Things haven't been going well at all for the young girl. The carnival had been all but ruined for her due to what happened the night she decided to go into the funhouse and ran into Lucifer. The terrible bruising was a dark purple around her throat in the shape of finger-marks and the frostbite was a waxy white that made her cry when she looked at it, so right now, it's all being somewhat badly hidden beneath a yellow scarf.
She also isn't sleeping. The thing she had seen in the mirror, the creature too big to be seen all at once but had stared her down... it haunted her nightmares until she just decides sleeping sounds like the worst idea.
So she's out, later at night than she should be, heading for the classroom she shares with the Heroes. Maybe if someone's nearby, she can sleep better, hence why she has her pillow and blanket with her.
But as she steps outside, a smell hits her she's not familiar with, making her nose wrinkle, and she looks over and sees- "Cas?" A little surprised to see him.
He doesn't do this often where others can stumble upon him, preferring privacy. Even then, some things haven't changed, but he needs the solidarity of the open air to calm whatever truths he's sitting on. It isn't particularly nice, smoking the joint all the way down until there's nothing left to save, and it's what he's doing when he hears someone say his name. A blink, smashing the end of it against the step he's sitting on, and Castiel inclines his head.
Oh. It's her. The girl from the carnival.
"It's late." As if that's not obvious. "Shouldn't you be inside?"
"Shouldn't you?" Kaede says quietly, turning her gaze away from Cas. "I just... was going to go down to the classrooms and work on cleaning out the one I picked. I couldn't sleep-" A lie. She can't sleep. Not when every time she closes her eyes some terrifying thing in the darkness is staring back at her. "-so I decided to do something other than sit in my room."
But the 'can't sleep' is obvious - Cas had seen her not long ago and she hadn't had the darkness under her eyes, then.
He frowns, the normal ease he feels after smoking slowly dissipating. Castiel can note the differences as easily as he'd once been able to as an angel; perhaps not to a great extent, but he recognizes sleeplessness, fear. She's afraid of something, and walking around Zelien when it's like this isn't at all safe or comforting. He leans back and gestures to the empty spot beside him.
"You can sit with me." A pause, and he doesn't look away from her. "What happened?"
'What happened?' It's a good question and one she's not even sure how to answer, mostly because she isn't sure how much to tell. Kaede sits down beside Cas, nose wrinkling a bit at the weird smell, putting her pillow and blanket beside her.
"...someone... hurt me," she finally says after a long pause, not certain how to phrase it. 'I saw something scary in the house of mirrors' sounded stupid in her head, like a little child's story, even if it was the truth. This is at least more concrete.
He watches her the entire time, mostly silent as he does so. There's something in her body language that he can't read, barely attainable as they are because Castiel is still a stranger to her. Kaede is a stranger to him as well, but he's known so many in his existence that it hardly matters anymore. With her confession, his mouth drops a little.
If he'd been anyone else, perhaps he would have chastised her, then, for thinking to wander around on her own. He could have done it anyhow; Zelien is no place for a child. But that does not make them strong, would not help them overcome this hurdle of hardly acquaintances that lay between them. Remembering before the slight tension when he'd touched her head, the hand he sticks out pauses just a moment to quietly ask permission before touching her shoulder.
"Show me." Phrased almost like a question, he's gentle and careful about it. He couldn't heal her, but the physical is not the only part that would need seen to.
There is a long, quiet pause from Kaede. She doesn't pull away from his touch; she's sure now Cas is only a normal guy and nothing comes of his touch. Still, it takes a while for her to work up the courage to tug down the edge of her scarf, not removing it entirely, showing the terrible damage around her throat.
She doesn't say anything, she doesn't need to say anything. The shape of the bruising is very obvious, after all, but the frostbite damage around it might be a give away as to who did it.
He can't keep himself from gingerly touching the skin that isn't marred, a curious examination as the frown he wears deepens into something that's almost unreadable. Perhaps he recognizes it. Perhaps he doesn't. This sort of work is hardly strange to someone who's seen so much, but he can't jump to conclusions anymore.
Besides, what could they do when they began to point fingers?
"The person who did this to you," he begins quietly, allowing several lengthy seconds to pass before doing so, "what do they look like?"
Kaede sucks in a breath when Cas touches her skin, not moving at all. She's super sensitive about her throat right now, but it's a small sign of trust that she doesn't immediately jerk away from the touch. She swallows hard, just a flicker of that image passing through her mind. The burnt, terrible thing she saw in the mirrors in the funhouse.
"...his name... his name is Lucifer, and he looks like his face is melting." Her voice is very soft, remembering less about the terrible face and more about his eyes and that thing behind him that she doesn't even fully understand.
Something dark and alive flashes across his face at the mention of that name, how she describes him monument to the fact that neither of them could be mistaking his brother for someone else or vice versa. His current vessel, the way that it is, could not be described any other way. Melting from the sheer power it's trying to contain.
"I know him." More than he should. More than he wants to. "I'm sorry he did this to you."
She takes the statement at face value, assuming that Cas must know the 'man'. Does anyone even know what he is? That.. That thing inside of him!? But Cas' expression when she tells him nudges her to believe that maybe, like Dean, Cas does.
"...he's... he's a terrible person. Or whatever he is." She tugs the scarf back up, hiding away the damage, looking down at the ground while her fists clench at her sides. "He was so angry and I didn't do anything to him!"
It's one of those unfortunate circumstances, knowing or being related to someone because of fate and not choice. No one really wants to know Lucifer, but it's not as if he can escape this inevitability. Castiel gives her her space and leans back, looking up to the sky as if the answers will fall to him from there. He wishes it was that easy.
"Have you never heard the stories?" There's a sigh, something crumbling inside as he recalls them himself. "It's what you are that makes him angry."
"Stories?" Kaede questions, looking up at Cas in confusion. There is a pause while she tries to decipher the rest of his question, before finally coming up with, "he doesn't like that I'm a NEXT?"
Because what else is she different for? ...Being a girl?
"I don't know what a NEXT is," he answers, resting back against his palms and stretching his legs out a little. How long were they going to be here? How long would it take for her to understand? And who would he tell about this? Would Dean care? Would anyone? "But that doesn't matter. Haven't you heard his name before?"
From the bible, maybe? Or from others who knew? It's not that uncommon.
Kaede thinks about it for a moment, sitting there in silence as she thinks back over the last few days. Then, she lets out a breath and realizes she isn't sure who the last person she touched was, and decides not to show him the easy way. "NEXTs are... people with super powers, where I came from. My Dad, Barnaby, Ivan, and me... we're all NEXTs. It stands for something, but I can't remember what."
She gives a little shrug; it doesn't matter all that much to her what it means. "The Devil. Lucifer. ...But this guy's touch is cold, not... fire." She touches her throat slightly, shivering, remembering.
Super powers. It's not as if the concept is peculiar in any way, humans with an extraordinary gift of something, but it isn't what he's concerned with. Castiel needs her to understand the implications behind Lucifer and what he does, why he does them. He's not an expert by any means, but he knows enough to help keep her safe--even if momentarily. So, he shakes his head a little at what she says.
"Some stories aren't always true," he offers, finding the misconception almost laughable. "What you need to know is that he's dangerous, and there are few things that could truly stop him." Some aren't even readily available to them in Zelien either. "You're lucky."
"I know. I mean I knew before but all I did was bump into him! I even apologized... He seemed almost like, amused at first but then I saw something in the mirror and I turned around and-"
She shudders, remembering all too well what she saw. Her fingers clench tighter. "Something stared back at me when I turned around. It was huge and black with burnt wings and dark. Darker than anything. It scared me... It was like a bird that had gotten caught in fire and this was all that was left."
So she'd seen those images the house of mirrors had projected and offended Lucifer. She's really lucky then, though he can only imagine what had been shown in those mirrors. His frown deepens, tossing several thoughts about before he finally settles on one.
"He's an angel cast out from Heaven. I would imagine Hell isn't so kind to those that end up there." Not in the sense that it saves an angel from the torment, but he says it politely. Castiel knows that it isn't kind to anyone. He'd been there, after all. Still--
"You should have it looked at before it gets worse." By someone who can actually do something to fix it.
"Have it looked at??" Kaede looks at Cas like he's lost his mind. "By who? I tried to talk to Professor Xavier about it, but he just... he decided to tell my f-" For a moment, just a moment, she almost says family, then realizes with a start what she's about to say and fixes it. "To tell Barnaby, who I got angry with me because he isn't happy with my choice and I said something really stupid and now he hates me."
Sometimes, things get a bit expanded in the mind of an eleven year old, but she honestly does believe Barnaby is angry with her. She hasn't seen him since their 'fight'.
"Anyway, Professor Xavier won't help... who else can I ask?" She had told Barnaby she wanted to find out all of the choices, but so far, she hasn't seen anything else. Beside Cas, Kaede slumps a little. "I can live with my throat hurting. I just want to get some sleep."
But Cas' words about hell and angels suddenly makes sense. "...his wings... were all burnt off by hell." Even a child who doesn't follow that religion, who lives in America, knows enough about hell that it burns and is full of fire.
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indecadence) wrote2013-05-24 08:48 pm
Late Week 12~
She also isn't sleeping. The thing she had seen in the mirror, the creature too big to be seen all at once but had stared her down... it haunted her nightmares until she just decides sleeping sounds like the worst idea.
So she's out, later at night than she should be, heading for the classroom she shares with the Heroes. Maybe if someone's nearby, she can sleep better, hence why she has her pillow and blanket with her.
But as she steps outside, a smell hits her she's not familiar with, making her nose wrinkle, and she looks over and sees- "Cas?" A little surprised to see him.
no subject
Oh. It's her. The girl from the carnival.
"It's late." As if that's not obvious. "Shouldn't you be inside?"
no subject
But the 'can't sleep' is obvious - Cas had seen her not long ago and she hadn't had the darkness under her eyes, then.
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"You can sit with me." A pause, and he doesn't look away from her. "What happened?"
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"...someone... hurt me," she finally says after a long pause, not certain how to phrase it. 'I saw something scary in the house of mirrors' sounded stupid in her head, like a little child's story, even if it was the truth. This is at least more concrete.
no subject
If he'd been anyone else, perhaps he would have chastised her, then, for thinking to wander around on her own. He could have done it anyhow; Zelien is no place for a child. But that does not make them strong, would not help them overcome this hurdle of hardly acquaintances that lay between them. Remembering before the slight tension when he'd touched her head, the hand he sticks out pauses just a moment to quietly ask permission before touching her shoulder.
"Show me." Phrased almost like a question, he's gentle and careful about it. He couldn't heal her, but the physical is not the only part that would need seen to.
no subject
She doesn't say anything, she doesn't need to say anything. The shape of the bruising is very obvious, after all, but the frostbite damage around it might be a give away as to who did it.
no subject
Besides, what could they do when they began to point fingers?
"The person who did this to you," he begins quietly, allowing several lengthy seconds to pass before doing so, "what do they look like?"
no subject
"...his name... his name is Lucifer, and he looks like his face is melting." Her voice is very soft, remembering less about the terrible face and more about his eyes and that thing behind him that she doesn't even fully understand.
no subject
Something dark and alive flashes across his face at the mention of that name, how she describes him monument to the fact that neither of them could be mistaking his brother for someone else or vice versa. His current vessel, the way that it is, could not be described any other way. Melting from the sheer power it's trying to contain.
"I know him." More than he should. More than he wants to. "I'm sorry he did this to you."
no subject
"...he's... he's a terrible person. Or whatever he is." She tugs the scarf back up, hiding away the damage, looking down at the ground while her fists clench at her sides. "He was so angry and I didn't do anything to him!"
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"Have you never heard the stories?" There's a sigh, something crumbling inside as he recalls them himself. "It's what you are that makes him angry."
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Because what else is she different for? ...Being a girl?
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From the bible, maybe? Or from others who knew? It's not that uncommon.
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She gives a little shrug; it doesn't matter all that much to her what it means. "The Devil. Lucifer. ...But this guy's touch is cold, not... fire." She touches her throat slightly, shivering, remembering.
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"Some stories aren't always true," he offers, finding the misconception almost laughable. "What you need to know is that he's dangerous, and there are few things that could truly stop him." Some aren't even readily available to them in Zelien either. "You're lucky."
That he hadn't done more than what he had.
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She shudders, remembering all too well what she saw. Her fingers clench tighter. "Something stared back at me when I turned around. It was huge and black with burnt wings and dark. Darker than anything. It scared me... It was like a bird that had gotten caught in fire and this was all that was left."
no subject
"He's an angel cast out from Heaven. I would imagine Hell isn't so kind to those that end up there." Not in the sense that it saves an angel from the torment, but he says it politely. Castiel knows that it isn't kind to anyone. He'd been there, after all. Still--
"You should have it looked at before it gets worse." By someone who can actually do something to fix it.
no subject
Sometimes, things get a bit expanded in the mind of an eleven year old, but she honestly does believe Barnaby is angry with her. She hasn't seen him since their 'fight'.
"Anyway, Professor Xavier won't help... who else can I ask?" She had told Barnaby she wanted to find out all of the choices, but so far, she hasn't seen anything else. Beside Cas, Kaede slumps a little. "I can live with my throat hurting. I just want to get some sleep."
But Cas' words about hell and angels suddenly makes sense. "...his wings... were all burnt off by hell." Even a child who doesn't follow that religion, who lives in America, knows enough about hell that it burns and is full of fire.