Misery Loves Company [Open, but don't expect to get too far in consoling him]

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

 Alex was sitting in one of the abandoned buildings, where part of the wall and roof had caved in. It was a familiar place, though it wasn't one he had spent much time in. The significance was that he and Luna had talked here for quite some time after the whole fiasco with the bombs. They had been so happy that the other one was okay.

Luna had told him about some of her magic- he still didn't really understand it, and now he didn't know if he ever would.


He sat against the crumbling wall on the same slab of rock he had used last time, staring at the rock Luna had been sitting at.

Why did Fate let him meet someone as wonderful as her, just to take her away?

Why couldn't he bring himself to tell the ship to make him forget her?

Instead, he was sitting there without either his jacket or Alice, his arms wrapped around himself, and his fingers digging into his arms as he cried silently. The building was off the beaten path, and he hoped that he might get some solace here. In his room he had to face Tavros, and Katara had already tracked him down once. 

Right now his hands were still, but jagged and slightly bloody scratch marks were evident on his upper arms where he had apparently mindlessly been grabbing and squeezing. It was unclear if he had noticed them or not, though anyone who knew him would know it would be unlikely that he had, knowing of how he normally reacted to blood.

Comments

[icanhashat.livejournal.com]

There was a gentle creaking sound as a warning...before the crunch of old building and a yelp. A loud crash and the swirl of dust as a massive figure fell through the ceiling landing in a heap nearby.

Jayne groaned as his hangover beat away at the inside of his head without mercy. The last thing he remembered of last night was drinking and some idea about going back to Serenity and poking through the Doc's stuff for loot.

Somehow he'd lost track of that plan.

The pain in his head was only temporally forgotten as he cursed the pain in his back from landing.

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex dove out of the way with a yelp, though he really wasn't all that near the fallen roof.

He coughed and waved away the dust as it cleared, looking at the chaos. There was a man there.

He bit his lower lip, "A-a-are y-you o-o-okay?" Well, the roof was ready to fall down, but it was odd that a man had fallen with it. His misery was temporarily abated by concern. Temporarily.

[icanhashat.livejournal.com]

Jayne grunted and forced himself to a sitting position holding his head, "No." he growled through the pain. He peered through his fingers at the blond stranger, "Who are you?" He rasped his mouth feeling cotton dry.

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex's tear-stained cheeks managed to catch quite a bit of the dust, and so he tried wiping it away, sniffing. "A-A-Alex... Sh-should... Sh-should I g-go g-get someone? T-ta h-help I-I mean?"

[icanhashat.livejournal.com]

"No, shut up for a minute!" Jayne ordered as he tried to steady himself. His stomach threatened to mutiny against him any minute.

He made a raspy disgusting noise in his throat as he brought forth some flem clearing the passageway and spitting it somewhere into the darkness. "Mm'fine, just hungover." He muttered his sharp eyes settling on Alex again, "The hell's your problem?" He inquired noting the tear stained cheeks.

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Biting his lip, Alex did as he was told.

Oh, great. A drunk man. As the man turned his attention back to Alex he drew back fearfully. He swallowed hard, and looked away, "I-I... I j-jus'..." He felt weird telling the man about what had been going on, but he wasn't about to lie either.

"I-it's j-jus'... I-I-t's s-sorta p-personal..."

[needs-release.livejournal.com]

Sam had fled his room, leaving Nanashi behind. He didn't go to Medbay, instead he went somewhere away from the bustle of the ship, and where he could relax in peace.

In his mind, it was a constant battery of self-abuse. Chiding himself, beating himself about the head and shoulders, hating himself for breaking the most important promise he'd ever made in his life. Over the hours, these emotions rose to a crescendo, each time culminating in him carving a long, deep line into his arm with a claw, and ebbing as the scent of blood coaxed the anxiety away.

But under it all, was this sense of dissatisfaction. He'd drank blood from the stores he'd created, more than he usually did, but he still didn't feel sated. He wanted her blood again. That feeling, he wanted to have it again. But he couldn't face her. He knew he shouldn't feel this. He knew it wasn't healthy. Maybe if he weaned himself off after that night, he'd be okay. Would she ever just allow him to have some of her blood? Oh! The work on her physiology. That would be a good opportunity. He'd wait until this blew over, and get some more blood samples.

No! He shouldn't be thinking this way! That wasn't who he was! That wasn't the man Angelina loved! But would she still love him after she found out about this? She'd find out. He wouldn't be able to face her. She'd glamour him to get the answer if he didn't fess up. He knew he'd look incredibly guilty for it. It was this thought that pushed him to cutting the line and watching it seal again, more slowly than last time.

Eventually, one thing broke through the gloom. A familiar scent. Blood. A thrill ran down his spine. Could it be Nanashi? No, it was Alex. He couldn't let him see this. Despite whatever rapport they were building, this was too much for him to share. And with the added scent of blood in the air, he wasn't confident in what he would do at the moment. It tended to dampen his doubts by enhancing his predatorial instincts.

He crept along the wall, stepping as lightly as he could. There was a door to the outside in this room, and if he reached it, he could get away safely. He tugged down the sleeve of his lab coat and crept carefully, slowly. Crack! A board broke under his foot, and he dropped a bit from the floor to the subfloor. It was a distance of less than a foot, but the noise was loud enough to draw anyone's attention.

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex's head snapped up in alarm. "W-w-who's t-there?" His voice was hoarse and nosed stuffed. The sound of a muffled sob and sniffle gave away that he had been crying silently.

The nervous cracking of his voice indicated that he was scared. He was still waiting for someone to come and 'teach him a lesson'. Alex froze, listening carefully for any other sound.

It wasn't the first time something had fallen in the house and set him on alert.

[needs-release.livejournal.com]

Sam's heart pounded. He wondered if he should just stay still and wait for Alex to calm down again, or if he should fess up. After a moment, he decided on the honest route. "It's me, Alex," he said to him. "The floor caved in a little." He kept his tone friendly, and added a bit of an awkward, nervous laugh at the end. He just hoped the kid didn't get too suspicious.

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex stood cautiously, moving around the corner to find Sam with his foot in the floor and a tier three shadow hovering around him.

As soon as Alex turned the corner, the shadow struck out at him cutting his cheek. Alex merely closed his eyes against the blow, not bothering to even check it's severity. He just didn't care enough.

The blood-matted hair made Alex step back, however. It made his stomach churn even more than it would normally, on the mere principle that it was blood. He could care less about how it got there. Instead he just stared with his blood-shot eyes at Sam, even as the shadow struck out at his arm, doing him another shallow cut. Clearly there was something off, as the boy normally fussed over the smallest incision or blood-drawing.

"A-are y-y-you o-okay?"

[needs-release.livejournal.com]

He noted the cut, but he took a minute to realize what it was. "Uh. No, I'm fine. I've just got to get my foot out. I think a nail went through my shoe." He tugged and pulled. Soon, it came loose. "Yep, there it is." He tried to balance on one foot to pull it out, but he couldn't focus. He settled on quickly sitting on the floor and then yanking it out.

[found-myway.livejournal.com]

How'd Zuko find him?

Maybe he was late for training. Or maybe he missed it entirely.

Or maybe Zuko was just passing by, and has a very good sense of observation.

Whatever the case, he stands, frowning at the skinny boy for a while, before demanding "What's wrong with you?"

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex yelps, having not noticed Zuko entering. By this time he was out of tears, though his eyes were still red and puffy.

Zuko.

Why was Zuko here? The last thing he wanted was to look like this in front of Zuko. He wiped at his eyes and nose, as if it might actually help and then looked guiltily away, "I-I... I-I..."

Sorry Zuko, it seems like his speech functions are glitching more than they usually do.

[found-myway.livejournal.com]

He's looking Alex's arms, still frowning. "How'd that happen? Did you do that?"

Seriously? Did he, seriously?

Zuko knows the kid's troubled, but . . .

"Well, say something!"

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex looked down at his arms and went white.

He must have been gripping a lot harder than he thought.

He looked down at the ground, covering the wounds with his hands as best as he could. "I-I... I g-guess I m-must've..." Somehow the blood seemed less disconcerting now that he didn't really care if he lived through the night with the way he felt. It still made his stomach churn.

[dared-to-love.livejournal.com]

Ophelia was lost in the city, and it wasn't doing anything to ward off the feeling of being useless and insignificant. In fact, it was making it much worse. All of these huge, alien structures crowded together just served to remind her of how big this was, and how small she and her entire world were in comparison.

It was at some point during her wandering that she stumbled into an abandoned building, perhaps to get out of the fake sunlight for a while. It didn't take very long for her to discover that it wasn't actually abandoned.

"...Hello?"

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex moaned, "j-just l-leave me a-alooone."

Was it really so much to ask for, to be left in peace? Wherever he went he couldn't seem to get away from people. Did the ship decide to put a huge sign over the roof of this house flashing and blinking, suggesting that they ought to bother the guy inside.

[dared-to-love.livejournal.com]

She recognized that voice. "Not when you sound like that, I'm not."

Ophelia shoved some debris out of the way and approached the direction she thought it came from. When she found Alex he was... a sight. "What- oh- what happened?"

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

He groaned and moved to cover his arms. "Wh-why c-can't I j-just be l-left alone?"

[dared-to-love.livejournal.com]

"I'm not leaving you bleeding in a corner in a dark building." Ophelia said flatly, her desire to help overriding her bad mood. "Besides, I can't find my way out of here, anyway."

No need to thread if you've got too many!

[morphitudinous]

After guarding Renne, checking with Katara, getting some sleep, and catching back up on his work, Billy was finally ready to look for Alex. What Katara had said had really worried him, and Billy still felt guilt over his inability to help.

Those thoughts winding through his head, Billy explored until his senses caught wind of a disturbance. Coming closer revealed that tears and blood had caught his attention. There he was.

"Alex," Billy whispered, wishing that it wasn't so dangerous to come close when his friend looked like he could really use some comfort.

not at all! I've been wanting more CR with Billy!

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

"Nnng," was Alex's only response.

He was silent now, and fairly exhausted. There was only so much a person could cry before not being able to cry any more for a while.

At least now the words of the various people that had been trying to comfort him was starting to actually set in, logically at least. He still felt like his chest was trying to rip itself apart from the inside out.

[morphitudinous]

Billy crept as close as he dared and remained there in silence for a while, letting Alex breathe. Or attempt to.

"What hurt you?"

((OOC: No, Alex is not losing his powers. >_<'))

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

He didn't want to answer that question, but he still had his arms wrapped around his knees while holding his upper arms, so that his fingers were still over the wounds. He squeezed at his arms again, though not as tightly this time.

His breath was still shuddering here and there as he tried to remain calm, as he tried to not verbally lash out at Billy, telling him to go away. Maybe it wasn't so bad to allow his friends to comfort him. He just had to make sure to not use his powers any more, so his shadows couldn't take any more advantage of him- at least not any more than in the normal sense.

And Sam. Sam would help him get rid of them completely. And then he could be just like everyone else.

[morphitudinous]

Whatever it was, it was bad. That much was very clear. Billy searched his brain, trying to remember what Katara had said. She hadn't been very talkative.

"I wanted to help you earlier, but I had to stay and watch over Renne. Katara went in my place---don't worry, she's fine. I finally had the chance to come, so I wanted to return a favor."

He was quiet for a few moments after that. "You can't tell me, huh?"