[PRP] empathy vs apathy (lily & nasir)

[azuredreams]

Once things were settled, once everyone was dismissed, Nasir had made a beeline for Lily. The younger girl was his sister in all but blood and every bit of her screamed at him that something was not right. Perhaps it was the uneasiness he had picked up from America (or at least he thought he did) or some of the nervous energy that he naturally had when it came to serious things like this that made him think so.

Her voice and gaze had still been off.

Trouble on his shoulder, he had immediately went to the moonwalker table and linked his arm through with Lily's to escort her back. "Come on, Lils," he said to her with a smile, "we're going to head back together."

Once they were out of the hall, once they were back on the familiar paths of other ashdown, then he could start talking to her and find out what was going on. He was worried, of course, that there was something he had missed with her. That something had occurred since he had seen her last that would leave her acting like this- a shell, almost. Lily was energetic and response and-

This just was not her.

AM1totic

one concerned broski is up!

 

[AMItotic]

Though most of the meeting had long since dispersed, Lily remained seating at her place at the tables, her hands folded into her lap. She stared out blankly at the finery of the hall, her posture uncharacteristically straight and her breathing shallow and serene. When Nasir approached, she acknowledged his presence with a flicker of her eyes, a single assessing glance, but she allowed him to hook arms anyway and moved to stand.

"That sounds good," she intoned, her voice devoid of pitch. Lily began to walk towards the entrance, making effort to match Nasir's pace but otherwise giving no affectionate cues, no leaning on his shoulder or soft touches or gentle hums. She seemed more interested in the architecture, the grand archways of the court and its stark elegance compared to the rest of the ruins in the otherworld. Perhaps it was by design: after all, if the moonwalkers and wargs had been purged some time ago, then only the nobles had any chance to maintain the splendor that they'd built.

"Do you think we made the right call?" Lily asked absently, pausing to glance down at where their elbows locked. She still wasn't sure what to make of the meeting or their decision, and was unable to drum up any particularly strong feelings about it one way or the other. It mattered, didn't it?

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

It was so horribly wrong that it was starting to make Nasir even more worried. This was not the Lily he knew, this was not the girl that meant so much to him, this was-

This was like Alexis who had come home devoid of things and only recently found something within again. Someone who had been hollowed out and shut down and-

"I think so," Nasir replied, brown eyes filled with worry as he looked her over. He came to a stop at a small alcove that was hidden behind filmy fabric layers. Pushing the fabric aside, a cushioned chaise lounge was discovered. Another time she might have teased him because this was the kind of spot people used for trysts but she probably wasn't going to at all.

Even when Nasir tugged her towards the seat and urged her to sit while he sat next to her. Trouble hopped off of his shoulder and glided the short distance to the back of the chaise lounge to settle and watch. Tucking a leg under himself, his hands reached back out for Lily's and curled around them. Both of hers cradled in both of us, worry making his brow knit together in concern.

"Are you alright?" A sigh. "I mean, you don't seem alright, so it's stupid to ask but-" Nasir chewed at his bottom lip, stopping himself from starting into a concerned ramble.

AMItotic

 

[AMItotic]

Lily did not resist as Nasir led her towards the alcove, nor did she make any sort of comment about its location or the sorts of activities that were likely to occur there. She sat down with little pomp and rested her hands in his, staring back out towards nothing in particular. "I think so," she answered after a moment of careful consideration, tilting her head as she regarded him evenly. "I was worried earlier that something might go down, but everyone just talked for once. It was nice." As she reviewed the highlights of the evening, something prodded at her mind, like a forgotten appointment or an upcoming deadline. Lily elected to ignore the sensation, but it persisted, and she furrowed her brow softly.

Anguish crashed upon her like a rogue wave, and she jerked away from Nasir, curling into herself as she cradled her head in her hands. "********>," she hissed, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Oh my god. What the ********. Everything is a**. Christ on a cracker."

azuredreams

 

[azuredreams]

Nasir was holding onto her hands gently, searching Lily's face and watching worriedly as she suddenly jerked away. "Lily?" he reached for her, not sure just what had happened. It was like everything she had pushed away suddenly came back.

His fingers curled around her shoulder, part of him wishing to ease whatever he could for her in this moment. Not that he quite knew that it would - that it could - that the anguish would ebb and once it did in her, it would rise in him.

"It's going to be alright," he said softly.

AMItotic

FINALLY, nasir is gonna help with a little bit of that

 

[AMItotic]

Lily melted under Nasir's touch, reaching for him with shaky hands. Each grasp was a blend of heartbreak and fear and frustration in a single dissonant chorus that made her head swim and her eyes leak angry tears. She barely registered Nasir's voice in the storm, but she shook her head in slow protest nevertheless, somehow still mindful enough of her horns to not jab him while the pain began to ache away.

"I--everything was happening, and then it all just turned off," she murmured, wiping the glassiness from her eyes. "I didn't feel anything, it wasn't there at all, I could just talk like everything was normal--" She remembered the conclusions she'd come to, and another part of her sagged, leaning against Nasir's shoulder as she let out a low, ugly whine.

"...Eve was right, Eve was so right," Lily hiccuped, touching a hand to Nasir's arm. "Sailor V was here, but she's not--I thought she wasn't differentiated. But she's here, and she's not pack, I would have felt it, and she's not a warg, so--"

It was too draining to piece the rest together. She buried her face in her hands.

azuredreams