When Angels Cry (Tori)

[Fox]

Wake up; grab a brush and put a little makeup.
Hide the scars to fade away the shakeup.
Why'd you leave the keys upon the table?
Here you go create another fable...

I don't think you trust in my self righteous suicide.
I cry when angels deserve to die...

It was a nice day, all things considered.

Fox was in the park, lounging on a bench in his human form, still not quite comfortable showing his true form in public. His long, dirty-blonde hair was tucked behind his ears, and he had a book open in his hands.

For him, it was a day to relax; after all he'd been through in the past few months had been building and stressing him out, and now he just needed a break. But, to his dismay, he couldn't concentrate. Even though it was his favorite book, even though it was written in his native language and thus not quite so hard to read as English, his mind refused to form words, his eyes refused to actually read.

"Chudesnyi," he grumbled, shutting the book with a snap and sitting up. The man began to mumble in Russian as he ran his fingers through his hair.

[Fallen Angel]

Heaven bent to take my hand, and lead me through the fire.
Be the long awaited answer to a long and painful fight.
Truth be told I've tried my best, but somewhere along the way,
I got caught up in all there was to offer.
And the cost was so much more than I could bear...

Though I've tried, I've fallen,
I have sunk so low...

Truth be told, Tori really hated leaving her house.

It wasn't that the place held good memories for her; in fact, it was the complete opposite. The little shack (for it wasn't even large enough to be considered a "house") was where she had spent all her sleepness nights. Within those walls, she had been beaten and ridiculed and tormented for something that was far beyond her own control.

She hated that house. It was small, cramped and dirty with rooms she couldn't enter. Even though none of her parents or siblings had been brought to Adanac, for reasons she could not explain, Victoria had no desire to enter any of those rooms. It was the same reason she didn't care to leave the house, unless she needed food. Her father's powerful influence still held her in his icy grip.

Pausing by the park gates, Tori glanced down at the bags of grocies in her arms. She had gotten a good amount of food, just enough to keep her from having to leave the house for two weeks or so, depending on how well she conserved the food - and how many meals she decided to skip.

They were stacked up her arms, the bags going all the way to each elbow. A few of them were rather light, filled with a bag of bread or a box of her favorite "treats," Sour Gummi Worms. They were the one thing guaranteed to make her smile, even when days were bad.

Her broken wings gave a little twitch at the thought, causing her to wince. Before, when her wings had been healed, twitching was a good thing; it was a response brought on by positive emotions. It was the same as a parrot ruffling its feathers, or a cockatoo twitching its head when it laid eyes upon a treat.

Since her father had taken the liberty to break her wings, however, twitching was a bad thing. Twitching brought on pain, and God knew Tori had experienced enough pain for a lifetime.

With that thought and a sigh, she resumed her journey through the park, back to her home.

[Fox]

Fox's ears would have perked, if he'd been in the right form.

He wasn't used to seeing people alone, here; normally, they found buddies and stuck with them. That was just the sort of place Adanac was-- it forced you to make friends fast. But this woman was alone, and, on top of that, she was carrying a lot of grocery bags.

And if his parents had taught him one thing, it was to be a gentleman.

The Abnormal stood, slowly, cocking his head to the side as he put the book in his coat pocket. "Miss?" he asked somewhat quietly. "You are needing help, miss?"

The accent was unmistakable, and he would have cursed it if he could have. Even if he was a smart man, he had never bothered to learn much more English then had been strictly neccesarry before moving to America. German, French, Portuguese, yes... but not English. He just didn't like it, not really.

It was then he actually gave the woman a good once-over. Her wings were absolutely stunning... or they would have been. His trained eye could see that they were out of their joints, and they were scarred and molting in places. It would have made him wince, but he didn't want to show he'd been staring.

[Fallen Angel]

When the man called for her, Tori tensed. The muscles in her back, the ones that would have controlled her wings, tightened in an automatic reaction; it meant she was ready to fly off and avoid and sort of confrontation life wanted to throw in her face.

She turned to look at him; her wings bunched together, trying to keep themselves out of harm's way. It was instinct, after all; the last thing she needed was for her wings to be clipped any worse than they already were. Odds were the poor girl wouldn't be able to handle that.

Tori tightened her grip on the groceries, holding them a bit closer to her chest. "I'm fine," she murmured. She didn't want him anywhere near her food. If it got stolen or ruined, then she would have to make another trip to the store. And she didn't want to do that.

The damned store keeper couldn't stop staring at her wings.

"I got it, I promise."

Her words, like the man's, had a slight accent to them. Unlike his, however, hers wasn't a Russian accent; hers was southern. A Louisianian accent, to be exact.

[Fox]

"Being sure?"

His brows furrowed in worry. Now that he could see her reacting, Fox could sense the timidness of the woman. She gave all the jerks and flinches a puppy who had been kicked a few too many times would, and so he immediately became more relaxed, trying to get her to realize he wasn't going to hurt her. As a result, his features melted into his default form as his concentration faltered.

He ducked his head slightly, ears relaxing along with the rest of his body. His tail gave a little swish.

"Fox is promising," he chuckled, grinning toothily, "was troublemaker when child, but now... ehhh, I am calming down. Meaning no harm."

[Fallen Angel]

The man changed his form, from a human male to an "anthro" - at least Tori believed that was the correct word - fox. It caught her by surprise, and caused her wings to flutter again. But instead of taking a step back or attempting to run, the woman merely tilted her head slightly.

She was... curious, to say the least.

Tori wasn't naive or stupid enough to actually believe she was the only one with a physical deformity; she had seen plenty of other Abnormals who had been "touched by the devil," as her father would have said. But it was this sort of deformity that caught her attention, because it wasn't of the normal. Not that anything was normal around this place.

She could tell he was trying to help her, but Tori couldn't figure out the motives behind his aid. He didn't seem violent, at least not outwardly. And he had even told her he didn't want to hurt her - more or less. But still, she was on edge.

Tori had learned long ago trust was something she couldn't afford to give out easily.

[Fox]

Fox realized, after a moment, what had happened; he was so used to the shift he barely registered when it happened any more, but a glimpse of an orange hand-paw out of the corner of his eye told him everything, and explained the way she tilted her head.

"Is natural form," he explained, giving a small smile. "Takes effort to appear human, neh? My father... my father was being just like me. So are two of my siblings."

His emerald green eyes gave a little, slightly pained twinkle as he thought of his family. He had loved them, truly, and he was sad... he was sad he'd never be able to see his siblings again. Becoming a US citizen had been the worst decision he'd made in his life. If he had kept himself on a Visa, maybe... maybe they wouldn't have been able to throw him here.

Not that he really minded it, not that much. Here, there were people like him, or at least similar to him. He'd already made a few friends amongst the bars.

"Am sorry if I am startling you with it, though. Am completely understanding."

[Fallen Angel]

So the man was "naturally" in this form. Interesting.

It really didn't bother her that he was naturally different; she was the same way. Her wings were a part of her, a part that she couldn't hide. At least this guy could hide the evidence of Satan's touch, even if it was only for a little while. It made her feel a little out of place.

"It doesn't bother me," she assured him quietly, glancing over this furred-form before glancing back down at her grocies. Tori winced slightly at seeing how badly the plastic was digging into her skin; she had been standing here talking too long. She had to get these off soon.

She started to back away, so she could turn around and head back to that pitiful shack she called home. "I really have to get home. It was, um... nice talking to you, sir."

[Fox]

Well, that was a bit... Fox was saddened, honestly. He'd wanted to help her. But he supposed he couldn't force her to let him. She wasn't even a woman you could persuade to do anything in a less then gentle manner without breaking whatever trust you had managed to build up, from what he could tell. That was the vibe he got from her.

"Okay," he said, backing up a bit as well. He sat back down on the bench, crossing his legs and sort of leaning back. "If you are sure you are not needing help.

"Before you go, though... name is Renard. Renard Rudakov, but everyone is calling me Fox." He smiled again. "If you are not minding, may I be asking yours?"

[Fallen Angel]

"Fox," Tori repeated, getting a feel for the name. It was easier to pronounce that his real name, and a lot more obvious, too. Since he had given her his name, the girl figured she could give him hers. It wasn't like she would be hard to track down in this city anyways; it was a smallish place, after all. And they were all contained here.

"Tori," she told him, wings twitching again. "Tori Ashwood."

The black haired woman glanced behind her, making sure she was clear to head home, and then back at Fox. She nodded her head once, "It was nice talking to you, Fox. I, uh... I--"

At that moment, the sound of cans clanking together silenced the woman. She winced, eyes rolling up to the sky, as if asking why, before finally glancing down at the ground. She groaned upon seeing that three of her over-loaded bags had split.

This... this was putting a damper on her already bad day.

[Fox]

Fox stood, somewhat hesitantly, looking down at the cans at her feet then back up to her. "Here," he said, bending down. He took off his coat and began to scoop things into it. "Here, letting me help. Is my fault for keeping you."

And he felt that was true. It actually made him feel somewhat guilty, but there was nothing he could do now but help her gather her things again.

[Fallen Angel]

Tori watched as Fox started to scoop up her groceries, a worried look on her face. She knelt down, letting her bags slide off of her arm, and hesitated, reaching out to stop him before drawing her hands back. She didn't want to bother him with this; she didn't want him to waste his time cleaning up her mess.

"Please, you don't... I mean, you don't have to do this." There was a worried look in her eye, one that almost looked afraid. "I can pick up my own mess. It's my fault the bag ripped; there was too much in it."

Her wings bunched together behind her, as if trying to hide behind the thin woman's back.

[Fox]

"Proshu proshcheniya," Fox murmured, shaking his head as he got the last of the groceries up. He zipped the jacket up then tied the sleeves in a way that closed up the hole for the head, essentially making it into a makeshift bag. "But if there is one thing parents were teaching me, it was to always be kind and be helping. Especially for lady, da?"

His father may have been dead, yes, but Fox would have felt ashamed if he didn't uphold those rules that had been set for him when he was just a child. The very thought made his tail twitch in agitation; he had to make James Rudakov proud.

"So you are wrong, robkaya devushka," he said, smiling softly and chuckling. "Fox does have to."

---

(( robkaya devushka = shy girl. I put "timid girl" into the translator and got that.))

[Fallen Angel]

". . . it was to always be kind and be helping. Especially for lady, da?"

At those words, Tori hesitated. She glanced down at the makeshift bag, bit her lip. She hadn't wanted him to use his jacket in this method; he was ruining the poor thing. He didn't even have to help her, and there he was using his own personal effects to try to clean up the mess she had caused. Simply becase he had been taught to help women?

It didn't seem to connect. Then again, given the home she had been raised in, something as sweet as that went right over her head. It wasn't something any of her siblings or parents would have done for her. Her father would have sneered and her and walked over; her brother would have ripped another bag and shoved her down upon her supplies.

She shivered at the thought of her brother.

"I could have..." The girl hesitated again, biting her lip slightly. "You didn't have to do that. I could have cleaned it up."