Masking Smiles
Marcus | Siena
πππ‘π₯. ππ, ππππ / / ππ βπππ₯π, πππ£πͺππππ / / βπ π€π‘ππ₯ππ / / ππ‘ππ
Collab with @Chasers115 @PapiTan
With books in tow, Marcus made his way back to the hospital. The walk and library trip had calmed him down, and he'd regained the light spring in his step and ever-sure cocky grin. The deep bags under his eyes and the unkempt messiness of his usual deliberately messy hair remained, giving him a somewhat haggard appearance. But after what they'd been through, Marcus imagined that all his classmates were haggard in some way or another.
No random kids were hanging around Siena's room this time, that much was fortunate. He really didn't feel like getting punched again, rewind or no.
It was the first time she'd had to spend a night without a source in a long time, and the narrative in her head had not stymied the rush of memories--how many of them were hers? How many were real?--or the frustrations that trying (and failing) to put a cap on them had created. It was the first time in a long time where Siena had felt so relieved that she was alone. Relief at something she hated, simply because she didn't like having the mask off even more. She could have left, swung by anywhere with the little plastic card that could buy her almost anything her little heart desired, but the mage had been too much of a coward to do it.
If she'd been brave enough to step outside, the girl might have seen the sunrise. Again.
'Coward.'
No one to help her take the edge off as she replayed vivid images of Padma's death in her head. Blood. Screams.
Had Savannah screamed?
Padma's figure was replaced with that of a small, blonde girl that she had considered a comrade.
Goddamn it all.
"Ugh...c'mon, Siena. Pull yourself together."
Shifting the small bag of books he'd retrieved from the library, Marcus knocked lightly on the door. It was early, and after everything that had happened, it was entirely possible she'd still be asleep. He didn't want to wake her if that was the case - he'd most likely end up going for a little more of a walk if that were the case. The hospital gave him a small sense of uneasy nostalgia; the basic opposite to what the library had given him. Nothing good ever happened in a hospital. People didn't go to a hospital because everything was alright in their lives.
He unconsciously rubbed his left arm as he waited for Siena's voice, as if the fidgety part of his brain had come to the same consensus.
A light knock was barely enough to break through the deafening silence. It wasn't unexpected after the line of visitors the night before, but...it struck her as almost odd that any of them would be up so early the next day. Evidently, she wasn't the only one that hadn't been sleeping well.
"It's--ahem--it's open...!" Siena called, clearing her throat to bolster the volume after the weak start.
Giving one more deep breath, as if readying himself to step out on a stage, Marcus popped open the door.
"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" he said, peeking through the doorway. His tone had successfully regained its joyful demeanor, as if nothing had happened. A slight contrast to his appearance, but if he was lucky, the presents he brought would hopefully distract Siena long enough to avoid any questioning. If anything else, he had something to deflect if needed.
"The bookfairy comes, and he's got a whole bunch of presents for you!" he held up the bag as he entered, the contents shifting slightly as he did.
As Marcus popped in, Siena couldn't help but give a faint smile even when the rest of her felt a wave of tension crash over her. Should he have sounded so cheerful? Voices screamed in her head, warning her--just like you, right?--that something must have been wrong. Still, the brunette smiled, doing her best to let the expression reach her eyes despite how terrible she must have looked. No morning rituals to preen herself to perfection, no creams, washes, and scrubs to take the tired lines after a sleepless night, and worst of all, no real shower to at least feel like she wasn't covered in a film of grease and filth.
She must have looked like a mess, but compared to the blonde, she felt like she was put together.
'You can't fool me.' But she smiled and settled up into a better seated position, blinking the drowsiness from her eyes as if it would take away the other signs. "Oh! Thanks!" Sounded a little listless, but it was better than she thought she'd manage. "Now I feel bad. You woke up way too early for this." If he woke up at all.
"Pssh, there is no such thing as too early when it comes to presents!" Marcus said, giving Siena a nonchalant wave of the hand. He didn't want to let on exactly how early he'd been up, because it wasn't a fact that would allow him to escape unscathed. "Look at Santa; he shows up whenever he wants. When you least expect it!"
He stopped before he could get too far off track, pulling up one of the little chairs that had been in the room and sitting next to her, proudly displaying the bag. "I grabbed a couple of things that I thought looked interesting, and one that I'm pretty sure I've seen you with before, just in case." he pulled out the copy of Viscious as he spoke, the red cover standing out against the plain plastic bag.
Smiling faces and bright tones that felt out of place, like paper dolls with their grins cut out--it felt familiar. The same song and dance that she'd performed at every ball, every outing...almost every waking moment at USARILN East. Glancing at the bag that Marcus produced, Siena felt her eyes fall over the vibrant cover peering through. The title printed in font that she would have recognized anywhere, a single word that contained countless others. It took most of the girl's self-control not to make a grab for it and the comforts she knew it carried. Instead, she let her eyes return to her roommate.
He looked like a mess.
'Don't...'
"Oooh, Vicious! One of my favorites." She tried to beam, but couldn't keep the expression on place. Not when the girl she'd put together was supposed to be better than that. The smile faltered, flickered out into an expression of concern. "Didn't get around to those morning rituals before you went out, huh?"
"Hmm?" Marcus hummed, eyes lazily darting to hers. He watched them look him up and down, a slight hint of concern on her face. There was a moment where he wasn't quite sure what it was she was talking about, before his mind clicked. He probably looked like hell right now. It made sense, he certainly wasn't as put together as he would have liked to have been before he came out, but it was a simple enough thing to explain away.
"Oh. Yeah. The motel didn't leave many necesseties for me, so I wasn't able to fulfill the routine. They didn't even give me a comb or anything! Felt lucky that I got a towel even!" he lied, running his hands through his hair. "I was hoping it wasn't that noticible, but I guess it's moreso than I thought." he gave a light chuckle as he said this, trying to get a few stray locks back into place.
Of course Siena would have noticed.
"But hey, I didn't scare any villagers away when I was getting these for you, so it's not a huge deal!" He put the book back in the bag and handed it over to his roommate.
"Hmmmmm, guess we're in the same boat then, I must look like a mess." Siena murmured while taking the bag in hand. Absentmindedly, the mage traced the outline of one of the books with her fingers, eyes not leaving their current object of attention. "I can't say the hospital workers are eager to help out a subnatural and all." More effort than necessary went into saying subnatural instead of monster. Taking a moment, Siena went through the offerings Marcus had brought.
It was hard to think deeply on them when Vicious was already ready to offer its comforts.
"I guess I should be glad that I had posters on the wall, huh?" Another attempt at a smile. Pretend it was fine. Pretend that she didn't see what was wrong about the conversation. Instead, she smiled and thumbed the pages a few times, feeling a sense of relief and familiarity. Enough to give her courage, enough to bring the smile back. "I'm surprised. No mysterious Croatian works?"
"The posters certainly helped the search a bit, yes. And I didn't feel like testing your Rosetta Stone powers." Marcus said, grinning slightly. "At least not yet, that is. Maybe when we get back to campus I'll start pulling out the Mayan tomes or something."
In all honesty, he'd deliberately avoided grabbing anything foriegn. The avalanche of questions he'd drowned her in last night had seemed a bit too mcuh, and even if it was just the sheer multitude of them (a possibility Marcus doubted slightly), he didn't need to repeat the deluge and panic Siena again. So he'd just grabbed the normal ones, and the red covered one.
"So what is that one about, anyway? Must be pretty special for you to hang a poster of a book in your room. Especially when most kids our age are putting up posters of bands or chicks or something!" he chuckled a little bit, a genuine chuckle. Perhaps it was being able to joke around with Siena like nothing was wrong, or maybe it was just the bolstering effect of having another person to talk to, but he was starting to feel better.
"Oh, no, you don't want the Mayan stuff. It's all very gloomy until you realize they only cared about the calendar," Siena claimed in jest while making a small motion with her hand. "Except that one where the world gets destroyed by a flood and humanity dies for the third time."
Not really, there were plenty of fascinating texts in every language, she was aware, but Mayan literature was not one that anyone could just...pick up from a bookstore. Still, it was easier to keep up the act than it was to pry into things that her roommate evidently didn't want to bring up himself, so Siena kept the play going as best she could. It felt harder, perhaps because she had spent the night before alone for long enough to let the thoughts she couldn't dare voice soak into her.
Or maybe it had been because she couldn't stop thinking about how Padma had died. How Savannah was dead. How she didn't think Benediction was going to bring the little blonde girl back no matter how hard anyone tried.
"Oh, um..." A weak smile. She'd thought by then her eccentricities wouldn't have been so glaring, but it was to be expected. Bands and models were for people that had the luxury of being enamored by them. Books were for people like her. "It's about...well, mostly revenge. And superpowers." Hesitation as she thought about how badly she'd quailed the night before, but...she could be brave. The smile faded slightly. "Actually, I hated it the first time I read it. I hated everything this author wrote the first time."
She paused to pick her words carefully.
"...but it was the first book I read after I got this white mark."
"Oh!" Marcus said, surprised by her answer. He understood what the implications of that statement meant, but he found himself needing to ask anyway. His tone was soft as he spoke, as if he knew he was asking a question he probably shouldn't have. "So does that mean this book was your first...?"
The sentance awkwardly hung there, simply because Marcus wasn't sure how to describe what Siena did. He first character? The first name she ever took? The first time she actually used her power? There weren't exactly good ways to describe it, so he didn't.
"Mm-hmm," Siena murmured. She'd picked up Victor's name without a hitch. No resistance until she was herself again and it felt as though there was a hold somewhere in her emotions. An empty feeling in her chest that took the guilt and fear away for a moment, and a rush of loathing that tried to fix itself onto a face that didn't exist. "I guess it made more sense reading it the second time." She the rest of that thought unfinished. As a monster.
"Well, I mean, yeah!" Marcus said, a twinge of excitement in his voice. "You got to experience the character in a way nobody else ever has! You were him, right? Of course it would make more sense the second time!"
"Plus, as someone who had just developed superpowers, you could probably sympathize with the dude pretty easily!" He'd focused on the 'superpowers' aspect of Siena's short synopsis of the book a little too quickly, somewhat ignoring the 'revenge' aspect of it.
"I guess that's one way to look at it." Pausing, Siena ran her fingers over the spine of the book, relishing the comfort it brought her. A rush of courage that felt out of place given the recent events. "But I think I just understood how he felt. Or maybe I was jealous that he got to be free from prison and I was stuck in a room all day."
Why didn't that feel like the joke she wanted it to be?
"Yeah, I guess I can understand that feeling..." Marcus said, his tone suddenly dropping. This wasn't something he wanted to talk about, but...maybe he should have anyway. Maybe it was good to just get these types of things off his chest. "When I got my powers..."
Why?
He sighed for a moment, as if he was contemplating telling any more than he already had. That wouldn't be fair though, to start a story and not deliver on the ending.
"DC gave me my power while I was still recovering in a hospital bed. I didn't have the ability to leave. Or be free. I got the power to move back two seconds. While I was stuck in a bed."
It was ironic that he was telling this story in another hospital, really. Everything about this had seemed ironic to him in some way. The irony of being able to undo his mistakes, given only a few days after he really needed it. The irony of be able to heal slight injuries while he was laying broken in a half-destroyed medical facilty. The irony of the hospital staff doing everything to help him because he was 'chosen' by a monster, when all he wanted...
Why?
There was a long moment where he was lost in his own little world, as if he'd forgotten Siena was right next to him. At least, it seemed long to him.
"So yeah, I can definitely understand that feeling a little bit." he said, looking back to his roommate.
Had he said too much?
Listening to Marcus's story, Siena felt...sobered. Being stuck in a hospital bed when he received his power, being trapped in a gilded cage when she received her own. Faintly, deep in her chest, camaraderie sparked to life, a weak fire that threatened to be blown out by the faintest breeze. Part of her threatened to blow it out herself, but a greater part tried to protect the hollow traces of emotion. Carefully, the brunette tracked the changes she could find, her expression mirroring the mild surprise that she really felt.
She'd always been bad at sharing. Bad at being told things because nobody every wanted to tell her anything. Always overhearing things from behind closed doors when they thought she was sleeping. Away. Somewhere else. Always told that she shouldn't show her hand, shouldn't tell anyone anything..
"It seems our patron monster factory has a cruel sense of humor. Giving people escape routes when there's no way to take them." A wry expression crossed her face, parts of her leaking through the cracks that had formed on her shell. And then...something impulsive.
'There's no such thing as a one-sided transaction, Siena. Remember that.'
Setting the book down, Siena lost herself for a moment. Let the mask chip away until her expression was clearly visible as her eyes slowly shifted to her own escape. Again, she traced her fingertips over it before she returned her attention to her roommate.
"You know those caretakers I told you about? The day after the mark showed up, they disappeared for two weeks." A hollow laugh as she remembered searching the estate for hours for someone, anyone, for help. "They came back before the food ran out, but..." But she had hated being alone before then, and it had engraved the reality of the situation like a brand. "I think they were afraid of me."
Marcus listened intently to Siena's own story, staying silent for a few moments after she finished. Everyone was afraid of them now. His little forays into the town had done ample enough to show him that little side of their powers. Even though he was an arbiter, he was supposed to be the good guys, they were still afraid. A silent part of him scoffed; how would Emma have felt about him saying something like that?
"Really the only thing we can do is prove to them we're not actually scary." Marcus said, although he sounded unconviced. "But, if it makes you feel better, I've got no plans on disappearing, and I doubt Callan does either. We'll stick around for you, no matter what happens!"
"...yeah. Hard to believe anyone's scared of--" Siena paused for a moment as she looked over Marcus then went over a mental image of what she must have looked like. "Okay, maybe they can be a little afraid of the bed creatures we are right now." Though everyone had every right ot be afraid of her, if they knew what she could do. Of what she could become if she chose...stop. A single syllable that made replacing the carefully crafted smile easier.
"But I'm glad you two are willing to put up with me." It didn't really make her feel comfort. Perhaps it was better not to mention how Gerwulf and Maya had been there for as long as she could remember. She'd watched them age the same way they watched her grow, in a sense. Sweeping her hair over her shoulder, the mage replaced the smile again. "It's nice to know that there's someone that's not afraid of me.
Marcus found himself chuckling a little bit at the statement. "Don't worry Siena, I doubt there's much you could do that could scare me."
"Oh...you'd be surprised..."
Shopping News
Allison | Siena
πππ‘π₯. ππ, ππππ / / ππ βπππ₯π, πππ£πͺππππ / / βπ π€π‘ππ₯ππ / / ππππ
Collab with @VarionusNW @PapiTan
It didn't take much to leave the hospital after she'd figured out a (not-so) convenient way to carry the books that Marcus had brought to her while wearing not the tattered remains of her previous clothing, but a pair of hospital pajamas that she'd requested. Despite her attempt to be as civil, polite, and demure as possible, it took some time before anyone had come to her with the clothing, and even then they'd all but thrown it onto the nearest surface before leaving the room without so much as looking Siena in the eye.
'Remember, you're a monster now.'
It was easier to keep in mind when everybody was staring at her. She could have pretended that it was the fact that she was wandering the streets in hospital pajamas, but the girl knew that every subtle glance given to her was because of the white smear on her face and the cuff on her ankle. A few hushed whispers and fingers that were obviously being pointed at her in ways that people thought were subtle...really. Even the arrogant fops at her parents' events were more subtle than that, and they were trying to be noticed.
"Hmmm...I guess I should ask for directions to a clothing shop..." Easier said than done. Somehow, Siena doubted that anyone was going to want to talk to her, much less stay in place if she approached them. A significant part of her believed that they might have preferred one of the creatures from their first battle approaching over her. The brunette sighed and regretted not asking Marcus for a map in addition to the books the night before, though...the appearance of the town told her that there wasn't exactly a tourist booth to request one from.
Suddenly, the lone girl was surrounded by a small group of strange men. One of them, a tall, blonde haired man in an expensive-looking suit held a microphone whilst gesturing to an even taller, dreadlocked man holding a camera. Around those two seemed a group of aids, and rival reporters.
"Are we live?" The blonde man spoke into an earpiece. "What do you mean this won't be live? We've been trying to catch one of them all day, this is high profile stuff, isn't it?" He had the voice of an announcer, every word emphasized to a rediculous degree. "Alright, fine." He looked over at the camera man "Jamahl, you ready?" The gargantuan man nodded slowly.
The reporter let out a quick cough, and gave Siena a slight glance before staring deep into the camera and giving his report. "I'm Jean Jimmons for channel 9 news, and today we have something special for you, an interview with one of the subnaturals involved in the Wisford incident. Miss," He turned to Siena, "can you tell us anything about what happened in Wisford?" He shoved the microphone in her face.
'What?'
As if pouncing on a wounded gazelle, a pack of starved wolves were suddenly closing in on Siena, her movements coming to an abrupt halt as her attention was forcibly pulled around by phrase after phrase until suddenly--
"E-excuse me?" Damn it, the mark hadn't been covered up, her cuff was in plain view, and--goddamn it, why was that camera pointed at her? The brunette felt a twinge of panic try to take over her, but a quick breath, some rational thinking...and she would have been calm if there was an escape route. "My apologies, I don't believe I have the authority to say anything about that."
That...that should have been more than enough, right?
"Umm..." He scratched his head. "I'm sure you have something to say, right?" He leaned in, lowering his voice, "come on, help us out here and we'll be on our way, ok. Just-" He was interrupted by a commotion from behind him. Several of the reporters had surrounded another individual, yelling out questions and generally interrupting Jean Jimmons' work. "What's going on?" He yelled at the other reporters, motioning for Jamahl to stop recording.
"Get out of my way!" A girl's voice exclaimed from amongst the crowd. "Siena, is that you?" Allison Revel broke out from behind the line of reporters, now near the bewildered Jean Jimmons and company.
Not enough? Did she have to adopt firmer mannerisms? Colder ones? Before she had a chance to think, more noise came into play. The brunette glanced at the crowd until...
"A-Allison?" Taking an instinctive step towards a presumable ally, Siena glanced at the reporters, tried to avoid getting too close to any of the people. Hopefully with Allison, they'd focus their attention elsewhere--maybe they would leave? "Oof...! Please, l-let me through...!" She hated the feeling. Shifting her grip on her bag of belongings, the mage briefly considered trying to frighten them off by starting to pull a name.
...no, that wasn't wise. She didn't want them to be afraid of her...did she?
"Come on!" Allison grabbed Siena's hand to pull her through the sea of reporters.
Stumbling after Allison as they moved, Siena tightened her grip on the bag, the plastic rustling as she stumbled after the girl. Evidently, she should have taken a more direct approach to an escape. "W-Wait, there are t--ow!" She bumped into something rigid--probably the corner of a microphone. Still, they were making steady progress through the crowd.
"Where are we gonna...?" Get away from them and their prying eyes? She couldn't finish the sentence as she barely avoided another clumsy impact.
Allison pulled the girl through the throng of people, and mindlessly ran through streets and alleys for a good minute before stopping. That would probably be good enough, at least for the moment. She let go of Siena's hand, and let herself catch her breath before speaking.
"Are you alright, Siena?"
'One, two...three...um...two more...' Trying to keep track of their movements wasn't entirely difficult, but there was no set pattern, no real destinatoin...she had no idea where they were by the time they stopped--not that she really know where they'd been before the sudden invasion of reporters.
By the time they stopped, Siena was just regaining her footing, her breath only stable thanks to the sheer volume of training she'd put herself through in her free time prior. More reading, more practicing, more stamina to be a little more useful...but Siena was still the one being rescued at every turn.
The girl pushed the thoughts aside, gave a weak smile. "I-I'm fine. Thanks for coming to my rescue." Pausing for a moment, the girl glanced around. "Well, at least we got away, but...um..." Cue nervous laugh. "I guess I'm stuck with hospital jammies for now..."
"Were you shopping for clothes, then?"
"Well...I'm not exactly looking great in this." A quick motion with her hand to her current attire here. "But it'd...be nice to have pockets or a bag that won't fall apart if it catches on a doorknob."
"Alright then. I was just taking a walk anyway, so maybe I could join you? It be better for there to be two of us if any more reporters show up, anyway."
"That sounds good to me." Straightening her posture, the brunette dared a look over her shoulder in the direction they'd come from. "I haven't got a clue where anything is though. My phone was--" Vaporized. "--busted in the last fight."
Out of instinct, the girl tried to smooth out the wrinkles in her clothing, likely making them worse in the process. Damn it. "And maybe we can find some toiletries while we're at it. Marcus said they weren't supplying any at the uh...motel...?" A hopeful tic at the end of the sentence, hoping for confirmation on where the others were staying.
"Yea." The pair took another moment to gather themselves before heading back out onto the streets, avoiding the roaming hords of reporters. It didn't take too long to find a clothing store, in which Allison and Siena spent over an hour peering through the racks. They didn't come away with anything particularly high end, but what they did buy seemed to be good enough for Siena to wear until they returned to USARILN. Allison didn't want to get anything, but due to Siena's insistence and willingness to pay, she walked away with a bag of clothes as well.
After their shopping, Allison took Siena back to the motel, sitting in the lobby for a moment to talk and rest. The aberration couldn't help but notice how rich Siena seemed to be. She spent money like it was nothing, and seemed shocked by cheaper brands. She even remembered the first time they had met, it had been Siena's first time at a Mcdonalds. It seemed so alien to Allison, who had lived out of the back of a van with her friends for a year, that anyone could live so casually with so much money and spend it so recklessly.
"I know this probably a pretty stupid and insensitive question, but are you from some sort of big, powerful family?"
Sorting through what little she could procure--likely due to the fact that money could motivate when necessary--Siena glanced at Allison with a look of mild surprise. Still...it was hard to remember that Siena herself wasn't fully aware of exactly how insignificant that the Santana family was. they had money, and perhaps some influence, but...that was all on the basis of what she'd been raised on. Nobody else seemed to be aware of what the Santana family name was.
Not entirely surprising, in the big, bad world beyond the estate gates.
"It's a fair question," Siena claimed while glancing at her companion. "Though...I don't exactly know how big or powerful my family is...er." A pause as she reconsidered the statement. "Was. I guess they're not really my family anymore." Taking a moment ot think it through, the girl carefully put together her next words.
"But...my parents did have a vast pool of wealth. I didn't grow up wanting for material things...which...I guess isn't that subtle, huh?"
"Hmm." Allison looked through the bag of clothes. She didn't want to pry too far into Siena's personal life out of respect for the girl.
Odd. Usually when people asked about Siena's money, they pressed for more. Making note of the slight inconsistency with her expectations, the brunette felt a surge of uncertainty. Well, perhaps she was only asking out of legitimate curiosity. "I hate to cut our conversation short, but...I'd really, really like to take a shower and change. Maybe we can meet up again later."
Flashing an apologetic smile, the brunette stood with her items, giving a brief wave and making a quick exit.
Still...so odd.
