markofthebrave | [ Action, Voice ] .031

[If you are passing by the Southmost bridge at just the right time, you will find it hard not to notice the girl in an unusual dress and boots facedown on the ground. One shoulder is strangely disjointed, and there are bruises up and down her arms, particularly violent ones around her wrists. She looks like nothing more than a broken and discarded doll.

As the sun continues to set, the coolness in the ground will cause her to start to stir. When she sits up, she grimaces, moving as if there might be something wrong with her ribs. If you happen to be looking at her as she does, you'll notice the sickening blue and yellow bruise spread across her right collarbone, the lovely shiner on her eye.

The wonderful thing about Luceti? Sometimes there's a journal right where you need it. She barely has enough presence of mind to make sure the picture points away from her face, but her voice is very tired.]

Sokka, Aang - I'm back. [Sorry Suki, Zuko.] I'm okay.

[10 100 (thank you, Shikamaru) percent filter to Chopper, Raine]
Hey guys, if you're there - I could use a little help.

[She doesn't want her brother and Aang to see her like this.]

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[ Relieved sigh goes here. ] That's good.

[ Go go smile powers! ] O-oh, I'm fine! Everyone's still getting over the whole thing, but- you know, just one of those bad kinds of weeks. Nothing we couldn't handle!

[Her smile's a little stretched - after the news she's heard she's not up to calling him on this and she knows it. Besides. They are okay, and she believes that.]

Good. I heard it was really bad, but I know that you guys are able to take it. You're strong enough to be able to hold on to who you are and walk through the fear and pain. So I know you're going to be okay.

[She's got faith in you and your crew, Usopp.

...and she might be preaching to herself too.]

Right. It's how we all get by in Luceti. [ Katara included. He'd welcome her to the club of those who have been kidnapped, but that would just be mean. ]

...so did anything good happen this past week?

[ Now he totally has to think of something good that did happen because he'll feel like such a jerk if he doesn't. Uhhh, uhhh. ]

... Sanji got a really funny costume.

[Tired smile is go - she still has friends here, she's OK, this is just one more thing, she's OK.] Yeah? What was it?

Just a second. [ Better seen than described, because he has no idea what it was supposed to be :|a

And a less intricately detailed version of the costume Sanji sports in this (http://oda-hates-me.livejournal.com/20341.html) post gets sketched out. Oh, how he loved those shoes. ]

[You're her hero, Usopp, seriously. That actually manages to make her smile.]

Poor Sanji. He must have hated that.

[Do you notice that slightly dead tone in her voice? It's got nothing to do with her mallynapping.]

[ ...he hates when people sound miserable. ]

I think if he wasn't so mad about being stuck in it, he might have started to appreciate the shoes. They looked like they would really hurt to get kicked with. [ Which he may or may not know from experience. ]

[Sorry, Usopp. She's sad right now and she has a hard time hiding that.]

Yeah, but how did he walk in them?

[ He's sorry ;A; ]

Practice. There was a lot of tripping.

[That sounds... heh. She's a blank. Sorry, Usopp. Life just sucks right now.]

Well, I'm glad it's over now.

Yeah.

[ One of those kinds of days. ]

It gets better. Kind of like when you have a really bad dream.

[...they're not talking about the same thing, it feels like. And... she wants to take that comfort and hold on to it, but... it feels wrong to let Usopp try to make her feel better without him really knowing what's wrong.]

...Aang went home. And they took Zuko before they let me go.

Edited 2010-11-08 15:56 (UTC)

[ ...Ah. With Luceti being Luceti, he's actually been down that road before, too. You lose a friend for what could be forever, and you get to be safe, but only so you can be safe knowing that another friend is where you just were.

And that's the kind of thing, surprise surprise, that doesn't feel better with words and pretending it's fine. So, uh. Have a silence of decent length. ]

I'm sorry.

[She tries to smile at him.]

Thanks.

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