#thebrokenarc

[bloodandpaintchips]

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Tagging→ Andrea Sheldon, Johnny Arcos Time Frame→ October 30th, 2020 Location→ Sangren, Colorado General Notes→ Some things to rely on.

Andrea sat outside of her father’s house for a while. Her entire mindset about coming home had surrounded him and again, in such a short time since meeting her mom, she had to rethink her moves entirely. She was getting sick of the rollercoaster, but something in her brain told her it was her own fault for avoiding things for so long. She could have been over this hump, continuing to think Audra was dead and having hobbies. Shaking her head, she put the car in drive and took off, her blue van bouncing down the residential street.

She went to Johnny’s without even thinking about it. She hadn’t planned to show up unannounced on his doorstep asking for a place to live, but her options weren’t vast. Grabbing her duffle bag from behind the seat, Andy stopped the car and got out. She didn’t sit and think about it, she was tired of that and needed a best friend. When she got up to his door, she knocked three times and exhaled.

At the knocks, Johnny lifted his head from where he let it drop to the back of the couch so he could eye the door. Sprawled out in his living room in nothing but boxers and covered with the inked lines of tomorrow's spells, he had been feeling restless for the past few hours - something in his blood that he was not quite able to recognize, not quite anxiety, not quite the moon tugging up the tides... 

"Coming," he said to no one as he pushed himself to his feet. Once at the door, he cracked it opened and, with one eye, took in the sad sight of Andy, long-absent, very-missed, tired-eyed and still wearing those shoes. "My Raggedy One." He let the door fall open completely and beckoned her in with a wave of his hand. "How was your trip?"

Unable to stop her smile, Andy walked in at his invitation and set her bag down by the door. After what felt like a barrage of rejections it felt great to feel the familiarity of his energy and to be let in with no questions asked. That’s what she expected with him, but it was nice to have those expectations met. At his question she sighed and closed the space between them to hug, despite the marks all over him. “Kinda sucked, actually,” she replied, pulling away and shrugging. “I met a lot of assholes, pretended to be different people, was hungry a lot and also I met my mom. How was...home?”

The cool press of her against him was already familiar, he didn't miss any warmth at all, so he just hugged her back just as tightly and let her go when she was ready. "Assholes... Your mother... Have you eaten?" He walked to his forgotten bowl and box of cereal on the coffee table and beckoned at her again, the cat jumping up suddenly into the empty seat meant for Andy. "Home was nice. I did not see my grandmother. The forest misses her."

Andrea took that as a cue to greet the cat, wrapping the black mass into her arms and sitting down once she was holding her. She stroked her head and scratched her ears while she listened to him speak. “I ate enough,” she answered, letting the cat reposition in her lap. “That’s...good, right? I don’t miss the forest. I missed you. Missed Sangren in the fall. Missed my dad, which actually kinda brings me to something I wanted to ask. My dad doesn’t, um, want me home anymore. Well it’s not my home anymore I guess.” She rolled her eyes at herself and let the cat slip out of her lap. “I’m asking if I can move in?” A pleading smile was added for good measure.

Watching on fondly as the cat was coddled and cuddled, Johnny tried not to be too surprised by Andy's words. After all, he missed her, too, though she wasn't gone too long. Still... It took a moment still for her words to catch up to him and he frowned thoughtfully at her. "Of course. The second bedroom is yours - what happened to your father? He has not died, has he?"

Andy relaxed a little more in the seat, smiling at him and leaning on her knees. “Cool. Thanks. And no, he’s not dead. He looked at me like I was dead though,” she told him, followed by a hollow laugh. “Since I came home I thought I’d better just rip the band-aid off and tell him what I am. It was the only way we could move forward. At first he thought I needed psychological help by the look of his face, and then when I proved it to him, he…” She ran a hand through her hair and made eye-contact with Johnny, mustering a kind of pathetic smile. “He said I wasn’t Andy anymore. Asked me to leave.”

"Ah, păpuşă," he sighed, folding his hands together in his lap. She looked as young as she ever looked, as lost as she was ever lost and Johnny felt regret that he could offer her no more than his home and simple words. "This town... many are still in so much doubt about this town." He shook his head. Simple words. "But here, you are with me; we will fix things together. Now, tell me of your mother. What about her made you want to reveal so much to your father?"

Kicking her shoes off, she brought her legs up to cross them under her. “Yeah. He went from not believing me to knowing I wasn’t me anymore. Funny.” She shrugged, a smile creeping onto her face again at his words. “Okay. We’ll fix things together.” When he mentioned her mom, she huffed and let herself fall against the back of the couch, silent for a few moments while she figured out where to start. “I feel like there’s so much to say about her and yet not much at all. I don’t know. It took almost five years to find her and I don’t know what I was expecting but I wish I could take all that time back. She’s alive. Didn’t want to be found. She uh...kinda called me pathetic to my face. She called my dad boring and said she never wanted to have me.” Andrea felt her eyes welling and then a bit of anger at how the disappointment still affected her. “She’s a witch. She had enchanted windows and mirrors and the sun shone in this mansion and I could feel it on my skin. It was so magical to be such a symbol of her negligence. And she was so beautiful too. I could see myself in her features and I hated it.”

It made sense that her mother was a witch; if not dead, then yes, a witch sounds correct. His brethren were often flighty. He couldn't help but think of his own mother, but dashed the thought from his mind. He reached a hand out and twirled his fingers over and over, pulling neon strings of sugar from nothing until he could hand over a fluff of cotton candy to her, a reminder of a lighter time. "She sounds clever. And selfish. Did you talk long?"

“Yeah, she’s both those things I guess.” She fiddled with one of her bracelets and shook her head. “That night she went missing, she turned. She saw it as an out, so she let us believe she was dead. Those childhood memories I have of her that were so sweet...they’re just buried under the narrative that she was merely ‘trying out’ motherhood. When she got tired of it, she didn’t even hesitate because of me. With my dad I get it, romantic love can be fleeting I guess. But nothing kept her here. If anything I made her want to leave more.” She smirked at the cotton candy, bringing it to her lips and letting some of the sugar melt on her tongue. “We talked long enough. My questions were answered. It sucked but they were answered.”

Johnny furrowed his brow in confusion, stuck on one part of her statements. "Turned? One cannot be turned into a witch."

Andrea laughed, throwing her head back and turning to Johnny with a smile. “My bad, she is also a vampire. She’s both. Can you imagine?”

"Ah." He deliberately smoothed his features and leaned back. He tried to wrap his mind around it - he hadn't met many like Andy's mother, the first coming to mind was the owner of Tartarus, Helena... Old and frightening as she was, he still couldn't fully imagine. "I cannot speak on children nor will I give excuses for the way she has treated you, but none of this is surprising, given the nature of my kind. It pains me that it pains you." He held his hand out to her.

She finished off the cotton candy, pursing her lips as he spoke. “Yeah, I don’t know. I truly thought pushing a kid out of your vaginal opening would mean you have some love for them but people have killed their kids so I guess I should have known that doesn’t automatically come with it.” She gladly took his hand in both of hers, focusing on its skin while she gathered her thoughts again. “I know it’s my fault. I built her up. I thought she was a missing ingredient in my life for so long and I had no idea she was any kind other than human. It was blindsiding. But also I kind of think she was just rude. Maybe she couldn’t understand me, but she didn’t have to be a bitch about it,” she said, laughing a little. Her laughter about all this was so dry and a little sad. It was all funny to re-tell, but in a self-depreciating and ironic way. A waste of five years for a rude conversation.

"I do not understand how you're at fault for loving your mother, Andy. Everyone grows up with heroes, everyone idolizes their good memories. You did nothing but be her daughter and she was nothing but a failure," Johnny reasoned, stroking his thumb back and forth across her fingers. "But yes, I agree that the rudeness is a step too much."

Andrea simply looked at him, smile still in place. “You know, I think I really needed to hear that. I think I just really need to be here right now.” She finally let go of his hand, slapping her own on her thighs and looking around. “Your place looks gorgeous. Can you show me my room?”

He looked back at her, mirroring her smile with a slight curling of his lips. "Of course. I forget when I changed things around, but you'll like it." He stood and padded into the open space between the kitchen and the dining table. He didn't wait for her to follow, merely moved through a doorway that led to a small office space. "For what ever reason, the room decided to curve, so I let it. We'll need blackout curtains or..." He lifted a hand and the wide window over the desk thinned some. "And around this corner, the bed." He led her along the curving wall until they stood in the middle of the bedroom.

The luxurious floorplan was nothing like she was used to, her and her father’s cluttered Victorian flashing in her mind. It really felt different, in an exciting way. She was hurt, but as Johnny fussed about the room and updates he would make, this felt like a new chapter that she was curious about. “I like the curve. A lot,” she responded, taking in the bedroom once they were completely in it. “Your space is so beautiful. This is like the Ritz-Carlton to me right now. Should be interesting for it to become home.”

He glanced at her carefully, wanting her reaction to the space. She looked interested and said as much, but he couldn't help but want to give her - promise her more. "Do whatever you like with it, my Raggedy One. There's always a place for you here."