MHA #6, Thursday Evening

[firstofitskind]

Apparently, there was only so long Liam could actually avoid the apartment, before things like 'needing a change of clothes' became an issue.

So here he was, letting himself in, maybe moving a little more stiffly and gingerly than usual, thanks to the morning's sparring session with Beau. He hoped that Verity was wasn't home, so he could avoid that bit of awkwardness and heartache that was sure to come from seeing her. He missed her, god, so much, but at the same time... he'd just be in the way. She deserved that time alone to heal.

[ooc: for that girl!]

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[arboreal_priestess]

You know what Liam was forgetting?

Verity wasn't the only person who lived in the house. Not even counting him.

"HAIL TO THE RETURN OF THE GOD OF DISTANT STARS!"

[firstofitskind]

Better than an alarm system, they were.

Liam facepalmed. "Can you guys... can you shhh?" he pleaded. Probably a lost cause. But he was going to try.

[arboreal_priestess]

They were too busy cheering to listen. Or maybe that was just a convenient excuse to ignore him. "HAIL!" "HAIL!" "HAIL THE GOD OF DISTANT STARS' RETURN!"

The bedroom door opened.

[firstofitskind]

Well, at least he'd tried.

Liam stood there for a few seconds, face in hand still, as the mice continued their celebrations.

Then he heard the creak of the bedroom door.

Slowly, and with no small amount of trepidation, he lowered his hand and looked up.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity stood in the doorway, looking at him with dark-ringed eyes. She didn't look heartbroken or like she'd been sobbing - she'd gotten her monthly allotment of tears out in the warehouse, which Liam apparently knew for himself - but she looked exhausted. Like she hadn't been sleeping.

Or resting.

Shit, she'd looked better the day she'd gotten out of St. Giles.

"Have you come to get your things?" she asked.

[firstofitskind]

His heart broke a little as he looked her over.

“Uh,” Liam stuttered. “I came to- yes?” He’d come to get a change or two of clothes, after all. That Verity might think he meant all of his things hadn’t actually occurred to him.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity felt like she'd been suckerpunched; all the air slammed out of her lungs. She wobbled on her feet for a moment, had to reach out to the doorframe to stay steady. "Sure," she said, a mad laugh trying to claw its way out of her throat. "Don't know why I'd hoped--"

She didn't finish that. Wouldn't finish it. Fuck, she wished Sarah were still here, instead of hundreds of miles away in Michigan.

"Let me just get my jacket," she said, trying to sound breezy. "I'll catch a movie. That should give you plenty of time." She guessed it was a good thing they hadn't gotten around to moving most of the big stuff in. "Leave your key on the kitchen table."

[firstofitskind]

... Well, they were a hell of a pair, because now Liam felt like he'd been suckerpunched. Metaphorically, anyway. All the literal punching had happened earlier.

"I-" Liam started to say, and then stopped. "My key?" he repeated, confused. Because somehow when he'd taken off on Monday night, the finality of such an action hadn't occurred to him. He hadn't really been thinking at all beyond the immediate, which was that she didn't need him around.

[arboreal_priestess]

"What, were you going to hang onto it like some kind of memento?" Verity snarked, taking refuge in sarcasm. "Scrapbook it?"

[firstofitskind]

"No," Liam shook his head. "That's not- are you breaking up with me?"

Not exactly, because she thought you'd already done so, you idiot.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Am I..." Verity laughed, the kind of laugh that was a stand in for are you fucking kidding me with this shit? "You walked out on me!" she spat. "And then slunk in here to get your shit!" He'd literally just said that. "Maybe they do it different in your world, but in this one, that's pretty much the definition of 'breaking up' with somebody."

[firstofitskind]

"I just meant a shirt or two!" Liam replied, his eyes going wide. "Not everything!"

[arboreal_priestess]

"Oh okay, well that's better," Verity said, her sarcasm scathing. "Just going to keep avoiding me instead. I don't understand how I could be confused."

[firstofitskind]

He was no stranger to Verity's sarcasm, of course, but usually it was lightly teasing, not... this. Designed to hurt. Or, at least, he'd never had that aimed at him before.

"I'm only avoiding you because I thought that's what you'd want!" he protested.

No, you assumed that's what she'd need. That was different, Liam.

[arboreal_priestess]

She had intended to ask her question in calm, measured tones, so he'd hear how stupid he sounded. But what came out was a lot more...raw. Emotional.

"How could you even think that?" she asked. "I've been - it's been - you just left me. Alone. After...after everything."

SHUT UP SHE WASN'T CRYING.

[firstofitskind]

And he wanted absolutely nothing more than to close the distance between them, and hold on to her tightly. He even took a step towards her, one arm outstretched, before he faltered and stopped.

"Because he's in my head and I don't know how to make that go away!" Liam admitted.

[arboreal_priestess]

"And that really sucks for you!" Verity cried, "But you abandoned me. And I...I..."

A week ago, she would have admitted that she needed him in a heartbeat. But now she couldn't bring herself to say that.

He'd left.

[firstofitskind]

"Oh," Liam said, voice small and soft as it all came crashing down around him, as he realized what he'd done. How he'd hurt her. The last person in the world he'd ever want to hurt. Then: "Fuck."

[arboreal_priestess]

"You just left," Verity said, her voice small. All of her was small right now, not even counting the fact that she wasn't wearing her heels. "Not even twenty-four hours out of the hospital and you were gone."

[firstofitskind]

"I know," Liam said. Truth be told, he wasn't feeling very big himself right now. "I wasn't thinking," he admitted.

[arboreal_priestess]

"And I still don't get why," she admitted, taking a step forward. "That's the worst part. You were talking about having Robert's memories and then you were gone and I don't understand."

[firstofitskind]

"Because," Liam took a deep breath. "I thought- I thought- if I was around, with those memories, I'd just be a reminder about what happened to you."

It... kind of sounded stupid, when he said it out loud like that.

[arboreal_priestess]

"But...but how would I know what you were thinking?" Verity asked, confused.

[firstofitskind]

"I don't know," Liam admitted. They'd just always seemed so in sync, he'd assumed...

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity just looked around a little wildly, at Liam's face, down to the wide-eyed mice that were staring back at them, horrified and heartbroken over this rift between their gods. "Can't we just, like, talk about this?" she asked.

Pleaded, really.