Daisy Hughes (cyberblonde) wrote in invol_rpg, @ 2013-07-14 10:50:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | ! log, daisy hughes, hunter mackenna, vic reyes |
WHO: Daisy Hughes, Hunter MacKenna, and Vic Reyes.
WHAT: Vic & Hunter try to talk to Daisy.
WHEN: Backdated to the day after the force field lifted. (Friday in game time.)
WHERE: Daisy's (and Jodi's) room.
WARNINGS: None? Hunter swearing silently in his head a lot?
STATUS: Complete log.
The knock on the door was quiet, but Daisy recognized it and lifted the lock with her powers. She didn't stir from the place on her bed where she'd taken refuge so many hours ago. It seemed safe there, safe and comfortable and familiar. She could still smell Carter on her pillow cases. She didn't want to get out of bed. It seemed safe here, sitting upright against the white plaster walls, pillow comfortably resting upon her lap. She'd showered and brushed her hair and pulled on some loose-fitting clothes over her wounds, but mostly Daisy stayed in the quiet confines of the four walls she shared with Jodi. A few days ago, all she'd wanted in the world was to escape IVI by any means necessary. The most important thing was getting Carter out. And now Carter was gone, and with him, Daisy's motivation. She regarded Vic and Hunter with empty eyes as they entered the room. It was not the first time Hunter had been in Daisy's room since they'd been allowed out of the warehouses. He had spent the night there with her, once he'd found out that Carter was gone. His presence hadn't seemed to make much of a difference to her, but he'd stubbornly stayed anyway, as though he could force her to accept the comfort that he was offering. He couldn't. But he could continue to be there, at least, and try to be patient. Maybe it would make a difference. At least he'd managed to force Vic to accept help. It hadn't been any easier to accomplish than trying to get Daisy to eat breakfast that morning, but at least he'd succeeded with Vic. It had nearly devolved into a shouting match, but at the end, Vic had begrudgingly agreed to let the Vols Rising healer see to his injuries. Hunter couldn't imagine what he would have done if Daisy had refused to come out of her room at the same time that Vic had been bedridden with serious injuries; he'd already struggled enough that first night in the library, trying to make his way back and forth between the cots where the people he loved the most lay on opposite sides of the makeshift triage center. He hadn't been there when Daisy had woken up. Omar had. He didn't intend to let another fuck-up like that happen, now. "Hey, Dais," Hunter said quietly as he let himself and Vic inside. He'd told Vic what she was like, to give him ample warning, but somehow seeing that lifeless expression on her face still twisted the knife in his gut again. He would rather have her screaming and throwing things and crying and swearing. Her silent, hopeless stare was a thousand times worse. "It's us." Moving over to the bed, he pushed gently at her legs, kicked off his shoes, and crawled onto the covers in his clothes to sit on one side of Daisy. He didn't ask for permission; it was his spot, really. It was true Vic had received ample warning about Daisy’s current state, but all the warning in the world couldn’t have prepared him for the spiritless look they were treated to. There was no shortage of doleful faces around the campus today; all the good news was tempered by the blood shed to receive it. But that was different — most people were mourning their friends, shocked by the chaos. And while Vic didn’t doubt that Daisy was mourning the deaths of those close to her, it was obvious the source of her problems was Carter. When Hunter had delivered the news of Carter’s departure, practically shaking with rage, Vic had initially done his best to try to see Carter’s side of it. (Not that he had discussed this with Hunter; he was no fool.) He couldn’t imagine doing the same — he would have never left Hunter, under any circumstances — but he didn’t know what Carter had gone through, either. What he had seen. But that attempt at neutrality fizzled and disappeared at the sight of poor Daisy, looking as if she had lost the will to live. This all could’ve been avoided. In that moment, he didn’t care what Carter’s reasons were. Vic was less comfortable in Daisy’s room than Hunter. He took a seat at the end of the bed, resting his hands on either side of him. “Good to see you, Dais,” he said softly, frowning slightly. He hadn’t seen her since before the Solitary bombing. "You too," she replied amiably, as calmly as if they might have just been meeting for lunch, months ago in the cafeteria. Daisy noticed the way they were treating her so gingerly, as if she might break at the slightest misplaced word or phrase, but it didn't register in her mind as either concerning or something that she should work to correct. It simply was, just like everything else in her life right now. The disastrous list of casualties replayed in her head and seemed to drown out anything that might be happening in the here and now. The worst had happened. It had happened and now it was over and now all she could feel was nothing. "Glad you're not dead," she said, giving Vic a weak semblance of a smile. She didn't pull away from Hunter, nor did she lean into him in the way that had become so natural to her over the course of a year. She simply allowed him to be there, next to her on the bed. Familiar and present. When she didn't lean against him, Hunter fought the urge to snarl or snap at her -- goddammit, Daisy, come on. It wouldn't have done any good. He knew she would just stare at him the same way she had been doing up until now. He said nothing. Instead, he just put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side. If she didn't want to do it herself, he would do it for her. He'd decided that was how it was going to be already; he'd be her emotional seeing eye dog, if necessary. Frustrated or otherwise, he couldn't resist turning his head to press a kiss against her hair. He loved her. Seeing her broken like this made him feel like he'd swallowed glass. Hunter's eyes lifted to seek out Vic's, the unspoken clear in his gaze: see? We have to do something. Help me. "Have you eaten anything yet?" he said aloud, glancing over at the food he'd brought her this morning. It looked like it had been picked at, but he was pretty sure that was just from when he'd been there, before he'd left to go check on Vic. "We could bring you something if you're hungry or anything. Right, Vic?" “Right,” Vic replied, nodding. “I don’t mind running back out to get food. Or anything else you need.” Except, of course, the thing she probably needed the most: Carter. He had always tried to stay neutral when Hunter ranted to him about whatever was currently going on in their relationship (girlfriends were so difficult, Hunter didn’t always get that), but his hands tightened into fists at the mere thought of the New Yorker. How could he have done this to her? “Now that I’m feeling better, I could even carry you and Hunter there in this,” he joked, gesturing to the bed. Anything to try to lighten the mood a little. “Like those fucking things from ancient Greece or some shit. One time offer.” But he knew it was an offer Daisy wouldn’t take him up on. Getting her out of this room was going to be a trial. "That's okay," Daisy declined like Vic had expected her to, offering him another pleasant smile instead. A brief look of confusion had passed over her face when Hunter had asked the question -- she couldn't really remember the last time she'd actually felt felt any desire to eat. "I'm not really hungry, honestly." Daisy bit down lightly on her lower lip and the smile faltered on her face. She looked at both of them, momentarily thoughtful. Hunter's firm grip made this somewhat easier, it seemed, and she voiced something that she'd been lightly considering throughout the morning, ever since she'd heard Jodi mention something about passports. "Are y'all planning on leaving soon?" The question was cautious, more curiosity than blame. She could tell that she felt something at the idea of them leaving, of Hunter and Jodi joining the recent exodus of her life, but it was too much for her to completely grasp. It was easier to process as fact. There was a long list of facts now, it seemed. Kody was dead, Mike was dead, Lydie was dead, IVI was no more, Kim was in jail, Carter was gone. Things were happening in a dizzying flurry around Daisy, but she preferred the calm in her mind. It was okay if bad things continued to happen, wasn't it? After all, what did it matter? It wasn't as if they could get any worse. Hesitating, Hunter's eyes didn't leave Vic's face. "That's what we were gonna talk to you about, actually," he said at last, squeezing her shoulder a bit more tightly. The conversation he and Vic had before hadn't been long. On this, they'd both agreed. "We're gonna head back to Colorado for a little bit, first. So Vic can see his family." There was no reason left in the world for Hunter to go back to Colorado, his home, but there was for Vic still, and Vic hadn't seen his family in a very long time. Or gotten the chance to talk to them, not until communications had finally gone back up. "Then..." Hunter shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe Los Angeles, but going back to the same old shit feels strange. Maybe we'll travel. See places while we have the chance. Carpe fuckin' diem." Then he pulled back slightly, so that he could see her face. His expression was serious despite the lightness of his tone, before. "You'll come with us, right? Leave this fucking place with us?" Vic nodded along as Hunter spoke. Neither of them wanted to stay in Colorado for long, maybe just a few weeks. After that, he didn’t care where they went, as long as they were together. Before IVI, Vic had never left the country. The idea of seeing the world after being imprisoned in this fucking wasteland definitely had its appeal. New York was out, though, that much was clear. “We’re bound to get into some trouble if we don’t have someone keeping an eye on us,” he said warmly, with a small smile. “And by us, I mean Hunter.” For a brief moment in time, there was something different in Daisy's eyes: a serious look that she exchanged with Hunter when his eyes met hers. A moment of recognition, but only fleeting, vanishing as soon as it came, replaced by the blankness again. "That's alright," she said politely, her voice much the same as it had been when she'd declined to be brought anymore food. To her credit, she directed her attention toward Vic, rather than Hunter. The idea of traveling to Denver seemed so foreign to Daisy, it might as well have been a suggestion that they all fly to the moon. "Y'all don't need to worry 'bout me. And anyway..." her voice faltered and she looked down at her lap, aware (at the very least) that what she was about to say might not go over so well. She said it anyway, fumbling her words nervously along the way. "I mean, I think he's gonna come back, so -- like, I wouldn't want to go anywhere if... um, he didn't know that the force field was gonna stay down, y'know? He was probably just planning on figuring a way to get us all out, and now that it's... I mean, when he finds out that we're free to go, I think -- he'll come back." Daisy stared intently at the lavender blanket that she was gripping between her fingers. "He wouldn't just like -- he'll come back for me," she finished. Vic fought hard to keep his expression neutral as Daisy spoke, though he was internally cringing with every word. She thought Carter was coming back? What were they supposed to say to that? Alarmed, he gave Hunter a look that hopefully got his complete and utter shock and horror across. He could barely deal with the normal sort of heartbroken girl; this was something else altogether. Again: it took every fiber of Hunter's being not to give into the urge to scream, to yell. He stayed calm. He didn't shake her or move an inch from where he sat, his arm around Daisy's shoulder, his gaze focused on her face as she stared down at her hands. Hunter looked up at Vic, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "He knows your email," he said reasonably, his voice even and unconcerned. "So if he comes back, well, I realize he's fucking computer illiterate, but he knows one way to get in touch with you. You can check your old emails and if he wants to find out where you are, no problem. We'll let him know." If he had to pretend, for her sake, that he thought Carter would really consider coming back even after everything -- well, he would pretend for all he was worth. But he couldn't do it without plying reason and rationale. He wouldn't let her sink into a fog of hope/hopelessness from which there was no escape on her own, in the Outback, on the campus where they'd once been imprisoned compulsorily. "You can't stay here, Dais. There won't be anything here soon enough. You can find a place of your own, if you really want, but we want you to come with us." He hesitated just a breath before he finished: "I know you care about him, but I kind of need you too, babe. You're my fucking sister, practically. I can't leave you here. So -- come with us?" She looked at him, her lips pressed together in careful thought. What Hunter was saying made sense, she supposed. And the thought of him leaving -- if she really allowed herself to imagine it -- tugged at a place behind her sternum, stirring up a dizzying kind of anxiety inside of Daisy. Finally, she broke her gaze and directed it toward Vic. "Are you... I mean, I don't want to like... are you sure that you'd be okay with that?" Her voice betrayed a kind of nervousness that Daisy hadn't even realized she'd been feeling. It was one thing to be left behind. It was quite another to not be wanted in the first place. "Like, when we got out, y'all were supposed to be together. This wasn't what you wanted." The words supposed to be felt bitter on Daisy's tongue. None of this was how it was supposed to be. None of this was what she imagined it might be. This wasn't something he needed to make eye contact with Hunter about. He had quickly agreed to the idea of Daisy coming along with them — if anything, Vic was concerned she wouldn't want to put up with them. Would Daisy want to travel with a couple? Even if it was a couple she was pretty fond of (or extremely fond of, in Hunter's case)? "I'm really okay with it, trust me," he replied with a nod, smiling as he reached out to put a hand over hers. "As long as you're cool with it? But I can't think of anyone I'd rather have along with us. And Hunter will be pitiful without you. I don't know if I can cope with that." Daisy looked at the hand on top of hers, and then up at Vic. She still felt lost, but they were extending a lifeline to her, and Daisy had enough sense left to know that she had to take it. "Okay." Daisy kept her eyes on Vic's hand. Looking at it, she felt a twinge of shame for how helpless she'd become. She didn't know how to express anything that she was feeling. "Thank you," she added softly. Hunter turned his face to kiss the side of Daisy's forehead again; he brushed his fingers through her hair and squeezed her tightly around the shoulders once more. He was grateful that she'd said yes, really. He wasn't sure what he would've done if she'd fought them on it, tried to insist that she shouldn't go or that she had other plans. He couldn't have let her walk out of here on her own without any help, and he wasn't sure that he was prepared to trust most anyone else with her safety just yet. Sure, having Daisy along would change the portrait of their lives following IVI, but it had been a long time since Hunter had imagined his life without Daisy in it, anyway. No matter how different the circumstances had been, that much wouldn't have drastically changed. "Thank you," Hunter murmured against her hair in response. He glanced up again towards Vic, a look that easily expressed his feelings: and thank you, too. His heart felt as though it had expanded and was pressing against his breastbone from the inside, a size too big to properly fit when it was full of this much love. "Come on," he said after another moment. "Let's go get you a fucking ticket to Denver with us. Okay?" Her head nodded up and down, but Daisy made no move to get up. Instead, she finally leaned in against Hunter, her face turning so that her nose could brush up against his cheekbone. It might once have felt like an awkward gesture to make in front of Vic -- Vic, who was so kindly still touching her hand -- Daisy was too emotionally exhausted to censor herself. She had been a needy person to begin with; now, so many of the people she would have once reached for were gone. Whereas Hunter's chest was full of love, Daisy's felt painfully hollow. Kody would never climb into her lap again, Mike would never pull her into a hug. Carter would no longer hold her while she slept. But she still had something, at least. She still had this. And maybe one day the pain would lessen. "Okay," she agreed. "Denver." |