Two Halves

[K. Scott]

Moping is a horrid waste of time and energy isn't it? Yet Scott couldn't seem to help it. He had nothing to do (well he had revision but that'd be grand, he could do it tomorrow) and no one to talk to except some acne-covered third years playing an ancient game of cluedo and a few sixth-year geeks who were conscieniously studying at a table on the far side of the room. He never truely realised quite how much Isolde filled his daily life. Scott thought about what he and Isolde would have discussed.
Their day.
Anything funny that happened.
Anything or anyone who'd bothered them.
How their family was.
How much they loved them.
How much they loved each other.
Scott paced as he waited for his ancient mobile to charge. He had decided to give Isolde a ring tonight now that she'd've had a good while to reconcile with her family. God he hated his phone. Actually if he was going to start hating stuff he'd hate his financial state that meant he couldn't afford a better phone. No he hated the fact that Isolde wasn't here. The reason for which was the battles.
Stupid war...
Scott had noticed he had become rather more mellow and almost reclusive compared to how he was. He missed having someone to talk to on a personal level. He missed hearing I love you every half hour or so and having someone in his ams holding on to him tightly. He missed sneaking furtive kisses passing her in the corridor and enjoying the long tender ones when they were alone...
bleepbleep
FINALLY!
Scott pulled out the cable and dug his finger nail into the tempermental on/off button. He plonked himself onto the sofa as he waited for the piece of junk to get itself psyched. Even this wait was tedious...

[Olivia Skye]

It had been hours since their conversation, but the taste of Jack’s lips still burned hers like salt, bringing up blisters that she was sure would burst and scar. But every time she touched her lower lip with the pad of her finger, it was still as smooth as glass.
The tart salt left from his final kiss still hurt, though.
After that, Olivia had stayed sitting on the stage of the assembly hall, hugging her knees close to her chest with her head buried on the hard curve of her kneecap, a curve that offered no comfort at all. Pulling her cardigan tighter around her body hadn’t worked either, and nothing had been able to stop the raindrops flowing from her eyes.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d stayed there for – enough time to accept what had just happened, what she’d just been told. Not enough time to understand it fully, but that was probably going to take a while. It was enough time to stop being angry at Jack, but not enough time to stop feeling hurt with him.
In the end, she only left because she could hear the patter of first-year feet following their PE teacher along the corridor, and slipped silently out of the side door before they could spot her.
And predictably, she’d ended up in a medical closet.
Again.
It was starting to become a regular pattern, now. It used to be that after battles, when the healing was done and the Carers finally had time to deal with what was in their own heads, that she’d shut herself in a closet and sob until it felt better. Everyone has their own mechanism for dealing with things, and that was hers.
But outside battles, it was happening more and more often. During Jack’s ‘affair’, as she had been christening it, when Olivia knew there was something going on but couldn’t nail it, she wouldn’t be here, but she’d sit with gentle tears in the assembly hall. Anything mildly upsetting, she’d be in here.
But when she was in the medical cupboard… well, there was something about the place that meant that you cried until your tear ducts were wrung dry and there was nothing left to cry over. It helped, it did.
Or, it did usually. This time, though, crying alone in a storeroom didn’t help. At all. Because the last thing she wanted was to be alone, and that was what she was. Alone. The shelves and equipment could offer no comfort; what Olivia really wanted to feel was the warmth of someone’s body against hers.
Not Jack’s.
Just someone’s.
So when the tears were running dry, she left the room – to find a fresh cup of herbal tea sitting on the table outside the door, and a ward door closing behind Sister Smith’s silhouette. She’d probably felt the emotions spilling out of the door and Olivia felt a sudden rush of gratitude and guilt for her, knowing how much other people’s emotions could affect her.
And after her tea, and after she’d fixed her make-up to try and mask her red-rimmed eyes, she went to the common room, where there would be people.
Where she wouldn’t be alone.
And she could only pray that Jack wasn’t there.
In the end, thank God, he wasn’t.
There weren’t many people there, actually, no more than usual scattered around the room. But there were people, and Olivia immediately felt her mind lift slightly.
She went to her favourite chair, and sat down, pulling her loose knit cardigan slightly tighter and smoothing her skirt over her legs, glancing about her. Her eyes immediately went to a Warrior on the sofa opposite her, who she’d seen a few times in the hospital – Scott, who… seemed to be encountering some technical difficulties, judging by how he was yanking out the phone charger and stabbing the on button, before seating himself on the couch while he presumably waited for his phone to respond. Olivia caught his eye as he sat down, and smiled lightly. “Problems?” she asked.

[K. Scott]

"Problems?" Said the red-head opposite him. He recognised her as a Carer, she had helped to heal Isolde in the last battle. A member of a team to which he was eternally grateful. Scott glanced at what he was ashamed to say his piece of crap which was still trying to get out the word 'Welcome'.
"Only a lot. Remember Microsoft Windows98? Well this is it in mobile phone form." Scott held it up for her to see and as he did he took a sweeping look at her. He had no idea why but she seemed upset despite her smile. He watched as his phone hunted slowly for a trace of service and considered why he thought she seemed sad.
He concluded it was her smile that didn't reach her eyes and the fact that she seemed somehow small sitting in the huge armchair. "By the way I just realised I never actually thanked you and your team for Isolde. I really don't know what I would've done. So thanks...?" He raised an eyebrow, sure he knew her name but not confident to make a guess. Orlaith? Olive? Something like that...

[Olivia Skye]

Olivia laughed lightly as he held the phone up for her to see, unable to see what was on the screen. This was why Olivia had to be glad that she was a conjurer; these things weren’t a problem, even if her electrical knowledge, was… well, minimal. It was always Jack who knew more about those kinds of things.
No, don’t flinch.
Scott was speaking again, and Olivia’s eyes glossed over his face as she tried to remember how it was that she could recall his name so quickly."By the way I just realised I never actually thanked you and your team for Isolde.”
Oh, of course, Isolde. That was how she knew him; he was Isolde Moore’s boyfriend; he’d sat with her patiently the whole time, and Olivia remembered being impressed by his dedication to her. Also, she’d been impressed with the fact that he’d come forward and told them about her illness, thank God. Isolde had been in a state when they’d treated her, and of course, her underlying illness didn’t help. Olivia had absolutely no idea how she’d gotten away with hiding it from everyone for so long, and was absolutely horrified at the fact that she was in the Warriors with fibromyalgia. It was ridiculous. If Madeleine had been here, she would have gone straight through her.
Now, though… well, if she came back, she’d say something, and … well, maybe she could talk to-
I really don't know what I would've done. So thanks...?" He arched an eyebrow at her questioningly.
“Olivia,” she said, this smile with a little more effort than the last. “But really, please don’t thank me. It’s my job, and I’m just glad that she’s okay. How is she now? I haven't seen her in a while."

[K. Scott]

Scott's smile slipped and he sighed, "Uuuuuh that actually who I'm trying to ring, Olivia. Her family back in Ireland caught wind of the battles and decided she should go back." Still no signal. "If I'm honest I understand why. I don't really want her anywhere near another battle not after last time. Especially with her stupid disease, it just makes it that much harder. I don't think I could do what she does every day let alone how she feels during a battle." Scott ran his thumb over the keypad. "I wish she could be a Carer or an Academic." Running that sentence back his eyes shot up to Olivia's emerald green ones, "I don't mean any offence by that, it's just you guys seem to have the lowest death rate."

[Olivia Skye]

She looked at Scott with sympathy as he spoke to her, and tried to summon up words of comfort, but there weren’t many, and she wasn’t sure how much better the truth would make him feel.
“No, you’re right, we do. But, to be honest, Scott, when… if Madeleine gets back, I’m not sure how she’ll take the news about her illness. It…well, it puts her at more risk out there, and she might be better off in another group.”
He knew this. Isolde was adamant that she wouldn’t change groups, but it was a cruel, cruel world, and Olivia wasn’t sure that Hoodham could compromise this time, she reflected as she watched his fingers fiddle agitatedly with his phone. “And well, the worry…I understand that,” she said softly. “I hate it when my boyf- ex-boyfriend -” she amended, her teeth clicking as she bit off the word “-Jack goes into battle. I’d just feel so much safer if he wasn’t there, and that’s with perfect health.”
And with good reason, judging from the last battle. He’d just been beaten so much that he was completely charcoal and blue, and he looked… he’d looked…
Well, it wasn’t worth dwelling on, not now.

[K. Scott]

Scott frowned seriously at Olivia, "That's probably worse. At least I can look out for her on the field and make sure I fight near her. I can see if she's struggling and take over and cover for her. But you have other people watch over or have to stay behind. Not knowing. That's hard I'm guessing." Scott cast his mind back an pondered not for the first time if Isolde would be alive to go home if he hadn't spotted her. He was the only one that'd had gone to her would anyone have been kneeling beside her for long enough to let her communicate her conciousness? Would anyone have known to take such care when moving her? Somehow he doubted it. The knowledge that perhaps Isolde may not have been so lucky if he hadn't been there scared the hell out of him. He couldn't imagine the worry that other halves of Warriors and Spies must go through.
He regarded Olivia and a small wave of recognition nudged at his brain, "What was your ex-boyfriend's surname?"
Could this be the famous girlfriend of Jack Trove? She looked old enough. Scott didn't pay much attention to gossip but it was hard to avoid the publicity of the deputy Head.

[Olivia Skye]

“Trove,” she said, with a little colour rising to her cheeks. “And I don’t know if it’s worse, but it’s definitely hard.”
It was even worse when you saw them and couldn’t do anything about it. Like in the last battle, when Olivia had been finishing treating a gunshot wound to Claire Wilde’s stomach and had turned round to see a bloody, beaten and bruised Jack, and being unable to run to him and fix it, because… well. Because.
She’d spent the next five minutes vomiting and crying in the girls’ toilets of the wing.
Olivia shivered slightly, before raising her eyes again to meet Scott’s blue-grey – or where they brown? – eyes. “Though, I have to say, I couldn’t imagine ever taking over and covering for Jack. I suppose that’s a blessing; I never would have needed to. I suppose it’s a similar thing for us both, though,” she added, biting her lip. “You want to protect her, I wanted to care for him – then they both go.” She paused, before giving a wry smile. “Orchid gives us a terrible knowledge of functional relationships, doesn’t it?”

[K. Scott]

Scott laughed disheartedly, "It sure does." He had spoken before thinking. What did he mean by 'hur hur hur it sure does'? What did she mean? Scott and Isolde had a perfectly functional relationship. They were loving. They rarely argued. They tried to help each other. And they tried to spend nearly all their spare time together. Except her parents kind of got in the way of that... and they were now in different countries... and he probably wouldn't see her for another good few months until school ended... oh.
"Well, it's not that Isolde and I don't function. It's just that she won't be here to function with me." Scott spluttered that sentence not sure if it made sense. "That is until I can get it together to go and visit her." Scott finished and looked at his phone. Surprised it was turned on, he jammed his finger into the power button. "So, when did you and Jack split? I'm sorry I'm probably really behind the times but was Jack not going with..." Scott flung his head back as he tried to put a name to the pretty face in his head. "...uuuh blondie, kinda good looking but comes across as a bit of a tart..." Scott brought a hand to his forehead. "...uuuuh..."

[Olivia Skye]

“It’s just that she won’t be here to function with me. That is until I can get it together to go and visit her.”
There was something about that sentence that was too rushed, after his previous comment. It was too hurried, like he was trying to make up for what he’d just said, aware that he’d just made a Freudian slip.
But he changed the subject then, fiddling with his phone again. “So, when did you and Jack split? I’m sorry I’m probably really behind the times but was Jack not going with… uuuh blondie, kinda good looking but comes across as a bit of a tart… uuuh…”
Olivia didn’t blush, thankfully, but she could literally feel the colour drain from her face, leaving her paper-white – even if selfishly, so, so, so selfishly, his final comment had just given her a bit of comfort. “Yeah, that would be Sophie, and apparently everyone else knew about this long before I did! He… left me just after the battle call, which was…well, you know, and we’d been avoiding each other until today when we… talked it out. Turns out that it was… very complicated, even more so than he said it was, but I can’t talk about that. So, officially, we split about two hours ago,” she added, with a tinkling laugh. “You know how it is.”
She glanced down at Scott’s phone, before lifting her gaze back up to him sympathetically. It couldn’t have been easy to have to say goodbye to someone like that; to have them leave for something like that. “I’m sorry about Isolde. Do you know how long she’ll be gone for?”

[K. Scott]

"So, officially, we split about two hours ago, you know how it is.”
Scott did at times suffer from foot-in-mouth disease and he pressed his lips together in a wince. She didn't look too comfortable either. Poor lass. How any guy could just turn around and ignore his girlfriend for some other girl was beyond him. It wasn't right.
In that moment he felt like he noticed something about Olivia. A certain under-lying vulnerability that she was careful not to display. Scott admired that. He'd seen a few girls 2 hours after a break-up and it wasn't pretty but Olivia was being pretty brave about it.
“I’m sorry about Isolde. Do you know how long she’ll be gone for?” Olivia asked, as if he was worse off than she was.
Scott sighed, "No idea. Literally none. She doesn't even know. There's a high chance she may never come back though. Not that it matters much I'll still be able to see her and perhaps she can just come across for a flying visit so it's not like I'm losing her. But I'll miss her like hell all the same." He twirled his chunky mobile in his hand before meeting Olivia's eyes, "Looks like we're both missing our other halves for now." He smiled at her, trying optimistically to put a bit of light on the situation, "At least we're not alone there huh?"

[Olivia Skye]

Olivia laughed gently at that, but she felt it catch at the back of her throat and had to cut it off, covering it with an attempt at a bright smile. “Well, that’s true – if you’re alone and I’m alone, let’s be alone together, then.”
And while that sentence could possibly be taken as being compromising, she hadn’t meant it that way, in all honesty. Being alone was miserable, as she’d just discovered from her time in that hospital store cupboard, and two miserable people are always better than one.
And Scott must definitely be fairly miserable.
“I have to say I’m glad I’m not in your position,” she said softly. “I’d say that missing her like hell is an understatement, when you’re separated like that and neither of you wants it. It’s not fair.”
At least they still had contact, but a phone call and the odd flying visit couldn’t ever match having someone there with you every day, ever. Sure, you could hear their voice (albeit with the odd crackle from the phone line), and you could talk to them… but you couldn’t see their lips curve back into a smile as they spoke to you, you couldn’t see the shine of their eyes or the arch of their eyebrows, and you definitely could never feel their hand in yours, their breath on your cheek… It just gave rise to this horrible feeling of longing, didn’t it? And added to that, it was just completely unfair, especially in poor Scott’s situation. After all he’d gone through with Isolde, for her to be taken away like that…
There was just no justice, was there?

[K. Scott]

A fifth year past by and flung out a hand to the fireplace, flames sprung from the short logs and the heat radiated out almost immediately. Scott leaned forward in his seat, now aware of the cool draught in the common room, and bowed his head with a furrowed brow thinking and watching the fire flicker.
If he had protested or fought back to keep her here, would that have been fair? Would it have been fair to her parents, who were clearly so worried, to keep their daughter, whom they’ve brought up to be this beautiful, sweet-natured young woman, in a place where ultimately she could lose her life?
But wait a moment, what about Isolde herself? What was fair for her? Who was thinking about what she wanted and making sure that her opinion was heard and fought for?
d**n. That’s my job isn’t it…
But that was it really. Perhaps Scott didn’t fight like he should have because really he too wanted her as far away from here as possible. Particularly since he’d just seen the extent to which she could be hurt. Scott relaxed his forehead and raised his head but kept his eyes on the flames.
“Well I suppose I can't really say I know what's fair and best for her, especially over her parents. If I’m honest a part of me is glad she's somewhere away from all this. But that doesn’t mean that day to day life isn’t gonna be a bit crap.” He raised his eyes to Olivia whose hair was glowing in a complement to the fire itself. She still wasn’t happy. “I’m sorry about you and Jack though, breaking up is hard no matter what.” He frowned in sympathy. Scott wondered what she really needed. Would she rather forget the ordeal for now? Or did she want to talk about it? If so, would she want to talk to him? He decided to leave that to her and phrased carefully, “How did it go? …Sorry, you don’t have to answer that.”

[Olivia Skye]

He was right. Part of him had to be glad that she was safe, but for him to put that first over the day-to-day longing… Most people couldn’t do that; most people were too selfish. Either Scott was just a very selfless guy, or he was very much in love with his girlfriend, and that made him selfless. Either way, Olivia admired him for that, for putting her safety first like that. It was rare that people could do that.
But he changed the subject, raising his eyes from the flow to meet hers and asking about what had just happened with Jack. He’d changed the subject, so she wouldn’t change it back to Isolde, but… she didn’t know how to answer.
Olivia shivered, despite the new heat from the flames, and wrapped her cardigan slightly tighter around her again. “It was… I don’t know,” she said slowly. “We needed to talk it out but… I just didn’t expect it to go the way it did, I suppose. I found out that he had been cheating on me for a very long time, which… well, it didn’t feel great,” she added, with a laugh so sharp it could cut through diamond. “And then there were tears, and then he kissed me and… it wasn’t great.” Her voice tailed off into a sigh. “It couldn’t have been anything but bad, though. The worst part is, I can’t even blame him for… cheating, anymore. I’d been living in this bubble of anger with him, but now… I can’t blame him, and I feel like I can’t be angry with him. It’s not like he could stop himself-”
Oh God, no, she wasn’t meant to say that. He hadn’t told her to keep it a secret but… Olivia couldn’t say it. She couldn’t do that to him, and although she owed nothing to Sophie… she couldn’t do it to her either. She hadn’t meant to do it, after all, and she must have lived a cruel, short life. It didn’t mean that the thought of her didn’t cut Olivia with a pain like a ten-blade slicing her apart, though. Olivia still resented her, and she hated herself for it. But resentment or no, she still couldn’t do that. She would keep that secret.
But her words were hanging in mid-air, and she needed to finish it.
She paused for a second, tip of tongue resting on her lip, before beginning again. “Well, it was Sophie. I can’t say that many people wouldn’t see why he had trouble resisting that temptation. She was … well, she was Sophie,” she finished weakly.
And the worst part of that? That was true. Olivia couldn’t really blame him in that way, either. Sophie was Sophie. She was seductive, she was stunning, and she could blow Olivia out of the water. Olivia had never felt second-best to her, ever, until she found out that she had been left by the wayside for her.
But God, that wasn’t the point right now, was it? There she was just about to pour her heart out to poor Scott- whom she barely knew and who had more than enough to be dealing with right now, without listening to her rambles.
“God, I’m sorry, Scott, I shouldn’t be making you listen to this,” she added quickly, with a half-hearted laugh.

[K. Scott]

Scott shook his head in disregard, “Wise up. You’re upset. I know how it feels to just… wanna let someone see what you’re feeling.” Scott tried not to think too hard about Jack. He didn’t think it would be good to be thinking “you two-faced cheat” whilst saying “Yes, sir”. Sophie, whilst being visually appealing, had little depth in Scott’s eyes. Jack was wrong to do what he did and, whatever Olivia might say, it didn’t change the fact that he didn’t do right by his girlfriend. Actually, the fact that Olivia wouldn’t blame him, for some reason, made Scott more unconvinced about Jack. He could understand the reasons and perhaps Sophie was a bit of a charmer but still when you looked at the pros and cons Olivia was undoubtedly the better choice. Especially on the personality front, let alone morals.
But Scott made himself take a mental step back. He was judging way too quickly. He supposed he was being influenced by Olivia’s emotions. And he didn’t know exactly what went on and he certainly didn’t know Sophie enough to say what he did next.
“But Olivia,” Scott spoke low and serious, looking her in the eye, “Sophie had nothing on you.”
It might possibly have been a white lie but, if it helped, what the hell.