(1942-03-31) He's a Minefield
He's a Minefield
Summary: Right after the talk with Bernice, Lillie goes to vent at Clyde…. Lillie pisses Clyde off. Just another day at the office!
Date: 1942-03-31
Related: LITERALLY just after Different Tangents
Players:
clyde..lucietta..

Cooper and Butler, Higsi
Fri Mar 31, 1942


As Butler street runs the homes get larger and more spread out, signalling that the further one goes east the more affluent the neighborhood becomes. The homes here aren't surrounded by fences, but the lawns are nicely landscaped with shade trees dotting them.

Toward the end of the street is the decrepit McComb Mansion, which has set empty for decades. It is surrounded by a masonry wall, covered with English ivy and creeping fig.

Weather:
It is spring. The weather is warm and overcast.


<FS3> Lillie rolls Empath: Good Success.

A drizzly late afternoon has, true to the indecisiveness of early spring, morphed into a mild evening. The air retains moisture, with that hint of warmth that makes quite a few townsfolk hope for a 'good' season ahead. One can just smell the damp earth, the loaminess of dead grass bearing moisture… it's not a terrible thing. It's the smell of a season changing. The skies are pinkish-ochre with slashes of gray clouds here and there.

One to typically savor evenings like this, Lillie had a 'chat' with Mrs. Higgins that truly, she didn't want to have at that time. She had other plans, but the tangent switched… she's still simmering. The stress that bowled her over is still a sore point in her mind and heart and to have to deal with Bernice again would only make things harder. There is one more thing that Lillie needs to do.

Still clad in her smart attire, hair long and loose behind her as she makes her way toward a place she knows well now. She does not go in though, she stays on the stairwell in front of the entrance and waits…. senses.

It's actually a very good thing, the smells of spring. Clyde has a cigarette in his hand as he opens the door, down for the day. He blinks, only slightly surprised to see her. "Lillie? You alright?" Dark eyes scan her, looking for injuries before he steep around her to light his smoke. While he's not in a zen state, he seems a little more calm than usual. Not trace of the injuries can be seen, Walkers seem to be fast healers. There's still that sense eye's squashing something down into his stomach.

While she had been aware briefly of how quickly Clifton appeared to have healed, the sense going batshit crazy had overtaken all of that realization. Lillie is fully anticipating picking up on anger from Clyde, as she remembers how beaten-up he had been that evening. So when she is hit with a sense of concern, even a hint of calm, it's enough to surprise the Empath. But even more startling…?

Clyde's eye was encompassed by what had to have been one of the worst shiners that Lillie had ever seen. The sort that takes a long time, and many ugly hues of bruising, to fade completely. But she is looking at a man who bears no traces of those injuries… /how/? Must be that mountain air…

Aware, too, of the squashing down of that emotion, Lillie immediately feels bad. Hopefully her presence won't disrupt Clyde's sense of 'calm'. She looks at him with a gaze that is a bit too bright, there is the stress of withheld emotion — anger — in her posture. "You've healed well," Lillie observes, looking relieved. "I'm ready to throttle an elderly woman. I feel like a terrible human being."

Clyde's eyebrow raises as she watches him. "What?" A frown starts to tug on his mouth. "I do. Walkers always have." He blinks, unsure what he's supposed to say to that. So instead he takes a deep drag from his cigarette and then offers it over if she wants a drag, "Is the throttle worth it?" Sometime sit is, sometimes it isn't. He also seems a little more filled out. He's been eating a bit more lately, it seems.

Blink.. not only less of a beaten-up look, but just a touch more /to/ him. Lillie can't help but smile, and it reaches her eyes. "You look better on all accounts. You look good, Clyde.. bigger meals?" She thinks to ask.. hey, she tells it as it is. She means it in a good way, and it's a well-meaning compliment! She tilts her head thoughtfully, wondering about this… the furrow still knits her brow, despite her bit of relief at how much better the Alpha seems. "It's not.. not this woman. There's too much at stake and not worth the effort and trouble of doing so.." Lillie sighs gently, rubs her forehead… shakes her head daintily to the cigarette. "Thanks anyway."

She looks Clyde in the eye. "I've been trying to find Elizabeth, I haven't forgotten. I could never catch her in town, so I called on her." She pauses, and one look at her troubled face tells that she got Bernice instead. "I can't go back there again, Clyde. I really tried. If I have to be around Bernice again, I'll slip off and tell her to go fly to her fuc—-" Oop.. the Irish snuck out; she catches it. Lillie reddens and presses her hands to her face.

"I know Bernice has her troubles… oh God, I can't believe I said that… I'm so beastly."

"Clyde, I tried." Lillie sighs.

Clyde scowls, "I eat when I can." Or when Lizzy brings him lunch. He doesn't like that she noticed though. "Then let it go." Simple, sound advice. He takes a deep drag and then shakes his head, his massive curls moving with the motion, "Don't bother. I dealt with her." There is a flash of annoyance, but that's shoved down into his stomach too. It's down and over, no need to think on it more. Or think of that Lillie didn't do it. He snorts at the swear and just nods, "I took care of it." While he's a little more wound up, he's at least smirking now.

Well Clyde, tough.. Lillie noticed. On a couple of different levels, too.. Clyde's version of calm is enough to make the Empath take note, for sure. He's eating well because, really… someone has to be helping him. Unless he came into some good coin from a job… and even then, knowing the Alpha, he would likely see to it that the funds were spread to help his kin and get certain necessities. Lillie may be emotional but she's intuitive… but she doesn't figure it out completely.

'Let it go'. She'll try; wait, he dealt with her? So they met? Lillie feels that flash of annoyance and she worries about it being directed at her but… somehow, she senses also that may not be the case. When she is told that she won't have to return to the old baker lion's den, Lillie can be seen… it's literally /visible/, the stress easing out of her body. "Oh.. thank God.." She exhales.

Slowly, the lithe girl lowers herself down to seat herself upon a step, lifting her chin to face the straggling rays of evening sunshine. "I'm sorry if I'm making a big deal about it.. I like to follow through on what I say I'm going to do.. but.." Lillie looks up at Clyde, one brow quirked. "/How/ did you deal with her? I hope you were nice, Clyde Walker!"

Or it's directed at everyone involved. But it's water under the bridge. He watches her deflate and shakes his head, slightly amused. "She got a nasty bark." poor Bernice. He leans against a post and looks down at her, noting the light hitting her face. Damn it. He turns away, "I'm always nice." that's a disturbing answer!

Funny, too, the light draws out the barest hints of red from the young woman's dark hair. Yup, more of that Irish side. It goes without saying that Lillie loves the spring, and she indulges in a few more hits of damp earthy smells in the air before looking up at Clyde again. She catches him just as he turns away, brow furrowing. If there is a sort of emotion running parallel to this, Lillie — as always — doesn't let on that she picks up on it. Clyde is very, very effective at cramming things down and that, to the Empath, makes him guilty as sin of hiding his feelings!

She hopes she didn't offend him; he speaks of 'always being nice' and Lillie's lips curl up at their corners. "'course you are. Beneath the gruff, you can be a softie." She pokes, but there's nothing mean or derogatory about it. She really really suspects this.

"Bernice sure does have a bark.. but there's cause for it. People don't gossip that much, and that prolifically, without a solid reason… but I'm not about to think about her too much." Lillie watches Clyde outright, maybe a bit discomfortingly. "So, what was your solution? I recognize a bleeding heart when I see one… she wants to help you. Did you compromise?" She smiles at him.

Hiding indeed. He frowns, "Don't be lying now." He's not a softie. He grunts and nods, "Not thinking bout Bernice is probably the best plan you could have." He shifts his shoulder on the post, eyes out to the setting sun. The ray catch bios own features, making his hair look even darker. Hie lift his smoke, taking his time in answering, "For now, she's bringing lunch and stayin' away from the mountain." It's the best he could do. He'll let her treat him like a lost puppy, if it keeps her and his kind safe, no matter how degrading it is.

Ah, she can see that he indeed has possibilities. Lillie's smile widens appreciatively; had this man not had the stigma that the foolish town had attached to his family, the pretty birds would scalp one another to get at him. She /could/ tell Clyde this but he'd probably think her to be right off her nut. Nonetheless, Lillie appeciates, and turns to follow his gaze toward one of Higsi's first bonefide spring sunsets. She listens to his explanation on how he handled sweet Ms. Higgins and she can't help it. Lillie /grins/ at the sweet, juicy irony of it all.

Bernice's granddaughter is feeding Clyde Walker! Take THAT Bernice! Lillie inwardly cheers the blonde girl on and really, deep in the Empath's sweet heart, she is grateful to her for being able to help Walker. "So… a solution all 'round." Blink, ponder… Lillie looks down at her knees, then back up at Clyde. Very rarely does she give voice to what her sense feels, but surely she can fudge it. Lillie 'caught' something and her features take on a bit of a worried edge.

"I know it can hurt the pride a bit.. you're not one to be coddled, are you?" She asks, tilting her head. "Enjoy her kindness, Clyde. She means well, even if it can be frustrating. You deserve to have someone care for you. Eat the food, enjoy the company." The Irishwoman suggests with a sad little smile. "For what my opinion is worth here, you're allowed to, y'know."

All around? He frowns and looks down at her, "What's that supposed to mean?" Clyde is suddenly feeling cornered and he finishes his cig. "I don't need no coddling." He frowns, "You don't know what I deserve." He's done bad things. The but is flicker into the burn pile. Anger rises again, He'd not have had to be in this position of Lillie had talked to her! And now she's mocking him? "I gotta go." He needs to go buy some supplies before walking home.

Blink.. Lillie tilts her head a bit, her brow furrows. "I thought…." She starts slowly, wanting to clarify. "Elizabeth gets to help out, she stays out of the mountains, and you don't have to worry about her trying to go up there… things are, for now.. all 'round… settled.." She trails off, caught off guard. What could he have thought she meant? The Empath feels that companionable sense of.. something.. beginning to burn away; it is replaced now by something emanating from Clyde. It's like a brick wall, slamming through sunset-riddled thoughts and considerations. And then, enough to make her wince before he even speaks, that ready lash of anger.

Startled by the sudden change of emotion, Lillie has to lean forward a bit to collect herself. "I see, I.. I—I'm sorry." She pushes herself up to stand, confused and worried.. her sense whispers. "I meant nothing but good, because you're my friend. But I really have offended you." That anger sometimes scares her; it does now.

"Be safe, Clyde… I.. be safe, is all." Lillie says quickly, looking at him openly before nimbly moving down from the stairwell.

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