The Amell Legacy: Transgressions

[Haliel Lightsong]

"No," Lightsong says kindly, ruthlessly. "There remains hope. There is always hope. We can take you somewhere new, somewhere safe and peaceful. And we'll all help you. Miss Beth loves you. Give her a chance to prove that to you again. She... she has suffered a great deal as well, trying to keep you safe."

[Carver Amell]

Hope. Bastion. Dammit. She's one of those bastionites. She won't help me. Nobody here can help me -- everyone here is on Beth's side, my enemy. nothing to be done. Wait for an opportunity, rest for now. Nothing I can do but wait.

Carol sighs, again, and the remaining tension goes out of her. She continues stroking Hunter, silent, pensive.

[Haliel Lightsong]

Whimpering, Hunter presses closer to Carol, clearly sensing her pain and trying in his earnest, fumbling puppy way to comfort her. On the side the of bed, Lighstong sighs but continues to stroke Carols hair and begins to talk of simple, aimless things. Nothing important, not of any real meaning, just comforting noise to prove she is not alone.

[Marian Hawke]

Marian slides her tray down at the table Beth's picked in the cafeteria -- a quiet table out of the way, not that there's many folks about this time of morning. She's grabbed herself a large bowl of oatmeal heaped with berries and sugar, as well as juice and five or six sausage patties. Where does she plan to put it all? She's thin as a rail! 

"So how'd you sleep?"

[Bethany]

Beth offers a smile, the expression hollow. "Rather well, thank..."She falters, eyes refocusing on Marian's face a touch more sharply. "Sorry." She sighs, rubbing her face. "I... I keep... I'm not thinking well. It's hard to remember..."

[Marian Hawke]

"It's best not to think about it. Not to let it get to you. Keep your head up, keep a smile on your face, and lie your ass off. Eventually the hollow, sick feeling goes away and then you're home free."

[Bethany]

Beth frowns, brow wrinkling. "That... that doesn't sound right at all. That's what Car has been doing for years and..." She trails off, the results of that pretty fucking evident.

[Marian Hawke]

"Well, that's Carol. You and me aren't like her and Mother."

[Bethany]

Beth tenses, back stiffening. "Oh?"

[Marian Hawke]

Marian shrugs. "Mother always had a melancholy side to her. She's been on tonics since you were a babe. Your father did his best to cheer her, but Gamlen had her--"

Here she pauses, just a moment, jamming a spoonful of porridge into her mouth to hide the expression; when she swallows she goes on like nothing's wrong at all: "Gamlen was always pushing the tonics and you had to admit they helped."

[Bethany]

Well... I suppose but that... "I don't think that Car," just a little emphasis there, "and Mother are all that similar. Car has real issues, real... pain. Mother just... she just likes the drama of such things."

[Marian Hawke]

Marian shrugs. "Must be a hard thing, to run away for love, and then lose him so quickly. To come crawling back with your tail between your legs, admit you were wrong and marry the man your parents wanted all along. Maybe she's worse off than any of us ever knew. Or maybe you're right, maybe she loves the drama and she loved your dad all along. I don't intend to ask her, do you?"

[Bethany]

"Our dad," Beth whispers softly. "Malcolm was our dad. And she never loved him."

[Marian Hawke]

"He-- what?" 

Marian blinks away the tears threatening to form at hearing her father's name spoken aloud for the first time since she was too small to remember. 

[Bethany]

Her sister looks away, guilt clearly displayed. "I... I managed to get her to confess once," she mumbles vaguely.