#c:lark

Lark Sullivan was the first person she truly and fully had loved since Finley and she loved him so much that Rose didn’t want to drag him through the messy road of her recovery. And messy it had been. The first year of her recovery had been done in Atlanta and it had been hard. As much as she missed Lark, she was happy he wasn’t around for it. Her confirmation that she had made the right decision came when she learned he had gone off on a mini-tour. She couldn’t imagine having tied him down during her recovery and being the reason why he didn’t peruse his next move in his music career. That’s exactly what would have happened. Lark wouldn’t have left her alone during that time and Rose would have never forgiven herself if she had been the reason why he was held back. After all, Lark never gave up on the ones he loved so Rose became someone he didn’t have to love anymore. 

Despite their initial intention of not getting attached Dani found themselves worrying about more than just his fellow ‘jungle people’ as the fog persisted. It was hard to tell the time without the usual cues but they were pretty sure they were well into the afternoon by now and they were absolutely certain the fog had gotten worse and it was no trick of the mind. Majority of the people they’d grown fond of tended to be around the Farm so Dani tentatively and very slowly began making their way there. 

The fog had enlightened them to obstacles that had never been obstacles before - fences, rocks, other people, trees - and demanded a snails pace to go anywhere. They’d gotten about halfway there when they started catching whispers of voices here and there and paused to try and minimize the risk of collision but…the voices hovered. Even after Dani’d taken a bold pace and should have reasonably passed the owners of the voices - they lingered. Just like the damn fog.

And they seemed to get louder regardless of Dani speeding up or slowing down until they had to actively fight the urge to climb up into a tree and cover their ears. 

“Lark?”

They’d been aiming for the spice shed - not quite certain where else their friend would be - and absolutely certain that a small contained place was exactly where they wanted to be for once in their life. 

“Lark? Can you hear me? Lark?”

Dani wasn’t sure they could hear themselves over the chorus around them and then that sudden blasted horn sounded again and they choked back a whimper. They’d survived worse. This was fine. 

Their racing heart, cold sweat, and shallow breaths would seem to suggest otherwise, but they kept putting a foot in front of the other and occasionally calling out the people they knew in the area. “Lark? Tomas? Madi? Emre?” 

“Anyone?”

Maybe they’d all headed towards the light instead of away from it but whatever that was - Dani wanted no part of it beyond protecting those they cared about and hoped against hope that their friends would be fine. 

That was until he realized he hadn't been the first one awake. “You beat me to it," he said, his voice still deep and raspy from a night of sleep. Well some sleep. “Is there enough in there for me?” He hoped. @larksullivan​

Counting out an exhale the way they were taught (one, two, three, four, five, six) before inhaling again (one, two, three, four) Dani focused on trying to will away some of the tension that’d settled along their body with each cycle. Years and years of the Labyrinth nudging them along an unknown path had grown an anxiety of remaining still for too long and Dani didn’t believe for a minute that the path had ended here with its deceptive beaches and clearings. Something was going to happen again - they just weren’t sure what or when.

Still, it was a refreshing change to feel direct sunlight on their skin, to watch the waves that were so often only heard but not seen or glimpsed from the tops of treetops. Those were good things. And they tried to remind themselves of that and of space being a “good” thing as their stomach twisted and chest ached - deeply unsettled by the way their family dispersed amongst the Others and their inability to keep watch over them all at the same time. Truthfully, Dani probably shouldn’t be calling them that in their head - they were people just the same as the ones making up their family - but…not. Not yet.

They weren’t sure of that yet.

They did try to minimize their pacing, their worry, and compulsive need to do a headcount - but they weren’t always successful. They’d lasted about an hour on the beach which was progress before drawing up and heading towards the Farm. Occasionally, their family found their way there for one reason or another but more than that - it was the only other place beside the oceanfront that Dani found some peace.

They liked the odd plants and neat rows of greenery and especially the animals. And it was refreshing to not worry about killing or being killed and just get to enjoy them for what they were. They lingered a minute just watching them before pressing back to the little house-thing where Lark tended to be. They tried to be good and stay away from the trees for the most part but Dani loved the forest for all its hazards and sometimes needed to be up in a tree in order to fall asleep.

Their last nocturnal foray had lead to some plants they’d vaguely recognized and nothing terrible had happened when touched, chewed, or swallowed so they’d gathered them up - thanked the Labyrinth - and planned to present them to Lark once the sun was high enough he’d probably be in the little house.

And sure, enough.

The corners of Dani’s mouth turned up as they spotted the other doing something that led to the magic of dried out and crushed plants. And their smile only grew as they swung their woven pouch around and up-ended it over a clean spot so all the plants could tumble out.

“Surprise.” Dani announced before clarifying. “For you.”

My muse finds a dirty picture of yours