Seventh toothmark

[manymoreteef]

[Sunny had been quite confused the past two days. In part because she had been aged to approximately 22 years old, of course. However the most significant confusion came from the fact that she had not seen or heard from her sister in that time, despite having filtered to her through the journal. This was very concerning. At first she thought that Violet may have been caught up inventing something or at the library and had simply lost track of time... but she had never disappeared for this long before, not without telling her where she would be.

Fearing the worst, Sunny makes her way to the castle proper and walks to the room Violet had occupied prior to moving to the town. It's there that her worries are confirmed... Her sister has gone home. Sunny is now not just the littlest Baudelaire in the castle... but the only.

She takes a shaky breath as tears spring to her eyes. She knows that Violet will be going back to a better future than they had ever imagined they might have... she only wishes she could experience it, too. Yet even that knowledge could not ease the ache in her heart. She had never been without her siblings before and, even knowing that her guardian Mr. Snicket is there to protect her, she can't help but be afraid for what might happen once she returns to her normal age.

All answers would come in time, she knows. For now there is a task she must perform. She wipes her tears away with her fingers and pulls out her journal]

[Mr. Snicket]

[She can't tell him over the journal. Something like this... it has to be in person. It's too important. Too big. Her voice is soft as she dictates]

I must have a Very Forlorn Dialogue with you... May I come to your room?

[/filter]

[Filtered AWAY from Lemony Snicket]

[Sunny sniffles softly, wiping away a few more tears as they fall. A few droplets spatter on the journal page as she speaks, her voice heavy with sadness]

My name is Sunny Baudelaire. I am 2 years old... although the castle has temporarily made me somewhat older. I regret to inform you that... [She pauses, taking a breath as she tries to keep her voice steady. She might be crying but that doesn't mean she wants that fact to be general knowledge. ] I regret to inform you that my older sister has gone home.

[She sighs, frustrated now more than ever in her loss]

Unfortunately my loss is the ability to say her name... but we are both Baudelaires and she had a shop in town where we both lived. She is a brilliant inventor and had been working on opening a school and... [Her voice cracks and she covers her mouth with her hand, unable to continue. She just hopes that was enough for people to know she meant Violet]

((OOC: Open over the journal or action for the hallway outside Violet's former room))

Comments

[manymoreteef]

[Sunny lets him lead her into his room, barely registering that he's closed the door behind them. As soon as the latch hits home she can contain herself no longer and the sob escapes between her fingers. She practically falls forward, wrapping her arms around her guardian's waist and burying her face in his chest as she cries. At a later time she would question if she should have confirmed that he was comfortable with such a gesture prior to her doing it but at the moment such thoughts do not occur to her. At the moment all she can think of is the sorrow gripping her heart and the outlet it so desperately needed - namely the tears falling freely from her eyes to slowly soak Mr. Snicket's otherwise tidy jacket.]

[theabjectauthor]

[in Lemony's long, broad, hefty prism of experience, grief was one of the few conditions which always overrode manners. when one had the overwhelming urge to succumb to sorrow, it was inevitably bound to happen, no matter how out of place those around you thought it might be. he had always made his apologies afterward to all parties involved - particularly the constabulary of East Saskatchewan during their annual doily judging contest - but he had also found that another hallmark of truly noble people was that they understood the nature of grief, and therefore saw no need for apology. so, even if he had not been seized by a wave of sorrow as deep and cold as Sunny's, he would have gladly let her cry as long as she needed to.

as things stood, however - and for the record, they stood very unsteadily, supported only by each other's simple presence - the two of them cried out their shock and their pain together for quite some time, having neither need nor use for words.]

[manymoreteef]

[It was quite some time before Sunny was able to gather enough air with which to speak. The few times she had tried prior to that it had resulted in another choked sob and her tears would start anew. Slowly the tears slowed, allowing her to catch her breath and slightly release the grip she had on Mr. Snicket's jacket. Not quite ready to release him, yet, she rested her cheek on his chest and took a slow breath. Her voice was barely over a whisper as she spoke]

You're the only family I've got left, now.

[theabjectauthor]

[he nods, slowly, reaching up to place a hand on her shoulder. the last time he had seen her in person, the action would have felt unbelievably awkward - but now it came naturally, a gesture of comfort. all thoughts of her familiar resemblance were far from the front of his mind]

And you, mine.

[he swallows down the last of his tears - for now - along with a sizeable lump in his throat, as he rests his chin on her head and looks past her to the door. it looks like so many of the doors he has gone through in his life, but all he can see is the slightly crooked doorway of his office in the Daily Punctilio, the one with the tiny cracks forming in the smoked glass, and the weathered brass knob. the first door he opened in his flight from the VFD: from the false accusations, from Olaf, from danger ... from his family. from Beatrice. from a life he's missed every day since. it's the sort of door he hopes - and in this moment, vows - never have to open again]

[manymoreteef]

[She was quite content to stay in her guardian's arms as long as he was willing to let her do so.]

[theabjectauthor]

[it takes a while, but slowly their painful silence gives way to a comfortable one, and Lemony lets it linger for a moment before breaking it, quietly:]. Would you come and stay with me? I would feel much more at ease knowing you were here.

[manymoreteef]

[Sunny pulls back far enough to be able to look up at Mr. Snicket's face. It wasn't an entirely unexpected invitation but having an inkling that one is going to be invited to stay and hearing the invitation spoken aloud are two different things entirely. She hesitates only half a heartbeat before nodding.]

Yes. Yes I think I would like that very much. Thank you, Mr. Snicket.

[theabjectauthor]

[that she would not only stay, but enjoyed the thought of it, made Lemony's eyes sting with fresh tears of an entirely different sort. here was a reminder that there was still a family, even if its members were one who had never been related by blood - though in another, happier world, he could have been - and the youngest addition. it seemed oddly appropriate and strangely poetic. he gave her another hug, smiling to force the tears back down].

My dearest Sunny, it is the very least I can do.