The sky shines differently today than it did yesterday

[employeeoftheyear]

[Perhaps to the surprise of no one, there is no after party after that trial. Two children were dead. Two children were dead over a simple accident and the Wizard cared more about himself than anyone else. But they won't give up, they can't give up. They had to keep fighting until everything's been set right.

At the Lobby ofrenda later that night, there are six origami pieces accoupling the other memorials. A penguin, a rose, an octopus man, computer, a music note, and the last one are of a boy and girl holding hands. Along with that there is a plate of strawberry cupcakes with blueberry icing and a note that reads:]

There is still hope and love in the world

Never let The Wizard make you think otherwise 💗

Comments

[mayavericks]

I could not ask you to do this alone.

[Maya isn't necessarily used to manual labor. If nothing else, though, at least one of her hands is calloused enough to handle the repetition of cutting through the earth.

Just don't worry about the other one.]

[barberic]

I don't mind.

[Physical labor helps keep him from thinking. But he doesn't stop her as she helps him, either, digging in silence again alongside her until he notices how she begins to unconsciously favor one hand.

He sticks his shovel in the dirt and holds out one of his dirty hands to take hers.]

Let me see, love.

[mayavericks]

It's fine, Barker-san. I'm fine. We must keep going.

[Injuries are no excuse, after all. Her poor performance would reflect badly upon Benjamin, after all. She redoubles her focus, even as her hand begins to sting and ache all the more.]

[barberic]

Let me see--

[His temper is frayed already and her obstinance when he's trying to help is just a step too far, so he must be forgiven when he reaches out and grabs her injured hand, pulling it off of the shovel and holding it in his own.

Despite the harshness of the motion, his touch gentles instantaneously.]

--Forgive me, Maya. I didn't mean to snap at you.

[mayavericks]

[The tone frightens her, but it's the way he grabs her hand that sends her plummeting straight into fear. She thinks of Rina, not as she was found, but impaled upon a scarecrow, and immediately feels panic rise up. Her hand reaches to her side, grabbing at a sword that isn't there.

But his touch softens, just as his voice does. And though her heart races, she can swallow the fear for the time being.]

We are... both on edge.

[barberic]

[He can feel the spike in her panic somehow, in the electricity between them, and it makes him feel sick, in his heart and his stomach. He evoked that. What a wretched man is he.]

That's no excuse for my behavior.

[From his pocket he takes out a handkerchief, and deftly ties it around her hand, then lets go, too ashamed to look up and meet her eyes.]

This will help keep it from rubbing so badly, and keep the dirt out of it. If it blisters, you'll want to keep it clean and dry as much as you can.

[mayavericks]

Of course. [She gives a deft nod before stepping back. Part of her contemplates leaving, turning tail before anything else can happen. Instead, she reaches forward.

Trust. She had said something to that affect once, hadn't she? If she started to distrust others before anything happened, then it was as good as over. This was something, yes, but maybe it was something that could be prevented.]

I've been worried about you this whole week, you know.

[barberic]

[He doesn't deserve her. But he can't bring himself to flinch away, when she reaches out to him.

The hole they're standing in comes up to just below his knee, at its deepest, and he sits down on the edge of the grave, leaning forward on his elbows. He owes her an explanation - he denied it to her before, when he was too exhausted to tell her, but... One of the few who knew is lying beneath the mounded earth next to them.]

...I learned what happened. In the years I was missing.

[mayavericks]

[Maya Tendo doesn't take breaks, not usually. But she can tell jsut from the sound of his voice that this is a conversation that needs to be focused on. She wants to show that she's listening, that she cares. And as much as she hates to think it, the dead would not get deader, simply because she stopped to listen.

So she sets the shovel aside for the time being and sits down beside him. She allows her good hand -- a little rougher from the hilt of her sword -- to slip over his.]

I am here to listen. If you are ready, that is.

[barberic]

[He wants to put his arm around her. He wants to pull away. He does neither, but his eyes fix themselves on her hand over his.]

...Promise me, you won't think less of me.

[Promise you won't leave me. He doesn't hold her hand tight, but he does turn his to hold hers.]

[mayavericks]

After everything that has happened, Bar -- [She flashes a gentle, almost shy smile.] Benjamin... The last thing I could do is judge you. Not when you have offered me the same courtesy.

Whatever it is, I will still be here.

[barberic]

[He looks up to her face, then, and catches the soft smile. His breath catches when she calls him by his first name.]

...It's been fifteen years since I've seen my family. My wife and daughter...

That was what I remembered. The fifteen years I spent away from them. ...Did you learn, in school, how Australia was colonized?

[mayavericks]

Fifteen years.

[She has to think about the question. History outside of the theatre is less interesting to her but --]

It was a penal colony, right?

[barberic]

[His mouth goes dry. But he nods.]

Yeah. It was. Is.

[He draws a deep breath.]

There was a judge, back in London. He...coveted my Lucy. And so he made up a charge and had me transported. For life.

Then there was nothing but to wait,
And she would fall, so soft, so young, so lost,
And oh, so beautiful...

[mayavericks]

That -- Monster.

[Maya isn't one for outbursts, and compared to some of what they've witnessed from one another, this hardly counts as one at all. But the fury is obvious on her face.

Men, right?]

How dare he.

[barberic]

[Men, indeed.]

I don't know what became of her, after that. Or my daughter.

When I was finally able to send for them, there was no Lucy Barker to be found in London. I want to hope that...maybe she just left the city. Like I should have done to keep this from happening at all.

[But.]

[mayavericks]

Surely that is all then. She's just waiting for your safe return.

[But even Maya doesn't seem to believe it.]