Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 8)

Ky pulled her knees close to her chest and covered her face with both hands, attempting to both wipe away the evidence of her tears and muffle the sounds of her sobs all at once. She had to calm down. She had to. At least enough to be able to make it the rest of the way to her room.

Gaius made it up the first flight and stopped to rest for a moment, figuring he had some time. He gave it a couple minutes; his foot was seizing up a little. Then he started up the next flight, cane tapping lightly. He would have preferred a quieter approach so she wouldn't make him chase her, but he had trouble not putting weight on the cane.

Ky hadn’t heard him make it up the first, and so sat trying to self-soothe. And yet there wasn’t anything she could think of that would do the trick. With Aleth, she just had to remind herself that the more she cried, the worse the consequence would be. Let his anger scare her into passivity.

But she didn’t have that, now. Now all she had was the knowledge that she was upsetting the people she cared about, and that made her feel even worse about things.

She heard Gaius’s cane when he was about half way up the stairs, probably. She wasn’t sure. But more than that, she couldn’t figure out why Gaius, of all people, was coming to comfort her. Or… well… do whatever it was that he planned to do. She annoyed him at baseline; she couldn’t imagine he’d enjoy seeing her like this. Yet again.

Maybe he didn’t hear her. Maybe she had time to sprint and pretend she hadn’t heard him coming. And… and… she didn’t know. Maybe there was a parlor or something she could hide in on this floor. Or… or…

She pushed herself to her feet, but her balance was all wrong, and she immediately fell against the wall again and slid down it.

Gaius was about halfway up the stairs when he heard the crying pause. He sighed and dragged himself up the rest of the way, coming to a stop at the landing and leaning against the wall. He gazed down at her in silence for a moment, trying to map out what exactly to say.

She shrank under his gaze, afraid, and she wasn't sure of what. Of upsetting him? Inconveniencing him? Or maybe just in the knowledge that he was going to look straight through her, and it wasn't going to be a pretty picture he saw once he did. She wiped her face, deciding not to risk falling over a second time, and instead curling into a little ball. "...Sorry."

"You have no reason to be," he said simply, turning his gaze away toward the next flight of stairs, then back to her. "Can you walk?"

Ky nodded and obediently pushed herself to her feet. Gods, where was he taking her? Was she going to have to sit in his office to be lectured like a naughty school child?

"Good. Go up to your room and dress warmly, please." He'd do the same. His warm clothes were downstairs, thankfully. "Then meet me at the entrance."

"Yes-- okay," she caught herself in the nick of time, and nodded before she upset him further. Then she obediently started up the stairs, still quickly, but not fast enough to fall this time.

She used her brisk walk to force herself to calm down and swallowed as much of the mucus draining down the back of her throat as she could. She knew Gaius wasn't going to hurt her like Aleth would have -- and yet his presence terrified her almost as much. She needed to regain control of herself. She couldn't afford to spiral in front of Gaius.

("Ky has stopped crying, problem solved" - Gaius, probably xD)

Gaius watched her go, then turned and started back down the stairs, gritting his teeth from the pain. Hopefully that would calm her down some so she wouldn't cry when she came out. She still seemed terrified of him--she looked at him the same way he remembered looking at his father. It was a disturbing realization to have, and he shook himself. A useless thought; he had done nothing to harm her. He was better than his father.

(o o f )

Ky made it to her room quickly and took a moment to glance at herself in the mirror. It garnered an anguished sigh. She looked like a disaster. Her eyes were bloodshot and her pale face was a splotchy red.

She wiped her face with a cloth and then blew her nose in it, and took a drink from the cup of water next to her bed. It reminded her of how queasy she was. She set her jaw, resolute not to throw up, and got dressed for outside.

She still didn't have the foggiest idea of what Gaius planned to do with her outside. Hopefully, it wouldn't involve a horse. She'd die if he tried to thrust one upon her in the world's most expensive way of attempting to calm a tantrum. And she'd be almost as miserable if he tried to force her to prove her (lack of) skill to him in an attempt to distract her. Because it wouldn't work.

And yet she couldn't fathom what else would require him to drag her outside.

She started back for the entrance.

Gaius reached the entrance and had his coat, cloak, gloves, and ushanka brought to him. He waited there quietly, resting his back against the wall and keeping his damaged hand tucked close to his side with the other one clutching his cane. He was considering what he could possibly say to her that wouldn't offend her. Maybe it was his manner rather than his words that vexed her? He wasn't sure he could muster up anything but what he was. Perhaps he ought to ask her. Sara would tell him to do that. But that wasn't the issue right now.

(I continue to be impressed with your vocabulary haha I know what an ushanka is but had no idea it had a name other than "the really fuzzy flappy warm hat" haha)

Ky forced herself to breathe deeply and calm herself as much as humanly possible as she tried to imagine what Gaius could possibly want from her. He wasn't going to want to sit and cuddle -- gods, the thought of that was just. She nearly shuddered. No. Neither of them wanted that.

So what, then?

He was just going to be academic about trying to reach the root of why she was upset. And she was going to lie. And they both knew it. So what was the point in this?

(I've also heard it called a chapka. They're fun words! I only know them because my parents have one from when they were in Russia for the Peace Corps. They're very fluffy.)

He supposed he could introduce her to Oscar, though she had expressed the very opposite of interest in visiting the graveyard. He could understand why. That might be something to do, though. Maybe she could relate to that somehow. Or he could distract her by introducing her to the teenagers. Or they could just walk in the Grove in silence.

(Ooh yeah that's fair! I had the knock-off Team Realtree version when I was a kid hahah very warm for when we were working on the farm in the winter)

She decided to give up on trying to predict the perplexing man, and instead focused on formulating her apology for her outburst at breakfast. That's what this was all about, almost certainly. Not that he'd demand an apology by any means -- he'd probably brush it away after she offered it. But that's what had led to this. And it was poor behavior besides. So. An apology.

She squared her shoulders as she rounded the corner and Gaius and the front door came into view.