Drops of Jupiter (Open)

Damn. Faye cursed in her head as she rammed into the doorway on her way inside. She could already feel the bruise spread across her arm joining the other ones.

Sighing she rolled down her sleave to look at the damage. The new bruise hadn't yet to arrive, but the rest of her arm was a colourful area of bruises all in various stages of healing. She was really tired...

Just really tired. Really, oddly tired.

Maybe if she just...

Faye slide down the wall sitting down and leaning against it. She would just take a break - just a little break and then she'd start again.

Just a little break.

Lena hadn't been feeling great at all today. Maybe it had something to do with the hangover she was experiencing right now. Come to think of it, she always had hungovers nowadays. But she got drunk pretty much every single day.

In her state, it was a wonder she even made it out of the Common Room without cursing herself. Or anyone else for that matter. She groaned in pain, holding her head. A few people were looking at her as if she was insane, but they can go fuck themselves. Who cared about them, anyway?

She slid down one of the walls, groaning and shutting her eyes, trying to shut herself from the world around her. But she had never been able to do that. As soon as she sat down on the floor, she turned her head to one side, letting her blonde hair fall in messy waves across her face. Her eyes widened at a familiar face.

"Faye?" she asked, swallowing. "Y-You're here."

At some point in time, Faye's eyes had drifted shut. Sitting on the floor, against the cold stone walls of the school wouldn't seem like a great place for a nap but really Faye was finding these days it didn't take much to make her want to fall asleep.

Some days were better than others it was true, but they all seemed to be...

Well getting worse.

She started at the voice, turning to see Le had suken beside her. So, she wasn't the only one who frequanted this place it seemed.

"Do you need a rest too Lena?"

Lena shrugged her shoulders. "I need a permanent rest, if that's what you mean," she replied, her voice dry with sarcasm. She didn't mean death, of course, but she wanted to rest for an awful long time and hope that when she woke up everything would be somewhat normal again. Nothing can ever be normal; that was just plain boring.

"I haven't seen you in a while," she breathed, tucking a strand of stray hair behind her ear. "Were you Crownapped, if you mind me asking?" She tilted her head to one side and smiled sadly, trying to convey a smile that meant, 'I'm-trying-to-be-nice.'

Faye tilted her head. She wasn't sure if that was what she had meant. Her brain was feeling oddly scattered at the moment, and she couldn't be bothered to keep track of such things.

"I only wanted a little rest," she stated quietly leaning her head against the wall, "a little rest then I was going to keep going but... I don't feel like its been long enough yet. I do quite like it here."

Faye returned the smile weakly - not because she didn't want to, but because she seemed to be doing everything weakly that day, "Why would I mind asking. Yes, I was."

Lena smiled kindly at the younger girl. It was obvious that the Crownap had taken some effect on her, but it was mostly her physical well being. She didn't mind, though; the Uchitel just needed someone to talk to other than her inner circle of friends.

"Yeah," she replied, "it's pretty here, isn't it?" She looked around at the garden and the smiling faces of people talking to their friends and such. A part of her wanted to be like them and talk to her friends, but another part liked her just where she was, away from the crowd.

"It's okay," she spoke in a friendly tone, "being kidnapped is a big deal. It might take months to heal, but if you need any help you can always talk to me. I'm not a therapist, but I'll listen." She smiled kindly at the other girl to show that she meant what she said. "Besides, staying here is the best thing I can do in my state." She laughed emptily before shutting her eyes again.

Faye looked about her with something almost akin to surprise. For until that moment she hadn't even bothered looking at it. That was unusual for her, particularily if it was some place like a garden - Faye adored plants. How could she have..

What was wrong with her?

"It is, isn't it?" she finally mananaged to say.

She bit her lip as Lena started to talk about the crownapping. She hadn't really thought it had bother her all that much but...

She shrugged, "Well it was pretty scary I guess... I mean, I-I-I was just outside minding my own business, and then-then it was there."

Lena shrugged her shoulders. "Well, it's all over, isn't it?" she replied, smiling. "What matters most is that you move on, and that you're still alive." She pursed her lips. "Speaking of which, what do you want to do when you grow up? I'm sure you have some ambition in you."

Faye nodded her head and smiled, "It is - and I don't know... after a few days it wasn't all that bad. I don't think the crow wanted to hurt us.. I think it was trying to protect us, from.. something."

What did Faye want to do with her life? She paused. She didn't really know. She had always sort of just wanted to get here - prove to her family that she wasn't worth ignoring. Now that she was here...

"I don't know... I guess, I like helping people... I always thought, maybe being a healer would be nice."

Lena widened her eyes and laughed. "I want to be anything but a Healer," she laughed in a kind tone, "but I don't like helping people with their injuries at all, because all they do is stab you on the back. Or at least they did for me." She shrugged her shoulders. If Faye took offense, Lena was really sorry, but that was what she really thought.

"I would prefer working in the Ministry though, but I might be kicked out for causing a bit of trouble!" remarked the young girl, smiling. "Department of Magical Law Enforcement, I would think. I like to make sure everyone lives equally."

"I can see that," she said with a smile, "I don't know... I guess I've always just wanted to do... something for people, even if they don't appriciate it. It makes me feel good I guess." Really she felt that she had spent so much time being ignored in her own home, that she was willing to do something for anyone - if she was helping them, then maybe... maybe she would be seen?

And really, it seemed, the only time her magic even remotely behaved, it was when she was doing healing spells.

"That's a nice goal," Faye said softly, "Even if you do end up getting kicked out for trouble."

Lena nodded. "I understand," she replied calmly, "different people have different things that make them happy. And that's nice to give people unconditional help. If only I had enough patience to do the same thing." She laughed bitterly, and crossed her heart and hope to die Faye didn't take it offensively, because she meant none.

Lena smiled, "I don't intend to get in trouble of course, but just so you know about my insane tendencies."

"I guess it does take a lot of patients... I never really thought about it."

She had never really thought about anything in the future much. They were all just vague objects somewhere in the distance. She didn't really know what would happen when she got there.

"Of course," she smiled sweetly, "I think the whole school knows."

She gave out a tinkling laugh, but stopped mid-giggle as there was a sudden lurch in her stomach. She closed her mouth immediately, rested an hand on her stomach and swallowed sharply, attempting to fight past the growing nausea that was working its way through her system.

"Everyone knows about me," Lena laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "It sucks, sometimes. They don't budge off when I tell them to. That's just bloody annoying." She stopped her laughter for a moment to smile at the younger girl.

Her face fell when she saw Faye rest her hand on her stomach. That can only be a bad sign. "Is there something wrong?" she asked, quietly so that nobody would hear. She could only hope it was something not too serious, because her Healing skills were about as good as mud. "Did you eat anything funny this morning? Or last night?"

Faye tried to give the girl a shakey smile, hoping to ward off the worry that was coming her way, but she didn't think it was all that comforting of a glance. She still was highly worried the very minumal breakfast she had eaten was going to make its reappearance.

Bitting her lip and taking a few deep breaths through her nose, she found that the nausea seemed to have been kept enough at bay to finally speak.

"I'm fine," she said softly, flasing the girl a wan smile. "I-I just haven't felt all that well recently. I am sure its nothing... just a cold."

Just a cold- that was all it was. A cold - so why did that nerodic little voice in her head keep whispering that it was something more.

Taking another deep breath she shook her head a bit - kind of regretting it when a dizzy feeling entered her - and spoke, "I find it hard to believe that you cannot get people to leave you alone."

"Merlin, I hope so; my Healing skills are shit," Lena replied, concern laced in her voice. She didn't like it when her friends turn out sick; one time, she tried nursing Anya back to health. Except, of course, Anya didn't get much better - Lena had to consult Patricia for help before anything got better.

"It's hard being popular sometimes, but the attention does pay off when I need it," she smiled, trying to sound overjoyous again. But not with this young girl so obviously sick. "You aure you're okay, Faye?" she asked gently.

Faye smiled softly, "Mine aren't too bad... though I've never used them on myself."

"Oh the things you have to put up with," she joked with a slightly smile.

"I'm sure I'll manage," she after moment. "Maybe a little nap will do me good, huh?"

Lena nodded. "Sleep will do you good. Patricia - she's my sister in law - says sleep can help with stomachaches," she smiled, "I can wake you up when it's dinnertime. I'll stay and watch you." She patted the ground below where she was standing.

Faye looked at a ground for a moment. Some part of her brain thought that she could not sleep on the ground, but the rest of her jsut thought that sleep in any form of any place sounded good right then.

She must have been getting a cold - that was it. Otherwise she did not know what was wrong with her - she wasn't sure she wanted to know otherwise.

Nodding her head, she slid down slightly, curling up and blinking tiredly.

"Thank you Lena," she said softly before drifting off.