(no subject)

[eighttimeshandy]

WHO: Eriq Slepner (Open post)
TONE: Hurt and comfort! Or Schadenfreude.
RATING: PG
WHEN: Saturday morning
WHERE: The Hospital Wing / The Great Hall
WHAT: Coming back to life is a little traumatic
STATUS: [ONGOING]

As of Thursday morning, laid out on one of the beds of the Hospital Wing, was a corpse.

As of a minute past midnight, Saturday morning, that corpse promptly gasped for breath, snapped its eyes open, and sat bolt upright. For a moment, all was still.

Then it let out a scream loud enough to wake the dead, curled into ball, and threw the covers back over its head, sobbing hysterically.

Later that morning, at breakfast time, Eriq Slepner slipped into the Great Hall and at down at the Slytherin table, arms wrapped around himself and eyes on the floor, shoulders shaking.

Comments

[eighttimeshandy]

[Still feeling raw and numb from being dead, and then not dead again, it takes Eriq a second or two to process what's going on. It was like he was watching Aranea run to someone else, watching her throw herself into someone else's arms. But then there's warmth against his chest, wonderful, perfect, brilliant warmth, and his arms enfold her, his head dropping down against hers. He pushes his face into her hair, and he feels it in such intense detail, as if he can feel each and every single individual strand brushing over his face.]

[He lets out a slow, shakey breath] Oh, I am glad for this.

[taleweaving]

[There's a noise like a choked on sob, her fingers curling in his shirt as she continues to hold onto him. She needs to make sure that warmth is real,that the beat she hears really is his pulse, that she's not gone insane from lack of sleep and grief. But he's there, he's really there, her cheek against her knotted hair and god she doesn't know whether to kiss him or lecture him]

[So instead she just shudders, her voice wobbling as she speaks] I was so scared, so worried. I... I woke up and I was normal and then I found out... what happened and I was so scared that this wasn't all part of whatever happened these past few days, that you were really gone.

[eighttimeshandy]

[He let out a small sound, almost like a laugh as he nuzzled the top of her head, pressing a smile into her forehead] You know, every time someone was upset that I was dead, I couldn't quite believe it. I couldn't believe it, every time someone expressed the hope that it wasn't permanent. Even now, I still... [his voice cracked, and he sighed, tightening his grip on her]

I'm sorry.

[taleweaving]

[She stiffens slightly in his hold, lifting her head. Even if her eyes weren't watering again they'd still be red from the previous night and she can't help but look upset] Don't think that. Merlin, do you know how many of us would have missed you? How upset we would have been? I-I... our last conversation would have been when I was a child again, and I... Don't ever scare me like that again!

[And back against his chest goes her forehead, before she bursts into tears]

[eighttimeshandy]

I'm sorry. [he murmurs again, even though he still feels uncertain about the idea that anyone should miss him at all. He can tell she's upset, and that she did, and well. That was proof enough of something, wasn't it?] I was a ghost though, so... you know. We still could have talked.

[taleweaving]

...It wasn't your fault I know. I just... [Her more rational side is making itself more clear, even if her death grip on the back of his shirt remains. Forcing herself to take a deep breath she shakes her head, ignoring how much more messier it will make her fringe] It wouldn't have been the same, and you know it. I... you can't kiss ghosts for one, and eventually... eventually I would leave the school and you never would...

[eighttimeshandy]

Yes, it was. I wished for it. It was entirely my fault, and it was selfish. [he knows that much for sure, at least]

[He frowns a little when she mentions kissing, pulling her away to hold her out in front of him] Areanea, my feelings for you aren't dependent entirely on kissing, you know. Honestly, as much as I love it, I would really rather be much more content to just sit at your side and listen to you speak. Yes, things would have been different as a ghost, because a ghost doesn't feel the way a person does. It was just... all emptiness and apathy, and honestly, yes, we would have drifted apart before you graduated.

But there's nothing saying that won't happen now, either. [And he didn't like that she invested so much in him. Not because he doubted it, or that he didn't like it, or anything like that. He just... saw her as someone who deserved more than that. She deserved more than to be emotionally crippled and clinging to him. She was too good for that] I mean, you could find someone better suited to you, for all we know.

[taleweaving]

You didn't know it would happen though. Just like I didn't know what would happened when I wished to have known Vriska when we were younger. I just. [sigh] I'm saying I forgive you, even if you made me worry so much.

[She starts a little at the sudden push away, opening her mouth to speak only to have her beat her to it. And even as she replies her cheeks are flushing] I know that. Did you ever think that maybe I would be the one more wanting kisses? Boys aren't the only ones who want physical displays of affections in romances. [To have physical affection that she had craved for years, be it from friendly hugs to romantic kisses] I just. I don't know how we'll end up, or where it'll be but I want to give it an actual go. I just know I don't want to drift yet.

[Stubbornly she shakes her head, grabbing his hands so he can't get away from her before she can speak her mind] And maybe you're right maybe we will. Maybe in a few months we'll drift apart and go our separate ways and live entirely separate lives. Life's not a story, I know that, and it's rare to stay with your school loves but... dammit Eriq if this is you telling me to leave just say it otherwise.... shut up! [She's getting a little annoyed yes. First he dies then this] Shut up and let me do what most girlfriends would do if they found their boyfriend had died and then did come back and worry. And fuss. Because right now you're perfectly suited to me and I'm happy, I'm so happy you're alive. So who gives a hippogriff about maybes and what ifs and can we just enjoy what we have while we have it!

[And you are getting the most peeved off look one can get from Aranea. She's an independent woman and she knows what she wants!]