characters: Daryn & Phobia setting: Remy’s house then Daryn’s house, Friday, January 5, morning Summary: things and things Rating: low
Daryn had been out of the hospital for less than 24-hours and she was already trying to do things. She begrudgingly agreed to stay at Remy’s, but only for a day or two until she could get around easier on her own. She was told that her house was trashed, but she wanted to see the damage for herself. It couldn’t be so bad that she couldn’t stay there anymore. She just wanted to go home and pretend that everything was the same as it had been a week ago.
So after Remy left for work, Daryn texted Phobia, asking for his help. Which was huge. She rarely asked for ‘help’ and it was really hurting her pride that she had needed quite so much help in the last few days. But she knew for a fact that she couldn’t do this alone, and it couldn’t wait. If it upset anyone, she’d deal with it later. Better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.
While it took entirely too long to do, Daryn did manage to get herself up and ready to go so that when Phobia did arrive, they could head out right away. She wanted to make this quick. Or as quickly as possible given she had trouble walking and communicating and being an independent person.
--
Phobia had spent the last few days alternating between trying to clean up his apartment and order new things and going to Daryn’s and cleaning it up, making a list of what needed to be replaced and the only thing he ordered for her was a new lock on her door. He didn’t throw anything out; he didn’t see that it was his place to decide what was trash or not. He just set it aside so if it was all trash, it would be easy to get rid of.
He wasn’t surprised at all that the day after she was broken out of the hospital that she wanted to go to her place. Phobia would have wanted that too. Then again, he wasn’t the one who had been beaten so. He grabbed his hoodie and earphones and headed out. He decided it was probably not a good idea to tell Ashe that he was going to break Daryn out of Remy’s for a bit. He cranked his music up loud, trying to ignore everything around him as he walked over, only turning it down once he got to the door and knocked.
He wasn’t surprised that Daryn was waiting for him and he looked her over, raising an eyebrow. She should probably be resting. At least she wasn’t going alone so he could be just in case.
“Ready?”
--
Daryn had swiped a cane before leaving a hospital, so at least Phobia wouldn’t have to help her walk. Nodding to his question, she started on ahead slowly toward her house. Still not great with the telepathy, she spoke briefly, but had her phone in her pocket should she need to resort to texting. Thanks. For sneaking her out of the hospital, for coming now, for helping with everything, all of that she had wanted to say, but at least she knew one word would communicate clearer. Hopefully she could find a proper way to thank him once she was better.
Luckily it wasn’t a very far walk from one house to another, but it still took Daryn much longer than usual and that did not make her happy. Trying to keep her grumpiness to herself, she kept her eyes focused on the ground and tried to get her body to move a little faster, whether it hurt or not. Stopping outside her door, Daryn sighed. She just wanted to get this over with, besides, how bad could the place look. Pushing the door open, Daryn stepped inside slowly, nearly tripping over an envelope that was slid under the door.
--
Phobia shrugged at her thank you. He didn’t need a thank you. He didn’t need it when they broke her out of jail and she didn’t need to thank him now. He may not be made of rainbows and sunshine anymore but he he did want to help and he did want to help those he cared about.
Phobia didn’t bother to make chat on the way to her house. Was there a point? Besides she needed to focus on moving and he liked this song. He handed her the new key when they got to the house. He wasn’t going to unlocked it for her. It was her house. He did close his eyes and reached out, sensing the familiar fears around him. No one new around them.
Phobia caught Daryn before she fell and he bent down to pick up the envelope, handing it to her, “We have tried to straighten it up. Things broken are in the living room. I made a list of things that need to be replaced.”
---
Taking the envelope, she looked at it curiously but then just tucked it under her arm. Whatever it was, she’d deal with it later. They needed to make this quick. Stepping further inside, she looked around at the damage. She frowned, but more at Phobia’s words than what had been done to her home. She took out her phone, using the speech app to talk for her. You didn’t have to do that. But thank you.
She paused to look at the charred parts of the kitchen and the broken things in the living room before moving on toward the back of the house to her bedroom. I need you to move something for me, please.
--
Phobia shrugged and said, “You didn’t need to come home to a mess.” It was still a mess in his head but it was better than it was. She had enough stress than she didn’t need to worry about the little stuff. He did raise an eyebrow at the thank you and said quickly, “You don’t need to thank me.”
He followed her to the back and nodded. He could move. Or he could try but nothing looked too heavy that it would be too much for him alone. He hoped.
---
At first, Daryn didn’t respond. Moving into her bedroom, she moved to sit on the edge of the bed for a moment. It seemed like she was going to just rest there for a few minutes, but instead, she glanced to Phobia before going to work. Turning, she moved the pillows, pulled off the sheets, and from a nearly unnoticeable rip in the mattress, pulled out a handgun which is tucked into the back waistband of her pants. Standing, she motioned to the bed for him to move it. While she should have used her phone to communicate, she wanted to be more careful, so she forced telepathy even though it was still very painful. How are you with weapons? Do you know how to shoot?
--
Phobia leaned against the wall as she removed the pillows and sheets. He frowned. He had made up the bed. Or he had asked Ashe too. Either one. There was an attempt and she just made a mess. He said nothing as she pulled out a handgun. Well, that was a surprise. It was probably a surprise if anyone had found it. He moved to push the bed, glancing at her when she asked the question.
“So-so,” he said. The woman who helped him with his powers had gave him a basic training. He knew how to hold a gun and he had shot one a few times but that was it. She didn’t push him on learning his weapons but more how to use himself as a weapon. He seemed to prefer that way.
---
Under the bed, the floor didn’t look any different than the other parts throughout the house. Daryn stepped forward into the now empty space, poking around at the floorboards carefully with the bottom of her cane until one loosened. Slowly, carefully, she knelt down to the floor to remove it. Under the floorboards was nothing but concrete bricks, one of which she removed. From the space below she reached in to carefully pull out a few more handguns, as well as a small bag of zip drives and bugs that some Faction members had made. Once the hiding place was cleared out, Daryn stood slowly with a wince and began to gather the things to remove from the house.
She just nodded in response to Phobia. It was unclear if she could read his thoughts, and if she didn’t it certainly wasn’t as easy as it had been before. Regardless, her response would have been the same. We can’t rely so heavily on our abilities.
--
Phobia saw what she was pulling out and was impressed with what she had. He went to the living room, grabbing a cardboard box and going back to the bedroom so she could put the things in there. Once she was done, he covered the hiding spot and moved the bed back. He wondered if he should have a secret stash too. Then again if he wasn’t able to use his abilities, he would have bigger issues at hand, wouldn’t he?
Then he heard Daryn and he looked to her. He was about to say that was all they had anymore but he paused. Was it? It wasn’t. They had each other. But they only had it because of their abilities. So he said nothing in regards to that.
“Anything else?” he asked.
---
Frowning, Daryn looked around the room to see if there was anything else she needed to get while they were here. She definitely was able to read some of Phobia’s thoughts now because she suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Taking a deep breath, she tried to ignore the sudden increase in her heart rate and moved to the closet to check it. They’d already gotten some clothes for her and she didn’t exactly have a ton of personal belongings, so there was nothing more she could think to take. Trying to shake off the feeling, she looked back to him with a shake of her head no and moved slowly out of the room.
--
Phobia could feel it, tickling in the back of his mind. He tried to ignore it. He couldn’t block the fears from becoming knowledge. He tried but he hadn’t learnt how to stop it. He did learn how to stop becoming said fear, however. He could feel her fear heighten for a moment he felt bad for her. He shook it off. He looked to her, wondering if he ought to say anything. People didn’t normally like their fears brought up. One reason why most people didn’t like him; he was a reminder of people’s weaknesses. Still maybe she would want to know that he was there if she needed to talk, if she felt like she couldn’t talk to anyone else. Not that he would be the one she’d run to but at least, with him, she wouldn’t have to say those fears out loud.
“You’ll be back here soon,” Phobia opted to say, “It will be like nothing changed at all.”
---
Daryn certainly hoped that Phobia was right. She didn’t like the way the last few days had gone, and she didn’t want this to become the new normal. As an afterthought, Daryn stopped and went back to the closet, just pulling out something random to toss over the top of the weapons stash in the box. Hopefully they wouldn’t be stopped on the way back to Remy’s, but it was probably not wise to just be walking around with a box of weapons in broad daylight. Finally, she tossed the envelope on top of the pile and was ready to go.
She felt badly that Phobia had to come along to do all the grunt work, moving the bed, carrying things, but once she was in better shape she wouldn’t be asking for his help with those things any more. Taking out her phone, she decided to use that to speak to him again. I think I owe you another case of beer. And whatever else you’d like me to get for you. What new things do you need for your place?
--
He felt the tickle of the fears again and wondered if he talked about something else if it would take her mind off of it. He was curious about the handgun question and while he couldn’t ask telepathically he said, “When it gets cold like this, I think of the stories my dad used to tell me. He and his father used to go ice fishing. He always wanted to take me hunting one day. We never did go.” He shrugged. Maybe he should have brought up something else.
“Another case of beer? You trying to get me to cuddle with you?” Phobia asked with a smirk. He shook his head and said, “You don’t need to do that.”
---
Daryn was surprised by the random change of topic. It was a definitely distraction, because now she was curious about Phobia’s life before the radiation and before the island. As they left the house and she paused to lock the door behind them, she debated asking about it. It seemed like it might not be a good idea, but he brought it up. Walking slowly back toward Remy’s house, Daryn typed a question into her phone app but hesitated before finally playing it for him. Did you two get to do other things together?
She couldn’t help but smirk at his little joke and arched a brow when she typed a follow up question. So you’ll cuddle with me without having alcohol involved?
--
Phobia looked at the question and shrugged, “Sometimes. Both my parents were professors but my father, he travelled a lot. He’d come back with cool stories. He would also come back with promises of things we’d do together. Sometimes we’d do it. Other times he was gone a trip and it didn’t come up.” He kept his voice normal, trying not to betray how that hurt. He had been thinking too much about his parents this week. These weeks lately. As far as he knew, both his parents might as well be dead.
Phobia almost laughed and said, “We’ll never know. I’m not risking Ashe’s anger to find out.”
---
Daryn nodded in understanding. My father travelled a lot for work, too. So it was mostly just my sister and I with our mother. I once overheard him say that he didn’t know how to deal with girls. Which is probably why he named us after boys. Shrugging a little, Daryn had come to peace with her relationship with her parents long ago. She still missed them though, and wondered what things were like for them now.
A little surprised, Daryn just smiled and shook her head. I doubt he could ever be that mad at you.
--
“What did your father do?” Phobia asked, genuinely curious. He was grateful to stop talking about his own parents and he was curious about Daryn’s life before. He knew Ashe believed that he was more than his abilities and that was true. It was hard sometimes to see past this place and to remember that life wasn’t always like this. Phobia was a different person once upon a time…
Phobia smirked again and shrugged, “I don’t want to find out,” he paused, “He’s been a good friend. Better than I deserve.” Look at him. Being all open and not a beer in sight. He didn’t like it.
---
Daryn smirked a little, looking ahead as they walked. He was a contractor for the military. He never talked much about what he did, but I think it was something in weapons development or something. Maybe. When he was home, he didn’t really talk about work, and we’d all just pretend that everything was fine so that he’d have a nice time at home. But I was a pain in the ass, so I didn’t always play along.
Daryn looked to Phobia, watched him curiously. Why do you think that? That you don’t deserve a friend as good as he is? I don’t think you give yourself enough credit.
--
“You? A pain in the ass to an authority figure? I would have never imagined,” Phobia replied. He did find it interesting that her father worked for the military. He wondered for a moment if that could be used to their advantage at all but quickly dismissed it. If it could, Daryn already would have thought of it.
Phobia rolled his eyes at the last statement and said, “I think even you can agree I’m not easy to be with.”
---
Daryn just shrugged with a little smile. I guess that thing about a good twin and a bad twin is true. I was always the bad one. And she didn’t mind it that much, she didn’t envy for sister for always having to be the good, perfect one. She had thought about how her father might be able to help them, but it had been so long, and he was likely retired by now, so she never explored the idea much.
No, you are not always the easiest. But I think your other qualities help balance that out. I don’t know him that well, but I don’t think Ashe would put up with something he didn’t like if there wasn’t a very good reason. Daryn was still convinced that he was too hard on himself.
--
Phobia snickered and said, “I do not think you were the bad twin.” At least from what he saw of her now but who knew. He doubted he was the same person that he was before. He let Daryn open the door and he lifted the box and asked, “Where do you want these?” He assumed that Daryn knew of Remy’s hiding spots. He also assumed Remy had hiding spots. He did reach out again to see who else was in the house. The coffee house fairy had been staying here a bit, which annoyed Phobia, but he didn’t seem to be here now. Good.
Phobia didn’t know how to respond to what Daryn said about him. He wasn’t sure what other qualities balanced out and he didn’t want it to look like he was fishing for compliments. Perhaps he ought to drop it. He was happy enough that he had the friends that he did.
---
I probably still am. Daryn was sure that her sister was still a bit of a goody-two-shoes perfectionist, but she didn’t love her any less for that. She still sent her emails more often than she should, but never got a response.
Daryn just motioned to the table for where Phobia could put the box down, she wasn’t sure if Remy wanted these things in his house, so if he didn’t, she’d distribute them across the safehouses later. Taking a seat on the couch, Daryn felt exhausted, which annoyed her since they hadn’t really done much of anything, at least she hadn’t. I know I must sound like a broken record, but thank you. Again. For everything.
--
Phobia put the box down, assuming that Remy’s hiding spots were still a secret. He didn’t expect to be shown all the secrets today. Or ever, really, and it was safer for everyone that way. Phobia moved back to where Daryn was and he leaned against the armchair. He shook his head at her thank you. It was not needed.
“So what’s with the question about do I know how to shoot?” He was assuming it had to do with maybe the plan to get back at the guards for New Years Eve. Or maybe he was just being hopeful. He didn’t need a gun to exact his revenge on those assholes.
---
Daryn was surprised that Phobia hadn’t already moved on from that comment, but she was also glad that he hadn’t. It’s always helpful to be able to handle yourself with a weapon, if needed. But I won’t force it on anyone. If you want more training, or to have access to weapons, I can provide it. But if it’s not your thing, that is fine too. Daryn figured she should probably discuss this with Remy too, but if Phobia was not interested then there was nothing to talk about.
--
“I want more training,” Phobia said automatically. Anything he could learn to be better, to be more useful, he wanted it. For a moment, he wondered what life would be like if they succeeded and people were able to leave this island and have a normal life. He wanted that for others but in order to get that for others, they needed every opportunity they had. He nodded, “Anything, I would be grateful to learn.” Consider it his thank you.
---
Daryn nodded a little. I will talk with Remy about it and then let you know where to begin. Do you want to train with me, or someone else? If it’s with me, it may be a little slower of a start, obviously. I don’t want to delay you. There were plenty of others who could help him, and if he was as eager as he sounded, Daryn wouldn’t make Phobia wait until she was in better condition. She’d rather that he learn and be safe about it.
--
Phobia understood why she had to talk to Remy first but he wished he didn’t have to wait to know more details. He just needed to be patient. It would happen. He didn’t see a reason why Remy would say no anyway.
“I would love to train with you,” Phobia said, “but if you rather have me work with someone else in the meantime, I understand.” He wasn’t going to say while she was healing. He wasn’t going add insult to injury. He could be patient.
---
Daryn was honestly a little surprised that he wanted to train with her, especially given her current state. Instead, she just nodded in response, hesitating before typing a message to him. I’ll talk to Remy later today about it and try to get things started as soon as possible. I should warn you though, target practice may have to happen at off hours. I need to make sure that the patrols haven’t changed since everything that’s been happening lately.
--
“I don’t really have on hours so I’m not worried about that,” Phobia couldn’t help but give a creepy little smile, “I work best at night, anyway.” Phobia was a bit of a night owl but since he didn’t work, it didn’t really matter.
“You may need to run the basics over with me again. It’s been a while,” Phobia was also offering a reason to go slow at first. He did need to relearn some things, after all.
---
Daryn nodded in understanding, arching a brow at his mention about working at night. Later on, that will be good. But it’s probably best to begin with daylight hours. We’ll go over the basics, of course. And safety. Don’t need you shooting yourself accidentally.
--
Phobia smirked and said, “I wouldn’t be much help to anyone if I shot myself.” Though he couldn’t help but think it would slightly amusing because it would be such a stupid thing to do. He glanced to the box for a moment and nodded, “Let me know then.” He wondered if he should take his leave, let her rest. Or if he should offer to be an ear. Perhaps she would just know that he was there; more than for Faction stuff, he could be there in other ways too.
---
Daryn nodded, watching Phobia curiously. She could tell that he didn’t know if he should stay or not, and didn’t need to read minds to pick up on that. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. Don’t feel obligated to stay and babysit the old injured lady. Unless there is something you want to talk about, I’m always here to listen.
--
“Injured old lady? Hardly,” Phobia replied. Well, injured, yes, but old? Older, maybe. He did find it interesting she was offering to be an ear for him. He shrugged, “If you want company, I can stay. I’m sure you had enough quiet in the hospital. Minus the nurses and everyone checking in on you.” Or he could go and let her rest. It wasn’t like he had many plans for the day.
---
Smirking, she motioned for him to have a seat. He was definitely right about how things had been in the hospital. And she hadn’t been alone enough while out to know if she would feel as unsafe as she had there. Somehow, she doubt it though. Still, she wouldn’t turn down the offer of company. I’ll try not to bore you.