Scene #8778: WPN Interlude: Red Sky at Morning

Owner	Pose
Meika Kirenai	During the long night. . . -Department of History- Lobotomy University's halls and classrooms have enough quiet places to lurk, and Meika has been making use of that. Heaven knows she needs it. The ache of time between the illusion's birth, and what's inevitably going to come, is still dragging on, and spending it wherever and however she can away from having to face the others. It's really hard to be sure if the silence is easier or harder than being aware of other's presence. Meika wouldn't know her answer. Hook might not either, as he wanders. X marks the spot, of course, to where Meika's hidden herself off at. A quiet classroom, its walls plastered up with faded and frayed-edge maps of the City, and posters about how best to wash hands this flu season. None of the metal desks are occupied, not even by the magical girl. She's sitting in a corner, back against the wall, propping her sketchbook up against her knees. It's easy to hear the scratchy-scratch noise of her pencil against the paper's texture. The sound stops the very second Hook crosses the room's threshold, where his foot lands. She doesn't look up, but it's obvious she knows he's there. Her pencil hasn't stopped moving. "Mist- Captain William? What do you want?" There's so little inflection in the girl's voice. Not quite defesive, not quite standoffish. The room's dusty air conditioning unit clicks on, and a jolt runs through Meika- the the pencil finally gets dropped, a muffled curse ringing out. "There's nothing that matters here, or- or anything that needs doing. So if you're lost..." A little shrug. She doesn't know the layout of the facility well enough to give directions. It's just the poking into the water to disturb a fish that swam up, provided said fish doesn't really mean to be here with her. Obviously, there's no good reason for any to want to in the first place. "I'm- I'm fine and breathing, still. If that's what someone sent you to make sure of." There. That's the first hint of thorns at the edges. The first defense, to brush him off just in case.
Captain Hook	It didn't take Captain Hook long to find Meika. Benefits of a Map With An X On It, et al. The sudden silence, the deafening of the pencil-scratch, provokes a single raised eyebrow from the Captain, and no more. No questions, no 'how did you do that,' no 'why did you do that.' That can always be asked later. Instead, he simply limps his way over on his crutch and sits down next to her. "What are you running away from, poor girl, that you need to go to Neverland to run from it?" His eye sinks shut, his head tilts back against the wall. "Come on, lass. I didn't come here for anyone but me and you. Captain Hook doesn't take orders, he agrees with suggestions, and no one suggested this at all." "I just thought, 'that poor girl wants to run from something so badly. I ought to see what it is.'"
Meika Kirenai	"W-what do you mean?" Instinctive. Feigned confusion is a shield. It doesn't last for even a full heartbeat. "...I'm not actually running anywhere. It's- it's stupid to think about. And I shouldn't, or something. I know. I- I get it." She doesn't, probably- she just understands the format. 'This is something wrong to want or think about, so don't.' "...It's just- just nice to think about that there's..." Frustration sits there, burning a hole through Meika's tone. There should be a noise of the pencil's wood squeaking, as Meika looks somewhat near the direction of the captain's linoleum-tapping crutch. "You don't have to pity me, you know. I hate that. If I'm basically just waiting to- to stop, why do I have to know it makes you feel bad, too?" "Why- why do you want to see?" A silent exhale. "I'm a magical girl. A temporary person. I d-don't get to stay once I grow up. As me, or... anything close. I guess. You're going to say 'Neverland', or whatever, is too good to be how it is, I know, or whatever. But- but staying forever is..." Exasperated, Meika's posture flattens. Her knees lower, the sketchbook clatters open, across her lap. Her eyes shift up to follow the rectangle patterns of foam cieling tiles, between hazy fluorescent lights. "Whatever. Get- get mad, if you want to."
Captain Hook	"It's nice to think that there's somewhere you can go where you can be free of a lot of the troubles of life," Hook says quietly, tilting his head to look at her with a smile on his face. "A little paradise, even for a little while, where you're the center of the whole world. It's a fantasy well-built for children, isn't it, especially children who can't stand the adults in their lives." He looks back at the ceiling. "Oh, don't worry. No pity. Sympathy, perhaps. Concern. But mostly I decided, on a whim, to care. It's nothing more complex than that. I wanted to, so I do. And you seem like you need someone to talk to, and, well, since I've only the one eye, I've gotten quite good at talking and listening to make up for it. Tell me whatever you feel like - I'll not tell a soul, and I'll not get mad in the slightest." A temporary person. He purses his lip at that, but doesn't say anything yet. The sketchbook falls open. "Do you enjoy drawing?"
Meika Kirenai	"...Yeah. Who doesn't like drawing?" Meika has a thought to snap the book closed, with how her breath hitches. But she doesn't. Unfinished drawings on the page aren't too hard to loom over and look at. At first, they look like they're just doodles of flowers, smudgy and skewed- like they're drawn sloppier than intended. A closer look, and it's clear that that's because they're being drawn like they've been pressed between the pages, to preserve- as if they were real, not flat dusty graphite. Daffodils, each and every one. "I don't- don't do it enough, I guess. But it's..." A soft shrug, her expression less tense. "Yeah." "...A paradise. That's- that's hopeful, Mister. But you don't have to baby me. I'm not- I'm not being childish." That part's a little defensive. It fades, though. "...I s-shouldn't be thinking about this. It's-" A blink, her words cut off. It's not surefire. It's not solved. I'm going to stop, aren't I? I made her want me to get out of the picture now. So that's it, right? Her shoulders hunch up. "I want to s-stay alive through it all. Even if it's not really death. B-but I don't deserve that. So it's just..." She pushes the notebook off her lap, and leaves it on the floor as she tucks her knees back up to her chest, boots scuffing against the floor. They're untied and dusty. Her fingers have raw scrapes on them, as she hugs her knees. "I think I hate the waiting."
Captain Hook	It's notable, then, that Hook doesn't loom over and look at it. He doesn't stretch his neck over to intrude into her thoughts, her private art, her private expression. He in fact keeps his eye on hers, as if saying, 'go ahead and show me if you like, but I won't intrude.' His smile is warm and gentle as she speaks. "Honestly, I'm a rubbish artist. Utterly rubbish at it." He holds up his hook hand with a wry smile. "Bit troublesome, holding a pen, or holding the paper still without piercing it. But you're right. I do like to do a bit, from time to time, even so. Something freeing about it. No story, no words. Just flowing thoughts onto a page." He listens, quietly. He doesn't say anything until she's done - he just lets her talk, as if he understands that so few people do, that so many want to just make her stop talking or make her shut up or tell her what she should thinking. He just sits, and listens, as he promised. Finally, he says, "Why, in God's name, do you think you don't deserve it, lass?" "Of course you hate waiting for the Sword of Damocles to drop on your head. You're convinced you deserve it, and it's the right thing to have happen, so you've decided that's the future that ought to come to pass." "So tell me why you think you don't deserve to stay alive through it."
Meika Kirenai	"...Come on. D-don't play dumb." Meika's eyes start to mist up. "You can tell I don't. Everyone can." She doesn't waste the breath it'd take to elaborate on the 'why' in the slightest. "...'It's something to be happy about'. Getting to move on and forget this all. Less work, right? God blesses magical girls to t-take up that mantle, just for a while. But I don't-" Her sleeve cuff wipes across her eyes, without a paired sniffle. "I don't know how to stomach that. Or something. F-for whatever talking about any of this ever does a shred of good. And being selfish isn't right in the first place. So someday I'll just-" Her words carry on on her face, for a second, even when no sound comes out. "I don't know what'll happen now. After this. Or w-what right I've got to want something or another, even if I want them anyway. S-so just forget it. Does that- does that answer that, Mister? Wouldn't you want to run, too?" Her posture has shifted far more cagey, even as words have kept spilling out. She leavesthe precious sketchbook on the ground as she scoots far enough away to slowly stand, trembling beneath long sleeves, until she can once more crouch to pick it up again and lay it flat on one of the creaking desks. She hops up to sit on the top of a different desk, shoulders hunched, eyes on the floor. Her feet dangle, kicking slowly. "And- and you're wrong, you know. There's story in drawing, too. There's got to be. Thought's got it, too, so why can't..." She breaks off, exhaling. "So when's the lecture going to come?"
Captain Hook	"What lecture?" Hook raises an eyebrow at her. "Of course I'd want to run. Absolutely awful, that kind of responsibility. And being told that you're not allowed to be selfish...Heavens, what a terrible thing to say to a young lady." "I told you the truth. I wanted to listen. Nothing else." He sits his head back against the wall. "It's not my prerogative to judge you. There's no reason to lecture someone who wants to escape from something that awful. What could I say to a crying young lady that wouldn't be just making you feel worse, and what in the world would I want to do that for?" He doesn't stand, because, well, the crutch is kind of hard to stand with. He sighs. "I'm a bit out of the loop, lass. I've no idea why you'd deserve it at all. From where I'm sitting, you've got a strong heart, you want to help your friends, and, yes, you've made a terrible mistake, but that's part of what being a child is about. Yes, people have died. Yes, it's awful. Show me a child who hasn't made an awful mistake and I'll call them a liar." "So tell me why you deserve it. Tell me why you think you haven't the right to want anything at all. Tell me why you think you're not allowed to be selfish, why everyone hates you." "Let me decide if I should hate you on my own terms; don't decide I hate you when I've only had two blessed conversations with you, hm? Who knows - I'll probably like you quite a lot. I'm fond of selfish people in bad situations. Call it a personal failing if you like."
Meika Kirenai	"...The lecture. Y-your point. That's how it always is. Even when people say they won't or aren't doing that." Meika's eyes don't roll, locked where they are on the floor- but her shoulders slump in a way that carries half the impression. "It's- it's fine. Whatever. Just forget I said that." A hint of Meika's magic laces itself through her words, trying to pull that previous thought out of the Captain's mind. Bad call. Meika sighs, while her voice drops down quieter, shakier and hesitant. "It's- responsiblity? I- I don't want to run from being this, Mister. I want to keep this. I- I've- put too much into this to want to. I don't have- have much else." '...But that's part of what being a child is about.' "D-don't. Don't say that. Please don't say that. I know it's not, I know it's n-not okay to... to..." She's trembling. Her feet stop swaying, where she's sitting. She doesn't face Hook to let the wet tears streaming down her cheeks be seen. At least when she cries, it's silent. "You are judging me, s-saying that. I- I don't want you to say it's not..." A sniffle actually does make its way to Hook's ears. "S-selfishness is a moral failing. Everyone should hate me, for m-messing this- for-" "It's- it's not like it matters what you think. S-so fine." Meika's feet tuck up now, actually, to the edge of the desk, sitting fully on top of it, crouched and small. "It w-won't change anything."
Captain Hook	Hook raises an eyebrow. "Forget you said it? Whatever for?" He's got no magical senses at all. "I said what I meant. I'm not here to lecture you. I've got no point to make. I'm here to listen, and I'll say it as often as you need me to." "I haven't a horse in this race, as they say. I decided I cared about you because you seem like you're in trouble. And I understand, I think, a little bit. The responsibility isn't what you're fleeing from - I'm sorry, I had that backwards. I thought you wanted to flee to Neverland to escape responsibility, but there's something else you're running from, and it's the end of your time with it. The end of your time as a magical girl. I understand, now." Hook sighs. "Well, you've got me there. I am judging you. But like I said, I'm a selfish, greedy sort. Sort of part and parcel with being a pirate. So it's a judgment in your favour. Frankly I'm more fond of people like you than the selfless sorts like the squirrel and that bastard tourist." He laughs a little. "People who claim to want nothing are always so much more awful than the people who know they're a little wrong." "You don't have to cry quietly around me, you know," he says kindly, "Feel free to cry as much as you want, as loud as you want. I'm going to guess very few people have told you that before, too. And if you don't want to cry, then that's fine, too." "I don't know if I have a magic solution. If you're desperate to try to go to Neverland for it, then, well, I won't stop you. I'll help you along, if you like, though it goes against my every instinct. If you've no other choice and your back's against the wall, then let me know. I don't know if it'll work and I can't promise it will - Hell, it probably won't - but if that doesn't tell you that I'm being honest with you, I don't think anything would."
Meika Kirenai	"N-nothing. Don't worry about it." Hook may or may not miss the flash of embarrassment that crosses Meika's wavering face. More and more often, that trick isn't working. Whether it feels like she's doing it wrong, or- No, it's too early, isn't it? I'm not losing this yet, am I? She takes a shaky second to evaluate- somewhere, distant clashing thunder peals out, muted enough to only barely be audible through the cinderblock and linoleum walls. Meika's hands ball up, nails pressing into her palms. Nope. Still fine. So why didn't... She gives up thinking about it. "...Right. Of course that's the reason why. You don't want me to be in..." She fades out, hands fidgeting together for a moment. I didn't ask you to. I'm fine. Please don't make me think I'm tricking you, somehow. "...I'm trying. T-to be selfless like I know I should be, Mister. I'm trying. I don't- that's not-" Meika bites the inside of her lip. "F-fine. I get that I'm bad at it. Bad at even wanting it. I don't..." "Y-yeah. Whatever. Thanks." 'Feel free to cry as much as you want,' "I- I'm not crying." Her sleeve wipes her face again. It's a stupid lie, on habit. "So- so thanks, but I'm fine." Meika's reaction to that offer, more than anything, is to put more effort into the clarity of her words, not in stopping crying in that awful silent way. Her face twists when she forms words, and is eerily vacant when she doesn't, trying to practice hiding that better, as tears still fall. "Against your instinct." Meika parrots. Her gaze Hook's way is quiet and scanning, looking at posture and demeanor more than his face. "And you don't think it'd even" "Thanks, I guess, If all you're trying to do is say something that'll feel better. If- if there's nothing else, I guess I'll... ask." It doesn't feel better. The magical girl's voice is heartbreakingly, meticulously flat. "Thought's what counts, right..? If- if that's the extent it is." "Do you feel better, or something..?" Shockingly, it's not a jab. The flat tone cuts out. It's a plea that at least some good stem from this moment, as desperate and pathetic as that lands as.
Captain Hook	"No, no." Hook waves his golden hook-hand in the air in front of her. "I don't know anything about your powers, do I? How should I know if it'll work? I'm a pirate. But I'd rather you at least have a shred of hope than none at all. And I'd rather you know that I'd help you even against my own morality if you need it so badly." "I'm not doing this as a charity case, you know. I realize the Lord is all about altruism but I think He and I will just have to agree to disagree on this one." "You earnestly just seem like you needed someone to listen to you for once, instead of tell you how you ought to feel, or how you ought to behave, or how you ought to be, or what you ought to think. And I thought, if your need was great enough, I'd betray my own feelings and tell you how to get there, because I couldn't rightly keep you from hope." "I'm not the one in pain, lass. It's writ as plain on your face as can be. If people don't pay attention to you, or make you feel you deserve it, or what have you, well, then, all I can do is offer you a hand and a hope. Might not be much of a hope but it's what's within my power." He shrugs. "I wish I could do more than just listen. I wish I could tell you everything would be alright, or that I'd have a solution in my back pocket or my wonderful treasure chest to magically solve your troubles, but I don't. I'm just a man. Not even a magical...boy? I suppose?" He screws up his face at that thoughtfully. "So..." He struggles to his feet on the crutch. "If you ever want to talk about anything, anything at all, no matter how bad you feel, no matter what anyone says, and know that someone's in your corner and will listen, that I can do for you. I promise you that no matter how awful you think you are, I won't hate you."
Meika Kirenai	"I- I shouldn't have to ask you to go against what's right." There's a small, guilty flinch from her, masked by pressing her sleeve cuff over an eye and holding it there, a makeshift shield to distance herself more than hugging her knees already does. When she speaks up again, she's mumbling again. "Whatever. Thanks, still, probably. There's time left, so I guess we'll have to see when there... isn't." Meika goes silent, at Hook's comment on altruism. Her posture tightens even more, and while even her breath and her heartbeat are silenced, there's a sharp, distant cracking noise. Doing wrong for my sake. That makes it my fault. Means I made you worse. I know it does. Meika breaks the silence, and betrays her own thoughtlines, with a whisper, as if there were any by standers to shield the communication from. {"How do you get there?"} It's a testing of waters, clear that she doesn't expect an answer here, or now. A pressure to see just what she can get away with squeezing from him. Or how much is her wrongdoing. Her posture shifts again, and she stares sidelong at the front of the classroom, at its chalk-stained blackboard. "I mean it. N-not to worry about that. It feels like an impossible thing, anyway. And I just- if it's just a stupid flight of fancy to begin with, of course there'd be no easy fix." "I don't want to talk." The way her words translate is just a little bit different from origin, abridged to just arrive at the solution from: 'Even if I want to, talking hurts more than I can handle right now'. Her words tremble as much as her limbs do. "I s-should be alone for a little. I want to be. And-" I don't believe that promise. She quiets up for good, as Hook makes to stand himself, her forehead hugged against knees and eyes shut as tight as she can, as if it'd do anything to assuage her own tears.