[.oo8] A Compulsion of Memory [OPEN]

[lethechained]

Characters:  Naminé (OU) and any passersby.
Setting: Floor 11/later in the day Floor 3, December 26th
Format:  Responder's choice.
Summary:  Naminé's Christmas present from the Tower has put her in a strange mood.  Studying ensues, resultant exhaustion included.
Warning:  Memories/possible reference to kidnapping, violence, death etc. pretty much only as a past occurrence.


Floor 11

  [Someone is seated at the edge of the lake, right in front of one of the waterfalls that empty into it.  A couple of blankets are gathered around her, probably taken from her bed.  Wrapped around her and even forming something a hood over her head, only a few strands of golden hair visible from behind her, they offer some amount of defense against the cold as she works.  Curiously, there appears to be a small doll also tucked into the blankets, on the edge of them not far from the girl's right side.  On her left, some distance away from her but close enough to imply that it belongs to her (whether she likes it or not) is a white cage, about the right size to house a small bird.  It is empty.]

  [Those who are familiar with it or have the sense for it may recognize, even before getting close enough to see what she's doing, that she seems to be practicing magic.  Persistently, over and over as if training, she reaches out pale, slender hands to form glowing barriers against the falling water, allowing it to flow off over the edges of the spell but attempting to maintain or strengthen that shield as best she can.  Other times, she does something else entirely, using another sort of magic to stop portions of the water entirely, as if they are frozen in time, though this, too, wears off eventually.  Over time, she is becoming more skilled.]

  [It looks like something has encouraged Naminé to do a little studying.]

Floor 3

 [Later in the day, Naminé can be found in the library, several books relating to magic spread out on the table before her, the doll next to them and the cage on a chair by the far side of the table.  Unfortunately for her, it seems she's done a little TOO much studying today, because she's out cold, head on her arms which are folded over the one book she was trying to use to FINALLY take a break, a book of fairytales (ironically) open to the story of Sleeping Beauty.  The blankets are still wrapped around her, but in her sleep it has fallen from around her shoulders and now rests mostly against the chair itself.]

Comments

[lethechained]

[(Probably, probably. She'll be happy to set him straight if it ever comes up-- /what)]

[Her guilt begins to ebb away at the look on his face. It's one she likes, she finds, and sheepishly she begins to smile, herself, the perceived weight of unintentional failure lightening. Her eyes shift slowly toward their hands at the touch, then more quickly back to him when he speaks and she realizes he's been peeking.]

... They're nice stories. Everything's so-- black and white. [Unrealistic, maybe, but welcoming in how easy they are to understand and moralize.] The good guys usually win. [And the witches usually die. Despite being a touch masochistic, it's still a comfort. (Mostly because she's found the nice, happy versions of said stories, not the twisted ones.)]

[justabignobody]

[(He'll consider her opinion if/when that happens.)

He likes the look on her face as well; the one that settles once the guilt fades at least. He pulls his hand away again, letting his eyes drift over the books again... They don't look anything like the ones from his childhood days, but they are likely similar enough. Somehow... he can't help some mixed feelings though...]

...Always the same pattern, right? The hero, the princess and the monster.

[No room in between. There are no fairy tales with two heroes. Or redeemed heroes. Right?

Also, stop dat masochism, Naminé. You aren't that kind of witch. :|]

[lethechained]

[(She'll be glad for that much.)]

[Her own eyes skate over the pages only briefly before focusing firmly on his reaction, her arms moving out of the way entirely once her hand is left alone. Mixed feelings on this seem to be one of the many common things between them, but Naminé has chosen to focus on the more positive in that mix.]

Something like that, yes. [Or witches in place of monsters.] But you know-- I think I like the ones that are a little different, too. [Still clear cut in many ways, but... the sort like that, with the extra heroes and the ones who have made mistakes-- she wishes she could find some. But then, wouldn't that be too true to life?] Sometimes the monster is the hero. [Like Beast's story. She discovered the movie version in the Tower, and even if it was more than a little strange to watch, it's a story that had already had a place in her not!heart and entrenched itself more firmly after that different perspective of it.] ... I guess that says something about how much people can change, if they really want to. [Because if even something as simple as a fairytale recognizes it--]

[Tricking people, nearly trapping them or getting them killed-- who says she isn't? :c]