Calla Handen

Misadventure Calla Handen

"She's a pomegranate pip, darkly sweet..." The only thing Pip and Clark have in common is the pitch black rooftop where they meet. It's not an illicit rendezvous- they're both there to jump. Pip's silhouette already stands on the ledge when Clark charges across the rooftop, determined to take his leap. The sight of her makes him question his own conviction. Neither of them speak; she watches the flow of traffic, he watches her. Eventually, their hands knot together and Clark pulls her back from the brink. It's a descent that doesn't stop once it starts. We all have our demons to fight: Pip battles habitual self-harm, anxiety, and the need to save everyone to her own detriment. Clark's demons are various versions of himself: his ability to dissociate, his arrogance, and his blatant disregard for his own safety. That last keeps Pip and Clark crashing back into one another, party after party. When he finds himself praying to the porcelain goddess or otherwise wounded, Pip repays that rooftop debt with a cool rag and a few soft words, or a verbal ass-kicking depending on the circumstances. Not that he'd admit it to anyone, but Pip is the best thing that ever happened to him.