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[amityville_sweetheart]

11-07-2007

Corrine knows what people would say to this. This is irresponsible and reckless. Going alone is stupid. Not telling anyone is deceptive.

They wouldn't hear or listen that this is something Corrine wants, and needs, to solve alone. Maybe it won't solve anything, maybe that's why they'd protest, but Corrine's spent long enough letting people fight her battles for her, defend her, and take the brunt of situations for her.

She's dressed down, doing her best to look normal. Even if she hasn't much felt normal recently, she's making the effort.

No one escorts her to the room at the end of the hall.

Comments

[amelia-z.livejournal.com]

What little dexterity is left in Amelia's fingers has been concentrated recently on Tetris via her GameBoy Advance. She agreed 'not to hit, maim or otherwise violently attack anyone with it', and she stuck to it, so now she gets to keep it all the time.

She may be reneging on that offer momentarily. "Look what came back."

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

Corrine knew when she decided to do this that Amelia would look different. The Russian woman is even thinner than before, and far from her usual kept look. Corrine's choking down any guilt from this, reminding herself Amelia's choices weren't her fault. Even if you started it all in the first place.

She leans against the doorway, holding her aura back, keeping her influence away from Amelia. "I'm sorry for what happened to you and whatever part I had in it. And I hope you were listening because that's the second and last time I'm going to say it."

[amelia-z.livejournal.com]

"I didn't ask you for it the first time." Amelia clicks off the game, tossing it to the end of her bed.

"So if you're going to kill me, do so. Unless you're into torture, than I guess you can keep talking." She pulls her hair back, trying to straighten her slouch.

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

"I am not here to kill you, Amelia."

Corrine sighs, trying to hold back the roll of eyes. Beyond the stupidity of doing it in the middle of a hospital, what would that accomplish? Corrine's free, Amelia's in here. Corrine has no reason to wish her harm, but then again the older woman is here because that logic fails her.

[amelia-z.livejournal.com]

"A joke at your expense, but don't act surprised," she says, bored. "You immolated me, witch. Told me to 'burn', remember? Your friends may have forgotten, give you their little seal of approval, but I don't. Nothing's changed, nothing's different just that I guess I'm outclassed, huh?"

Amelia mumbles something into her lap, turning away from Corrine. The Russian woman is arguing with herself for a moment before seeming to notice Corrine is still standing there. "What, you? I didn't listen to you before, what makes you think I'm going to waste my time now that I'm dying? Jesus, some people..."

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

"Because you're dying in here?" Corrine does her best not to make that sound patronizing. Yeah, she was expecting that, and yeah, she deserves it. Much like all of the history Amelia uses like a battering ram, Corrine can't put up much defense against it.

She shrugs. "Look-- I lost it. Can you really blame us after months of goading? You kicked my ribs in. All of them, I think. You sold us all out when we were trying to help you. We've both been terrifying people when pushed to the wall."

[amelia-z.livejournal.com]

The look Amelia gives Corrine could freeze the entire Pacific ocean. Who came here, to see her? Who dredged it all up again, when she was content to forget about it? Surely, Corrine's not still looking for an apology? Surely, Amelia's made it clear there won't be one coming from her, at least not to this little witch?

"And wasn't it buried good enough before you came in here? And you don't get to talk about what's good for my brother! You threw that right away, spat on it, it's not your concern anymore so stop, stop pretending like you care, when you don't! You're just like the rest of your family, getting your little hooks in people to get where you want and then leaving them to flail, all bloodied up and dirtier than before! Like people don't have enough to sully themselves up, and you'll be the big helper, right?"

A pause. "For having millenia of knowledge now, you're still pretty goddamn dumb, Corrine."

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

Good that someone hasn't missed that fact.

"Yes," she snickers. "And no one knows it better than I do."

Corrine gestures questioningly at the chair turned in towards the desk.

[amelia-z.livejournal.com]

"Yevanat."

Amelia looks at the chair, then over at Corrine. For a second she's puzzled, but then looks away. This game has gotten stupid and old. "Why don't you just tell me why you're here? You want something or someone sent you who wants something, or else you wouldn't be here."

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

"You know I want resolution."

She finally takes a seat at the cluttered desk. She keeps her hands out in the open and close to her. Her bag goes to the floor, like she's prepped to be here for a while. "I don't want you in here, Amelia. Whatever my family did to you--"

[amelia-z.livejournal.com]

She waves for Corrine to be silent. This is tiresome. There's a prickling of a migraine starting in her head. Amelia didn't want to do this today, or any day, really.

She looks squarely at the woman across from her. "Your family is a pit of snakes, and you among them. They at least told me half-truths about you that no one has moved to debunk yet. I'm building my defense on what a bad person you were." She shrugs and gives a 'duh' look. "And you want, what, to leave here knowing it's all okay and convince me you're sunshine and flowers? Twitch your magic nose and everything goes back to copacetic? Get bent, Corrine."

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

"No." It's very hard to be patient, especially when someone uses that 'snide teenager' tone against you. Corrine never could take being condescended and patronized to, but she takes a breath before she speaks again.

"I want to leave here knowing we're not going to waste our lives, or any time at all, fighting each other. Forget whatever they said. I'm here telling you-- you have a good defense because you've got good material."

[amelia-z.livejournal.com]

Amelia's already been visited. She knows where she made her mistake of letting her guard down. "You are so unbelievably den--"

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

Corrine wants to slap herself at this point. Do the Zukovs just make a personal hobby out of being thick-headed?

"Jesus Christ, Amelia, I'm telling you you're right!" That exasperated sigh gets out this time and Corrine lets the annoyed tone go, too. "For once in your damned life friggin' listen! I do not want you to be here, and I can tell you more horrible things about me than anyone else can, I guarantee you."

[amelia-z.livejournal.com]

"I don't want your help."

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

"Amelia, please, between you and your brother--"

[amelia-z.livejournal.com]

"I don't know how to say it anymore simply."

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

"I do feel partially responsible. I could testify for you, and we can go back to getting you expert help with people that know this stuff!"

[amelia-z.livejournal.com]

"You don't get it, you don't get it!" Amelia finally screams, silencing Corrine.

The older woman is laughing. Not because this is funny, because it's decidedly not, but it is sort of ironic that her greatest fear that brought her here was being plagued by this woman, this... thing. There is no way to be rid of her! The only way is to do something Amelia doesn't believe in, won't believe in, will die (more irony!) before she does: patronizing someone she hates with kindness.

"I know this is hard to get but I don't want or need your fucking redemption! I don't want favors from you, I'm not here to absolve your guilt, and if you do it anyway well then guess I can't stop you, but don't look at me to make this little moment of 'growth' you're having easy on you, because it isn't my concern and I want no part of it! I won't be part of whatever the fuck it is you represent! And save feeding me your 'everything happens for a reason' philosophical, prophetic, God-freak bullshit, 'cuz that crap's for dumb assholes that need to sleep better at night! I take pills for that."

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

Corrine slumps back in her chair. She isn't getting anywhere here. No, she wasn't naive enough to expect that this would be easy, but she hadn't expected a wall of 'no' this thick. She wants to scream and pull her hair. Or the other woman's hair. Not that it would solve anything, either, but maybe it would make Corrine feel better. Well.

[amelia-z.livejournal.com]

"Da, you're shocked speechless, we're all appreciative." She claps. "The Academy gives it four stars, now get the fuck out, stupid."

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

Corrine shrugs, fussing with the hem on the leg of her jeans. "I can't figure you out, Amelia. You're pretty, you're rich, you're smart, and yet you're one of the nastiest people I've met. How the hell does someone get that way?"

[amelia-z.livejournal.com]

"Practice."

She turns away towards the window and smirks. "But you already know that one."

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

Amelia's trying to make her angry, but the older woman is right, too. Corrine made a habit of these annoying little 'I'm mad at you' games once upon a few years ago. It's a wonder Caleb never brained her with a chair leg or something... well, excluding when he was crazy.

Corrine did learn 'nasty' with practice, and she hasn't forgotten it. She also hasn't forgotten sometimes 'nasty' works as a pretty good boxing glove. "Your brother bought a gun when you went under. After he learned what he did."

[amelia-z.livejournal.com]

Amelia's eyes are still looking out the window. "What? Lemme guess, he told you this, huh? Caleb's told a lot of girls a lot of things."

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

"No, I did the math. I'm not that dumb. And you aren't, either. You want to take a wild guess what that purchase was for?"

[amelia-z.livejournal.com]

There's a slight movement as Amelia sits up straighter. "I don't believe you."

The birds are gathering around a puddle on the adjacent roof. She whistles at them.

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

"Then ask him. Caleb may do a lot of things you don't like, but I know he's never lied to you, and I know you know it, too."

Corrine crosses one leg over the other and leans her elbows against her leg. "My family deceived you. That's what they're notorious for, and they do it to each other without blinking an eye. They put my brother Eugene in Hell to get my father back here, and then my father betrayed you. You'd just betrayed the Outsiders. Who do you think was covering your ass, Amelia? Who, in that fight, was invested in your survival?"

[amelia-z.livejournal.com]

Amelia closes her eyes and sighs. "Wrong, he tried to lie to me about how long I was in a coma, how I wound up there, and how I woke up. But since you're so determined on embarrassing yourself, please get to the goddamn point."

[damage-girl.livejournal.com]

"Your brother was messed up when I met him. So was I. There's no excusing that for either of us, but I didn't do it all by my lonesome, that took thirteen years of building between you going under and my stupid butt walking in.

"And when I was with him, I got to play competition with a vegetable. You couldn't be gone, it wasn't a good enough answer for him, and I'm sorry I let him talk me into having any part in that if you're so damned unhappy with all this. But Caleb spent most of his life obsessed with bringing you back. The best thing that could've ever happened to him was having you back in his life, and not having me around to screw it up anymore. So the point is, if you wanted to make him regret what he's spent his whole damn life working on, you did it. If anyone's keeping Caleb from being happy, it's you."

[amelia-z.livejournal.com]

"Excuse you? Since when are you an authority?"

Amelia gets up from the bed, her knuckles squeezed white. "I was trying to protect him from you! You walk in here different now but I can even smell what you are."