You're a little bit damaged, I'm a sucker for that.

[themadgirl]

Slowly but surely over the last few months, Annie had been learning to trust the Nexus. Her faith was tentative, fragile, but she could not live the whole of her life inside a hotel room, no matter how lush or large. Not in general, and certainly not when she was only a month from being a mother. Holding Finnick's hand needed to be a comfort but not a crutch.

Still, it was an ongoing process, and she always opened doors with care.

From their windows she could see the sprawling gardens, her feet itching to wander amongst the blooms, but the space out there felt far too large, too open and exposed, and she hadn't quite managed going alone yet. Inside was seldom better, a maze of corridors and dead ends, but the library she liked. Quite a lot, actually.

Annie liked books to begin with, but the balcony was what she really loved, here. Sitting at the top of the spiral staircase, she could see the entire room and still get up easily with the help of the railing. A watchful bird on her perch.

She was there now, stack of books beside her on the top step and another open in her lap as she referenced the little notebook she'd taken to carrying around with her here. Everything was so different, and she was eager to learn as much as she could. The music she'd discovered on her telephone was particularly confusing.

Eyes narrowing at the page, Annie frowned. She glanced to her notes and then back again. "This makes no sense at all," she murmurred, and then jerked her attention up as someone else entered the room.


[THG cast mates, please read this first. <3]

Comments

[theprodigaldoctor]

He nods, because he knows all too well about not wanting to talk about your past. "Whenever and wherever you want," he says, thinking that he wouldn't want to press because the last thing he would want in his own life is someone prying and prodding and poking.

And yet, he'd worked with House for how many years before he'd finally broken? Maybe there are exceptions to every rule. "How about we talk about music, then," he says. "Ever think of singing? Writing it for yourself?"

[themadgirl]

The idea of making any kind of music was so far removed from the conditioned march of Annie's thoughts that the mere suggestion startled her a little. It seemed like such an outlandish suggestion.

"I—" she began, and faltered with the surprise of the thought, eyes rounding. "No. I never have. We weren't allowed back home."

After another moment's hesitation, she peered back down at Chase. "Do you think I really could?"

[theprodigaldoctor]

"I think if you were to stand up here and now and sing the national anthem, no one would come out of the wings to tackle you," is Chase's opinion on the subject, thinking (not for the first time) that wherever she came from sounded like it was a real piece of work. "Annie, I know that I don't know a lot about your world, but what I do know? I know that you aren't there anymore," he says, trying to impart how big of a step that is.

"I think you can do whatever you want, screw everyone else."