Caleb Tate, channeler extraordinaire (synergistic) wrote in invol_rpg, @ 2012-11-10 23:31:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! log, ! plot: horror, caleb tate, daisy hughes, ~ horror: college party |
WHO: Daisy Hughes and Caleb Tate
WHAT: Briefly catching up in between trying not to get killed
WHEN: Day 2
WHERE: College Party
WARNINGS: None
STATUS: Complete
"...and that’s where we’re at right now,” Caleb said to the group, finishing his report. Daisy nodded. They'd just finished listening to the update from the outside world -- or the real world, as it were. She'd kept her arms crossed for most of it, shooting Mike an exasperated look when he'd drunkenly asked one too many stupid questions. "Hey," she'd finally spoken up, her voice quiet. "Can I talk to you?" "I mean like, in private?" She looked at the others apologetically. Daisy nodded toward the window that Caleb had used to entered the room. There was a large roof awning outside, plenty of room for the two of them to step outside and talk. "If you don't mind." “Yeah, sure,” Caleb said, concerned. As they left the group and headed outside, he closed the door securely behind him. “You okay, Daisy? What’s up?” He paused for a second and then realized what her question might be about - what his question would be about, if the roles had been reversed and added, “Carter’s good. I saw him earlier.” "Oh." She breathed a sigh of relief, though it was tentative. Daisy tried to smile, but thinking of Carter in any kind of danger was not exactly an inspiring thought. At least now she could get some more information -- something she'd been desperate for. "Thanks. So he's... in a dream, like us? Can you -- can you tell me where he is? Who he's with?" Caleb nodded, recalling the visit he’d had just before this one. “Fairgrounds, kind of carnival-like? With rides, games, clowns, things like that. His group is, um, Kody, Damien, Carmela, Rashida, Gisele, Callum, and Remy - I think that’s it? They’ve had a few weird things happen - getting stuck in the Tunnel of Luv earlier, an issue with some cotton candy, but Carter hasn’t been hurt at all, I don’t think. He’s doing okay.” Daisy wiped at her face. She looked away, attempting to hide the tears that were clouding her vision. She was crying with relief and with fear, emotions mixed together in a way that overwhelmed her self-control. Trying to steel herself, Daisy looked at the stars overhead (they weren't even there, she reminded herself, they were not the same stars she'd shown Carter how to identify on his birthday, pointing their phones toward the sky) and asked, "what about Allegra, is she okay?" He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, giving her a squeeze when he saw how emotional she was. Even if he wasn’t having to live it at the moment, he had an idea of what Daisy was feeling, and he couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have to concentrate on his job if he was worried about Allegra’s physical safety - worrying about her mental well being was difficult enough. “Not in a dream, so she’s back home. Claudia is, though. And... well, she got pretty sick today. Marine was there earlier, but I’m going to see if they’ll let me go back and check up on her. And then I’ll have to tell Allegra tonight and...” he stopped himself, suddenly feeling bad for dumping on Daisy when that wasn’t his role here. “But she’ll be fine. Carter, too - he’s really doing okay. Their current situation is creepy, but doesn’t really seem dangerous at the moment.” Boiling oil aside, but he didn’t mention that since it hadn’t affected Carter. “They’re doing well there.” "Yeah," she answered, wiping her eyes again, attempting to push the tears away. It was a lot to take in. "That's good. I mean, it's not all -- I hope... like, Claudia's going to be okay, right?" She looked to Caleb for reassurance. She knew that he didn't know, that he couldn't know, but more than anything, Daisy was looking for someone to tell her that everything would be okay. That soon, they'd all be back together. “Claudia’s going to be fine,” Caleb said, practicing the speech he knew he had to give later to Allegra. “And they’re going to figure out a way to get to George and get everyone out - I mean, that’s why they’re sending Marine and I in. To make sure you guys are holding on while they figure it out.” He gave her shoulders another squeeze before he dropped his arm, but still watched her carefully. “You going to be okay?” he asked. Daisy nodded and leaned into him. Caleb was real. He wasn't a part of some sick nightmare; Caleb was a part of the real world, come to her. "Yeah," she said, letting out a long breath of air. In the moment of silence, they could hear the muted sounds of pop music, though most of the party-goers had long gone. Daisy knew that soon Caleb would have to go. "Will you talk to him for me? Let you know that -- just makes sure he knows that I'm -- that I miss him?" It was a stupid request, she knew. Likely a waste of Caleb's time, and not any kind of a message that would do Carter any good, or that even carried any importance at all. Still, it was something. She had to do something. “I will,” Caleb promised with a nod. “I’ll let him know you miss him. And that you’re okay,” he added. It was the least he could do, really - it’s what he hoped she’d do for him, if the roles were reversed. “I don’t always know which dreams I’m going into, but I’ll let him know as soon as I can.” Caleb assumed without asking that it wasn’t a message she’d necessarily want passed on through Marine. “Anything else?” "Hunter?" She asked, almost immediately. "Is he okay?" Caleb let out a breath, for the second time in two days having to break the news about the missing group, having to give someone specifically asking about Hunter an update he didn’t want to. “We haven’t found his group yet,” he admitted tentatively. “We’ve found all the dreams except for the one he’s in - we’re not sure if there’s something different about their dream, or if George has figured out how to block us, or if we just keep missing it for some weird reason. But we haven’t been able to find them at all. They’re monitoring them closely - the medical staff, I mean,” he added quickly. “Nothing out of the ordinary is coming off them, they don’t seem to be in any unusual kind of stress or anything else, so we’re assuming they’re okay - we just don’t know what their dream is, or anything like that.” "But..." she looked at Caleb with a new concern. She hadn't expected that, and instantly she felt a profound sort of guilt for not having asked about Hunter earlier. He'd been on her mind, certainly -- it was nice to have Mike and Conner there, but Hunter was the teammate whose comfort she craved the most, the person who she trusted more than anyone at IVI, more than anyone in the entire world. Maybe she hadn't asked about him earlier because she'd just assumed he was fine. Hunter was a rock -- over the past few months, he'd become her rock. There was no way he would ever get hurt, or... or worse. Daisy couldn't even begin to fathom the possibility. "Okay," she swallowed, not allowing herself to vocalize what she'd intended to come after the but. "Thank you, Caleb. Thanks for what you're doing." “We’ll find them,” Caleb said, sounding much more confident than he felt. With that group specifically he was incredibly unsure, wary about the fact that they hadn’t been able find them. But he hadn’t let himself dwell on it too much, instead focusing on their successes and what they’d been able to do. “And of course, Daisy. Anyone at IVI’d do the same,” he said, reaching over to give her shoulders one last squeeze. “I should probably head out, but you guys’ll be fine. So will Carter, and so will Hunter. Marine or I will check in with you in the morning, well, in our morning. Your... later tonight, I guess. But we’ll be back soon, okay?” She smiled. It was sad, but genuine -- Daisy was truly thankful to have him here, if even for a short while. "Okay," she agreed. "I'll see you soon." |