[FIN] Lend a Hand

[BlackFireKitsune]

While her days in the hospital had seemed agonizingly, miserably slow, as if time had slowed down to half speed for the sole reason of torturing her, they had at least offered some respite from her mother. At home, she had no such reprieve from the woman's constant, weepy grieving and occasional outbursts. Sera was similarly distraught over her father's death, of course, but her grieving was twofold - for him, and for the loss of her left hand. As much as she wanted to get away from the dismal, depressing apartment - which was miserable enough on its own - she wanted to avoid the outside world wherever possible, which meant locking herself away in her room pretty much as soon as she returned from the hospital. Even her phone went ignored, the various text and ring tones going unheard until the device had eventually drained its battery and died.

Unfortunately, her solitude wasn't meant to last. In one of her mother's outbursts, she had all but driven the girl out of her room and outside, with the instruction that she was too out of sorts to do any grocery shopping herself. So it was that the brunette found herself outside once more, though she looked very unlike herself; she had no make-up on, no hair accessories of any sort, and wore a very thin hoodie (to help hide her missing arm) over a tanktop, pants, and flats. Seraphine had absolutely no intention of doing any grocery shopping, though, instead wanting nothing more than to turn around and go back inside. Reluctantly she departed the apartment building but immediately felt lost, as if she was floundering through an ocean of grief and depression for any hint of a foothold or maybe an island not too far away. Not that she would find any such thing at the moment. Instead, what she came across were none other than the so-called friends she'd had in high school - the very ones who had ceased communication with her when her family lost their money. The light sweatshirt she wore, though fairly useful in hiding her arm from casual glances, did little against their critical gazes, and their reactions were immediate and harsh. They berated and belittled the brunette for such, as they deemed it, an ugly deformity, even if their only indication of the missing limb was the limp fabric halfway down her arm. Her fingers on her other - now only - hand instinctively curled around the end of her left arm defensively, and though she would have fiercely defended herself and turned the offensive on them before, now all she could do was want to turn and run away. All she could do was stand there with her head bowed as tears fell down her cheeks.  

[Suudonym]

Luke had been denied all contact with Seraphine, having been refused to visit in the hospital, denied any response to text messages or calls, and turned away at the door of her home when the hospital's staff informed him that she had been discharged. Every moment he was left to his thoughts was fraught with total anxiety over the condition of his friend as he struggled to accept the idea that she was alive without being able to see or even exchange words with her. It was with necessary enthusiasm that he had filled his time, making good progress with the new moves he had chosen for his team, but as he made his way towards one of Camphoreon's shopping centers in pursuit of restocking his restorative items, he was distracted by a small commotion from the opposite sidewalk.

It didn't take much more than a glance to understand roughly what was going on: a group of strangers speaking maliciously, a familiar individual with a tearful face, an empty-mouthed sleeve that renewed haunting memories and images. And having understood that glance, Luke understood that he didn't approve of the situation. One of the offending girls would promptly experience a pokeball to the side of her head.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Luke's aim was perfect, and the thrown ball hit one girl squarely on the side of the head. Their taunting paused. "Ow! Who did that?!" The girl demanded, looking almost insulted as she quickly looked around for the offending party.  

[Suudonym]

Luke made no secret of the fact that the pokeball had belonged to him, approaching the assembly and leaning briefly to snatch the impromptu projectile up from the pavement, "Aw, I thought for sure I was going to catch some kind of rare pokemon." He looked coldly to the girl who had been struck, the calm in his expression betrayed by the contempt in his words, "Since you're clearly not human."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The girl seemed surprised at the boy's sudden appearance, but that quickly changed to a similar contempt. "Seriously? That's the lamest insult I've ever heard in my life. And what the hell is your problem anyway? Get lost," she huffed, making a shooing motion at him.

Sera seemed surprised at Luke's appearance, but merely raised her hand to wipe the tears from one cheek.  

[Suudonym]

An expression of surprise crossed his face. "Wow, and capable of human speech too! Keep it up and maybe some day you'll trick someone into thinking you're marginally intelligent." He folded his arms expectantly.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ugh, fine." The girl crossed her arms as well and jutted her hip out. It was obvious he wasn't leaving, so clearly they'd have to find another opportunity later. "If you're going to be a little pretentious asshat. C'mon girls," she said, gesturing at them to leave, but giving Luke and Sera one rude parting gesture before the trio departed.

Sera watched them go, still silent, and again tried to wipe the years from her eyes, though it appeared to be a failing endeavor as more kept falling to replace them.  

[Suudonym]

He snorted lightly, bemused that she would prescribe a term to him that fitted herself so perfectly. That wasn't important anymore, though, and he evacuated the encounter from his mind, turning to Seraphine as the dark calm in his expression was replaced by relief and concern. He reached a hand to her shoulder, "Are you okay? Do you want to go somewhere?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

She wanted to say she was fine, wanted to say yes, let's go somewhere, anywhere else, wanted to talk and act and feel like she normally did. None of that happened though, and instead she practically launched herself into his personal space and clung to him, her tears falling freely as she started weeping into his shirt.  

[Suudonym]

Her sudden action surprised him only briefly, for it didn't take much imagination to determine the cause. Her wrapped her shoulders tightly in his arms, glad that she wouldn't be aware of the pained grimace in his expression. "We were worried, you know," he said, failing to entirely mask the tension in his voice.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Her shoulders started trembling as she continued to weep and cling to him, his words furthering upset her with the guilt and knowledge that she had worried and possibly upset her friends. A few mumbled words escaped her through her tears, but were severely muffled and unintelligible, but the tone at least was apologetic.  

[Suudonym]

Discerning at least that apologetic tone, he shook his head slightly, dismissively. "I'm just glad you're alive. So, so glad. Thank you."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Her trembling ceased briefly at his words, and she raised her head long enough to ask a confused, "Why?" What did he have to thank her about? She should be thanking him, she realized suddenly, but she couldn't form the words to do so. Asking a one word question had been difficult enough.  

[Suudonym]

The question about his gratitude led him to the realization that it was actually kind of a strange thing to express in the given situation. "Um," his disposition was mildly sheepish, "for being alive? Sorry; I guess that's not really something people say thanks about…"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

No, that wasn't a think people usually said thank you for; she shook her head a bit to agree, but remained clinging to him and downcast for a few more moments. Eventually she realized that he probably didn't want her clinging to him so desperately, so reluctantly she let go and stepped back, her face flushed as she again tried to wipe the tears away with her hand. At least this time she appeared to be succeeding for the moment, though she was still unable to form any words. Not that she could even think of any anyway.