Room 218, Wednesday Night

[glacial_queen]

Karla had come back from Panem, in a mood. After her conversation with Katniss and the bombs and Prim and...Darkness. She wasn't entirely certain if she had helped anything. Anything at all. And there was still Glacia to go back to.

Some vacation.

So rather do anything productive, Karla had spent all day in her room moping brooding, building herself up into an awful mood. She'd been on her way to a completely awful despondency, when her voicemail beeped.

She listened to it. Once. Twice. Again. Staring in shock. She was listening to it for a fourth time when she got another call. She missed it and the next call that came in while she was listening to Bobby's.

By the end of Tony's, she was on the phone herself to Ben. And laughing so hard she thought she might pull something.

Guess it was her week for it.

[Mostly establishy but open if anyone wants to pop in or call!]

Comments

[trigons_child]

Raven had had several emotional highs and lows over the past few days, and she was currently hitting a low, but she buried this latest as she went to check on Karla, having sensed her return to the island. She wanted to see what had happened with Katniss and make certain Karla was all right, and find out what her plans for Kaeleer were. Too many words that start with K!

But she was going to pause and stare at her phone for a moment after listening to the two voice mails waiting for her before tapping on Karla's door.

[glacial_queen]

"C-C-C--" Words were hard. Karla was just going to open the door. And giggle. "Hey, Raven."

[trigons_child]

"Do you know where Warren is?" Raven said. Obviously with Bobby, and obviously somewhere with a great deal of alcohol.

[glacial_queen]

"Having a males' night out, or so it sounds," Karla said, gesturing to her phone. "Him and Tony and Bobby. Help me decide whether I should be a good girlfriend and show up tomorrow with a hangover brew prepared, or a bad one and lauuuuuugh."

[trigons_child]

"I think he will be in sore need of such a remedy," Raven said. She dialed into her voice mail to call up Warren's message and put it on speaker phone so Karla could hear.

[glacial_queen]

"I'm pretty sure that the word he was looking for there was 'drunk,'" Karla supplied. Helpfully. "Bobby is really, really drunk. So Warren has been stealing his tequila when Bobby's not looking."

She pulled her own phone out so Raven could listen to Warren's message.

"He's so thoughtful that way."

[trigons_child]

"Does this mean that your trip to Katniss's world went well?" Raven said hopefully. It was a celebratory drunk, not a drowning sorrows one!

[glacial_queen]

Wow. Look at Karla suddenly get busy with her phone! All those buttons to...push. Very intricate work, dontcha know.

"Well, it went," she said. "So, was that a yes on the hangover cure?"

[trigons_child]

Raven regretted asking once she felt Karla's reaction. "Yes, I think the hangover cure will be most welcomed when they return," she said, then moved closer to Karla and opened her arms for a hug.

[glacial_queen]

Karla was FINE! Totally and completely fine!

...Or, Karla was turning around to take Raven up on that offered hug. Tightly. And hiding her face in her friend's GIGANTIC chest.

"Maybe I'll make enough for all three," she mumbled.

[trigons_child]

SHE WASN'T BIG-BUSTED SHE WAS JUST DRAWN THAT WAY...WAIT.

"I will help," Raven promised, rubbing her hands down Karla's back, sending her gentle pulses of comfort. "In whatever way I can. Always."

[glacial_queen]

"Well," Karla said, sniffling a bit. "I could use some help cutting up herbs."

That wasn't what Raven meant and she knew it, but she just...couldn't. Not yet. Not when she was pretty sure she'd lost a friend. Not when she could still see Prim's face.

[trigons_child]

It wasn't, but Raven was happy to help that way as well, if only to distract Karla from her sorrow until she was ready to share it. "Of course," she said. "I am quite good with herbs, though I have used them more for teas than brewing potions."

[glacial_queen]

"It's like a tea," Karla explained, drawing strength from the simple ritual of brewing. "Only Craft-infused herbs. But we'll use a lot of common ones, like willow bark for their headaches and lavender and peppermint to help settle their stomachs."

[trigons_child]

"I am familiar with all of those," Raven said, though the thought of tea made a fleeting flash of sadness go through her, since she'd been enjoying a cup when her mother had said what she'd said.

"Do you have herbs that are already prepared? I may have some if you do not, though none infused with Craft."

[glacial_queen]

"I have some, but I wouldn't turn down more, considering there are three of them. At least."

Darkness only knew with that trio.

"And I have to infuse them all. So yours should be fine, if you don't mind sharing."

Karla was inwardly-focused, yes, but that didn't mean she didn't notice Raven's own little ripple of sadness. "Are you okay?" she asked.

[trigons_child]

"I do not mind at all," Raven said.

Her breath caught at Karla's question. She couldn't tell her about her conversation with Tahiri and what she'd confirmed about Anakin; that wasn't her place to tell. So she shoved that back and focused on a different sorrow. "I went to spend time with my mother while you were gone," she said haltingly. "She...she does not wish to see me again."

If nothing else, rage should distract Karla from her own troubles.

[glacial_queen]

...It was like Raven knew her or something.

"She what?!" Karla yelped.

Sending royalties to Arthur

[trigons_child]

Tears started to well in Raven's eyes. She'd banished the feelings while with Jono, and then today she had been overwhelmed with her talk with Tahiri, but Karla deserved to know.

"I wanted to spend time with her after I graduate," she said softly. "She said that she loved me, but she did not want to hold my hand. She did not want me to rely upon her. And that she was going away and did not want me to try to find her."

[glacial_queen]

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Karla said, throwing down the pestle. And scowling. "How does 'wanting to spend time with her' translate into holding your damned hand?"

Okay, so Raven wasn't supposed to go look for her. Arella hadn't said anything about Karla not doing so. And when she found the bitch, she would read her a riot act that made their first argument sound like a bond of sisterhood.

[trigons_child]

"She is my only connection to Azarath now," Raven said, brushing her hand across her eyes. "I wanted her guidance and her love, but...." She shook her head. "She shielded herself, but I could feel her pain when she looked at me. I think she sees my father in me still, even though he is gone and she is free." She couldn't entirely blame her for that, but still, it hurt.

"You were still away, so I asked Jono if I could come visit him," she said. "He helped me feel better."

[glacial_queen]

Raven might not be able to blame Arella for that, but Karla had no such problems. "I'm glad Jono could be there for you," she said, jaw still tight. "I'm sorry I wasn't."

Don't worry, Raven. Karla would make up for it by hunting Arella down and showing her there were much worse things to worry about than her daughter.

Shelving thoughts of vengeance for now, Karla opened her arms for a hug. Raven needed her. "I'm sorry she is so blind to only see that when she looks at you, instead of the strong, proud, free female that I know and love."

[trigons_child]

Raven was amazingly grateful for the hug and clung to Karla. "Do not feel bad," she said. "I had no idea that such a thing would happen when I went to see my mother, therefore neither could you. And you had very important things to do."

She blinked back her tears, not wanting to make Karla's shoulder a soggy mess. "I had hoped to come to know her better, to make up for the time we never had in Azarath, but...perhaps one day she will seek me out again."

[glacial_queen]

"You can cry," Karla murmured, noticing how hard Raven was trying not to. "Darkness knows, this is worth crying over, darling. She has no idea how much this hurts you."

At least, she'd better not.

"You are just as much her daughter as Trigon's--more, since you've actively chosen your humanity and shunned his influence."

Karla could understand Arella's pain upon seeing her daughter, yes. But after everything they'd been through...Raven deserved more, dammit.

[trigons_child]

"I do not want to cause her pain," Raven sniffled. "I will obey her wishes and not look for her."

She drew back just enough so she could look at Karla's face. "My family is here now. You and Jono and Professor Skywalker and all my friends."

[glacial_queen]

Karla had NO such reticence. In fact, Karla was looking forward to it--the causing Arella pain bit, anyway. Certainly not the obeying her wishes thing.

"And we always will be," she promised, looking into Raven's eyes. "We'll never stop loving you or want you to leave us." She figured that if January hadn't changed their minds, nothing would. "This is a family you can count on forever."

[trigons_child]

That made tears of a different kind start to fall. She knew that, especially after how her father had taken her and the glimpses of a possible future they'd seen, but it still meant a lot to her to actually hear Karla say it.

"Thank you," she whispered, squeezing Karla tighter. "And I feel the same for you. I love you and will always be there for you."

[glacial_queen]

"There's never been a doubt," Karla said, running her hands through Raven's hair. "You've been with me this whole summer and you helped as much as you could with Warren...I know you can feel how much that means to me, but I want to say it, too. Because there's very little in this world I treasure as much as your friendship."