st_onecoldfox (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
st_onecoldfox) wrote2019-09-03 04:48 pm
st_onecoldfox) wrote2019-09-03 04:48 pm
Entry tags:
[corbie] not-so-welcome to london
Some things weren't all that different, whether it was Mélusine or Earth. Corbie and Mildmay try to adjust to the first day of the rest of their lives.
"Fucking hocuses," Mildmay muttered as he shut the door behind them. That had gone... about like he woulda thought it would, if he'd had any fucking idea what was gonna happen when he and Corbie'd walked through the steel and glass doors of Mirador Consulting. He tugged at the hair over his forehead, where it was loose from his plait, let out a slow breath, and turned the locks, not that fucking wizards couldn't get past locks when they wanted, but it made him feel... No, it didn't make him feel any better, but it'd be fucking stupid not to lock the door.
That done, he looked to Corbie, and past her, a huge by their standards apartment, all clean lines and soft neutral colors about as far from the Madonna Inn as he could imagine. "I don't think they like us much." 'Cause they had to talk about this, right? How they got here and what they were gonna do now, and what had already happened in the little time they'd been here.
"No," Corbie agreed, only half paying attention as she glanced around at the space. She never would have thought that she'd actually miss something about the inn, but say what you would about the taste of whoever decorated it, it was certainly... cozy. There was nothing warm or inviting here. Not hostile, but... cool.
"Fits what you both told me 'bout Cabalines, though," she said.
Never mind that the face they'd both wanted most to see had taken one look at them and then stalked out of the room. It was so Felix and such a rejection that she didn't know whether to laugh or cry about it.
"They ain't changed half so much as the world." That great big building might nota looked like the Mirador he knew, but it'd sure as fuck felt like it. And wasn't nothing none of 'em wanted with a annemer thug like Mildmay. Especially this time – Nope. Mildmay felt his mind shut down that line of thinking like a heavy gate slamming down. He wasn't ready to think about Felix. Any Felix.
"Probably lucky you was with me, though, and could show 'em magic they'd recognize. They'd like to send me to a madhouse otherwise." Whatever he could have said about the Mirador or Cabalines based on his world, the ones here could say was just the ravings of a madman, and somebody'd have to be crazy to believe him instead.
"Probably lucky you're with me," Corbie countered with a tired smile. "They all looked like their eyes were gonna pop right the fuck out when they saw you." It wasn't horror at the scar either--well, perhaps a little of it was, she wasn't so naive--but the recognition. The resemblance between Felix and Mildmay had always been strong, even stronger when nobody around them looked like they did.
If she provided the proof that there was a Cabaline connection, he was the proof that that Cabaline was Felix Harrowgate.
Refusing to be daunted by a fucking room, Corbie ventured further inside. But still not able to settle into the idea that this was where they were now, she went to the nearest window and stared out. The city was more believable.
She should be grateful. The alternative was being out there, on the street. She'd done that after Gran died and she wasn't too proud to try to avoid it.
But...
As long as he didn't think about it, Mildmay moved with the same easy grace he had before the curse, and just as silently. On the other hand, when he thought about it, there a whole push of knowing how to brace himself and adapt to his leg's limitations butting up against the pull of remembering he didn't hafta do any of that anymore. So mostly he tried not to think about it, and he moved up beside Corbie to put an arm around her shoulders as they looked out over the city.
"Roof over our head's one less thing to worry about." And it had been a worry. For Mildmay, 'cause Felix didn't never think about that shit without Mildmay to make him. And for Corbie it was how she'd ended up working on her back after her Gran died. Mildmay wasn't gonna let that happen to her again. He'd find some way, if the Mirador booted 'em out after awhile.
Corbie started at first. She was so used to the tap of Jashuki that she hadn't realized she'd been listening for it. That she didn't need to listen for it. Then she leaned into him, grateful for the feel of him to keep her grounded. For a long moment she was silent before she pushed out a whispered, "I'm sorry."
Shit. Mildmay winced as she startled, and was about to say he was sorry for spooking her, when she apologized to him instead. Kethe. What did she even have to be sorry for? It was Mildmay'd fucked up, just now scaring her and before, making the deal with the fairy that brought them here, and wasn't that just the kind of reward he oughta have expected in his life. "What for? You didn't do nothing wrong."
"I didn't help," Corbie mumbled. "I dunno if I could've caught that loophole if I'd been alert, but I sure as fuck didn't help."
Fuck. He'd forgot, what with things going wrong getting 'em back to Felix. Just how scared and hurt Corbie'd been when she found him in Faerie, and how it'd given him the idea in the first place. How Jackson had made a deal and gone home to be with his wife. At least he'd stayed long enough to tell Corbie goodbye, no matter it'd hurt her hard. Mildmay's arm tightened around her, then the other coming up to pull her into a real hug. "You didn't do nothing wrong," he told her again. And "I'm sorry. 'Bout Jackson."
Corbie shrugged. "It was gonna happen sooner or later." But her attempt to stay strong wasn't enough to keep her from melting into the hug, putting her arms around Mildmay's waist and her face in his neck. "I can't even say he threw me over or anything, I knew what going back meant to him and I knew sooner or later we'd be saying goodbye and I knew he was miserable there, but..." her voice got so small that she wasn't sure she'd even said it out loud. "He was my friend." Inasmuch as he was capable of being one.
Didn't make it hurt less, knowing all those things. Neither would Mildmay saying so. So he just held her close, pressed a kiss to the top of her heard, and rubbed small, soothing circles over her back. Was nothing else he could do, after fucking things up and not getting them home the way he tried to. Now she didn't have nobody but him. Least until she made new friends, and she would. She was good at that, not like Mildmay. Kethe's own luck, was he fucked.
It didn't. Corbie could feel her heart breaking still, even though she knew at this moment wherever Jackson was and whatever he was doing, he was already trying to put her out of mind. It didn't matter if he didn't deserve it or not. She would grieve until she was done. "You didn't even like him," Corbie teased, trying to find some light in the situation.
He weren't sure where the memory came from, some little bourgeoisie trying to make like she was demimondaine, somebody he overheard while he was getting the lay of the land for some job or other, but her words came back to Mildmay now. "Mutual, I'm sure," he answered, in his usual monotone – whatever fairy magic had fixed his leg hadn't done nothing for the scar down his face, and there was a part of Mildmay felt almost comforted at that – but in a way that suggested he'd heard her trying to make light, and wanted to help her along the way.
Corbie smiled against his skin. "Maybe," she admitted. "He knew you were the better man, though." Lady help her if for whatever reason she'd been alone in this city again with Jackson. She'd known on that trip which of them would have to be the adult the entirely time.
Their situation was fucked in ways she couldn't quantify, but if she and Mildmay were together that was as close to safe as she could hope to be.
She went quiet for a long moment before whispering, "We're free." A dubious freedom. An uncertain one. But they were free of the inn. "I know I should regret that I didn't say goodbye to nobody, but. I can't."
"Don't think nobody at the inn would blame you for getting out when you could, goodbyes or not." Yeah, there were a few people Mildmay mighta said goodbye too if there'd been a chance, but the only person he woulda had to say goodbye and woulda broke himself to do it, was Corbie who was standing right here beside him. Corbie'd been closer to people, 'cause she was just that type, but it was mostly the kind of people who wouldn't deny her a thing she wanted or needed, if she could get it.
A corner of her mind tried to tell her that she should feel bad. Regina and Yana and Sunny and Alec and Annie and--and still in this moment she couldn't care. There was a world out there and they weren't shut in a shitty pink coffin anymore. She sighed, nodded, and said it again. "We're free."
"Fucking hocuses," Mildmay muttered as he shut the door behind them. That had gone... about like he woulda thought it would, if he'd had any fucking idea what was gonna happen when he and Corbie'd walked through the steel and glass doors of Mirador Consulting. He tugged at the hair over his forehead, where it was loose from his plait, let out a slow breath, and turned the locks, not that fucking wizards couldn't get past locks when they wanted, but it made him feel... No, it didn't make him feel any better, but it'd be fucking stupid not to lock the door.
That done, he looked to Corbie, and past her, a huge by their standards apartment, all clean lines and soft neutral colors about as far from the Madonna Inn as he could imagine. "I don't think they like us much." 'Cause they had to talk about this, right? How they got here and what they were gonna do now, and what had already happened in the little time they'd been here.
"No," Corbie agreed, only half paying attention as she glanced around at the space. She never would have thought that she'd actually miss something about the inn, but say what you would about the taste of whoever decorated it, it was certainly... cozy. There was nothing warm or inviting here. Not hostile, but... cool.
"Fits what you both told me 'bout Cabalines, though," she said.
Never mind that the face they'd both wanted most to see had taken one look at them and then stalked out of the room. It was so Felix and such a rejection that she didn't know whether to laugh or cry about it.
"They ain't changed half so much as the world." That great big building might nota looked like the Mirador he knew, but it'd sure as fuck felt like it. And wasn't nothing none of 'em wanted with a annemer thug like Mildmay. Especially this time – Nope. Mildmay felt his mind shut down that line of thinking like a heavy gate slamming down. He wasn't ready to think about Felix. Any Felix.
"Probably lucky you was with me, though, and could show 'em magic they'd recognize. They'd like to send me to a madhouse otherwise." Whatever he could have said about the Mirador or Cabalines based on his world, the ones here could say was just the ravings of a madman, and somebody'd have to be crazy to believe him instead.
"Probably lucky you're with me," Corbie countered with a tired smile. "They all looked like their eyes were gonna pop right the fuck out when they saw you." It wasn't horror at the scar either--well, perhaps a little of it was, she wasn't so naive--but the recognition. The resemblance between Felix and Mildmay had always been strong, even stronger when nobody around them looked like they did.
If she provided the proof that there was a Cabaline connection, he was the proof that that Cabaline was Felix Harrowgate.
Refusing to be daunted by a fucking room, Corbie ventured further inside. But still not able to settle into the idea that this was where they were now, she went to the nearest window and stared out. The city was more believable.
She should be grateful. The alternative was being out there, on the street. She'd done that after Gran died and she wasn't too proud to try to avoid it.
But...
As long as he didn't think about it, Mildmay moved with the same easy grace he had before the curse, and just as silently. On the other hand, when he thought about it, there a whole push of knowing how to brace himself and adapt to his leg's limitations butting up against the pull of remembering he didn't hafta do any of that anymore. So mostly he tried not to think about it, and he moved up beside Corbie to put an arm around her shoulders as they looked out over the city.
"Roof over our head's one less thing to worry about." And it had been a worry. For Mildmay, 'cause Felix didn't never think about that shit without Mildmay to make him. And for Corbie it was how she'd ended up working on her back after her Gran died. Mildmay wasn't gonna let that happen to her again. He'd find some way, if the Mirador booted 'em out after awhile.
Corbie started at first. She was so used to the tap of Jashuki that she hadn't realized she'd been listening for it. That she didn't need to listen for it. Then she leaned into him, grateful for the feel of him to keep her grounded. For a long moment she was silent before she pushed out a whispered, "I'm sorry."
Shit. Mildmay winced as she startled, and was about to say he was sorry for spooking her, when she apologized to him instead. Kethe. What did she even have to be sorry for? It was Mildmay'd fucked up, just now scaring her and before, making the deal with the fairy that brought them here, and wasn't that just the kind of reward he oughta have expected in his life. "What for? You didn't do nothing wrong."
"I didn't help," Corbie mumbled. "I dunno if I could've caught that loophole if I'd been alert, but I sure as fuck didn't help."
Fuck. He'd forgot, what with things going wrong getting 'em back to Felix. Just how scared and hurt Corbie'd been when she found him in Faerie, and how it'd given him the idea in the first place. How Jackson had made a deal and gone home to be with his wife. At least he'd stayed long enough to tell Corbie goodbye, no matter it'd hurt her hard. Mildmay's arm tightened around her, then the other coming up to pull her into a real hug. "You didn't do nothing wrong," he told her again. And "I'm sorry. 'Bout Jackson."
Corbie shrugged. "It was gonna happen sooner or later." But her attempt to stay strong wasn't enough to keep her from melting into the hug, putting her arms around Mildmay's waist and her face in his neck. "I can't even say he threw me over or anything, I knew what going back meant to him and I knew sooner or later we'd be saying goodbye and I knew he was miserable there, but..." her voice got so small that she wasn't sure she'd even said it out loud. "He was my friend." Inasmuch as he was capable of being one.
Didn't make it hurt less, knowing all those things. Neither would Mildmay saying so. So he just held her close, pressed a kiss to the top of her heard, and rubbed small, soothing circles over her back. Was nothing else he could do, after fucking things up and not getting them home the way he tried to. Now she didn't have nobody but him. Least until she made new friends, and she would. She was good at that, not like Mildmay. Kethe's own luck, was he fucked.
It didn't. Corbie could feel her heart breaking still, even though she knew at this moment wherever Jackson was and whatever he was doing, he was already trying to put her out of mind. It didn't matter if he didn't deserve it or not. She would grieve until she was done. "You didn't even like him," Corbie teased, trying to find some light in the situation.
He weren't sure where the memory came from, some little bourgeoisie trying to make like she was demimondaine, somebody he overheard while he was getting the lay of the land for some job or other, but her words came back to Mildmay now. "Mutual, I'm sure," he answered, in his usual monotone – whatever fairy magic had fixed his leg hadn't done nothing for the scar down his face, and there was a part of Mildmay felt almost comforted at that – but in a way that suggested he'd heard her trying to make light, and wanted to help her along the way.
Corbie smiled against his skin. "Maybe," she admitted. "He knew you were the better man, though." Lady help her if for whatever reason she'd been alone in this city again with Jackson. She'd known on that trip which of them would have to be the adult the entirely time.
Their situation was fucked in ways she couldn't quantify, but if she and Mildmay were together that was as close to safe as she could hope to be.
She went quiet for a long moment before whispering, "We're free." A dubious freedom. An uncertain one. But they were free of the inn. "I know I should regret that I didn't say goodbye to nobody, but. I can't."
"Don't think nobody at the inn would blame you for getting out when you could, goodbyes or not." Yeah, there were a few people Mildmay mighta said goodbye too if there'd been a chance, but the only person he woulda had to say goodbye and woulda broke himself to do it, was Corbie who was standing right here beside him. Corbie'd been closer to people, 'cause she was just that type, but it was mostly the kind of people who wouldn't deny her a thing she wanted or needed, if she could get it.
A corner of her mind tried to tell her that she should feel bad. Regina and Yana and Sunny and Alec and Annie and--and still in this moment she couldn't care. There was a world out there and they weren't shut in a shitty pink coffin anymore. She sighed, nodded, and said it again. "We're free."