help me -- private / hazel

[tori]

// human au because you know how it be

Things were getting out of hand, he felt, even if only a little bit. But a little bit turned into a lot, and in due time he knew there would be more attacks and then they would all die. The only "lucky ones" would be those to either get out in time without the ravaging Typhoon pirates catching them as they escape, or those that died on home turf, a familiar land and familiar grave. Something about that seemed like a familiar ideology, but for the life of him he couldn't say why. After all, he was young and even then, he had never been in a state such as this, caught in the middle of a declaration of war.

He supposed it wasn't as bad as he was making it out to be, there was only one real death as far as he was aware of, and that was that one guy Carolina dragged in. And she....she killed him. Snapped his neck just as quick as she'd awoken him with a bucket of water. Alex still felt such a sense of dread in his chest when he thought about it, it made him so uneasy. He had never seen death so up close, he didn't understand the sudden stillness, almost as if a soul really did leave the body.

And now, part 2 of the unlucky streak. Marg. Margaery was gone. Margaery was fucking gone and there was nothing he could do about it, something about some past demons and now Suite was miserable. Damn it all.

He leaned up against his room's wall, pulling his black hair up into the usual ponytail he'd adopted since his return. Hair got longer, he didn't have the energy to cut it. He didn't want to. Another weird strange, a little quirk maybe, something he had yet to understand about himself. He just...wanted to keep it long.

"What do you have left? Margaery is gone, Suite is too tired to deal with you, this place will be gutted in due time anyway, a war zone." A little nagging voice badgered him in his silence, poking at insecurities and fears, but not maliciously. It was his own voice after all, not a ghost and not a demon. But it was right, who else could he go to?

The only person he could think of was Hazel. Yeah, he barely knew her, and Bastille seemed to have this desire to protect her to at least keep her happy, even when he turned tail and ran. Yet, something about Hazel made him comfortable and safe, she just had that vibe about her. Maybe it was her singing when they first met or the soft appearance but either way he wanted to talk to her.

It took him a few minutes to get out of his room, stuck in a loop of "am I being annoying" before just pushing his weight out and stumbling into the hall. He hoped she was in her room, he couldn't tell for sure, and he would simply catch on fire if he asked for her and she wasn't there.

And so, he knocked. And waited.

♡♡♡

[★ HAZEL]

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with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair

Hazel had left the scene before Carolina had killed the prisoner; she knew it was going to get bad before she even fully understood what was going on. She had also hated the way everyone stared at her like she was crazy, or weak. (Which...she was. But. Regardless.) Hazel wasn't an idiot, she knew why the prisioner was there. She knew there had been a raid, and she knew that the Typhoon were a bunch of pirate dumbasses who needed a new lesson in playing nice. But Hazel also knew what it felt like to be completely helpless and terrified out of her mind.

It was an awful, chaotic feeling. A complete adrenaline rush that did nothing to aid the situation, the primal instinct to survive only making it worse. Every nerve in her body would scream for her to fight back, every fiber of her being yelling to do something other than shove herself in a corner and take it. Few people knew how hard it was to overcome a primal instinct that strong; few knew what it felt like to just sit there, overriding a chemical hormone until the only drive was to cower, knowing that it might be the only thing between a glass shard and her throat.

So being at someone else's complete and utter mercy? Not her thing.

Currently, Hazel was on her bed, hanging off the edge with her ukulele resting against her abdomen. She strummed aimlessly, subconsciously plucking out the tune of that French lullaby she kept hearing in her dreams. She had so much to think about - too much, really - but all she could think of was to blankly stare at the door, waiting for the rush of blood to her head to be too much. When the knock at her door came, Hazel just about jumped out of her skin, a pathetic yelp of surprise falling off her lips. She could nearly feel the zircon popping through the cement floor.

"I don't know who you are, but you scared the crap out of me." She all but wheezed, sitting up and waiting for the head rush to pass before calling: "It's open!"

HAZEL E CAELUM — STARSTRUCK GUARDIAN — MOODBOARD — PLAYLIST — TAGS

© MADI

[tori]

The sound of Hazel yelping in surprise and jolting on her bed made Alex flinch, immediately regretting his decision, but he stayed in place only because turning tail and running would have been even weirder than the approach. "S-sorry! It's Alex!" He let out a wheeze himself, feeling insecurity crawling up his spine. No, no he could do this. He could...socialize.

The door was open she said, and he checked to find it indeed was open, leaving him awkwardly standing in the doorway. Part of him wanted to check and see if she was okay, but the other part told him it was rude to go barging into someone's room unless they were passed out or dying, two things he wished he was right about now. He took a deep breath, chewing on the inside of his cheek while he struggled at the same time to find the words he wanted. "You don't mind if I just kinda....talk to you, right?" Right off the bat he felt intrusive and annoying, and he blew a stray strand of hair away from his line of vision. He rubbed his arm, leaning up against the door frame, failing to hold eye contact. "It's weird, so you can kick me out if you want, but everyone else is either gone or acting really, really off." He frowned, crossing his arms to feel more secure. "And your existence is comforting." But he didn't say that, that would be weird. He wondered though, he wanted to know what it was about her. Or at the very least, he wanted to not have that wall of not knowing her as well as he'd like to.

♡♡♡

[★ HAZEL]

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with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair

Hazel had forgotten that once upon a time, her door had been open at all times, even if she was asleep. It wasn't only a welcome sign to people that wanted to talk, but a commemoration to her ability to actually leave the door open. It was another one of those things that people took for granted - freedom, that was - and probably looked at her oddly for being so excitable over it. Not that she minded; Hazel was well aware she could marvel over the smallest things that other people would hardly spare a second glance. But she'd started closing her door not long ago just to provide herself with some privacy. So she wouldn't disturb other people, she supposed. The entire hallway didn't need to hear her screaming herself awake in the middle of the night.

When Alex pushed open the door, Hazel smiled, a toothy little grin. She quite liked the boy - and it was no longer because of how he had asked after her state of mind that one day. He was a good kid, and a nice friend. Hazel enjoyed spending time around him. "I don't mind at all, Alex." She piped, tilting her head as he avoided eye contact and stayed in the doorway. She wondered what was keeping him there, if it was social anxiety or something else. "You're welcome in here anytime."

As he dismissed his own presence, Hazel frowned. "It's not weird," She assured. "People get lonely and seek others if they want to talk, or just need a friend. Most everyone does it at some point or another." Part of her almost added even Bastille, but she bit her tongue, because that seemed...odd. She scooted back on the covers of her bed, patting the blankets in gesture for him to come and sit. "Sit, amicus. What do you mean by off?"

HAZEL E CAELUM — STARSTRUCK GUARDIAN — MOODBOARD — PLAYLIST — TAGS

© MADI

[tori]

So she wasn't upset with his sudden visit, that was good. Relief washed over him, and his tensed shoulders relaxed and sank slightly. "I'm still getting used to that idea, talking to people." He confessed, gently taking a step in and removing himself from the door frame, his heart beat pulsing, growing steadily aggressive with each passing anxious moment. And that wasn't Hazel's fault, it was just the idea of being in the presence of another and himself only. "I'm what they call...socially inept."

But he did eventually close the door, at least for the most part, leaving it somewhat cracked as he had yet to shake off the feeling of intrusion on his part. Alex was careful upon sitting, taking a few minutes to adjust to the concept of all this, feeling strange that he wasn't on his own, locked up in his room. Come to think of it, this was the only other room besides his own that he'd been in, that belonged to someone. But he did relax in due time, quiet for a moment to truly think about his answer. "Suite is tired, miserable. Marg is gone, all that. Roy seems more aggressive. Versailles..." Alex went quiet again, but this time for a different reason. "Vi is hiding something, something is causing her pain." Physical pain judging by her flinching. He stared at the wall ahead of him, brown eyes glossing over while he did so, as if he wasn't staring at the wall at all, simply in it's direction. "And myself. It feels like I'm watching this all from another perspective, outside of my body." Perhaps that was too sudden to be conveying to her, but like he'd thought before, she was the only one he felt was still grounded. He shivered violently, suddenly from a cold chill, rubbing the back of his neck. "Aha, sorry. It's weird, isn't it?"

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