omg_fma | 9/2/07 // OOC!Scar and OOC!Psiren

Who: OOC!Scar and OOC!Psiren
When: 9/2/07
Rating: G
Category: Misc. Happenings
Summary: Mal has a nightmare, Clara makes him hot chocolate, they discuss family, geography, conformity, boats, P!Al, and everything in between.

OOC!Scar: tossing and turning in his sleep, having long since edged off the sheets and wearing plaid boxers and a black undershirt; his hair is stuck to his forehead and he whimpers in his sleep, rather loudly. he kicks out and dislodges his backpack from the foot of the bed - it falls to the ground with a loud THUNK*

OOC!Psiren: *sits straight up in bed* Mmmmbwah muffins? *blinks blearily, still mostly asleep*

OOC!Scar: *presses his face into the pillow, shuddering and curling his knees against his chest, whimpering again, his breath fast and shallow*

OOC!Psiren: *hears Sounds of Distress from the next room* Michael? *blinks more, waking up the rest of the way and remembering where she is; quickly throws off the covers and gets out of bed, putting on a robe over her nightgown before opening her door and going next door, hesitating briefly before knocking* ...Mal? Are you alright?

OOC!Scar: *being quite a deep sleeper does not wake up at the knock, continuing to make small snuffling noises of fear, his toes curling in terror, his eyes flickering back and forth beneath their dark lids*

OOC!Psiren: *knows those sounds fairly well, maternal instincts are buzzing* ...Mal? *knocks again, bites her lip, then opens the door, poking her head in* Mal?

OOC!Scar: *covers his head with his arms, beginning to stir from the nightmare but not quite awake yet, mumbling something incomprehensible in a small, blurred, frightened voice*

OOC!Psiren: *hesitates, then enters the room, coming over to his bed and touching one of his arms lightly* Hey, Mal, wake up.... *speaking quietly*

OOC!Scar: *wakes up with a gasp, sucking in a huge breath of air and opening his red eyes wide; they dart around the dark room frantically for a moment, then settle on Clara's silhouette*

OOC!Psiren: *withdraws her hand quickly, putting up her hands in an "I mean no harm" sort of gesture* Mal, it's me, it's Clara... are you awake? You were having a nightmare....

OOC!Scar: *breathing slows down as he struggles to sit up, recognizing her voice; his mouth is dry and he swallows* Y-yeah.

OOC!Psiren: *smiles kindly at him, not that he can see it in the dark* Hey, I'm going to put on a light, is that okay?

OOC!Scar: *makes a kind of shrugging grimace in response, letting out a shaky breath and running a hand over the back of his neck*

OOC!Psiren: *takes that as a yes and goes over to the lightswitch* Watch your eyes.... *turns on the light, blinking in the brightness*

OOC!Scar: *squints against the light, using it as a lovely excuse to rub the heels of his palms against his decidedly not wet eyes* I woke you up?

OOC!Psiren: *attempts to subtly stifle a yawn* ...I guess you must have... I don't remember what woke me, but then I was awake and I heard you....

OOC!Scar: *clenches his teeth, looking down quickly, the light making his eyes two pools of shadow, only the tips of his eyelashes showing* Sorry 'bout that.

OOC!Psiren: *fidgets awkwardly, biting her lip* No no, it's fine, don't worry about me. Um... are you okay? ...Stupid question, maybe....

OOC!Scar: *automatically* I'm fine. *pauses, manages a completely unconvincing smile* Thanks.

OOC!Psiren: *oh, men are so silly* Mmhmm. ...Well, I suppose since I'm up already... would you like some tea? Or, no, you're not fond of tea are you? Hot chocolate, or cider, maybe?

OOC!Scar: *hesitates, but really doesn't want to fall asleep again any time soon* Uh - hot chocolate would be pretty rad. If you don't mind.

OOC!Psiren: *smiles* No, of course not. I like a hot drink late at night. Alright then.... *moves towards the door, pausing at the threshold* ...Join me in the kitchen? Or would you prefer me to bring the chocolate back here when it's done?

OOC!Scar: *already getting up from the bed and following after her, bare feet making almost no noise on the floor* Kitchen.

OOC!Psiren: *nods and leads the way to the upstairs kitchen, bustling about in cupboards*

OOC!Scar: *follows after her, actually flinching at the shadow of a tree on the wall of the dark hallway and then swearing at himself in his head, rushing the rest of the way to the lit kitchen*

OOC!Psiren: *has indeed turned all the lights on in the kitchen that are possible to turn on, knowing full well that nothing is quite as useful for dispelling nightmares as fully-lit mundane objects* Go ahead and sit down, if you'd like, it'll only take a few minutes. *smiles at him over her shoulder, setting a saucepan on the stove and a tin of chocolate shavings on the counter, fetching the milk from the fridge*

OOC!Scar: *pulls out the chair and sits on it backwards, his chin resting on the back and his arms hanging by his fingers, he closes his eyes and zones out a bit, going over the nightmare in his head even though he knows it's a bad idea; he can't help himself, only betraying his throughts with a slight shiver*

OOC!Psiren: *pours some milk into the saucepan and turns on the heat, fetching a spoon and glancing over at him* ...Would it help to talk about it?

OOC!Scar: *actually surprised by this question, he opens his eyes, a little unfocused still* Can't see how it would.

OOC!Psiren: *shrugs* It helps for some people. If it doesn't for you, then don't. *stirs the milk a little*

OOC!Scar: *eager to divert the conversation from himself, he rests his cheek against the back of the chair* You've gotta deal with this kind of cr- stuff a lot, huh?

OOC!Psiren: Not as much anymore, but when my siblings were younger, yes. Although I still get Al coming in and waking me up from time to time. *holds her hand over the milk, feeling for heat*

OOC!Scar: Heh, that makes sense. *smiling weakly now, scraping his feet against the floor* Hey, Clara? I've been meanin' to ask - is there something ... wrong with him? I mean, he's so ... *fails to think of a word for how Al is*

OOC!Psiren: *leans back against the counter, waiting for the milk to heat up a bit more* With Al? *sighs* ...There's a history of mental illness in the family. And he's had a poor home situation... his father wasn't around much, and his mother died when he was young. And his brother's done some pretty terrible things to him. *sighs again* I don't know much, I've just sort of picked things up here and there. He's certainly been... damaged. He acts about ten years younger than he is... I worry he won't ever be self-sufficient.... *frowning*

OOC!Scar: *looking away again, feeling awful for being such a coward even though he hasn't had a bad life like Al* Poor kid. That's awful. I mean- *pauses, wondering how much to say, self-conscious* my mom and dad ... ditched us when I was just a baby, but my brother took care of me, y'know? We always had each other, but I guess Al didn't have anyone.

OOC!Psiren: It breaks my heart to think about it. Family should stick together, you know? But he and his brother have always hated each other, and I think they always will. *tests the heat again, then shakes some chocolate flakes into the milk, stirring, pondering whether to ask questions* ...Your parents... ditched you? Why-? I mean, nevermind, sorry, I don't want to pry....

OOC!Scar: *actually not that bothered by the subject, except for not wanting to sound dramatic* Honestly, I don't know. That kinda thing's really rare in Ishbal, too. I think... my brother might know. But he'd never tell me, even if he did.

OOC!Psiren:...Ah. ...How old is your brother? *stirs the chocolatey goodness*

OOC!Scar: He's twenty-eight so ... *does the math in his head, albeit slowly* He was nine at the time. He got a lotta help, though, there were plenty of old women without grandchildren yet willing to teach him the ropes.

OOC!Psiren: *nods, fetching a couple of mugs and pouring hot chocolate into them* ...What sort of place did you grow up in? Was it a city? A village? *hands him a mug, sitting*

OOC!Scar: Oh, it wasn't a city at all. There're only two cities in Ishbal and they're a lot farther west than we were. *wraps his hands around the mug, drawing it across the table right to the edge and hunching over it so the steam curls into his face*

OOC!Psiren: A little town, then? *wraps her hands around her mug, trying to picture Ishbal... is embarrassed to find that her knowledge of the geography is very poor* ...So that's... um... pretty far away from here?

OOC!Scar: *talking with his eyes shut, shoulders pulled forward and his elbows on the table* Yeah, from what I can tell this place's pretty near to where New Leste is, in my dimension. So then it'd take probably a week or two to drive, unless you wanted to go crazy and not stop all day.
OOC!Scar: And yeah, tiny enough to make ya pretty claustrophobic. The whole cliche about everyone knows everyone's name and what's goin' on in their lives, whether they like it or not.

OOC!Psiren: *smiles a little* Sounds like where I grew up. I mean, Aquroya's a sizeable city and everything, but my neighborhood was sort of a town unto itself. Very inclusive, and yes, everybody knows everything about everyone.

OOC!Scar: *opens his eyes a little but closes them again, the bright light of the kitchen making them itch* Yeah ... I hated that. That was prolly one of the best things about comin' to the city, there were so many different kinds of people, and so many things I'd never even heard of before, y'know?

OOC!Psiren: *takes a sip of her chocolate, propping her head up with an elbow on the table* ...I don't know, I sort of liked it. Like having a really really really big family. Although I certainly understand what you mean about moving away from that sort of thing. It's very exciting here. *takes another sip* Why did you and your brother move?

OOC!Scar: *had of course just finally picked up the mug to take a sip, flinches at the question but drinks some and then sets it down; he brings his feet up onto the chair and wraps one arm around them, propping his chin between his knees* Oh, a lot of reasons *vague approximation of a normal voice, but perhaps a little too unconcerned*

OOC!Psiren: *is not so sleepy that this doesn't set off alarm bells, takes a sip of chocolate to gain time as she considers what to do* ...I'm sorry. I won't ask again. *seems to find her fingers exceedingly interesting*

OOC!Scar: *looks away, overly aware of the awkward, weighty silence that's descended between them now; clears his throat* ...this hot chocolate's awesome. Thanks.

OOC!Psiren: *well that casual conversation about his youth went well* It's nothing special, but I'm glad you like it. *smiles in his general direction*

OOC!Scar: *determined to push past this little moment and forget about it - he's quite good at forgetting about things he doesn't want to think about* So what's .. Aqui ... Aqurorua like? *completely butchers the pronunciation*

OOC!Psiren: Aquroya. *corrects him softly, smiling a little* Um... how to describe it to someone who's never been there.... It's a very old city. Centuries and centuries old, older than Central. It's built on the water, a whole archipelago of little islands that have been filled and connected and built on, so there are as many canals as streets....

OOC!Scar: An archiwhat? *thinks he remembers reading something about canals in school, but he never paid that much attention and he just can't picture it, but doesn't want to look stupid asking any more questions*

OOC!Psiren: *laughs a little* A big group of islands?

OOC!Scar: Ohhhh *pretends he recognizes the term, covers it up with an oh-so-discreet drink of cocoa* I knew that. *not convincing*
OOC!Scar: So ... is it in the middle of the ocean? *thinks it sounds like something out of a story*

OOC!Psiren: *also uses her cocoa mug as a cover-up, hiding an amused smile* Mm-mm, it's near the shore, at the mouth of a river.

OOC!Scar: I've been on a boat. *realizes a moment later how strange this might sound to someone else, but his brain to mouth filter is somewhat less functional just now* I mean, of course I've been on a boat *ears go red, drinks more cocoa*

OOC!Psiren: *doesn't laugh at him by an impressive act of will* ...I've never been to the desert. Actually, I haven't been much of anywhere, save home and here.

OOC!Scar: *rolls his eyes, an ambivalent half-smile on his face* It's boring, you aren't missing much. *after a moment* Except ... it can be pretty wicked sometimes. Like, the sky is really amazing with these clouds and rays of light and rings around the sun and stuff.

OOC!Psiren: *smiles a little trying to imagine it* ...Rings around the sun? I don't know if I can picture that properly. ...I hear there are places that are like an endless sea of sand, with dune after dune like towering waves in a storm.... *trails off, looking dreamy, then blushes* ...Err. I met a traveling poet, once.

OOC!Scar: *laughs softly* Well, that makes it sound a damn lot cooler than it is. I s'pose if you didn't grow up there it would seem kind of cool. Mostly it's just dusty like you couldn't even imagine, and so hot you'd probably burn just walkin' across the street.

OOC!Psiren: *wrinkles her nose* ...Dreamcrusher. *laughs quietly* Honestly, though, I'm sure I wouldn't be happy there for more than a visit. I think I would just waste away without water.

OOC!Scar: *uncoils and tilts his chair back on two legs, becoming more relaxed as the conversation goes on* Hey, we've got wells! And every village has got at least one bathhouse, too. That's definitely not somethin' you see in the city.

OOC!Psiren: *laughs a little, amused by his concept of having water* ...You mentioned being on a boat, where did this happen?

OOC!Scar: My brother's wedding *eyes light up, tilts the chair a bit more, keeping his balance* He got married at the ocean last spring, and we all went out on a boat afterwards. Weirdest fu- weirdest thing ever. And he fell outta the boat, too. *grins*

OOC!Psiren: Oh, that sounds lovely! ...Except for the falling into the water part, oh dear, I hope he could swim? *laughing more*

OOC!Scar: *looks a bit gleefully guilty for some reason* Naw, but Rachel hauled his a- him back into the boat, no problem.

OOC!Psiren: *grinning* Well, thank goodness! ...Rachel's his wife, right? I think you've mentioned her before....

OOC!Scar: *smiles very widely, tired eyes a bit distant* Yeah, that's her, and I prolly did. Since she and my brother got married it's been the three of us in the house together. OOC!Scar: *sets the chair back down in its proper position, speculating* Before I got sucked into this dimension I was thinkin' about gettin' a place with my band mates. I really didn't wanna live alone, but they're married and all. My brother's a real traditional type and they're probably going to- *almost chokes, voice suddenly sounding oddly bitter* start a family of their own and have lots of babies and all that shit.

OOC!Psiren: *raises her eyebrows* ...Generally that's the idea when people get married, I think. ...You sound displeased?

OOC!Scar: *shakes his head, eyes narrowed* It's nothin'. I haven't got anything against getting married and having kids. It's just ... my brother acts like it's only thing in whole world worth doing. And Rachel-- *breaks off*

OOC!Psiren: *blinks, sipping her chocolate... boy, this conversation is going all sorts of crazy emotional places* ...Yes?

OOC!Scar: *gnaws his lip, not really knowing how to complete that statement, wishing he hadn't said it in the first place* Naw, nevermind. I'm not gonna rant at you with our little family dramas.

OOC!Psiren: *shrugs* Rant all you like. Or not. ...What's your brother's name?

OOC!Scar: Moshe. *rubs his forehead absently, and after thinking for a moment says deliberately* It's just that Moshe is always seriously freaked out about fitting in perfectly. And the great thing about Rachel is... *face luminescent, the corners of his lips tugging into an involuntary smile* She's so ... brilliant and graceful and spontaneous that she does stand out. *pauses* And there are times when he's a little too hard on her about that, I think. He wants her to change... but she shouldn't have to.

OOC!Psiren:...Ah. *recognizes those signs alright...* ...So... "fitting in" for your brother would be...?

OOC!Scar: *rolls his eyes once more, before stifling a yawn* Oh, it's all kinds of stuff, he's seriously obsessed. And it's all arbitrary, I swear. If his idea of normal made any sense to me maybe I'd at least try to be, but... *shrugs* And for Rachel, it's like ... he got really mad once when she kissed him on the cheek in public. Or, like, she's got this gorgeous black hair, but he thinks everyone will think she's vain or will be tempted to ask her to have an affair or something, so he's started trying to convince her to wrap it up in a cloth when she's in public, which is just ... *yawns once more* Ri-idicuous.

OOC!Psiren: *fighting a yawn, darn contagious behavior* ...Is this just your brother, or is this, like... traditional? *is all about modesty and everything, but thinks covering the hair is a bit extreme*

OOC!Scar: It's mostly just Moshe. I mean ... super-religious people do it in some places, but almost no one does any more. Especially not in the city. He's just... *sighs, frustrated at his lack of ability to explain* Like I said, he's really strange about what everyone thinks, and he just doesn't get that no matter what he does, there's no way to make every single person happy.

OOC!Psiren: *blinking heavily, elbows on the table and chin in her hands* ...It sounds like something you've argued about?

OOC!Scar: *smiles, laughing under his breath* Yeaahh, pretty much constantly for the past ... six years or so?

OOC!Psiren: Oh dear... I can't even imagine... I don't think I'd have the stamina for that sort of confrontation....

OOC!Scar: *shrugs, yawning once more, eyes slipping closed* Maybe 's a guy thing?

OOC!Psiren: *laughs a little* I don't know about that. My brothers would get into arguments all the time, but a little wrestling would usually take care of it. *eyes Mal* ...You, young man, look very sleepy. *no comment on her own drooping eyelids*

OOC!Scar: Hmm? *picks up his head a bit* Yeah, I suppose ... I've kept you up long enough. *grins, starts to head for the hallway*

OOC!Psiren: Mmph. *drains the last of her chocolate, snagging Mal's mug and putting both of them in the sink before following him, yawning widely*

OOC!Scar: *stumbles a little in the dark hallway, eyes now accustomed to the light, but finds his way to his room and draws the door shut with a soft* Goodnight. And uhm- thanks for wakin' me up, Clara.

OOC!Psiren: *smiles hazily at him* Mmmm, you're welcome. Goodnight, Mal. Sleep well. *drifts off into her own room, wondering to herself whether she has the energy to brush her teeth*