Dress [2430-2-1 Thur 2:00 pm]

[Persephone Ruspoli]

Persephone was glad to have a hug from Skye, but as the hug turned into panic, Persephone found herself doing her best to try calm Titus' sister. She held her drink away from her body so it didn't accidentally burn Skye and just let Skye hand on, keeping one hand safely on her back to assure Skye that Persephone wasn't about to do anything. "Skye, it's okay! We're only going back to Titus' home. We're not going anywhere you don't want to, I promise. We're only going down a few levels, nothing more."

It was a short journey, but it felt unreasonably long with Skye clinging to her, still clearly terrified. Persephone couldn't disguise her relief when the doors opened onto the walkway leading to Titus' apartment. "See? That's as far as we're going. We won't go any further, I promise, okay? You don't ever have to go lower again, not unless you want to."

[Skye Thompson]

“Okay.” But Skye didn’t really believe it. It was okay that they’d only gone down a few levels, okay that she was headed only for Titus’ apartment and not an everlasting nightmare. But it wasn’t okay that her arms felt completely numb from holding Persephone so tightly. It wasn’t okay that her entire body was shaking, that she wasn’t quite sure if her legs would support her as she stepped away from her friend.

“Okay.” She repeated as she came out of the elevator and onto the walkway. She looked down and suddenly felt dizzyingly high. A thrill of fear shot through her, even though she knew she couldn’t possibly fall. “Okay.” She said under her breath, taking another step forward. She was speaking more to herself than to Persephone now. “Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.” And suddenly she was speaking again to someone other than herself, because it wasn’t she who deserved an apology. “I’m sorry Persephone. I’m so, so, sorry. I really- I did mean- got scared- I just- I couldn’t… I’m sorry.”

[Persephone Ruspoli]

Persephone followed Skye out of the elevator, giving her a moment to collect herself. It was clear at first that Skye was talking to herself, and not to Persephone, and Persephone just waited patiently for Skye to regain control over herself again. She knew that moment had come when Skye started apologizing to Persephone.

"Sweetie, you don't have to apologize, it's okay. I know you'd give anything to not be afraid." She stepped in and hugged Skye, rubbing the other girl's back and trying to be as comforting as she could. "It's not your fault. But you're never going anywhere you don't want to go, okay? No matter what. If anything happens, anything, you just call me and I'll come for you. Nobody's taking you where you don't want to go."

And she meant it. Persephone couldn't stand the thought of Skye being forced to do anything against her will. She'd had such an awful life. If anybody tried to take her back to her, Persephone would bring down everything she had on them. Maybe she wasn't an assassin like Titus, but Persephone had money, and she had connections, and those were enough to reach anybody in Terra. Anybody.

"Come on." She drew back after a moment, nodding down the walkway, "Look, there's your home. We can go in and wait for Titus to come home and show him your beautiful new dresses. What do you think?"

[Skye Thompson]

She relaxed easily into Persephone’s hug, feeling her body go limp and her mind blank. For many other people, that would have been something to worry about, but for Skye it was more of a relief than anything else. She wasn’t thinking of anything, wasn’t worrying about anything. The only problem was, she couldn’t hold back the tears either.

Skye tried to pull away, turning her head frantically. She was getting wet spots on Persephone’s new dress. It wasn’t supposed to work this way. She was supposed to be happy. But now she was ruining everything. “Thank you.” She managed. Though she knew they were meant to comfort, Persephone’s words only made tears of gratitude join those of fear, anger, and remorse. She wasn’t supposed to go to pieces like this. Not here, not now. It was all wrong.

[Persephone Ruspoli]

Persephone just let Skye cry away the worst of it, and when it looked like she was alright, she carefully guided Skye down the walkway. Titus' door was just ahead, and they could sit down and get Skye under control again. By the time Titus arrived home, he would never know that Skye had been upset over anything, and that's just the way they would keep it.

It was so strange how much Persephone's life had changed in the past month. But also wonderful in a way. Persephone's life had been good, but sort of aimless. She made art, she displayed art, and then she waited for the reviews. It was steady, but not terribly exciting. Skye was an emotional roller coaster, but after the past few years, it was one that Persephone felt she could deal with. She wasn't cold like Titus, or shut-off, and when she helped, it really felt like she was making a difference.

As long as Persephone could keep feeling like that, then she would be happy.

[Skye Thompson]

“Thanks, I… I’m getting your dress all wet.” Skye pulled away from Persephone and offered her friend a weak smile. She felt suddenly exhausted, as though her energy had flowed out of her as quickly and easily as her tears in the last few moments. They were at Titus’ front door.

Skye stepped through, still holding on to Persephone’s hand. She shut the door behind them and pulled her friend close again. “Thank you Persephone. Thank you for everything. Everything that you did and… and said and… everything. Just… thank you.”

[Persephone Ruspoli]

Persephone hugged Skye automatically, because that's just what you did when somebody needed you. Therapy was still lurking in the back of Persephone's mind. She was going to have to work hard to find somebody Skye could begin to trust.

"It's okay sweetie." Persephone ran a hand over Skye's hair. "You really need to stop thanking me for just being a decent person. Let's save it for when I actually do something special. Come on." She took Skye's hand and headed upstairs to the girl's room. "Let's go be pretty and watch a movie or two."