watch its fire burn into the floor — Margaery

[Warringkingdoms]

  [font=trebuchet ms]Rin wasn’t completely sure what had gone on between Bastille and Margaery, other than that Bastille had apparently thought Margaery capable of attacking and turning Lunafreya. For he to assume she could assault another clanmate for the sake of turning them into a vampire, the rift between them had to have grown incredibly severe. Margaery was not the only one in need of psychiatric help, Rin presumed- Bastille almost certainly required help as well, especially given that he was leading at an extremely young age, and had become leader under unfortunate circumstances- but she still had yet to figure out how best to talk to Bast. She already had some idea of how to approach Marg about the situation, if a limited one.

  Cautiously approaching the door to Marg’s room, Rin checked her bag to ensure she had enough supplies handy- one never knew when an emergency could break out- then knocked on the door three times. ”Margaery? May I come in?” she asked softly, adjusting her scarf with one paw.

  /ishpost

[Margaery]

[color=#b14767] ❁  ❁  ❁

It was the sound of three soft knocks and Rin's voice that returned Margaery to reality. She would blink copper-hued eyes, sheathing claws that had been buried into the soft material of her bed as she stared at the barren walls of her room, not knowing how long she had been gone. As for where her mind had transported her, admittedly she did not know- the only thing she could recall was the warm feeling of a fresh body trapped underneath her teeth and the satisfying taste of blood as she drained her victim alive. But she was back now, her hunger all but crushing her as she slowly made her way to the door, a lifeless expression embracing chocolate features. She knew that people were worried for her, could feel it in their stares as she wandered listlessly past them. Rin had been the first to actually confront her about it though, assuming that was why the cleric was here that is.

[color=#b14767]"Rin," She greeted quietly, her eyes drawn to the female's neck. Luckily a scarf covered it, prohibiting a line of direct sight to her jugular, [color=#b14767]"To what do I owe this pleasure?" It was obvious that Margaery was trying to switch on her typical charm, but the lack of a smile and the dullness of her tone betrayed her attempts. Instead, she could only manage a faint sigh before pushing open her door and beckoning the other femme in. [color=#b14767]"I wasn't expecting company, admittedly. You caught me at a..." She paused, thinking over her next words carefully, [color=#b14767]"alright time."

[Warringkingdoms]

  [font=trebuchet ms]/possible tw: mentions of suicide methods in paragraph 1

  When Marg didn’t offer acknowledgement within the first few moments, Rin’s mind immediately jumped to the worst conclusion- it took her reminding herself that she couldn’t smell blood or death to stop herself from barging into the room. Biting her lip, she waited at the door, but ran through all of the possible scenarios in her head. If she did have to break in, and found Marg hanging from the ceiling, she would have to cut whatever was suspending her there and possibly administer CPR. If Marg were poisoned, then she would have to force feed her yarrow. Those were the two main methods that wouldn’t have spilled any blood, but she had to be ready for anything.

  Thankfully, Margaery opened the door before Rin’s thoughts could go any further. ”I was just checking on you,” she answered softly, though she couldn’t miss the way that Marg’s eyes briefly shifted towards her neck. She should have brought some sort of blood that Marg could feed upon, since Marg was clearly starving. As Marg let her in, Rin stared at the blank walls, absorbing the other’s words without offering a reply immediately. “Alright time,” yeah, right. There was nothing alright about any of this. The question was how to approach the situation directly without being too callous.

  Taking a deep breath, she silently wished for good luck, then turned to Margaery and said, ”I don’t intend to infringe on your privacy. If you don’t want to tell me what’s going on, that’s okay.” Perhaps just talking about what was plaguing her would be like reliving it, and Rin had no desire to force someone to remove their trauma- plus, even if Rin knew she would never tell another soul about what she learned from a patient, Marg didn’t know that for sure. Straightening up, she continued, ”But I want to help you, through whatever means necessary. And anything you do tell me, I won’t tell anyone else.”

[Margaery]

[color=#b14767] ❁  ❁  ❁

[color=#b14767]"I suspected somebody would be around here soon," She observed softly, [color=#b14767]"Though I didn't know who, exactly, that somebody would be. I appreciate the concern but I'm..." Why Margaery decided to pause mid-sentence, she did not know. She was left standing there, blinking dull copper eyes at the cleric and wondering why she had been about to lie to her. Obviously she was not fine. If she had been, Rin wouldn't be here, attempting to coax out her feelings. She wasn't kidding anyone with her lifeless smiles or her general indifference  either. Her facades had been reduced to ruin - just like she had - and her silver-lined words and charisma weren't enough to save her from the notice of the public eye.

Bast had really done it in on her then.

[color=#b14767]"I'm..." Margaery attempted again, though her voice only managed to catch in her throat. She took a deep breath, steadying herself. [color=#b14767]"I'm not fine." Finally, an ounce of truth had been uttered. [color=#b14767]"This whole thing with my pregnancy and Bastilleprisoner... it's really destroying me, Rin. He told me that I was a monster... that I just ruined the lives of my children. How am I supposed to live like that? How am I supposed to bring more children into this world when all I'm going to do is destroy them? I.. I don't know wh- I don't know what to d-do," She continued, her voice progressively growing softer and more laced with sadness, with desolation. [color=#b14767]"You know what the worst part is? I don't even know what I did. He simply chose to start hating me one day... it was completely out of the blue."

Her face contorted slightly, reflecting the inner turmoil that brewed beneath her skin. She was devastated. Destroyed. An absolute wreck. [color=#b14767]"I'm sorry... I.. I don't want to burden you with this... It's something that I guess I..." She paused, [color=#b14767]"It's something I have to live with now."

[Warringkingdoms]

  [font=trebuchet ms]She appreciated the concern, but she was... fine, Rin half-expected her to answer, but Marg trailed off instead. She met Marg’s gaze, brows furrowed in concern, but said nothing. There were all manner of questions she could ask, but Marg would speak when she was ready.

  Finally, she spoke again, and as she admitted to not being fine, Rin could tell that the floodgates of honesty had been opened. As Marg described the situation with Bast, the cleric struggled not to show any anger or shock at the revelations she was being faced with. Bast openly saying something so scathing wasn’t unbelievable, but why would he say it to someone like Marg, especially when they had once been close? Her remorse and guilt at even having shared this information just sealed the deal.

  ”You don’t need to be sorry,” Rin began as soon as Marg finished speaking, drawing closer to her. ”This isn’t something you should have to deal with alone- besides, it’s what I’m here for.” Keeping everyone in good health included their mental health along with their physical health.

  Biting her lip, she thought for a few moments about how to proceed. She didn’t doubt that Margaery was telling the truth about what Bastille had said, and there was no excusing his words, but at the same time, she ought to at least find an explanation. Well, first, she ought to start with the elephant in the room. ”How would he know what happened in your kids’ lives? What he said probably isn’t true,” she continued, blinking slowly. ”But even if it is, and I highly doubt it is, that has no bearing on how you’ll do with these children. Even if you messed up your previous kids’ lives, that doesn’t mean you’re doomed to mess up with your new ones.” She wasn’t sure if that was logical, but it made sense to her, at least.

  Glancing down at her paws, she shook her head. ”Bastille... I don’t want to say don’t listen to anything he says, but I think being the seraph has been really hard on him, and it might be affecting his general demeanor.” Looking back up, she added, ”Not that that excuses his behavior towards you. It’s unacceptable, and you don’t deserve it. But he’s not being this way solely because of any perceived wrongdoing on your part, I don’t think.”

  Of course, perhaps she was entirely wrong- she couldn’t know for sure what words Marg and Bast had exchanged in private- but this was the best explanation she could offer given what she knew.