping the air would force the bad memories of the previous day back into hiding. [color=a187be]"Everything just happened so fast..."[/color] Allison leaned forward, resting her head in her hands. [color=a187be]"I helped kill someone, Angel. Two people, technically. Yea, they were trying to kill us, but that doesn't change what happened. I can't kill anyone with it, "[/color] Allison had raised herself slightly now, and was staring at her empty right hand, [color=a187be]"But it's almost worse, like I'm trying to absolve myself of any of the guilt just by having this fucking curse!"[/color] Her head dove back into both her hands. [color=a187be]"And Savannah! Savannah's dead."[/color] She let those words fill the air for a few moments. [color=a187be]"I can't even tell who's responsible anymore. Should I be mad at everyone else for not saving her, myself for not getting there fast enough, the people I helped kill for causing her death, or the fucking government for putting her in this situation in the first place? You know, they could probably heal her if they wanted to, with what's his name... Benediction? They won't. They'll let a little girl die just like they let Alexis die, like the others who's names I never got to learn before their lives were cut short."[/color] Allison was fully slumped over at this point, head resting on her knees. She gave herself a moment to breath, and maybe cry, though her eyes stayed dry, before continuing without giving her friend time to interrupt. [color=a187be]"I've seen so much death, Angel. I don't want anyone else to die. Death's inevitable though, isn't it? I wish I could just stop it."[/color] Her wishes were foolish, idealistic like a child. Pointless. [color=a187be]"I'm sorry,"[/color] Allison brought herself back up, though only halfway, still leaning forward.[color=a187be] "It's just been too much to take in, I guess..." [/color] Angel could only but watch and listen to her friend’s laments as she opened her heart and poured on sadness out. She could not blame the girl for being so down after what happened yesterday. In fact, Angel did not fully expect Allison to have taken part of the battle with the Rogues, which made Angel feel a bit worse about herself. Somehow, Allison reminded the raven-haired Aberration of herself; being so caring of the others, so quick to take the blame upon herself, so conflicted. And yet, why did Angel felt somewhat detached from all this? Was it because she wasn’t there to see it from her own eyes? Or was it from the enlightenment she had experienced after the battle yesterday? Angel could not explain it, but she felt oddly at peace with herself as she watched Allison slumping pitifully. As if to comfort the depressed Aberration, Angélique extended her hand to Allison’s shoulder. [color=9e0039]“You know, I was thinking about that for a while yesterday before going to sleep. I tried to blame myself for not having ordered someone from my team to go help the others as soon as they were ambushed. I tried blaming myself for staying at the front after we finished the clockwork army to wait for Christmas to come and heal us, instead of heading with my other teammates to help those who needed it.”[/color] Angel paused, keeping for herself that it would have been a major mistake to have left the frontlines, considering what Hazel was about to do to Ernest and Christmas. If she hadn’t been there to stop the raging Aberration, it was probable the two members of former Healer Team Halvost would be no more today. Again, Ernie’s thanks for saving him replayed in Angélique’s mind, doubling her confidence of having stayed put. [color=9e0039]“But you are right on most accounts. It’s everyone’s fault. The institute, ourselves, everyone and the Rogues. We didn’t act quickly enough or take the right decisions to help turn the tides of the battle. Some lost control, some were caught in a position they shouldn’t have been in, some made bad calls and some weren’t just powerful enough to deal with this fight. Don’t put all the blame on yourself, Allison. At the very least, rejoice that we are both alive. To see each other again. To fight for another day. To honor and avenge those who we have lost. To become stronger and one day perhaps make a difference in this world.”[/color] Allison threw her arms around Angelique, wrapping her in a tight embrace. Maybe she was right. Don't give up hope, and keep moving forward. [color=a187be]"Thank you."[/color] There were so many things to thank Angel for. For being her friend, for listening to her vent, for her kind words, and for just being there. Angélique only nodded, feeling the warmth of the embrace lifting a burden off her shoulder along with how thankful Allison seemed to be from her pep talk. Angel wasn't strong enough to protect everyone right now, but if her words could inspire others to become stronger, then she would consider it a victory nonetheless. [color=9e0039]"So, what have you been up to ever since we arrived here? Have an idea what we could be doing to kill time, now that we don't have a guitar in hands to enjoy hours of musical productivity?"[/color] Allison wanted to hang onto that hug for a bit longer, but let go before it got too awkward. Letting go was probably a good thing though, given the activity of Allison's stigma. A nearly irresistible want to stay close to the metalhead for as long as possible. A simple hug was surprisingly dangerous. [color=a187be]"Not much,"[/color] Allison said truthfully, [color=a187be]"mostly sleeping, I guess."[/color] She wasn't lying, at least. Allison had no idea what the two of them could do. [color=a187be]"Other than just hanging around and talking? I don't know. We could walk around town?"[/color] As she spoke, she recalled the news media outside. [color=a187be]"We'd probably be hounded by reporters, though..."[/color] That made the prospect a little less enjoyable, so Allison attempted to think of something else. [color=a187be]"I interrupted you, didn't I? What were you working on?"[/color] Given how hard it was to get here without catching all the attention of the media, Angel figured she didn't want to step outside anytime soon. Plus, the brightness of the day would just hurt her more than what she already went through this morning and yesterday at the hospital. No, she wanted to stay in the motel, away from the bright lights. [color=9e0039]"Oh, nothing too important. Remember that expensive guitar I have in my room that Siena bought me when we went on a shopping trip two weeks ago? Well, I kind of feel indebted to her for gifting me something this incredible. I figured I'd be writing a song for her to pay her back."[/color] Angel explained, scratching her head as she stared at the blank sheets of paper. [color=9e0039]"Been a while since the last time I composed anything though. I seem to have a block."[/color] A bold lie. Angel remembered having written down a song, explaining about her Stigma, only three days ago. But it felt so hollow, so meaningless, that she didn't want to acknowledge she wrote something like that. [color=a187be]"Could I try and help? As repayment for interrupting you, of course. I probably won't be too much help, but maybe I'll give you some inspiration"[/color] Allison said, looking at the pieces of paper. [color=9e0039]"Sure!"[/color] Angelique chirped, handing a few sheets of paper and a pen to Allison with an expression of glee. [color=9e0039]"Writing a song isn't really so tough. You just have to find a subject first. Then focus on it. Develop the idea. A bit like writing an essay in class, or a poem rather. It has to come from the heart though. If you're trying too much to get it out of your head, it might come out as something superficial."[/color] The pair sat and wrote for a while, bouncing ideas off of one another and laughing at particularly bad ones. A small pile of crumpled papers had begun to build up next to Allison, ones that she had refrained from showing to her friend, a hoard of secret bad ideas. If Angel read them, Allison would probably either die of embarrassment or jump on top of her and rip her clothes off. The brunette's stigma hadn't gotten easier to handle, and channeling creativity straight from her heart was just asking her to put her curse onto the page. After awhile and the silence settled in, Angélique looked towards her friend's direction. It was nice to see the girl showing such enthusiasm and being so focused on the thing, It kind of reminded Angel of herself in her early days as a musician. Brought her back memories of brainstorming ideas for a new song. If only, back in the days, someone like Allison would have been part of her band. That would have made the 'teaming-up' band thing a more enjoyable experience with someone she appreciated. [color=9e0039]"Sooo~, what kind of ideas did you come up with? Mind if I take a look at them?"[/color] Angel asked, genuinely interested in the sort of subjects Allison was thinking of. [color=a187be]"It's probably all terrible, but here, take a look."[/color] Allison passed over the paper she had been slaving over for most of the time. The page was filled with various ideas and lyrical segments, though seemingly nothing finished, written in every direction and at various sizes, as if the goal was just to fill up the page. A few lines had been scratched out, one that is preceded by something about Allison's mother, another started with [color=a187be]"Oh, the things I would do to"[/color] before abruptly being cut off by scratch marks. The longest piece on the page was roughly 8 lines long, mentioning glowing red eyes and lies in a childishly simple rhyme scheme. The only piece that rivaled it was what seemed to be the makings of a love song, the subject of which seemed to have their name mentioned multiple times, but always scratched out. Allison wanted to rip the paper away and tear it apart, but she let Angel read it, despite her own anxiousness. Eagerly, Angélique took the paper Allison handed her and began reading it. Being a songstress, the raven-haired idol was very keen on analyzing texts, poems and such. It was probably her only real academically-honed skill. Due to her currently bad eyesight, Angel could not make out what had been written underneath all the scratching, but it didn’t matter much. Ideas were meant to be put into paper, weighed if they were worth being kept and scratched if deemed unnecessary. Allison seemed to have a good writing process, for someone saying they weren’t very skilled in musical creativity. Very good for an amateur, even. After reading over the lacking parts, Angel set her focus on the two main parts of the sheet. The one about red eyes and lies was fascinating, as if explaining a concern or a conflict on paper. It was interesting, and made the expert musician want to ask further about that part. But the most interesting part was the one that got Angélique’s heart fluttering: the love song. It was so touchy, so romantic, and so cute. The young woman got goosebumps over reading it. A soft smile creeped on her lips as she was done reading it. It was clear a name had been repeated a few times on that poem, but she couldn’t make out what it was. That love song was partly something she was looking for: something that came from the heart. Reading it over again, it made Angel feel like Allison was harboring that special feeling for someone close to her. [color=9e0039]“That’s… actually pretty good! Those lines about the red eyes and the overall subject of lies, it got me intrigued. And that’s what you want to get in a song: intrigue. Build up the momentum, until you reach the climax and let the true meaning of the song break free.”[/color] Angel explained her interest over the eight lines that she found fascinating. [color=9e0039]“And the love song… is actually my favorite out of what you wrote. It feels like it comes from the heart, from your very soul. It’s very inspiring. I found it lovely to be honest.” [/color] Angel paused, letting her opinions sink into the brunette’s mind and building up the courage to ask her friend about the love song. [color=9e0039]“Say… what you wrote in there… are those feelings you had for someone in your life before, or someone from the school?”[/color] Allison slowly pulled away the piece of paper, her eyes darting to the ground. Her cheeks were glowing red after Angel's question. [color=a187be]"S-someone from the school."[/color] She answered truthfully. Angélique let out a playful "Oooh~" when hearing Allison's answer. She did not spoke much about her private life, nor did Angel saw the girl all that much outside their frequent evening hang-outs, busy as she was all day long. She wondered who that lucky person might be? But she didn't mean to pry too much on her best friend's secrets, if she was actually keen on keeping it a secret that is. But curiosity gnawed at her. Surely she won't mind telling her, being best friends and all. [color=9e0039]"Is it someone from our class? No wait, is it someone I know?"[/color] the ex-rockstar asked cheerfully, a grin as wide as her face could manage. [color=a187be]"Maybe..."[/color] Allison said playfully. Angel was a bit dense, it seemed. "I might tell you later, but for now I think I'll keep that little secret to myself." Allison's face was still bright red. She desperately wanted to change the subject. "By the way, are you rooming with anyone?" Angel's lips pursed into an exaggerated pout, playfully faking disappointment. Well, it seems like finding out her secret love would have to wait for another day. She can't really force the truth out of her if she didn't want to tell, would it? [color=9e0039]"Unfortunately, no. Seems like whoever is in charge of keeping us in line here assumed I'd like to have a room for myself, just like at the institute."[/color] [color=a187be]"Mind if I room with you, then?"[/color] The fallen rockstar's face beamed when she heard these words. Was she for real? That was the best proposal she could have gotten so far ever since they got in La Plata. Having watched Siena talk with Marcus on the evening they got in town, in the hospital, she couldn't deny she was feeling envious of the two, wishing she also was rooming with someone. Now, it would appear one of her wishes would be fulfilled, if only temporarily. [color=9e0039]"You sure? That would be... awesome! I'd very much like that, yes!"[/color] Angel said, not even hiding a single bit of her excitement. [color=a187be]"Awesome!"[/color] Allison wrapped her friend in a tight hug. [color=a187be]"I'll meet back up with you later, then. For now, I think i'm gonna go talk a walk."[/color] She released her friend, a warm smile plastered across her face. She quickly gathered up the discarded hoard of papers, leaving the one good one on the table. She took the papers to the nearest garbage can and ripped them into tiny shreds. Though, Allison had missed one ball of paper which still remained near Angel. Allison made her way out of the building, her face still flushed, matching her giddy, childlike smile. Angélique waved a cheerful good bye hand to her departing friend. Well, it was time to wrap this brainstorming session. For now, what they have done would suffice. She needed a break to refill her ideas. As she got up and started cleaning the sheets of paper and pens littering around their sitting spot in the lobby, one crumpled ball of paper caught Angel's attention. That wasn't one of hers? Angel didn't like the idea of crumpling papers, as sometimes she would go back to her previous idea and try to get ideas out of the ones that failed to make it. If it was Allison's, Angel was only the more curious about her friend's writing process, see what kind of other ideas the girl had. As she read through the sheet of paper, Angel's smile slowly faded, her mouth left agape that she had hidden underneath an open palm and her cheeks flushed red like never before. [color=a187be][i]'Oh, the things I would do to you, Angel'[/i][/color] was only the first line of the love song Allison had previously written. It was basically the same thing as the one Angel had previously read, but this version of the song was... particularly more explicit, and the places that were scratched until no longer readable were written with a name: Angel. But there was no denying it, it wasn't just a song about what Allison had imagined doing with Angélique. It also had the heart and the burning passion it previously exuded, only the more intense. A lump formed itself in the raven-haired young woman. Her heartbeat had grown erratic. How did she not notice about Allison's feelings before? Was it Allison's plot to reveal her secret love to Angélique in such fashion? It was certainly... romantic, to say the least. Angel did not know how to feel about all this. She had her handful of people proposing to her in the past, being a gorgeous and popular young woman, but she never accepted the feelings of any before. She never found herself attracted to anyone. People had even started calling her 'asexual' because of the sheer number of people she rejected without accepting a single person's feelings. And yet... it was different this time. Unlike before, it's not as if she completely wanted to reject Allison's feelings. In fact, it was touching to know she felt that way about her. Even Angel herself was now finding herself confused in her feelings. She felt especially close to Allison, after having hanged out more than a few times already, eating and eve fighting together in life-risking situations Was Allison her best friend, a soul sister, a potential lover? She could not tell anymore now. Still red from embarrassment, Angel quickly picked the remainder of her stuff and left towards her room, unconsciously folding the piece of paper containing Allison's feelings into the pocket of her jeans.