Save him (Griselda) - Bathtub Beach

Would she come? The blonde doubted it, but... She had to try. Which was why she had sent the redhead a text message and asked if she would speak with her.

For now, she sat in the sand, waiting. One hand resting on the stone surface he had sat leaned against that night, nearly two years ago. The memories still lingering.

She was wary. Not because of Teddy -- stupid Gavin Windsor and his stupid threats tended to make her paranoid. So she was wary, but that was only because of the Ventrue.

Stupid Ventrue. Fuck the Ventrue.

She got out of the SUV and headed off across the sand, tucking her hands into her pockets.

She looked up at the sound of foot steps, though while she stood up, her hand lingered on the stone surface as she watched the redhead approach.

The redhead seemed oblivious to pretty much everything as she walked closer. She stopped about three feet away from the blonde.

"You called?"

"Yes. Please let me help..." the words were softly spoken but with conviction. "Please let me help before it's too late. I've been told to stay away and cut out, but he's dying. The man I love is dying. And..." she stood straight. "And he doesn't have to love me, he doesn't have to be with me. But I can't watch the beautiful person that he is die... So I'm asking, as one woman to another, please let me help. Let me do something" no tears, no whimpers. The blonde's words calmly spoken.

And then she tried to reach out, for her thoughts to touch hers.

"Anything.. If your clan knows how to break a bond, then you must be able to do other things? I'll give you anything I have, anything I possess, just to have a shot at saving his heart. I'll do anything. If my life can save his heart, then I'd give it" but watching him lose more and more of himself... She couldn't do that.

"I think you're being followed..."

The first, initial thought, went through her mind.

'Who is following me? And for God's sake, why?'

Out loud, she looked at the blonde woman, her face full of sympathy.

"I... I honestly don't know how to help him, at this point. I can... give him morality... but it only lasts for a little while. And when it wears off? It's just going to hurt him more. I don't... honest to God, Teddy, if I had an idea of what to do, please know that I would have either done it already or just flat-out told you. Whatever is between you and me, Medwyn is family. If I knew any tricks or tips, I would have tried them. A lot of his salvation has to come from Medwyn himself."

The blonde's eyes lowered as she sat down and quietly leaned back against the stone she'd bee resting her hand on.
"Then... I'm sorry for wasting your time..." a softly trembling hand lifted to rub her eyes, though no tears fell.

She was losing him.
"Thank you for talking to me..."

She shook her head, a bit at a loss.

"You're not wasting my time... I just... I really don't know how to help you."

She shook her head.
"It's not for me" the blonde said, forcing a smile although it was a bit broken. "I'm not the one who needs help..." the hand slipped down to the chain around her neck, fishing the dog tags out of her top. "I miss the man who gave me these"

She smiled, though it was a sad smile.

"I understand. Believe me, I understand. And I know it's not for you, but at the same time... it is. You want the old Medwyn back -- but does he want to be the old Medwyn again? I don't know that he does -- but I don't know that he doesn't. I just know that I haven't asked him that question. At some point, the decision has to come from Medwyn, hon. And as much as it sucks to be powerless, the truth of it is that this isn't something you can do for him. He has to make his choice and follow it through or he'll lose himself... and there's not a thing anyone can do to stop it. We can maybe postpone it for a little while, but is that really helpful?"

She closed her fingers around the dog tags and shook her head.
"Even if I can't have him back... to see his heart lost..." the blonde shook her head. "As long as he's safe... right?" just safe from his beast. "He's got his family..." she smiled weakly again. "I hope whatever happens.. that he'll be happy. I promised I'd do everything I could to make sure that he was..." and she always would.

"Would you reconsider looking into his nightmares though? You didn't say that giving his nightmares to someone else couldn't be done, just... that he wouldn't forgive you if you gave them to me. As it is though, I think he would. And I could at least do that for him" then she would've been able to do one thing for him. Just one damn thing.
"I'll give you my wings..?"

For a full minute, the redhead was speechless. Utterly speechless. Then she closed her eyes in thought.

"The problem is, Teddy, not that I would have to change him to make his nightmares go away. Part of me is concerned that a good portion of him holding on to what little conscience he has left is those nightmares. I can take them away -- but I feel like it would be putting him at even more risk than he's in. Are you willing to take that chance? That I do this and he's lost, forever, truly and completely lost? Are you willing to give up his life on that chance? He's family... but I can't make that decision for him... or for you."

Her fingers tightened around the dog tags.
"No..." she said, her voice for a moment sounding weak. "No I can't risk him..." in any way or for any reason.

She gave Teddy a grim, thin smile.

"I want to help him. Even if you and I have our differences, I want to help Medwyn. I just don't really know what I can do that isn't going to make things worse. Everything is make-or-break at this point with him. And I don't want to be the one to break him."

"I don't want him to break either... I wish I knew what was the right thing to do..." she forced herself to let go of the dog tags out of fear that she might damage them if she wasn't careful. "Standing on the sideline sucks..." it didn't really cover what she was feeling, but it was the best she could think of at the moment.

"Did... did it hurt?" Teddy asked after a little while. "Breaking his bond..? Did it hurt?"

She slid her hands into her pockets a little deeper.

"Not that he remembers."

A small whimper, half choked, was forced back down and stuffed deep down inside where she would silence it.
Instead she just nodded. There wasnt really anything else to say.

She was quiet for a few minutes.

"You asked if it hurt. Yes -- more than anything else he's ever felt in his life. It's why I took away the memory of it. He doesn't need to remember that sort of pain. I've been there; I can say that with a certainty."

She cringed again and nodded silently. She couldn't bring herself to ask if it was what he'd wanted. She just couldn't.

She smiled and shrugged. Because she didn't have anything else to say on that one.

"You should probably look into whoever it is that's following you... they took pictures..." a brief nod of her head indicated the direction from where.

"Thanks for talking to me..." it sounded like she might've been the only one to have done so. "I'll register a boon with the Harpy for your time"

Her thoughts drifted back to Teddy gently.

'I know. I've got a stalker. I don't know why yet.'

Out loud, however, she said softly as she shook her head.

"No boon to register. I haven't done anything."

"You were honest with me" again, not something she got a lot of. "And I took you away from your duties. It's only fair" even if a boon from her wasn't worth much.

She shook her head.

"I needed a break anyway. So there's nothing to register."

"All right" Teddy merely nodded again, taking a moment to lock her feeling up behind layers of strained will and self control so that she could give the redhead a smile.