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A Homecoming of Sorts (Open) - Loren - 08-22-2019
Loren stood before the Launceleyn Manor, feeling uncertain. He’d left this life behind consciously, to forge his own path in the world. Indeed, he’d thought it was important to make his own space, his own life, his own home. At the time, he'd known that unless he broke ties with his family, they'd strangle him with them. And he'd wanted to see what he could do on his own, without anyone holding him back or down or accountable.
He’d failed spectacularly at every single one of those endeavors.
Indeed, he’d basically thrown the last year away, keeping to himself. There hadn’t really been a good excuse for it either: life in this new world had proven to be too much for him to handle, what with the gods and monsters and lost love and simply everything. So he’d retreated, becoming a broken shell of his former self.
But now he’d emerged from said shell and was ready to come back to those he’d once knew. Unfortunately, it might already be too late for that. He’d seen the news of Edrei’s death on the Notice Board and his heart had plummeted. He’d already lost so much, and knowing that he’d never see her again, never be able to reconcile their broken relationship struck him to his core. If only he'd come back sooner, then maybe he could've prevented her death. But as always, Loren wasn't enough.
Which might be why he was here, now, at the threshold of the manor, hesitating. He wasn’t sure whether he’d be welcome there after his disappearance, but he was family, and so was she, and despite not being there for her at the end (and indeed, barely knowing her at all), Loren would at least pay his respects. He owed them that much, and they owed him that as well, even if there weren't any of them left.
But it was hard making himself take those last few steps towards the enormous house. He vividly remembered the heated words and terrible argument he’d had with his family—and with Edy especially—before he’d stormed off, intending to prove himself to them, and to cut ties. But once again, he came crawling back, too weak to stand on his own.
Or maybe he was finally tired of being alone, and needed to find what little family he had left. Too many were gone already: his mother, Cyton, Neron, Zariah apparently, and now Edrei. And while Loren had hated his family with a burning passion for what they’d done to him, he’d loved them too, in his own way. All he ever wanted was for them to accept him and to build a life alongside them, not apart from them. It was too late for that now, but he owed it to those who remained to try to rebuild from the ashes. If there was no one else to carry on the Launceleyn tradition and name, then it fell to him. But he'd do it in his own way.
Which is what he'd wanted to begin with, and it left him empty inside. Wishes had a funny and terrible way of coming true.
But the phoenix had always been his favorite mythical creature for a reason. No matter how many obstacles it faced, how many times it died, it was always reborn, good as new, sometimes better. It was time for Loren to emulate that.
So he pushed through the open doors and waited for his eyes to adjust to the gloomier interior.
RE: A Homecoming of Sorts (Open) - Beatrix - 08-22-2019
[say]"Mother, what do Launceleyn's do when family members die?"[/say] she had asked one night as she sat on her bed, letting her mother carefully comb her hair after a bath.
"My, was a morbidly specific question. Why do you ask?" her mother had cooed gently.
[say]"I overheard someone talking about burying people in a...uh...Cemartitery or something but you never said there was one back home."[/say] she had explained. Home of course had meant the family compound, not the nation itself.
"Because there wasn't one my dear. Launceleyns are born from magic, and to magic we return. Our bodies are burned with the power of fire magic, as well as our belongings. And then, when we are naught more than smoldering ash, our families move on and the time for mouring is over."
[say]"Oh! That makes sense."[/say] It was simple. Pragmatic. Logical. It fit in the narrative of her heritage that she had memorized and now she asked nothing more.
But oh, she should have. What did you do when there was no body? What did you do when you ran for the streets, not sure you could trust the so called monarchy that enslaved your family once before? What you do when you were just a ten year old girl trying to figure out how to survive with your four year old brother and now had to come up with a magical funeral?
Figure it out, Beatrix. Launceleyn's make order in chaos and overcome all obstacles. That sounded like something her mother would say.
So she snuck back into the manor, coming through a back entrance and making her way to Edrei's room, Jace clinging to her back piggyback style. Once in, she set him down, finding a bag in Edrei's closet. [say]"Okay, Jacey, we gotta put all of Aunt Edy's stuff in here. Got it?"[/say] she said. Jace nodded, quiet as usual, toddling over to the bed and pulling out whatever he found and dutifully taking it to the bag.
But as the duo began collecting things, Beatrix froze, hearing a noise. Her eyes narrowed, nose wrinkling. [say]"Stay here, Jacey. Don't make a peep. Get under the bed okay?"[/say] she whispered to him. The boy nodded and hid as told. Quietly the young girl tiptoed out, carefully avoiding the squeaky boards on the stairs. Still hidden in the shadows, she poked her head around the corner and spotted...
[say]"Loren?!"[/say] she said, gaping in shock.
RE: A Homecoming of Sorts (Open) - Loren - 08-22-2019
It was eerily quiet in the manor. Either everyone had come to pay their respects already, or they had not shown up yet. Or maybe no one was going to show up at all; it wasn’t as if Edy had been easy to get along with. Then again, Loren had never really tried. He felt a pang of grief at that thought. Though she’d hardly treated him well, the former librarian hadn’t made much of an effort to understand her. In at least that way, he’d been like the rest of his family: he couldn’t accept people as they were and tried to force them to change.
He couldn’t go back and change the past. But he could pick up the pieces they’d left behind, and make something beautiful out of the shards. Maybe, just maybe, the Launceleyns could become a force for good, and not just destruction incarnate.
Probably not though: everything Loren touched just seemed to fall further apart.
He took a step forward and examined the spacious interior. But it looked unkempt, dusty, as if it hadn’t been cleaned in a while and no one lived here. Loren narrowed his eyes. That didn’t match the family he remembered; they’d been sticklers for propriety and for appearances, and such a slovenly home was beneath them. Allowances could be made for grief, but unlike him, most of his relatives didn’t get sad. They got angry instead.
He’d never really had the famous Launceleyn rage, though he’d shown sparks of it now and then. But at heart, Loren had wanted his family to be happy, that’s all. He’d just disagreed about what that meant. And towards the end he’d realized he couldn’t, wouldn’t sacrifice his own happiness for there’s. Maybe that made him selfish. Or maybe it just made him a person as fallible as anyone else.
A noise caught his attention and he turned towards it, suddenly wary. The big house had been so quiet that the creak of a floorboard echoed. Though he didn’t really think it was a threat, he watched the area it had come from cautiously, pulling a spark of magic from deep within. It was his family’s gift, and it felt good feeling it course from deep within. For the first time in a long time, he felt like he was doing the right thing.
Then a familiar head poked out from the shadows and Loren’s jaw dropped, all thoughts banished at the sight. “B-Beatrix?” His voice was raspy, as he hadn’t used it much for quite a while. He stood there stunned at the sight of the child. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her, nor could he forget the insults she’d lobbed his way.
But mostly he couldn’t get over the fact that he had some family left. He felt tears spring to his eyes and he took a stumbling step forward before stopping, unsure how she would react. “Y-yes, it’s me, Loren.” She’d grown since he’d last seen her. But he was mostly distressed to see that she looked wild, unkempt almost. Apparently Loren wasn’t the only one who’d failed to take care of himself.
But she was a child. She wasn’t supposed to take care of herself. And surely Zariah wouldn’t have left her precious Bea alone in the manor. “Where is everyone?” Loren knew that Edy was dead—he felt tears flow more freely at that thought—and that Zariah was gone from the board. But….
And then it occurred to him that they might be the only two left. The thought left him reeling; the once proud Launceleyns were broken, dead, defeated. All that was left was their prodigal son and their young daughter. Maybe there’d be no coming back from this for the family after all. But even as he thought that, Loren felt himself squaring his shoulders. Regardless of how he himself felt he needed to make sure someone was taking care of Beatrix, and the gods knew he wasn’t going to be able to.
He could barely take care of himself.
RE: A Homecoming of Sorts (Open) - Beatrix - 08-23-2019
Beatrix gaped at him, still standing on the stairs. She simply couldn't believe it. He had been gone for a year- a whole year - and suddenly he was here again?! [say]"Where is everyone? Where have you been?!"[/say] she said, dark eyes welling up with tears as her lips pursed. [say]"The Voice sent mom somewhere and she didn't come back. Edy got eated by a Landshark. And I dunno where Peter is but I don't like him anyways."[/say] she said still, following orders like a good young Launceleyn.
Quickly she wiped at her eyes. Stupid tears. Stupid emotions. [say]"I don't even know where Bobi went. It's just me and Jace and we are only here cause we gotta get Edy's things."[/say]
RE: A Homecoming of Sorts (Open) - Loren - 08-23-2019
Loren felt tears spring to his eyes. The weight of everything came crashing down in the face of Beatrix’s innocent, but painful questions. “I don’t know.” He didn’t where everyone was; he couldn’t exactly explain where he’d been, since it was more a state of mind than a place; and he certainly wasn’t sure how to react at the tears he saw in her eyes. So he simply repeated, “I...don’t know...” in a broken and defeated voice.
Then she started throwing lots of information at him, and he had trouble keeping track of it all. “Peter? Bobi? The Voice? Who...what...B-Bea I know you’re scared and sad. Me too. But I need you to slow down. I don’t know what or who most of those things are.” His own tone hardly lacked the authority of other Launceleyns, but hopefully his mere presence would help steady her.
Someone needed to calm down, and Loren wasn’t sure he was capable of it. The former librarian puzzled over the name Jace, who was apparently here; then Loren’s eyes widened as his mind supplied an image of a toddler Zariah had randomly shown up, claiming it was Loren’s twin’s child (or Loren’s nephew). He seriously doubted that was true, from the Neron he knew. But clearly Zariah had adopted this child, which meant Loren needed to find a home for two children.
RE: A Homecoming of Sorts (Open) - Beatrix - 08-23-2019
Beatrix's nose wrinkled at his answer, a little sniffle emphasizing it. [say]"You don't know?! What does that mean were your eyes closed??"[/say] she said, confused by the statement. Even when her eyes were closed she knew where she was. How did you just not know that?! But then he said she was scared and she huffed, putting her hands on her hips. [say]"I'm not scared I just thought you were dead and now you're not!"[/say] she said huffily. She was ten. Patience was not her strong suit.
The young girl lifted her hand to count off on her fingers. [say]"Bobi is Edy's companion bobcat she found in the infirmary. Peter is a Launceleyn from another dimension or something so he got brought into the family and he is a total dweeb but he always has candy. The Voice is the goddess that makes the Ascended and she was in the Spire and got put their by the other gods cause I don't know I guess she wasn't very popular or something."[/say] she said with a sigh. There. Background.
RE: A Homecoming of Sorts (Open) - Loren - 08-23-2019
Loren could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on. All he had wanted was to quietly come back, maybe take a little bit of time to figure out the best way to tell those who’d worried—or apparently, mourned him, if Bea’s words were anything to go by—that he’d been lost and was hoping to be found. Now, though, he had a whole lot more on his plate than he’d ever imagined he would. And his already fragile psyche wasn’t holding up well under the pressure.
Still, he’d hold himself together for the kid’s sake, if no one else. Running a finger through his hair and then rubbing his temples, the former librarian tried to come up with some way to explain to the child why he’d been absent. There wasn’t really any way to do that, though, so he settled for a simple response. “Basically, yes. My eyes were closed, and I was a long way away.” It was true enough, in its own way He closed said eyes now, for real, and took a deep, steadying breath. “But I’m back now. And I’m clearly not dead.” At least not physically: the jury was still out on whether he was really living or not, or just going through the motions.
Then Beatrix dumped a lot of information on Loren all at once, and he had trouble keeping up with it all. There were bobcats and other dimensions and apparently some goddess who made the Ascended and maybe also a divine conflict, and all that was way over his head. Instead, the summoner focused on what he felt were the most salient pieces of information: Beatrix was here, clearly in need of care, presumably Jace was in a similar state, and there might be some other Launceleyn named Peter around. “Bea, is Peter here right now? And can you take me to Jace?” He’d make sure the kids were alright and then find someone who could explain the situation a little more clearly than a ten year old raised by Zariah (not the most patient of people) could.
RE: A Homecoming of Sorts (Open) - Beatrix - 08-23-2019
Beatrix groaned with irritation as Loren went on. She forgot how irritating brothers could be. Jace was still little and didn’t really get into trouble. But now here was Loren acting like he was some big shot guy after being disappeared for a whole year. Where was he when mom became Queen? Where was he when she disappeared? Where was he when Edy died? Nowhere, that’s where. Her brows furrowed, glaring at him as best she could. [say]”You left us Loren. We are a family and you left. We needed you and you disappeared.”[/say] she said angrily, tears welling up in her eyes.
[say]”I already said I don’t know where the dweeb is! Probly with his butt-kissin’ boyfriend!”[/say] she said, exasperated. Adults never listened, ever. Only Aunt Edy ever listened to her. Her lips pursed and she sniffled, rubbing her eyes. [say]”I don’t got time for this, I gotta get Edy’s stuff and have a funeral for her.”[/say] she huffed, stomping back up the stairs.
[say]”You can come out, Jacey it’s fine. Keep getting stuff in the bags.”[/say] she said. Dutifully the little boy crawled out and went right back to work collecting Edrei’s things.
RE: A Homecoming of Sorts (Open) - Loren - 08-23-2019
Well, Beatrix, despite all the crap she’d been through, hadn’t changed much. She was still a bit of a brat, who thought she knew better than her elders.
Loren immediately felt ashamed at the thought: she was a child who’d been through unspeakable tragedies, and was coping with it all the best she could. That he had also suffered didn’t matter. He was the adult here, and it was time he started acting like one. His own grief could wait until he made sure the people who were apparently his responsibility now—his family, he reminded himself firmly, what little was left of it—were taken care of.
Whatever else he’d learned from the Launceleyns, and however much he might hate it, Loren knew family came first.
So no matter how much Beatrix’s words stung, no matter how much they cut him to the core, he needed to remain calm, patient, and understanding. The tears in her eyes brought a similar wetness to his own, but he refused to let them fall. “You’re right. About all of that.” He couldn’t deny that he’d abandoned them. Granted they’d treated him like crap for so long that it was remarkable he’d lasted as long as he did (the threat of being tortured again went a long way). "But I came back. And I’m here, now, and I’m still family. And I will do my best to make it up to you.” He didn’t promise, though; Loren wasn’t willing to make that promise, and he didn’t think she’d believe him anyway.
Once again, Beatrix was correct and Loren felt more and more like a fool. “You did say that, I’m sorry. It was just a lot to take in.” Then and there he resolved to pay more attention to her: even if the information was overwhelming, she clearly needed him a lot more than he needed her. "Do you know where his boyfriend lives?" He'd hesitated before asking (it was still weird to think of that being okay), but it seemed like a logical place to look.
Then his heart almost broke when he heard that Beatrix was planning Edy’s funeral.
He did cry, then, though silently, as he’d trained himself to do. Crying would bring punishment, and so he’d learned how to do it without being seen, or noticed. There was no one here to hurt him, but old habits were nearly impossible to break. Doing his best to keep the sobs from his voice, Loren started walking forward, following Beatrix up the stairs. “Let me help you.” Assisting with the funeral was the least that Loren could do.
Then there was another suckerpunch, though at this point Loren was running out of emotions. Jace, instead of coming to greet Loren, went back to putting together Edy’s things. The former librarian’s eyes widened at some of it (a lot was definitely not appropriate for children, which, given it was Edy’s stuff, wasn’t surprising), but mostly Loren was depressed at the sight of these two children shouldering burdens far beyond their years.
It wasn’t shocking that Jace didn’t recognize his supposed uncle. Loren still didn’t believe Neron had gotten Zariah knocked up (less the getting someone knocked up, since his twin was highly irresponsible, more the fact that it was Zariah of all people), but they all thought Jace was Loren’s nephew, so the former librarian probably should do the same. Kneeling down, Loren picked up one of the sex toys strewn on the floor, taking it out of reach of the kids. “Jace? It’s your Uncle Loren. I know you probably don’t remember me, since I was gone for a long time, but I’m home now.” Glancing at Beatrix, Loren added softly, “and I’m family.” How the mighty had fallen: the once proud Launceleyns had been reduced to children and a fool.
RE: A Homecoming of Sorts (Open) - Beatrix - 08-23-2019
Beatrix knew she was right, she didn’t need him to tell her that. She didn’t make a habit of lying (unless it somehow suited her purposes) and instead called everything like she saw it. [say]”Are you family, cause I am pretty sure you don’t abandon things you care about.”[/say] she huffed, her tone a mixture of hurt and upset. It wasn’t fair. He disappeared and didn’t have to deal with anything and now he got to come back and just…do whatever? Act like he cared?
[say]”No I don’t know where the butt-licker’s house is. I don’t really care though cause he is a dweeb and now if I want candy I got other places to take it from.”[/say] she said, going around Edrei’s room and pulling things out. There were toys for Bobi and some men’s clothes – not that she put any of it together. Then she came across a huge drawer of…very lumpy sticks with flat bottoms. She started pulling them out and putting them in the back, deciding she wanted to keep a particularly large one she found. Beatrix waved it around, brows furrowing. Weird. She didn’t know Aunt Edy liked collecting whacky sticks. She carefully tied it to the sash around her waist like a sword, before continuing on.
Jace looked up at Loren when he was addressed, wide-eyed, attentive, seemingly more alert than most children his age would be. ”I know you.” he said softly, carrying random articles of clothing from under Edrei’s bed to the bag. ”We-come back.” he said, clearly not of the disposition to be bothered by Loren’s reappearance like Beatrix, but he was also much younger, and his understanding of the world was quite different.
RE: A Homecoming of Sorts (Open) - Loren - 08-23-2019
Loren felt guilty, and bad for Beatrix after everything the poor girl had been through. But there was a limit to that patience and understanding, and there was only so much abuse he would take from a family member before he was forced to defend himself. So, as she accused him of being a terrible family member the librarian felt it all come rushing back to him: the torture, the fighting, the derision, all the horrible things the Launceleyns did to him. He’d gotten over some of it, but he’d never be truly able to overcome the mental and physical scars they’d left. “The family abandoned me first, Bea. I know you don’t believe, or understand that, and I’m not asking you too. But they failed me, and yet I still tried to do my best for them.” His words were soft, but they carried a world of hurt. His best had never been good enough. And the one time he'd asked for something of his own, they'd rejected him.
Making a mental note to find candy right away, Loren debated the efficacy of asking more after Peter. Given Beatrix’s reaction to the ‘Launceleyn from another dimension’—and given the fact that Loren was already on thin ice here—he decided it was best to deal with that issue another day. It helped that he had another problem to worry about, since right before his Beatrix took one of Edy’s dildos and tied it around her waist like a sword; Loren felt a panicky feeling rise in his chest as he imagined, well, anyone’s reaction to seeing that. “Hey uh, Bea, I know that the uh thing you just picked up looks fun, but it’s a...toy for adults. So can you please give it to me?” He held out his hand expectantly, not willing to take it from the girl by force. That’d be worse than taking candy from a baby.
At least Jace was accepting, although that probably had more to do with his lack of understanding than anything else. Loren got down on his hands and knees so he was on the same level as the boy. “Thank you.” It came out probably a bit too gravely, but the librarian was trying. It wasn’t like he had any experience with childcare: the other Launceleyns wouldn’t have let a weakling near the youngest among the family, for fear his ineptitude would rub off on them. “What’re you doing? Can I help?” The words were awkward and stilted, but at least he was making an effort.
RE: A Homecoming of Sorts (Open) - Beatrix - 08-25-2019
[say]"I don't remember anyone abandoning you. You were the Left Hand, you were the second in charge."[/say] Bea quipped at him, still collecting random odds and ends of Edrei's physical possessions. That didn't sound like abandonment. That didn't sound like failure. [say]"You know what I think? I think you don't know how to let go when people are mean to you or don't agree with you or don't think like you do. And even then it doesn't really matter, you wanna know why?"[/say] she said, pausing long enough to put her hands on her hips, eyes narrowing at him in a hardened stare. [say]"Because just because someone else makes you mad, or makes you upset, or hurts you doesn't mean you have to react. Mom taught me that and I get that it is hard cause I am no good at it too, but you didn't have to leave. I was still here. You're my big brother and I wanted you here. But just because you got upset at the adults you left them and left me too - cause that's always what adults do. You all react and then kids gotta clean up your messes."[/say] she huffed, then returned to work.
Jace just stared at her, then looked at Loren with wide eyes, a light frown on his lips. "Bea talk a lot." he said quietly before continuing to put things into the bag.
[say]"No!"[/say] Beatrix shouted at Loren, glaring at his outstretched hand and holding on to the head-bopper she hand on her hip. [say]"I want part of Aunt Edy's stick collection to remember her by, it's mine!"[/say] she snapped.
"Gotta get Andeddy's things to burn them back to magic." Jace said quietly, repeating what Beatrix had told him, not fully comprehending that it was a Launceleyn style funeral he was describing. When asked if he could help though, Jace looked into Edrei's closet and pointed to the top, where there were things well out of the reach of both he and Beatrix.
RE: A Homecoming of Sorts (Open) - Loren - 08-26-2019
Loren just stared at Beatrix, dumbfounded and incredulous. There was no way this child could stand there, with a straight face, and lecture Loren about not taking things too personally and then tell him said lesson came from ZARIAH of all people. Zariah, drama queen of petty grudges, who took greatest offense at the slightest of slights. Zariah, who couldn’t handle people telling her no and raged against them when they did. Zariah who had never once turned the other cheek, and who seemed incapable of doing anything but overreact. “Guess Zariah wasn’t one to practice what she preached, then.”
He knew it was a mistake as soon as the words left his mouth, but it was too late to take them back. Besides, he was sick and tired of all this fucking judgment from his family; child or no child, Beatrix needed to get a more complete lesson in the family history before Loren smacked her. “Sure. Maybe I never learned how to let go. Maybe I overreacted.” He could feel his temper, which he rarely unleashed, building. “Or maybe, just maybe the rest of the family couldn't accept that I needed my space, which I politely asked for, and freaked out at me. Or ‘got upset,’ as you say. Maybe when I realized that being the Left Hand wasn’t something I wanted after all, when I gave up trying to please them and chose my own happiness, chose a different life, a different path for myself, they should’ve supported me, listened to me, accepted my decision, instead of trying to drag me back to an existence that brought me nothing but pain.”
He knew that he should shut up, but he couldn’t stop himself. “Oh, and I’m sorry that I couldn’t just get over the fact that they tortured me! Was I supposed to roll over like the good little puppy Zariah always wanted me to be?” Angry tears filled his eyes now, and he choked back a sob. The fact that Beatrix had the nerve to talk to Loren about cleaning up messes, when that’s all he’d done for the family time and time again finally left him speechless. Or maybe it was the rage and sorrow swirling in his heart. He should’ve known better than to come back to the manor.
Then he caught Jace in his peripheral vision, and Loren froze, shame replacing the storm of feelings from before. This was not the way to get through to the children. But Beatrix’s words had awakened every painful memory he’d suffered at the hands of his kin, every injury they’d inflicted on him, every taunt, spell, mocking laugh. The scars of it all, which covered most of his body in a nightmarish mishmash, seemed to burn with a fire hotter than anything they’d wielded against him.
So he sought out that cold, cool place he’d been forced to discover at far too young and tender an age. He welcomed it as the walls closed around him and his emotions were shut out. Taking one deep, shuddering breath, Loren regained his tightly held control. “I’m sorry. Clearly there’s a lot of blame to go around.” He turned so that he could look Beatrix in the eye. “But whatever happened in the past is in the past. I know I left, before, know I wasn’t there for you. I’m here now, though, and not going anywhere. So, if I promise to let go of the past, can you do me the same?” It was unfair to ask this of her, but Loren couldn’t stay here if she was going to keep tossing baseless accusations at him with her incomplete understanding of the situation.
It was too similar to what his other relatives had done to him to bear for long.
Turning to Jace now, Loren tried to smile, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m sorry, Jace. I didn’t mean to yell. Can you forgive me?” Hopefully the librarian hadn’t just ruined his chances of befriending his tempers. Then again, given Edy and Zariah’s legendary tempers, the boy was probably used to it.
Of course then he still had the godsforsaken dildo to deal with. Beatrix wanted a memento of Edy, apparently. Loren could understand that, even approve of it. But they could find her something else. “I understand. I miss her too. But we can find you something of Aunt Edy’s I promise. But as I said, that stick isn’t for children.” He was still using his most patience voice—though he had no idea how, under the circumstances—but he was nearing the end of his patience. While he didn’t want to take it by force, if she refused to relinquish it, he definitely would.
Jace once again proved a crucial distraction. At the mention of burning Edy’s things, Loren closed his eyes, a pang of sadness overcoming him. It was the Launceleyn way, although a body was usually more appropriate. Maybe there was no body, though; Loren hadn’t seen anyone he could ask. When the librarian opened his eyes, he followed his nephew’s pointing finger to the top of the closet. Smiling, Loren got to his knees, but didn’t bother standing up fully. Instead, with an effort of will he grabbed the items with his telekinesis. As he floated them to the ground, he checked them carefully; anything kid-appropriate, he brought to the ground, while everything for adults stayed in the air.
Most of the objects stayed in the air, and Loren was glad he didn’t have to touch them with his hands.
RE: A Homecoming of Sorts (Open) - Beatrix - 08-26-2019
Beatrix stopped what she was doing when Loren yelled at her, Jace mirroring her. Both of the children's expressions dropped entirely, masks that would be all too familiar to the older Launceleyn covering their inner thoughts and feelings. There wasn't a Launceleyn alive over the age of two that didn't have that expression locked down. It was necessary to survive their rigid system of order and power, painstaking trainings and harsh punishments. Beatrix said nothing until Loren finally got through the angry part of his rant. And for a moment after she said nothing still. Instead she glanced towards Jace, and upon receiving the look, the boy quietly resumed his task of picking up.
Bea looked back up at her older brother then, still deadpan emotionless. [say]"You talk about it like you've been treated differently or worse. We've all been tortured. We've all been through it. Mom made me practice my magic while zapping me with lightning. If I didn't do the spell right she made it stronger. Made me do it til I didn't flinch or cry or basically even notice it."[/say] she said dryly, eerily calm given her age - too calm given her age. As much as she acted out, Beatrix had learned to force maturity when faced with hard situations. It was the Launceleyn way. [say]"You're not supposed to roll over like a puppy. You're supposed to get stronger. You're supposed to recognize that because of it we all have an unbreakable bond that no one but your family will ever understand. No one will ever understand you like we do. Once you accept that, it all becomes easier."[/say] she said, almost as if reciting something she heard far too many times.
He gave his bargain and she shrugged. [say]"Are you actually going to forget the past, or are you going to hold on to it for a billion years until you explode again?"[/say] she asked. Jace merely looked mildly confused at Loren's apology. People yelled all the time. He didn't understand. So he just nodded. Agreeing was always ended good.
But once more Loren tried to take her stick and Beatrix sighed. [say]"I don't care if it isn't for children, Edy loved it and so I will too. Besides, I am planning this funeral so I will keep what I want."[/say] she huffed as she continued collecting things that were explicitly Edrei's.
Jace didn't much pay attention to what stayed in the air. He was content to take what he could reach and place away.