why

Ｓｔａｎｌｅｙ Ｗｏｒｔｈｉｎｇｔｏｎ “You can’t escape what you are, but you also should know what you could be. Why you’re fighting.” [Independent RP account 2x2 of the Lorien Legacies Crew]

[elizabethsix]

Late Night Encounters || Six&Nine

[elizabethsix]

“You can’t just leave after all that bullshit!” Six yelled, not caring anymore if her neighbors heard, it would’ve been easily covered up either way. “What about Ella, what about-” She almost said us. As if there was a them in any way, but she meant Ella and her, and how attached Ella was now to the both of them. Six having to tell Ella that one of the few people she could still trust was now leaving? That would break her heart. But hasn’t she been through worse? Logically this made no sense to her, none at all and that was why she was getting so angry. After Nine had wanted to make sure they were all together, after him and her fighting side by side after all those times, after that one night…

Six snapped out of it, stepping back. There was too much emotion going on. She was feeling too goddamn much. She was being sentimental. Sentimental in her own mind. So, with a glare, she lifted up her chin. “And I thought we were equals. You’re just like the others.” She spat out, her chest raising up and down with each deep inhale she took to keep calm, to stay angry. To not feel. She couldn’t think about their one night of vulnerability, she couldn’t think about how hurt she was. That was just typical Six, she couldn’t feel. 

Because then it led to things like this.

[the--ninth]

Stanley scoffed, taking her outburst and all of her emotions with a straight face. When had Six ever become this emotional, so freely expressive with her feelings. Stanley let her get loud and throw the curse of being like the others at him. He had a purpose, he had his motives and taking a firm stand with them was what made Stanley less reactant. "You and I never could be equals. You've softened much like the rest of them yourself." Stanley breezed the words out from his lips coolly and unphased.  Stanley had taken all of her considerations. Six included. If he told her right then that his leave was for them all, then she would want to drop house and come along. Stanley took the words because things were only better for him this way. This was the reaction he wanted, he wanted to be labeled and hated. Then he wouldn't have to worry about either she or Ella coming in his way. "So if you're done....I have some place to be." Stanley's natural glare stared along with a small twitch at his eyebrow. Speed was on his side. In the next blink of the eye he would be gone, but Stanley allowed her one last chance to say whatever it was she wanted to part with him and say.

[elizabethsix]

Late Night Encounters || Six&Nine

[elizabethsix]

Hearing his words made her grow enraged, yet she swallowed to keep from swearing out-the neighbors would hear and the last thing she needed was someone else getting involved. It was like a personal attack. They were all they had left, the three of them. And Nine dared to leave? After everything? Balling her fists together, she walked towards Nine, grabbing him by his shoulder. “Leaving? To where? why?” She hissed out quietly, narrowing her eyes at the back of his head. “You can’t fucking leave after everything we’ve all been through.” She muttered angrily, pulling him to her closer so he would be forced to hear the hurt and anger in her voice. 

[the--ninth]

Nine quickly jerked from her hold, making a movement so fast even Nine had to catch himself from finishing the movement with a retaliating hit back. "None of your damn business just do the shit I say," he growled out immediately thrown into a mood. He looked her up and down near scowling at the blonde before him. Stanley should've expected that reaction, mentally, he had tried to prepare himself for it beforehand but the warrior instinct in him almost hit her back. Not that she would've been hurt by any means, but it would've come completely off guard if not making the situation much worse. She was his colleague, his only ally that he had mustered enough to allow himself to trust--but that was exactly why he was doing this. There was little left to trust, but a load ton to lose. "I can do whatever the hell I want, go wherever the hell I want, and I don't have to tell you shit." Nine turned around to show how serious he was with her words. He could hear it in her voice--emotion--but it was no longer time for that. Emotion was where he faltered last time. The sound of emotion was what coaxed him into that room where they had been waiting and ambushed him. Nine tuned her plea out. It was a art he had learned to master. Nothing was going to make him change his mind. Not even her thinking that he was walking out on them. "Just. Do. What. I. Told. You."

[elizabethsix]

Late Night Encounters || Six&Nine

They all had troubled sleeping, the Lorien. Some had visions and others just had awful nightmares. Well, Six couldn’t sleep at all tonight. The constant tossing and turning was getting her so frustrated that she could’ve screamed. What was she doing? With everything? Why were they still in Arizona anyways, shouldn’t they be moving? Moving east perhaps? As she gripped at her hair, Six knew how she would clear her mind. Her porch. Pushing off the covers, Six slipped on her flip-flops and grabbed her rob, wrapping the garment around herself and made her way to the front door where she sat upon one of the chairs perched upon the porch.

She always went here almost every night. It was the only way she would get tired enough to eventually fall asleep. As she sat in the night breeze, she shut her eyes, letting her thoughts wash over her. She almost didn’t hear the snap of a twig. Almost. Snapping her eyes open, Six stood up, her eyes focusing on the figure not too far ahead. Was that..? “Stanley?” She called out, unsure if she was seeing right or not. Swallowing hard, she shook her head. He was one of the reasons she couldn’t sleep. And something told her he wasn’t here to see her. What was going on and why the hell was he up at this time anyways?

[the--ninth]

Stanley had made his decision. He didn't pose it for any of the others for discussion. Ella was healing and Stanley saw through that he treated her  until her wounds were at least in a milder condition than severe, since Ella opted any further use of the healing stone. Something told him Six would've been up and out from her home and Stanley couldn't help but to break that serious scowl of his for a grin at his proper guess. He hadn't really paid much mind to dear Elizabeth since their rough and tumble nights ago. Stanley really hadn't thought much of what happened afterward unless a stray thought had him dwell on what had all taken place for a minute. He heard her say his name and he continued forward to her. His straight face came back, eyes at their squint and peering into her cold blues the moment he was close enough to make clear eye contact. "I'm leaving," he started not allowing Six to let another word in. "You take care of Ella and everything here. Arizona's not safe." He remarked the last words at her harshly as if she had protested to anything he had said already. Stanley was clear with his intentions. Backpack strapped to be caught wearing. He wanted to give the impression that he was leaving never to return. The matter was, Stanley knew that he had more to take care of than sticking to Ella's bedside as she healed and that the task at hand had become personal. "Ella is asleep at the house. She doesn't know. Tell her I said nothing. You have  the key, let yourself in. Make it your place, just don't move shit around or let the dog get ahold of the remote control." Stanley threw off his instructions as if he had practiced giving them long before. "You can handle this."

[the--ninth]

[jonasbro]

[the--ninth]

[the--ninth]

Six: *with an amused tone in her voice* Oh fuck you, I can't walk off a hickey. *chuckles quietly to herself* I think I'm being called up now. Is there anything you want me to bring over?

Nine: Dog food. Because....just bring some. After you finish being a parent or whatever bullshit you're doing.

[the--ninth]

Six: Christ, are you that sense? The /pill/, you idiot as in birth control pill. Look it up if you need to. Yeah, I'll come to check up on Ella. And don't say anything about the scarf I have to wear it because of you.

Nine: [Laughs on the other end] Are you being serious right now? You're over exaggerating. Walk it off.

[the--ninth]

Six: Couldn't you guess? They ask less questions than the doctor and requires less paperwork for you know. The pill.

Nine: There's a part of me that wants to ask but then there's another part of me that doesn't understand and I might not want to understand so I'm choosing not to give a shit. Are you coming over at all today?

[the--ninth]

Six: Good. She can deal with whatshisname when he comes through, try not to be an ass to her today. I'm at Planned Parenthood, Stanley, wanna find out the results with me? *scoffs to herself, rolling her eyes*

Nine: What...? The fuck are you there for?

[havefaith-restart]

[the--ninth]

Six: *hearing her phone ring she checked the ID, raising an eyebrow before answering* Stanley? What is it? Is Ella alright?

Nine: I was just telling you that she was up. Who ever the hell her friend is isn't. I checked for his pulse and he had one so.... he's not dead...Where are you?

[winstonjj]

[the--ninth]

Half Of Me // Stanella

[ellacrayton]

Her shoulders were trembling slightly as her fingers pressed to her eyes. Disappointing Stanley was probably her worst nightmare. Ever since she met him, following Crayton’s death, she seemed to put Stanley into that role model role that had been so suddenly vacated, even higher than John. She peeked out between her fingers when Stanley began talking, fearing for what he was going to say. Whatever words came out next would change how she perceived this event; if he berated her for not being stronger and better, it’d absolutely destroy her. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she listened as Stanley slowly spoke, seeming to choose his words very carefully. It’s like he knew how fragile this moment was. There was a beat of silence when he finished speaking  and then Ella was hurdling herself towards him, her arms thrown around his shoulders in a tight grip. She buried her face against the crook of his neck, hot tears leaking out of her eyes. She clung to the man that she never thought she’d see again, her body shaking uncontrollably. It was all to clear that she was terrified, that being kidnapped and tortured had probably changed her more than anything else that’d ever happened to her. 

[the--ninth]

The sudden action caught Stanley completely off and his body tensed up with the action. It took him a moment to process what was going on, feeling the waterworks dab at his skin, Ten's tinier body grabbing onto his for dear life. Stanley didn't react right away watching her sob into his clothes. The trembling against his body, the sobs in his ears was the true reaction that he should've expected her to have. Ella's strong front had been broken and Stanley, slowly, embraced it into his arms. He wrapped his arms tight in return against Ella's body resting his chin gently to the side of her head. He was careful not to bend her forward too far to cause pain. "Sssh...shhh it's alright...we're.......we're right here now. We're together." Nine tried to remember how in the heck did Marina do this consoling task. He spoke in a quieter voice, holding her at her back for support so she didn't strain herself. He took a deep breath of Ella's hair and it wasn't a friendly smell, but Stanley could care less. He could feel a pit of butterflies in his stomach thinking about how anxious he had been with the thought of losing the littlest Garde member. It all rained down on Stanley in that moment how attached he had become to Ella. The only other person he had spent this much time with was........

Stanley swallowed down the lump that was forming in his throat and slowly rose his hand up to rest at the back of Ella's head. His hand shook downwards going through the strands of her hair. He fought to hold back his own tears in the moment. He took a deep breath and continued reassuring her with words. "You're stronger than you think Ella. You made it out of there alive. It's okay." He bit his lip and squeezed the girl closer. He was proud. Prouder than the sun and the moon when it was their time to rule in the skies. He was happy. She was there, she was alive, Ella was living. On her own she had fought and took action and end the end she now had earned her own set of battle scars to show for it. He would sit there for as long as she needed him to stay. This one time, the sentiment was necessary. 

[the--ninth]

Half Of Me // Stanella

[ellacrayton]

The suggestion of the stone barely left Stanley’s mouth before she was shaking her head fiercely; it hurt worse than receiving the wound, and some part of her wanted the scars that would come with her healing cuts. They’d be a memory of one of the worst things in the world, just as the scars on her ankle were. “Nope, I think I can handle it. It doesn’t hurt that bad.. no stone needed.” Her tone was firm, not wanting to go through that again when it wasn’t absolutely necessary. There was a long pause, and she knew exactly what was going to happen next. He was going to ask about what’d happened, and she’d have to relive the awful story. “I did.. horribly. I let myself get distracted and the Mog took me off guard.” She smiled bitterly, her hands clenching with her anger. “I didn’t even get a good fight in. Just one hit and I was down.” Chewing on her lip, her eyes were downcasted in shame. “…There was a point when I got out of my shackles thanks to Aeturnus - just shrank down a couple of years - and I attacked the Mog, but..” Mentioning that she’d become distracted by Adam would end up with Ella having a permanent ban on ever seeing him again, and she wasn’t quite ready to give him up yet, so she changed the story a bit. “..I was dizzy and I didn’t have a proper weapon, whereas he had a knife, and then.. he stabbed me and..” A lump in her throat prevented her from continuing on and she covered her face with both her hands, trying to keep Stanley from seeing her weakness. “I’m so sorry..”

[the--ninth]

Stanley listened to the relay of events with his eyes. He was attentive and focused. Her apology hit his ears and it made him stare.

Sorry?

Thinking back on it, Stanley had every reason to be upset with Ella. Had she listened to him this would've never happened. All of the distractions she pinpointed and clearly recognized she had gone wrong. Distractions, which he always drilled about and beat into her brain. Stanley's rough gaze seemed to soften slowly. They had trained for just about everything the two of them. Stanley knew what a punch Ella could pack. He felt that he knew it better than anyone and how much potential she had in her powers. "No," Stanley shook his head slowly because he could see a mirror in front of him. To this very day he was plaqued those very words: I'm Sorry, all of his open mistakes, everything he done wrong and didn't get a chance to do--and no one made it to tell him that it wasn't all of his fault. Stanley was left to wallow in his mistakes. It was a secret weakness and no way would he stand for Ella to share the same with him. "Sometimes...you just aren't prepared. You think you are, but you aren't and the mistakes happen. But you learn. You remember. For the next time so you can be ready, you learn..Don't apologize to me about what you've learned...that is the only thing you've done wrong." Stanley looked down, wondering who his words were directed to. He took a moment to think over what he said, meeting Ella's eyes with the faintest smile. "You...did good, kid." Slowly he uttered out the words fighting a smile to grow over his face. He went quiet again listening to the words fall.

[the--ninth]

Half Of Me // Stanella

[ellacrayton]

“Don’t I feel loved.” She replied, but she was smiling a bit. As mean as the nickname was, it was pure Stanley and that made her feel a little less alienated. When he spoke about the scar that would’ve seared itself into his ankle - all the Garde’s ankles - her gaze dropped to where her own scars were hidden beneath the covers. Nothing more than a memory and a scar, that’s what she’d had become if Stanley and Six hadn’t gotten there in time. She could’ve been dead and gone, and the thought made her feel sick once more. Her thoughts strayed momentarily to Marina; how would her best friend had reacted to the scar? Would she had come home, would the rest of them had come home? Maybe Ella’s death would have united the Garde once more… “You mean that disgusting food that the Sing High Cafe pass off as Chinese food? You get pork chop suey along with shrimp fried rice, which I always steal from you, and sweet and sour pork. Am I cleared, Doctor Worthington?”

[the--ninth]

Stanley chuckled cutting her an under eyed glance. "Yeah, you're good." That was his order spot on. He fixed the cover over her some focusing more on the red-purple etch in her skin. There was no way he could ever make up some story to tell to explain such a wound like this to a hospital. Even if they were the galaxy's greatest liars, this was impossible. It was swelled and disgustingly flesh red. He glanced back at Six's chest that sat off toward the side of the room. He was debating on if he needed to use the healing stone again, though he was sure that Ella could heal fine with how it was now. Mentally he cursed in his mind because for this reason he felt his heart ache out for Marina's presence. She was one of Stanley's tolerable numbers. He wished she were here to help on this occasion. She was much better than this than he was, but unfortunately her leaving shoved him with the responsibility. His face fell to a blank one, though he was in deep thought. This was too close of a call for them to stay around. Now that Stanley was assured the running game was far from over, he had more decisions that he needed to make. But presenting them to Ella now would not be easy he knew. Maybe he'd wait til a later time, when they weren't just reuniting. "Tell me if you think you need the stone again. Six has hers..." His voice trailed off brushing over her skin. Nine took a deep breath and stopped with the cloth for now. He took a long pause. "......How do you think you did? How do you think you handled yourself? " he voiced in a more serious tone. He wanted the story, sure. But he wanted to hear Ella's input first of everything she had experienced.

[the--ninth]

Half Of Me // Stanella

[ellacrayton]

Stanley’s reaction was off putting; immediately she felt awful, and it was more than the ache from her physical injuries. “I—Thank you..” She muttered, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion. She would’ve thought that if there was any moment for Stanley to actually be glad to see her, it would’ve been now.. although maybe he was pissed about the fact that she’d been too weak to protect herself, that he had to take time out of his day to come rescue her. She listened to Stanley’s commands and settled herself back down, crossing her arms over her chest - she looked about as stubborn as one could be with an exhausted and weary expression. “I’m in your room at our apartment on 1911 Dayton Avenue. I don’t have a real name but I go by Ella Crayton. My birthday is July 17th.” She recited the answers with ease, and continued on before Stanley could open his mouth to ask more. “I am number Ten of the Lorien Garde, I’m a high school senior, I have prom coming up in nineteen days, I hate celery because the pieces always get stuck in my teeth, and I definitely do not have amnesia.” She arched an eyebrow, giving him an expectant look. “Is that all?”

[the--ninth]

Rolling his eyes softly he let out a deep breath. That was Ella. Ella was still definitely back. It amazed him how even though she had been on the tightrope of death she still came back as the snarky, pain in the ass he had to live with. "You're alive you little shit." Stanley stepped slowly back to the bed, endearingly adding his referral of her toward the end. He rolled his neck stopping at the end of the bed. For a minute Stanley took a read of her face and her body language to get a sense of where she was recovery wise. He could've cracked a smile that she responded to him the same. They hadn't toyed with her mind, she was fine. In a quieter tone he added, "I don't think I was prepared for a burning etch at my ankle." He licked his lips looking her up and down. Taking a seat at the end of the bed, he took the towel and bowel he had placed aside and dipped it in the water again. "What is it that I have every Wednesday night? Sundays too? Full order. Bonus points if you name the place. Tell me and you clear," He put the towel lightly over her wound gingerly brushing it over with the cloth again.