thirteen ♢ spam + voice

[versusnurture]

[After a violent eviction from the last place she ever truly considered to be home, Abigail doesn't know if she'll ever be anything but transient again. The Barge was a close thing, though. It made her feel safe more than it made her feel vulnerable, and so while she doesn't exactly thrill at the prospect of being yanked back here with no warning, she understands. It's the Barge's way. And it's only temporary.]

[Bittersweet.]

[She is a little different, though not unrecognizable. Her hair is longer, her spine straighter, her expression hovering not between neutrality and a scowl but between inexplicable pleasantry and a not-always-nice smile. When she walks, it's like she's balancing books on her head, an angel and devil on either shoulder, both quiet for most of the time. And she doesn't wear the scarf; her scar stands in stark relief against the paler skin of her neck, as it had in the past few months here.]

[First, she looks for people who were important to her: Ben, Harvey, Arkin, David, Ned. Alana, if she's still here, though a large part of Abigail hopes she isn't. Then she looks for Hannibal, to get it out of the way.]

[Then she situates herself in the library or on the deck, alternating between the two, with a book open in her lap. She is unbothered by events. Anyone else can come to her.]

voice

For anyone who hasn't been here before and doesn't understand what's going on: there isn't anything to panic about, at least not yet. I've been here before, so I might be able to answer some of your questions.


( ooc; abigail is from after her own graduation!! weh. )

Comments

[warisart]

[Ben watches her, less openly curious than the man she knows, but no less intent; he sees the flicker of her smile, the way she doesn't cry, and above all that she means every word she says.

Trust is not something he does; it's not something he can do, outside of his unit. He learned that the hard way, confirmed over and over and over again, its own kind of conditioning, but she means every word she says, and she says he is something to her. He is a lot to her. And she is a lot to him.

Someday. He nods, finally, one precise motion; tenses and relaxes a muscle in his jaw. And in the kind of voice that secrets are told and secrets are kept, asks quietly:]

Are you a princess?

[versusnurture]

[A princess? It's tempting to laugh. She's never been anything further from it. For the longest time she was a prized daughter, then she was a prize, then she was a daughter again but no longer prized. A princess, no. There's never been any kind of royalty in her.]

[She doesn't laugh at Ben; instead, she lowers her voice to match his tone. Secrets, just for them.]

I'm not a princess any more than you're a prince. I'm just a girl trying to learn a few things.