driftfleet | The Heart is a Lonely Huntress

[Holds out her hand...]

[ internally screaming forever, but takes her hand ]

[There's a dad standing in the nearest doorway. How long has he been there? It's hard to tell, but it looks like he's very confused by whatever he's heard.]

Hey... What's going on here?

[welp, he's getting a less than kind look from the weird blonde girl whose weird purple dress matches Riley's.]

Hi. You're Lark's father, right?

[ ...That's just a look of alarm. And she takes several steps back, and tries to hide behind the closest thing to her. Which might just be Nightingale, which isn't very helpful since she's... Taller than her. She opens her mouth to say "Riley" but shuts it and continues to. Try and blend in with the background.

She's not here, please move on. ]

[He raises an eyebrow and gives a confused smile, looking towards the daughter who is trying to assume the form of wallpaper, then back at the blonde visitor.]

Hi! I am Cory Matthews, and I am Riley's father. Is... Lark a new nickname?

It's the name we gave her.

I'm Nightingale. Your new crewmate with the blue skin is Magpie. We, and a dozen or two more, were Takshaka.

How much did you hear?

[ That's. That's a lot of internal screaming going on, but mostly a terrible face. She's going to contribute nothing to this conversation for at least a good minute. ]

Nightingaaale.

[What is this even. Did she start a girl gang behind her back, and they all choose bird names? Why isn't Riley Parakeet?]

Just something silly. About Riley not thinking she's Riley anymore?

[He looks towards Riley with a smile.]

Come on, sweetie. Whatever this all is, I need to hear it from you.

[Nightingale half-turns to look at Lark in a way that doesn't let Cory leave her field of vision- She's basically treating him as an enemy at this point.]

... Lark, you can't hide it with Magpie on the same ship as you. If you don't want to tell him, I can explain things, but it's not something you can ignore and hope it goes away.

[ She's quiet as the both turn to her, curling her fingers into the hem of her skirt. This isn't what she wanted. She wanted to play like nothing ever happened for as long as possible-- longer. Maybe she could be Riley, just like that. Without all the Larkness. It was terrifying.

What was she supposed to say? Hearing him ask her to say something burns a whole in her heart and she shifts another step back. As if escaping was even an answer. Because she knows herself and she knows she'll always answer when asked a direct question.

But it doesn't mean she can't fight it. ]

I... can't.

[ There. It feels like something will break and she doesn't want that and she's really not feeling very Riley right now, who would believe it was still all right. She wants to but this is the terrifying thing she was trying to avoid. ] If I do something bad will happen.

[Now there's a choice of words that sets of Cory's worry sensors. He steps towards her with a soft, confused look on his face, ready to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder as he tries to talk to her.]

Something bad...? What will happen, Riley? Has someone been threatening you?

Edited 2015-08-05 06:23 (UTC)

[Nightingale steps back, letting them have their family moment, but she's tense like she's about to snap- she's ready to step in and pull him away from her if things don't look like they're going to go right.]

[Nooo. She was quite content hiding here and now it's gone and so she doesn't know where to look or at who and so she just stops and looks at something far behind them on the wall. Why this?]

Nooo. [It's a squeak.] Not now. Not here. But something happened... elsewhere. AND YOU SHOULDN'T BE HERE BUT. she doesn't want to say all of that, no, no.]

Edited 2015-08-05 06:45 (UTC)

Elsewhere? [Whatever's going on, it's scary and confusing. But he remains calm in addressing Riley, trying to ease her into whatever happened.]

Come on, Riley. It's me. You can tell me anything.

... Lark, if you really don't want to say it, I can explain instead.

[Which, you know, may be less comforting since i'm the one who forced this in the first place]

[ Riley. Lark. Riley. Lark. You can tell me anything. She should be able to, she knows, but she doesn't want to tell him that. She doesn't want to tell him that even though she's got a lot of memories back, she still barely remembers anything. Not birthdays or family outings or getting in trouble. She only vaguely remembers Grandma and Grandpa, and even Auggie.

It's what makes her shake her head because it's not something she can say, because she'd be a disappointment, right? Or broken? And she doesn't want that. She wants to be Riley as much as she is Lark, and she doesn't know how to do that. And this is the exact reason she hadn't wanted to say anything. It's complicated now, too complicated, and the words aren't coming out right. So, once more, she takes another step back wishing there was some way out-- But maybe she shouldn't have inherited brutal honesty from her parents, because it really doesn't help her obedient nature. ]

You're--[ A swallow. ] You're not supposed to be here, because the place we were before... Said everything was destroyed, even us... And we had to save it. [ CAN SHE RUN AWAY NOW. ] I... don't really remember who Riley is. Only a little.

[ And it's scary because now she's said it and she wants to bolt. Maybe she can, maybe she can run past them. Or maybe she's not that dumb and she'll just sit on this floor and not look at anything, that's completely legitimate, too. ]

[He did give Nightingale an uncertain look. Sure, she does seem somewhat vaguely reminiscent of Maya, but she's not Maya, so he's a bit unsure.

But then Riley speaks and has his full attention. He frowns as he takes it all in. 'everything was destroyed'... She doesn't remember who Riley is? How could that be...

He steps towards her and places a hand on her shoulder.]

Riley... I don't understand. I'm right here. So everything's alright. And of course you know who you are. How couldn't you? [But there's a bit of trembling fear in him. He doesn't truly understand what she's explaining, let alone by it, but something is seriously troubling his daughter and it is eating at him.]

Don't say that.

[Her words at Cory are sharp and biting, with a fair bit of restrained anger.]

You don't know what we've went through. Don't tell her what she knows- Your job here is to listen and tell her how you feel about her.

[And if he doesn't say the right thing, she'll really show what she's like when she's mad.]

[ She flinches at not just Cory's words, but Nightingale's. More than a little clumsily she tries to take another step away, her heart race picking up. ]

I... [ Her voice breaks slightly, cracking. ] Only have te--eleven memories. I think a few more. None of them... I remember you and Maya most. Auggie and Mom... [ She has in two memories, maybe? She remembers Christmas a little and she did get a few more memories coming here, but...] That's what we were trying to get, before here. And I was the only one there, from home.

[There's biting words going on all around. He thought he was trying to reassure her. He just lowers his arms calmly and nods.]

Well... I'm here. I'm listening.

[And listen he does, to what Riley has to say. It feels even more heartbreaking to hear his daughter sounding so lost and so confused.]

Riley, Riley... Take a breath. It's okay.

[Now he's trying to be soothing at least, while he struggles to accept this world. This world where Riley really does seem to have lost so much of their memories. This is something that nothing in his life has prepared him for...]

[Nightingale will step back again to let the two talk... She does feel bad for causing this kind of distress, but it's better to be discovered this way than by Cory taking a steel book to the head.]

[ But what if we wanted Magpie to throw books at people's head. Just like old times.

It is distressing, though, and an un-Riley-- or even Lark-like fashion she's shaking slightly. Her mouth feels dry and cottony, and she really just wanted to play pretend forever. She doesn't want to say anything at all and she wordlessly opens her mouth a minute. Nothing comes out, and she shakes her head. Tries again to no avail. It's almost suffocating as her fingers curl tightly ]

It's not. [ Her voice cracks into a squeak. ] I might not remember if we're here...

[There's probably tears welling up in his eyes, just from seeing her like this. But now he steps closer, and he'll try to place his hands on her shoulders if she'll let him, if it looks like it will help her to calm down.]

There's always a way, Riley. I promise. I don't know if I really understand a lot of this, but... I'm here.

[He shakes his head and gives a strained smile as he tries to reassure her.]

I'm here and I'm going to do everything I can to help you with this. There has to be a hope now of - of getting your memories back. Riley, we're in space now. The possibilities really are endless. And if there's one thing I know about Riley Matthews, is that this is the kind of thing she loves to believe.

...

It might not be impossible. I have met a few people who specialize in soul bullshit.

The Heart is a Lonely Huntress

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