video. open to all lockets.

[cerebral]

I need help. [Charles looks more like how he'd been when he arrived in the Drabworld nearly two years ago - longer hair, a full beard, only this time he was dealing with piecing his mind together bit by bit rather than recuperating from years of substance abuse. While he talks, he continually looks off at something at the corner of his eye, blinks, before refocusing on the locket again.]

Not with getting anywhere, or anything like that. Look - I can't be the only one who was wounded during the battle. I was before then. I'd gone through something some weeks before, but... I don't know. I don't know if everything made it worse, or if it kept it from getting better. [He runs a hand through his hair out of nervous habit. Wherever he is, there's not a lot of people surrounding him and with good reason. There are times when his telepathy threatens to overwhelm him again and it's better to be away from large crowds right now.]

It's my head. My mind. [There's a deep sigh, before he pushes forward because fuck his career as a spy - ] You remember when you shared memories with one another? I can do that naturally. And because of everything - I can't sleep very well, not very well at all.

[There's more to it than that but doesn't want to get into the nitty gritty; he's sure people can infer. Mumbling - ] Where can any of us even go right now? [A moment later and he clears his throat.]

I would also...I'd like to know who's still here. Even if we haven't met in person before. Fuck, even if we hated each other. It's a wild new world and, God - [He smiles for the first time, bright and abrupt, in spite of everything that happened.] There was mention of a party? I need a party. A week's worth.

Comments

[cerebral]

[It's only a matter of time before he knows he'll see her. Charles finishes up what conversations he's having with others, snapping the locket shut when he hears the flapping of bird wings, before rising to greet her proper.

That apparently means wordlessly putting his hand around the other half of the apple and raising her hand to kiss it, eyes still on hers and betraying something wordless and fierce. Here they are, together, when there were so many moments he wasn't sure he'd see her again. Here they are and, using her presence as a way to anchor himself, she seems more real than anything else.]

Am I allowed to kiss you now, or do I have to do as I'm told first? [He means it to sound light and playful like it would have in the past, but it carries a solemn quality.]

[scinlae]

[ The greeting disarms her, if only a little, gifting him the slightest of smiles despite her overwhelming worry. Knowing his gift she does her best to silence her thoughts, to hide her mind with her own magic. It may only help a little, enough to keep surface thoughts from escaping into his own, but she tries at least. ]

There is time enough to do as your told, Charles. It needn't be this moment.

[ So, you are allowed. ]

[cerebral]

[Her efforts don't go unnoticed and they are appreciated. He gives her a small smile of his own to match, before cupping her face with both hands and leaning in to press his lips against hers. All the quick intensity in him seems to melt away with it.]

For the record, I like it when you tell me what to do. I need that more often than I'd like to admit. [He knew he thrived best when people challenged him instead of acquiesced with what he wanted vs. what was needed.]

[scinlae]

[ She finds that she misses his lips the moment they part, reason for finding him slipping through her fingers in the face of it. In the face of his hands, his lips, the timbre of his voice. She has always said he was damnably charming, even before he managed to sneak his way behind her walls. ]

Then you will eat, but not before you kiss me again.

[ A stubborn and selfish woman she is, wanting perhaps too much but wanting nonetheless. ]