garecares (garecares) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2009-11-19 15:30:00 |
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Entry tags: | #group scene, 2009-06-22 |
time out of mind
Who: Gareth, Gideon, and Dusty
What: Tying Gideon down for the new moon.
When: Early evening.
Where: Gid's place
Gareth grinned back at Dusty, feeling proud and productive with his day so far. He'd slept well, gotten up, made himself a warm breakfast and gone shopping. Hell, even his nose was starting to lose the discoloration from when Dusty had broken it. All in all, his mood was elevated, even if the part about tying Gideon up was somewhat of a downer. Practically bounding down the front steps of the trailer, the blonde man's hair flew everywhere as he landed, laughing. "You ready to go Hoss?" He asked excitedly, enjoying the day despite the rain and overcast clouds, and above all else, Dusty's company. It seemed that the ruin of the night before had washed out of his system by daylight.
More than happy to be getting out of the trailer for a while, Dusty closed the door behind him, not really bothering to lock it up. Nobody was going to break in while they were gone for half an hour. He couldn't wait to tie Gideon up, somewhat amused by the idea despite himself. "Hell yeah I'm ready!" he returned, eyes wide as he grinned. The clouds above them helped to improve his mood, the sky darker than it normally would be and therefor making the daytime easier for him to tolerate. Without warning, Dusty ran and leapt off of the wooden stairs leading up to their trailer, flying through the air to grapple with Gareth. He barely gave the man enough time to realize what was happening, his weight hitting him suddenly enough to knock the wind out of him -- which, thankfully for Dusty, wasn't a concern. "Yeeee-haw!" he cried, laughing hard. "C'mon, you lazy steed!"
Gideon had had a long day. He still felt like fate had been kicking him in the teeth, but after his conversation in the wee hours of that morning, he couldn't bear to just waste the day feeling sorry for himself. He'd finished and posted letters to friends and family and even done a very little bit of shopping, though he'd been so tired and irritable he hadn't felt justified in inflicting himself on the world and had returned rather quickly. He'd spent the afternoon engrossed in battening down the hatches, so to speak, proofing the van in case he somehow got free, rolling up his futon and stowing every possession. He'd tied his hair tightly back with a bandanna and put on an ancient, slightly too-small pair of jeans that he didn't care about tearing. If he wore a shirt he'd just ruin it by bleeding and tearing. He wasn't really expecting Gareth to stop by until the last moment. He'd warned his friend he'd be pretty miserable to deal with by now. To stave off the pressing gloom and keep himself occupied, he'd decided to see how well he could still meditate while standing on his hands. Pretty well, it turned out, though he still felt lazy and his elbows were already threatening to buckle after a few minutes. He wished he'd asked Gare to come over earlier. He'd have said yes.
Gareth staggered as Dusty's weight landed on him. He grunted a little and regained his footing, taking a deep breath. Laughing hard, the blonde hunkered down, grasping Dusty's legs, and he hoisted him up, adjusting the older man's weight. Gareth began to move, grinning hard. His nose wrinkled with the grin, all his teeth showing, and the Texan broke into an easy gallop, running towards Gideon's trailer. "How y'likin' the ride cowboy?!" He shouted, not even noticing the connotation. They reached Gideon's trailer all too quickly and Gareth skidded to a halt, knocking on the hippie's door without releasing Dusty from his back. "Hey Giiiiid. We're here!" He shouted at the door, completely overlooking that their friend was standing on his lawn.
For a good several seconds, Dusty had been trying to get Gareth's attention, but the blond seemed insisitent on screaming and making a racket. "You goddamn fool," he said, struggling to get down to his feet. Reaching out as his boots hit the ground, he smacked Gareth in the back of his head, just using enough force to get his attention. "He's right there! I could smell him a mile away. Shit, boy." Dusty rolled his eyes and shook his head, headed toward Gideon immediately. "So we're here to tie you up or whatever. Ah, man, that's the gayest thing I think I ever did say. Ain't it, Gare?"
Gideon repressed a snort. Sure it was. He rocked his legs forward and came up standing from a somersault. Even in the indirect sunlight of the cloudy evening and feeling as weak as he did, the movement was graceful. "Well, you two was just havin' so much fun I didn't wanna say anythin'." He meant it to sound a bit snarky, but Gideon was terrible at snark. He was glad to see them. And it did make him smile a little to know someone was having fun, even if it couldn't be him. Maybe if they kept chatting and behaving like fools, he could join in and at least not think about the night ahead until he had to. He stood up straight and even propped himself up a little on his toes. Gareth and Dusty (to a lesser extent) made him feel kind of short. "Y'all came a little early, but, well, that's okay." He appreciated it. "We should prolly just git t'it. I mean, better'n leavin' it too late." But if they'd hang out until full dark... How strange would it be to carry on a conversation in chains?
There was a small pause as the gay joke passed Dusty's lips -- then Gareth began to laugh, shaking his head. "I said the same damned thing jus' yesterday-- Gay as hell!" At the sight of Gideon the blonde grinned, moving forward and pulling the smaller man into a big hug. It wasn't something the blonde did with just anyone -- practically nobody in fact, but Gideon was a friend now, and that meant hugging was okay once in a while. "Shit. Didn't even see you man." He grinned and released the small vampire. "Shit. Look at you, doin' handstands and kung-fu crap. That's pretty damn impressive." He paused and then shrugged. "Well, you said y'shit is pretty sturdy, right? So I mean, ain't got no reason to stick around fer a little bit after we got you tied, you aint gonna hurt neither'a us." He smiled, leaving a hand on Gideon's shoulder as he spoke. When he finally fell silent the hand dropped away and he took a step back, closer to Dusty.
Dusty carried himself like a man putting on a show, a convenient and effective mask sliding easily over his eyes when Gareth wrapped his arms around Gideon. He approached the both of them without touching either of them, keeping his distance on purpose. As his best friend stepped closer to him, Dusty moved away, the step taken casual and hardly noticeable to anyone outside of the two of them. "Kung-fu is damn near impossible to master, or that's what I heard anyway. You gotta be really good an' patient... all that shit, y'know?" He tugged his jacket, straightening it a little to watch Gideon. "Anyway, no amount'a kung-fu or whatever gonna get you free outta the knots Gare an' I are gonna give ya." He offered a toothy grin, his tone and expression just as playful as when they'd shown up.
Gideon smiled at Gareth. He wouldn't have pegged the taller man for a hugger, but alright. It wasn't as though he minded. Gareth hugs were tight and made him feel kind of tiny, but neither was a bad thing, under the circumstances. He smiled up at Gare until Dusty spoke. "Well, I spent more'n twenty years on it, so..." He shrugged. Kung Fu wasn't really a very specific term, but he didn't feel up to explaining, and he thought Gareth was more liable to care about that than Dusty anyway. He turned his head a little to the side, rather like a confused puppy, when Dusty promised to keep him confined. "Knots? Man, I'd never a'got myself tied up that way. Not safe an' secure. I have a whole setup with handcuffs and bolts. Still takes, like, half an hour t'git into on my lonesome, since hands don't really work that well with all the twistin' an I gotta make sure the key's outta reach just in case. I guess rope wouldn't hurt, though." He didn't want to turn down offered help!
Gareth noticed Dusty stepping away and his heart fell into the ocean of his stomach. He sent a worried glance back at Dusty before turning his attention to the smaller man before him. What had he done wrong? Shaking his head a little he gave Gideon a smile. "Hey. Yeah, well, we'll tie you with y'machine anyhow." he answered, glancing back at Dusty again. "It's uh, some contraption you got set up inside?" He asked easily, eyes wide and curious. Almost too wide. He was a little worried about Dusty's sudden change in attitude. After another pause he frowned. "You gonna be alright on yer own an' all?"
Dusty looked back over his shoulder at the van with curiosity, not sure he'd seen anything like that when he'd been inside it last. "Wait, yeah... you got something like that inside'a Tara?" He sniffled and rubbed the back of his hand along the underside of his nose, considering it. The action was more habit than anything. He didn't need to do it anymore than he needed to breathe. "Let's go an' see it. I'm damn curious."
"Ain't really that complicated." Some kind of fancy machine, while it might increase his comfort, was way out of Gideon's league. He opened the door of the van and hopped lightly inside. Tara looked rather barren, everything packed away, tucked where he couldn't possibly knock anything onto the floor with him. He'd known himself to tear things to pieces in frustration. The milk crates were tied down tightly, all the blankets, yarn, books, and toys packed away, the record player hidden between two crates where he couldn't possibly even bump something else into it. Aside from the little decorations on his dashboard, which seemed permanent, the van looked as though he were about to move out. His futon was rolled up and lying atop the crates, and underneath was the rather simple contraption Gideon used to keep himself restrained. He had bolted thick, stainless steel rings onto the floor, shored up in every way he could imagine, far enough apart that his arms were stretched as high above his head as they could possibly go, with another ring for his ankles. Stretched out that far and on his back, there was no one he could hurt but himself with his struggles to get out. Through each ring, he'd stretched real handcuffs, steel and heavy with real locks and keys, not the aluminum toys made for kids to use playing cops and robbers (or so Gideon was naive enough to assume). He'd had one of those dear friends he'd known for a few weeks help him with welding everything together so that the handcuffs wouldn't even move side to side. "This is about it. Lucky I'm not as strong as some, huh? It holds me still enough." And the rest of the time his futon lay atop the array, so it didn't even take up his space.
Gareth took in the sight of the steel rings with surprise. For some reason he'd been picturing a chair. Still, this whole thing didn't look too comfortable. At all. "You gotta be in some kind of pain when mornin' comes round." He muttered, and then remembered what Gideon said about breaking his thumbs to get out. Well, he'd just made the understatement of the year. Shaking his head, he looked back at Dusty, feeling badly for whatever he'd done to make the vampire angry. "That's a pretty hardcore doohicky, ain't it D?" He used his friend's nickname, hoping to cheer him up a little. "A thing like that could come in real handy for---" Shit. SHIT. He didn't want to give away their professions to Gideon. That would probably be the end of their friendship right there. "For keepin' like, a blood crazy were at bay." He finished almost lamely, and brushed a hand back through his hair. No cowboy hat today. He'd lost the feather that had come from Dusty's wing sometime last night (probably while he was dumping forty-year-old bleach on the truck) and somehow the hat felt less... important, for lack of a better word. Oh well, he'd find it at some point or another -- but he had no intention of taking another feather from his friend. "I bet it could be real handy in the right sit'iation." He laughed, elbowing Dusty in the side gently.
Dusty stepped into the van behind Gideon and Gareth; wide blue eyes scanned the restraints along the floor, taking it all in with an uneasy twitch of his facial muscles. He felt a little weird about this when it came right down to it... not that he was about to back out. He'd made Gideon a promise, or something like that... his memory on it was a little fuzzy by now. "Yeah, it's uhhh... that's damn near the craziest shit I ever seen." It probably wasn't, but the idea of Gideon restrained like that made the whole thing seem a lot worse than it was. If he'd thought being a Gabriel House vampire was unfortunate... Dusty shot Gareth a sincere warning, the glance sharp and brief before it faded. "Weres is always crazy, Gare. It'd come in handy just about anytime, whether or not they was feelin' blood crazy." He ran a hand over his head, repeating the motion Gareth had made only moments ago. They were both clearly a little weirded out by the ordeal. "Well, what we gotta do... just uh, help you get situated here? I reckon this cain't be all that easy on your own."
"That only worked one time," Gideon answered innocently to Gareth's comment. "Don't usually git lucky enough to catch one close enough t'the van. An' I felt real bad in the mornin'. I mean, she said thanks, since she'd prolly have hurt a whole buncha people before the moon went down, but she was bigger'n me, so I had t'tie her in face down, an' she could move around a lot more. Banged herself up pretty bad. Bebe's pretty nice, though. Didn't blame me at all." He was still in touch with the were-gator. He'd seen her only three years before. She had three kids now, which was pretty odd to think of. "An' that ain't fair, Dusty. Geeze, except for full moon nights weres is as normal as anyone. An' the ones that're just born that way, well, they don' even mind the moon thing. Lucky bastards. Mosta my friends are bit weres, y'know." Protecting them from themselves was his sacred duty, after all. And everyone else from them. Gideon smiled tiredly as he checked his hair. It was tied tightly, probably wouldn't be torn out overnight. He produced a ragged length of cloth from a disintegrated t-shirt from his pocket. "Anyways, I can do the feet jus' fine, but hands're a bitch. Fingers ain't meant to bend around that much. Takes forever t'git those cuffs on by my lonesome, an' I usually gotta gag myself first. I hate the way that feels, so if maybe just before the sun goes one of you could tie it on?" He smiled his most sweetly (or the best he could do, exhausted and unhappy as he was right now) as he sat on the floor, opening the cuffs for his ankles.
Gareth caught the warning glance and read it well, knowing better to say anything else. The comment about how most weres were really nice struck him as naive and he had to bite his tongue to keep from arguing. Gideon was a sweet guy, good intentioned of course, but he didn't know what Gare and Dusty did. That weres were evil. They were monsters that killed people and ruined lives. His heart wrenched a little as Gideon smiled. This was wretched. He decided he didn't want to think about the obvious pain that their friend was going to go through, and instead looked over at Dusty, blue eyes a little wide. He communicated his thoughts without speaking. This is pretty fucked up man. "Sure, we can stick around and make sure the gag is on last." He murmured and licked his lower lip thoughtfully. "How bad do you get? We could stick around an' try an' keep you from like, breakin' your wrists or anything." He offered, looking concerned.
Dusty looked at Gideon for a long moment when the other vampire defended weres, thinking that he had to be crazy. Weres were always bad, always. He didn't argue it though, deciding that for the moment it was the wrong battle to pick up. They were about to lock one of their friends to the bottom of his van. He could think what he wanted, he supposed. He'd have all night to consider it anyway. Dusty knelt down next to Gideon, watching as he put his own ankles in the cuffs. "This is some crazy twisted shit, but I cain't help but be intrigued by all of it. I hope you don't think I'm a loony, 'cause I ain't." He snorted a laugh and glanced up to Gareth. "What you want us to do? Wait til you lay on down an' just... lock you in?"
"That's, uh, kinda the long an' short of it, hoss." He'd picked up "hoss" from Gareth already, and he sort of liked the way it rolled off his tongue. "An' I git, um, bad." He'd appreciate it if they could hold him down, but whatever took over his body these nights didn't care how tired and battered he got. They'd have to stay here all night, and he didn't want to put them through that. And he didn't rally want his friends to see him. It was horrible what the new moon did to him, and the pathetic monstrosity he became wasn't an impression he wanted to leave with his friends. He felt oddly compelled to defend his little curse. Yeah, it was pretty bad, but they shouldn't spend their time worrying about him. "Ain't so bad. Well... no, s'pretty fuckin' nasty. But it's jus' once, jus' for this one night an usually once a month, no more. An' s'only fair. M'family's tied so close to the moon an' weres... no surprise we gotta pay for it same as the ones we take care of." That was the way he'd thought of it back when Chongde was with him. He shouldn't let himself forget. "But still, uh, y'prolly shouldn't stay." The sudden back-peddle was awkward, but he'd be so... so embarrassed if they saw him like that. And he'd look pretty fucking awful by the end. Gareth, at least, he didn't want seeing that. Dusty had seen at least some blood, but Gareth struck Gideon as a bit fragile, in need of looking after. Not that Dusty didn't, but in a different way.
Had Gareth been able to read Gideon's thoughts, he would have been immensely offended. He was, afterall, to some degree a cold-blooded killer. Not that Gideon or Dusty knew that. It was the blonde man's biggest secret. The murder of Dusty's father. He turned his thoughts away, not wanting to remember all he had done to the molesting son of a bitch. "If yer sure Gid. I mean... like I said, if you need company... we could probably..." But in all honesty he didn't want to see Gideon destroying himself. The idea was horrifying, grotesque. Gideon was a good guy. "We could maybe like, put a pillow or somethin' under yer head. Yer gonna bang the shit out of your skull." He warned, and realized he sounded like a worried old woman.
"Damn it, Gare... you sound like a damn old woman," Dusty said, reaching out to smack the back of his hand against Gareth's shoulder. "It's alright, Gid, we get it. You don't want us around to see you bein' all crazy and drooling on yourself. That's fine, but we're gonna see it come morning anyhow, so uhh... just so you know that." He poked Gideon square in the chest, rocking back on his heels to keep his distance. "But hey, y'know, Gareth does have a point about that pillow thing. You want us to get you one? It might suck to have blood all crusted in your skull in the morning. That'd be damn near the nastiest thing to have to clean up."
"Yeah, but then I'd have blood crusted on a pillow." He made a face. "Plus I bite through the gag sometimes, an' then I'd just ruin it. The head ain't too bad, usually." Oh, it hurt like a bitch, but he had yet to actually bang a crack into his skull, and flesh wounds like that healed fastest of all the ugly things he did to himself these nights. Broken fingers were the worst, since they'd start healing as soon as they broke and he'd have to just crack them again to fix themselves right. "I've done a buncha experiments. This usually works the best. I don' ever break out, I don' ruin my stuff, an' I usually git put together pretty quick once I git out. An' you two're helpin' me out!" He beamed up at them, his gratitude bursting through his gloomy mood like sunlight through thick clouds. Gideon lay down on his back and stretched his arms out above his head. The cuffs kept him stretched out as far as he could possibly go. The more he could move, the worse he'd hurt himself. He looked terribly thin and small that way, gray eyes sad but perfectly trusting.
Gareth watched Gideon stretch out and felt worse than ever -- the man had the body of a child -- a very small teenager. "Well, uh, yeah, a'course we're here Hoss. 'S what friends do I guess. Right D?" It was asked easily and he looked at his friend, knowing how uncomfortable the whole situation was for all of them. "I'd hate to be in your position." He muttered and walked over to Gideon's far side, kneeling. He wanted to help the vampire -- make this less excruciating than it was, but it seemed that that wasn't an option. He sighed quietly, taking the handcuff up and looking at it for a long moment. He and Dusty had been arrested once before -- public drunkenness, and he could remember the feeling of cold steel around his wrists to this day. They had cut into his flesh, tight and painful... but Gideon didn't want any room to move. "You sure there ain't nothin' else we can do man?" His face was a little despairing as he asked the question, he wasn't quite ready to chain the small man up. "Anythin' to make this shit... better?"
Dusty smiled back at Gideon, but he couldn't help but feel a little strange about it the enthusiasm the other vampire showed over the entire ordeal. Yeah, they'd come to tie him up and then let him out later, but... well, this wasn't really making things that much easier, was it? Dusty looked up as Gareth moved to the other side of the small vampire, listening to him as he rambled. "Hey, Gare... this is what he wants us to do. C'mon. Let's get the weird stuff down so it's all outta the way and whatever." He reached down, intending on helping Gideon with the hand closest to him, guiding him into it.
Though Dusty's gruff pragmatism was more in line with what Gideon tried to convince himself he felt about this mess, Gareth's distress on his behalf was touching. It also made him feel worse about what he was facing, tearing down the brave face he always had to put on the new moon or go mad, but having someone beside him made it better. He hadn't minded half as much when his sire and often one of his brothers or sisters was being tied in beside him. Without giving it any thought, he slung the arm Dusty didn't have hold of around Gareth's neck and squeezed. He couldn't imagine getting a hug from Dusty. He just wasn't the type. Normally Gideon wasn't either, but Gareth's kind attention made him eager for more. And It didn't hurt that Gareth was so strong and rather dwarfed him. It was cozy. "Y'give great hugs, Gare. But this's about all there is t'do." He didn't exactly let go quickly, holding onto a few extra seconds of his friend's concern before he gave himself up to chilly steel.
Gareth didn't know how to react to the sudden half-embrace, and he faltered, unsure of what to do. His eyes darted up to Dusty, looking panicked, but he said nothing. He had no reason to think that his friend would be angry about a hug, but sometimes he just wasn't sure. In the end he ended up patting Gideon's hand gently, giving him a smile. "Hey, yeah... I guess if this all we can do..." He took Gideon's hand and slipped the other cuff around it, not looking up at Dusty, a little nervous about what he might see. The older man had never indicated outward jealousy, but sometimes Gareth's intuition kicked in and he knew when to be wary. This was one of those times. "Uh, it ain't too tight is it?" He asked quietly, fingers releasing the handcuff.
Dusty couldn't help the look that filled his eyes when Gideon hugged Gareth. It was something subconscious and for a long time, he didn't even realize the feeling was there. But there it was... some level of distinct jealousy, and it made his skin crawl. Had Gideon been anyone else, there may have been a fight or an awkward attempt to force his way between them, to break it up. Instead, though, Dusty was trapped in the moment, left to deal with it. "He's good at huggin' on account'a his gay," he blurted out, his tongue sharp as emotions flashed through his features. He locked Gideon's hand in tight and sat back a little, not quite meeting either of them eye to eye.
Not the best Gareth hug he'd received. Gideon was sure he'd done something wrong. Gareth had hugged him before, though. Twice. Maybe last night was a special thing... he maybe wasn't supposed to talk about that around Dusty, what with Gareth's other secrets he was carrying around. But he'd also been hugged when his friends had arrived. If he'd thought Gareth would mind he wouldn't have done it. He couldn't help looking a bit hurt, the petty little snub feeling sharper than a serpent's tooth as grim as he was feeling right now. "Uh, no, s'not too tight." He shifted a bit. Dusty had it about right. "Could, uh, could stand to be a li'l bit tighter, even." He didn't answer Dusty's comment. It was safer to pretend he hadn't heard it. Gideon had never been very good with his own secrets, and when saddled with someone else's, he was always uncomfortable.
Gareth looked stunned by Dusty's words. He could see the anger in Dusty's eyes, the emotion there something the blonde man had trouble comprehending. He looked back down at Gideon with a sort of naked and wounded apology. Dusty's insult stung, a lot more than he wanted to show. "Oh, tighter?" Without thinking about what he was doing, he reached down, squeezing Gideon's hand and then moving to tighten the cuff. "Yeah. You know me, fuckin' queer." He rolled his eyes, trying to play off the quip the older man had made, but he wasn't sure he could entirely.
"Hey," Dusty said, sitting back to land comfortably on his ass, "I just call it like I see it." As though that explained everything, made it okay, made it less of an insult. He grinned at Gareth, knowing the other man would do a good job of shaking it off in due time. He reached out and gave Gideon a quick pat to his stomach, not really hard enough to cause discomfort. "Now we can loot through all yer records and take what we want," he teased. It was fairly clear he was only joking, his tone and expression easy to read for now. After all, Dusty wasn't evil. He was maybe a little rude, and definitely misguided... but not evil.
The hand made it better, and he managed a little smile for Gareth. Shouldn't take stupid things to heart. He considered having his hand "slip" and smack Dusty, but he wasn't sure he was graceful enough to make it look like an accident this close to sundown, He didn't really feel up to it. "Joke'd be on you, wouldn't it? Don't have a record player." Oh, they could take his. He closed his eyes, trying to muster the energy to keep kidding with Dusty. It made him feel grounded. He didn't feel the night's violence creep up on him. That always hit like a ton of bricks from heaven, but he got so tired before it happened. He felt weak as a kitten, almost as bad as he had in his last days alive, and all the joy and color seemed to be seeping out of the world. Even with his friends there, it was hard to not just screw his eyes closed and wait for it to be over. "Someone oughta... prolly gag me..." Another hug might help. But it might not, and with Dusty right there he wouldn't ask.
Gareth looked down, forcing himself to grin. "If you have Wish You Were Here I might have to take both the records and the player." He teased and reached out, not liking that Gideon would be left alone, but knowing that they had no other choice. Reaching out, Gareth took the gag and leaned in. "Hey, okay, look, I'm real sorry we gotta gag you man." He murmured and secured the tie around Gideon's small face, knotting it in the back. The sight was surreal and unnerving. Gideon looked like no more than a mere child, his features wide and naive. Gareth knew that Dusty would have to come by alone tomorrow to untie him. He didn't want to see him wounded and bloody.
Dusty shifted a little uneasily as Gareth tied the gag around Gideon's face, having a hard time being okay with this. It was different when they were in hunting mode, doing it as part of their job or sometimes just for fun... because they never knew the victim they were chasing down. Tonight was different. Neither of them were particularly close to Gideon just yet - he looked to Gareth, wondering how true that was anymore - but still, they were both here, both feeling bad about what they had to do. It was as though they were a different set of people around Gideon, and Dusty couldn't help but feel like it was on purpose. Neither of them had been able to create and upkeep real friendships with other people over the last thirty-something years. It was difficult, when all you had was your best friend, and nothing else. Dusty stood up after the gag had been secured and sighed, chewing on his lower lip just roughly enough to break the skin. He didn't vocalize the small hurt but licked it, making a face at himself. That'd been stupid. "Uh... well, then... I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Gid. Like... right at sunrise or whatever?"
"S'in the blue bin with the other Pink Floyd," Gideon offered, right before he was gagged. He didn't really mind if they borrowed the record player. It had taken a lot of bumps. He picked up replacement parts whenever he found them intact, so it wasn't even a big deal if something popped off in transit. Then he couldn't do anything but nod. He was sort of glad he couldn't really answer, actually. He was rather pleased that Gareth was sorry, even if he was just doing what he was asked. No one had worried about him for a long time. He'd always been looking out for everyone else, generally with a vague intention of saving the whole world from themselves. He lifted his head to give Gareth easy access and did his best to smile with his tired eyes, then turned to Dusty and nodded. The sooner he got out, the more time he'd have to clean up, heal a bit, and get Tara back to feeling like home. He just hoped Dusty didn't try and come too early. It was generally over as soon as the sun touched the sky, but up until that last second he was still a monster. He wanted to say thank you, but the whole point of the gag was mainly that he couldn't make any noise. Also kept him from biting himself too much, but the shut up factor was the important one. He twisted his right hand into a thumbs-up, the closest he could get to any sort of positive gesture.
Gareth sat back on his haunches, watching Gideon for a long moment. His blue eyes were darkened with worry and discontent. "You gonna be okay?" He'd asked it too many times, but this entire scene was disquieting. Patting the smaller man's hand, Gareth got to his knees slowly, feeling old. He cracked his back and looked at Dusty now, eyes quiet and concerned. He had the feeling that the older man wanted to be doing this no more than he did. "Shit Gid... I guess... if, if somethin's real wrong when you come out of it or whatever, we'll take you to the hospital -- or stitch you up. I'm pretty good at stitching people up." He licked his lower lip and made his way over to Dusty, looking down at the helpless form on the floor. "Christ." It was a sigh and he wondered how badly Gideon would be banged up. Well, it didn't matter, Dusty would be seeing to him in the morning, Gareth would probably occupy his time with something else.
Dusty rolled his eyes at Gareth as the other man moved to him, reaching out to clap a hand on his shoulder. "C'mon, weepy. We gotta get outta here now, y'hear?" He pushed his friend toward the doorway and looked down at Gideon one last time. "Sorry, man. I'll be back at sunrise, let you out. Don't do nothin' I wouldn't do, alright?" He offered the youthful vampire a cheery smile, trying to put his best foot forward for the moment. He still had to meet up with Ava yet tonight, and that hung over his head very loudly.
Gideon could only nod. It was getting very dark. He hoped they'd hurry up and go. He didn't have it in him to try and smile again, or even to do much to acknowledge them. He didn't know if going to a hospital could possibly help at all, but it was nice that they'd think of him. Just not so nice that he could muster any enthusiasm just now. He closed his eyes quietly, waving languidly with his fingers, not sure if they'd even see his farewell. It was the best he could do. Before he could try and think of any sort of gesture to make, whatever awful cosmic switch determined when his mind was forced into hiding and his body was no longer his own was flipped. A high-pitched little snarl escaped him, his eyes opened again, rolled back to the whites, and his skinny hands began to strain against the cuffs.