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[morethan084]

[Is it any surprise that the first place Daisy checks out is the diner? Sitting at a booth in the corner, she's nursing a cup of coffee when she hears the door open and her heart seemingly stops at the person who walks in.

She wants to call out to him, say his name, but she finds herself unable to speak.]

[drawsblood]

[ The word seems to call out to him from the side of the building. DINER. Joric has never cared where he ate, but after the whirlwind he's just experienced it will be nice to sit down in a place that was favored by Daisy. He approaches the place while his heart sinks, thinking of her and how they're lost to each other now. Soon the swelling in his jaw will fade and there will be no physical sign of her presence left on him. Strange how he almost doesn't want the injury to heal because of that.

He pushes open the door and enters. Should he get fries, a chocolate milkshake, or both? Probably both. That's if this place is like the other diners he's been to. They might serve strange items. It's a different world here, after all. Eyes scan across the empty booths in front of the windows until they land on the person in the back. He stops moving and stares. Is he now seeing visions of her? Will she continue to haunt him? He takes a tentative step forward, expecting her image to fade away as his mind settles, but she stays resolutely solid. ]

Daisy?

[morethan084]

[Overwhelmed when she hears him say her name, Daisy isn't sure what emotion to feel first. But as he steps closer and she sees the swelling on her jaw, guilt comes to the forefront. Feeling physically numb, she sets down her coffee mug and gets to her feet. Feeling just unsteady enough that she grips the side of the table.]

How?

[Is the only word she manages to get out.]

[drawsblood]

[ He supposes visions might be able to speak. But they won't feel real so he keeps moving until he's standing within arm's reach. ]

I don't know.

[ A pause. ]

Magic shit.

[ He will never stop calling the things he doesn't understand "magic shit." But now he lifts an arm towards her, intent on touching her arm and making sure she's really there and not all in his head. ]

[morethan084]

[Daisy goes stock-still when he reaches out towards her, staring up at him with an unreadable expression. She has the daisy he carved for her in the pocket of her jacket, the weight of it weighing it down a little.]

Something like that.

[She says numbly, looking anywhere but at the bruise on his jaw.]

[drawsblood]

Daisy.

[ He says her name again, almost like he's forgotten how to say anything else. Fingers curl around her arm and his other hand moves to touch her hair. ]

I didn't go home. I came straight here. Was it the same for you?

[ She's really here. He can only believe it now that fingers touch the familiar strands of hair. Of course he remembers not so long ago having to grab her by the hair to knock her out but he forces the memory away. ]

[morethan084]

[A lump forms in Daisy’s throat at hearing him say her name again and reaches with his other hand to stroke her hair. Recoiling from his touch, she clears her throat as she breaks eye contact with him.]

Yeah, it was.

[She looks around the diner, as if trying to take it all in. When in reality, she wants nothing more than to hug him. Beg for his forgiveness.]

I guess I should’ve known there would be a catch.

[Daisy says, wrapping her arms protectively around herself.]

[drawsblood]

[ He's left with hands awkwardly holding nothing and they fall to his sides. With everything that's happened, it would be foolish to assume it hasn't had an effect on her, but he hardly knows what to say in response to it. ]

Well. At least my regret has been undone and I'm no longer cursed as I was. Home would be preferred but...

[ He trails off, looking at her as he always has. No anger or fear about what she did. ]

But fate has seen fit to keep us together.

[morethan084]

[Her eyes land back on him when he mentions his regret being undone.]

What?

[She asks, needing to hear him say that again. She doesn’t even seem to notice what he says after. If his regret had been undone, does that mean hers had been as well?]

[drawsblood]

My regret. My rage. I can no longer feel it on me.

[ And really, on waking up in a strange room with a strange hologram person, that being the first thing he noticed is a big deal. ]

So something went right.

[ He exhales a slow breath and finds himself smiling. He'd been so eager to return home where he could pick up his life again. That's not the case and he can't begin to guess what he'll face here, but not everything is unwelcome. Being cured and having her here are both positives. ]

[morethan084]

[Daisy can't even attempt to mirror his smile, even if she is relieved to hear that his regret has been undone.]

That's--

Great. I'm glad.

[And she means it. But being here? With him? It's eating away at her. Her instincts are to run, to isolate. She almost wishes she was forced into isolation right now, as those memories of the first time she had her mind controlled all those years ago come rising to the surface.

She looks away from him, no longer feeling hungry.]

If we're here, there might be others too.

[drawsblood]

There might be.

[ There's distance between them and he's not sure how to breach it. Waiting for her to come around probably won't work, like that time they spent weeks not speaking to each other. He sighs, not wanting things to be that way again. ]

I thought I would never see you again, and that was the worst part about leaving.

[ And now she'll barely look him in the eye and draws back from his touch. ]

But here we are and... you are unhappy.

[morethan084]

[Gnawing on the inside of her cheek when he talks about never seeing her again, Daisy feels sick to her stomach when she thinks about how much it had torn her apart that they were going to forget each other.

It would've been better for him if he had forgotten she ever existed. Tears sting her eyes as she looks back up at him, struggling to keep eye contact.]

I'm not--

[She can't finish that sentence, even if it's not necessarily untrue. She's not unhappy to see him, and she feels selfish for thinking that. She doesn't deserve his tenderness. Not after everything she had done to him.]

It's not safe to be around me.

[morethan084]

[It's late at night when Joric will hear a voice in his ear,]

Help.

[drawsblood]

[ He jerks awake and looks around him in alarm. ]

Daisy?

[morethan084]

[He won’t find her in the bed next to him, or in their apartment at all.

It takes her a moment to muster up the strength to respond to him, the pain so overwhelming that she’s fighting to stay conscious.]

I was—

[She chokes on the words as she tries to get up and fails.]

Attacked.

[drawsblood]

[ He leaps up from their meager mattress on the floor and grabs his boots. ]

I'm coming. Where are you? Who did it? Are they still there?

[ Because if the person is, they're getting their neck snapped. ]

[morethan084]

[She’s broken out in a cold sweat at this point, and Daisy already knows her arm was broken. The one that her attacker had stomped on.]

I don’t know.

[Daisy admits, the pain evident in her voice. She can’t move, not even her head as pain spasms through her.]

I can’t move.

[She knows she used her powers and knocked him away from her, but she had passed out for a few minutes from the pain using her powers had caused.

It takes Daisy a moment, but then she remembers he had asked where she was.]

I’m down the street from the apartments.

[drawsblood]

[ He wants more information like which direction down the street, but the pain in her voice is tearing at him and he won't make her talk anymore than necessary. ]

I'm coming. Just take slow breaths.

[ He throws a shirt on and grabs his keys before rushing out the door. Running as fast as he can he leaves the front lobby and stops on the street, looking up and down it. ]

Daisy!

[ He'll start in one direction, unsure if she has the strength to call out to him. ]

[morethan084]

[On the verge of passing out again, Daisy hears his voice echo down the empty street. Swallowing thickly, she tries to respond but another spasm of pain forces her into silence. Her injured arm lays limply at her side, and there’s a blade sticking out of the shoulder on that side.

She hears hurried footsteps coming towards her, and she brace’s herself for another attack knowing there’s nothing she could do right now to defend herself. Unaware that it’s Joric and not her attacker.]

[drawsblood]

[ He rushes over, confused by the sight of her because her silhouette doesn't look normal. Maybe it's the street lights distorting things but her shoulder looks wrong. ]

Daisy. It's all right.

[ He kneels beside her and everything comes into focus. His breath catches in his throat when he recognizes why her form looks as it does. Rage flows through him; not the magical kind, but the kind that had made a berserker like him the perfect test subject in the first place. His head jerks up, looking around for the source of Daisy's pain: her attacker. But when he sees no one, he looks back at Daisy and gently places a hand on her forehead. ]

I cannot fix this. I must take you to the hospital. And it will hurt you no matter how I try to move you. Stay strong, elskan.

[morethan084]

[Eyes fallen closed just before he gets to her, Daisy’s brows knit together when she hears his voice. She wants to tell him what happened, but she finds herself still unable to speak. The only sounds she makes are involuntary sounds of pain before he’s even attempted to move her.

The pain radiates down from her shoulder in waves, unaware that the blade has injected her with something.]

[drawsblood]

[ Moving her the traditional way where she's lifted up in a bridal carry won't work here since his hand would be dangerously close to her shoulder, so he elects for a fireman's carry - not that he knows it's called that. He carefully lifts her good arm to help pull her up and over his shoulder, then he pushes up from the ground, legs shaking a moment until he gets his balance. Then he carries her towards the hospital, trying not to jostle her along the way. ]

[morethan084]

[By the time he’s picking her up off the ground, she’s already passed out and dead weight on his shoulders. The next time she comes to its hours later, but she still looks as pale as when he had brought her to the hospital. Her head is pounding, despite whatever drugs she’s been given.

She tries to swallow, but her mouth is so dry that she can’t. The beeping she had distantly been hearing becomes louder and she finally opens her eyes.]

[drawsblood]

[ Being the way he is, Joric wants to go out and exact revenge on whoever did this to her. It beats sitting around watching Daisy remain unconscious. In fact a few times he gets up, pacing around the room considering if he should go, but in the end he decides against it. Daisy could awaken at any time and need him, so he stays near. When she awakes, he's been nodding off in the visitor's chair next to her bed. He's slouched down, legs stretched out and chin on his chest as he dozes. ]