Late June | San Francisco Bay Area | Work-Safe (Discussions of Trauma)
Dylan hadn’t exactly told his new found friends that he was missing his left hand. He had been… pretty open about it, but that didn’t mean he didn’t see how the other people looked at him at times, especially at the radio station and away from the Apartments. At the apartments, people seemed to expect weird and unusual things… but in public, more people stared at his stump than strictly necessary.
Usually, Dylan avoided this just fine by wearing a hoodie that was two sizes to big for him, where the sleeves went just a bit past where his finger tips should have been. It worked out, for the most part, even when it was hot outside… but it was particularly challenging when spending time by the water.
Kaylee was nice, if not a bit of a terrifying driver, and he was glad she’d gotten him out of the house. And Alex was… just as handsome as he had seemed from his picture. He did his best to make sure that Alex stayed to the right of him, as nonchalantly as he could, so that he wouldn’t notice that Dylan’s left sleeve was… extra floppy, or that he seemed to only interact with things with his right hand. He wasn’t even sure if it was working, but damn was it getting hot. He unzipped the hoodie, feeling a little of the breeze on his torso.
“Enjoying the bay?” He asked, sort of lamely, as he walked next to Alex.
"Hm? Oh. Oh, yeah!" Alex smiled over at Dylan, a little pink cheeked from both embarrassment and also the heat he could actually feel. The sun was warm, the bay was filled with all kinds of different people wearing all kinds of different things, and Alex as doing his best not to gawk at all of it. He smiled at people who looked his way and bopped to whatever music floated out from cars or storefronts. It was all so much, but he loved every second. "Thanks for inviting me, even if I had another near death experience on the way over. Did you grow up near the beach or in the Southwest? I'd be sweltering if I was wearing a hoodie right now."
“Eh, we probably would have lived!” Dylan said happily, as they walked along the bay. He sort of paused… should he just tell Alex about his hand? It would explain a lot, like why he was wearing a hoodie in 80 degrees, but he didn’t want people to think less of him.
“I’m actually from upstate New York. It doesn’t typically get this hot up there, so I’m kinda used to having a hoodie? Plus… uhm.” He didn’t know what to say exactly, “I people tend to stare when I’m not wearing it.” He chuckled and left it at that.
Confusion played out all over Alex's face. He didn't have the constitution for poker or anything that required being able to keep his emotions from spilling out all over the place. "Is it because you're—?"
Yet this time, his brain caught up with what his mouth was about to say, which was 'so cute', and wasn't that entirely inappropriate for having just met the guy. Alex bit his lip, but there was no good way to finish that, so he simply petered off into an awkward silence. "Okay, so now I know four things about you: you're into radio production; you were a camp counselor; you're from upstate New York—I've never been, by the way. I haven't much left Los Angeles County, if I have to tell on myself. Aaaand you like wearing hoodies in the summer. You, sir, are kind of a riddle."
Dylan just raised his eyebrow at the blank ending to the sentence. Did he realize that he was deformed? There was an awkward moment, and insecurity flashed over his face, but he hid it well. “Oh, it's definitely the pasty skin. Blinds people.” He joked with a small, soft laugh.
“I can honestly say that I have never been called a riddle before. Maybe a riddle for very dumb children.” He joked again, “And you already know more than I know about you… Let's see, you’re in a band, you are from LA… I’m assuming, and you’re also into the idea of Hot Boy summer.” Dylan grinned. “What's your favorite color?”
That was the second time in as many moments that Dylan had resorted to self-deprecating humor, and after the last one, Alex really couldn't resist the urge to reach out and shove the other lightly in the shoulder. "Dude, don't be so hard on yourself. Honestly, it's probably better that your skin is like that anyway. Sure, I've got this golden tan, but I keep hearing about the dangers of sun exposure, and I already died once too young, I'd rather not tempt fate. Maybe it's time I invest in a better skin care regimen." Wow, he was babbling. "You let me determine your riddle level, okay? Or are you calling me a dumb child now?"
Alex laughed at the list, but couldn't refute any of it. "I mean, it's hot and we're both boys, so I think we're both going to have a Hot Boy Summer." He grinned brightly. "Oh, that's easy: pink! Favorite food?"
Dylan sort of chuckled when Alex shoved him. He couldn’t help the jokes, it was the sort of thing he did. If he made fun of himself, no one else could make fun of him. It's how he’d always been. He sort of shrugged his shoulders. “I dunno, man,” Dylan said when Alex asked if he thought he was a dumb child. “You could be one of those classic California Himbos, yeah?” He smiled; he didn’t mean it as an insult at all, but everyone knew a bit about those sort of stereotypes, right?
Dylan reached out and peeked his hand out of his hoodie, grabbing Alex’s gently. Maybe it wouldn’t be a big deal if he didn’t make it a big deal. “I’m glad you’re here to have a hot boy summer with me.” He grinned.
“Fully decked out nachos… unless you count candy, then Reeses,” Dylan said. “And orange is my favorite color.” He paused, and thought about his next question. “Favorite movie?” He threw out.
'Himbo'. It wasn't a word he'd heard before, but he knew what a bimbo was. Alex didn't think it was meant as anything bad. There was a better than good possibility the word had evolved in thirty years, so he brushed it off with a laugh and a light shrug. "I like to think I'm more like a classic California surfer dude who doesn't actual surf, but can wail on the drums. That's kind of a mouthful, though."
He glanced down at their hands and quickly back up again, a little zing going up his arm. It was the first physical interaction he'd had that didn't originate from either one of his two best friends. And it was nice. Really nice. His fingers curled around Dylan's accompanied by a soft, "Yeah."
"Okay, so, the color? Great, solid choice. The nachos?" Alex winced. "I'm lactose intolerant. And Reeses? I have a really bad peanut allergy. So, this is obviously off to a super start, right? But I really love burgers, fries, and pie!" He chuckled weakly, but tried to rally. "Movie, though? Legend. The one with Tim Curry and Tom Cruise—both of whom were instrumental in my gay awakening. How about you?"
“Kinda the same… but shorter.” Dylan smiled, at least thats the way he’d understood it. Kaitlyn had called Nick a himbo, and there was something about the man next to him that reminded him of the Australian. “I’d like to hear you play.”
Dylan’s cheeks turned just the slightest bit of pink when Alex curled his fingers around Dylan's hand. He had initiated it, yeah, but it was nice. It was going well, he thought, until Alex kept going.
“Oh, damn,” Dylan chuckled, but he nodded along. “They have medicine for it, I honestly don’t know if they had it when you were alive 'cause, like… I’m not the type of person who like… knows that sort of information… but it's called Lactaid and it comes in cookies and cream chewable flavor. I had a kid in my bunk who had to take them sometimes.” He nodded, they seemed to work out okay for the other kid. “How bad is your allergy? Like… if I eat a peanut and then like… breathe on you, will you die? Or if I like… kiss you or something?” This seemed like information he might need to know.
"Cookies and cream? That's an improvement on the chalk they had when I was growing up. At the time, it was just easier to do without." Alex paused, and then laughed. "Okay, that's almost totally a lie. Imagine being a kid who missed out on ice cream cakes and pizza. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd totally cheat sometimes, especially when I was at a friend's house or the band practiced late and not much was open. I just knew I'd pay the consequences. It was usually worth it. Usually."
He waved his free hand at the pack he wore across his chest, and even though part of the comment made him blush, it was necessary to continue. "It's bad enough that I have to carry an epipen in case I have a reaction. I can be around it, like, if you have an open container of peanut butter around, I'm fine. But, uh, the kissing? Miiiight end in a bad time. If you ate peanuts beforehand, I mean! But, um, if you didn't? It… could be fun?"
They strolled around a corner, and the Golden Gate Bridge came into sight. Excitement sparked through him, prompting Alex to turn so he was facing Dylan and reached for his other hand. "Hey, looks like there's an observation spot just up—"
He froze when his fingers closed around nothing but air and the end of Dylan's sleeve.
"I mean, it could still absolutely be chalk, I've never taken one before, but the package totally says cookies and creme with little Oreos on it." He grinned, "What about dairy free or like vegan ice cream?" He asked, but in his head, he was already trying to think of things that didn't have nuts as the alternative. "They have milk made out of peas… and like coconut milk."
He watched carefully as he gestured to the bag, nodding. He knew a fair bit about epipens from being in charge of a bunch of kids for a handful of summers. He grinned though, when Alex said that kissing might be fun, and was lost in his own little daydream when the man came around him. Dylan winced when he realized he was going for a hand that wasn't there.
"Uh…" Dylan said dumbly. "So, uh, that's why the hoodie." With that, he carefully untangled himself from Alex's grasp to shrug off the fabric, revealing one normal arm and one that ended in a flesh tone amputation sock— which was just a fancy word for a piece of thin fabric that went over his stumped limb until the skin on the end had fully matured. He glanced down briefly at his arm with a grimace, he hadn't even allowed himself to get accustomed to the sight. "People, they tend to stare."
Just like that, Alex snapped his own gaze up, all thoughts about alternative treats supplanted by the guilt clawing up his insides. He shoved it down, and opted instead to reach for Dylan's hoodie. Shaking it out a little, he stepped in and put his arms around the other's back just so he could tie the arms around his waist. "There, now you look like a real Cali-dude." Alex bit his lip and hesitantly put his fingertips to Dylan's forearm. "Do you mind if I ask how it happened? If you don't want to talk about it, I can understand that too."
Dylan wasn't really expecting Alex to step in close like he had, to tie the hoodie around. Dylan had briefly opened his mouth to protest, but it did feel better with it off, and if asked, he really didn't mind…
"It's, uh, kinda gross." He admitted, and he looked at Alex as he told his story, trying to watch for any signs of discomfort. "We were attacked by werewolves. I was trying to fix the antenna for the radio, so we could broadcast out for help… but it fucking came through the roof and it had my hand all bit up. And uhm… if you don't uh … well, if you let it be, you become one. I didn't want to do that, I didn't want to accidentally hurt my friends so uh …" he paused for a second, "my friend cut it off with a chainsaw."
Horror turned Alex's insides to ice.
He didn't pull away, however.
No, he moved his hand until it was wrapped around Dylan's arm and just held it for a moment. "How long ago? Is it—is it healing okay? I'm sorry, I don't really know what I can ask or what you might not want to talk about. We didn't have werewolves in my world. At least not that I know of. All we had was ghosts and ghost magic, but, like, I've heard of werewolves and vampires and stuff, but they were just in books and movies and… yeah."
"It's, um… it's kinda complicated?" Dylan admitted. "it happened hours before I got here. Like… honestly, the doctors were confused by the fact that I hadn't like… bled out or anything. I kinda have Kaitlyn and Abby to thank for that I guess. I was sort of… not out of it, per se, but they took care of everything and I was definitely in shock or whatever." He rolled his shoulders. "Obviously it wasn't like… a professional surgery, and I had been running around in the woods with shoddy bandages keeping me together, so, uhm. When I got here, I lived with this woman named Veronica, and she sort of made me go to the hospital. They had to monitor it for a little bit to make sure that bacteria hadn't gotten into it and that it was like all clean and stuff, then I had to have surgery where they removed just a touch more because the bone was all jagged at the end and the cut wasn't like straight or neat or anything. Then they had to do a skin graft, to close the wound and stuff " He had been through a lot when he'd first gotten there. And he had been alone. "I was in the hospital for weeks, maybe even close to a month and then when I got out Veronica went back to her timeline, and thats when I wound up with Allison and her brothers and … I got off topic." He chuckled gently.
"All that to say that it was about two months ago, and uh .. it's mostly fine? The skin is just a little thin and sensitive still, so they recommend I wear a sock just until it gets a little more thicker or whatever. They call it Maturing, which is funny. 'Cause I'm… not mature at all." He tried to make a joke.
"I'm still not used to doing things one handed. I tried to reach for my phone with my stump the other day... Just sorta something I have to adapt to, I guess."
A squirmy sort of anxiety set up camp in Alex's stomach and stayed there. His imagination ran rampant with all the things Dylan had described, but he still didn't pull away. He chuckled at Dylan's attempts to diffuse the situation. It sounded a little distant. Alex shook his thoughts free, and on the other side of it, he found he was rubbing his thumb across Dylan's arm. Like that could sooth anything, be it the emotional pain or the physical kind. "I can… kind of relate, but not really? Like, when Luke, Reggie, and I came back from the Otherside, when we were ghosts, it took us a while to learn how to touch anything that wasn't our instruments."
He winced with practically is whole body. "Okay, on second thought, that's really nothing like what you're talking about at all, and, uh, can we just forget I said anything and go look at the bridge or something? Isn't there supposed to be a park near there?"
The comfort was nice, even if it was small. Dylan was glad to move on though, and talk about anything else, even if he was really glad that it hadn’t scared Alex away. His hand squeezed Alex’s gently.
“Yeah, you seem really excited about the observation viewer-thingy.” He chuckled. “Let's go do that,” Dylan said and squeezed his hand again. “Or the park, it doesn’t really matter to me.”
Alex went back to Dylan's side and didn't hesitate to keep holding his hand. There was no way he could remotely relate to he'd gone through, but that didn't keep Alex's heart from going out to the guy. The last thing he probably wanted was pity, though. "The park. And keep your hoodie off—if you want, I mean. For what it's worth, I think you look good just like this."