InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "put anotha shrimp on tha barbi"

_eliot_spencer (_eliot_spencer) wrote in omega_reality,
@ 2012-10-06 13:00:00

Entry tags:

*complete, 2012 10, character: april kepner, character: eliot spencer, dead: nathan ford

RP: Eliot/April, Eliot/Nate
Who: Eliot/April, Eliot/Nate
Where: Townhouse 106
When: 10-6-12 PM
Summary: Their first day is hard.

It had been a long time since Eliot had been in a warzone, and he'd had to shove all his emotions into a locked box upon his arrival to ground zero. It had been hard doing. He wasn't heartless, in spite of what some thought. That bastard had died upon leaving Moreau's employ.

Eliot kept hold of Cody's leash and shed his dusty suit right inside the front doorway to the townhouse. The knife remained strapped to his calf and he removed the unused cane from the inner pocket of the jacket. He'd deal with cleaning it after he'd cleaned up himself and Cody.

The townhouse was devoid of furniture, so Eliot had little trouble maneuvering. He saw April's skeleton in the kitchen and briefly called out, "Back. Showering," before heading upstairs. He and Cody went for the master bathroom. Thankfully, Cody wasn't a terror with baths. Eliot got him cleaned first, toweled him off, and set him loose in the house before Eliot took his own shower.

The conformers remained on the sink counter, rinsed off and air drying. Eliot had rinsed out his eyes but it would be safer for April to check them before putting the conformers back in. An infection was the last thing they needed, on top of everything else.

Eliot's knife went into his bug out bag, along with the cane, and he slipped into comfortable clothing. Tying his damp hair back, he went downstairs to deal with his clothing. Or rather, have April help him in dealing with them.

"Hey," he said, pausing in the entryway to the kitchen/dining area. The kitchen smelled of cooking and his stomach was appreciative. He had the clothes in a bundle in his arms. "Except for the shirt, these need to be clean by tomorrow. Think they'll be dry by then?"

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april_kepner
2012-10-06 07:38 pm UTC (link)

By the time Eliot arrived April had been home for hours. She'd gone to the store to get food, unpacked everything they'd brought with them (mostly kitchen supplies) and put it in it's proper place then labeled the shelves to make it easier for Eliot. Once that was done she'd started cooking. By then her back already hurt but since there was nothing to sit down on there wasn't really anything she could do about that. Besides, sitting down would mean thinking, remembering, and right now she was trying her best not to.

The morning had been horrid. She'd learned to deal with bodies, even in parts, over the course of her stay here, but this was on a completely different scale. A landfill filled with debris and human remains. So many body parts. Torn apart, burned, barely recognizable as once human... and then the smell. Even normally it would have been hard to stand, being pregnant it had been pure will power that had kept her from throwing up, even if there had been close calls.

With tears she didn't care to wipe running down her cheeks, she'd done her job, picking DNA samples from the body parts while pushing away the thoughts emotions it created. By the time they returned to base she felt as if she'd been out for much longer than she had and she was emotionally and physically drained.

Falling into the routine of house work was comforting and relaxing. Getting food, unpacking, cleaning, cooking... it made her back sore but kept her mind focused on something other than the body parts she'd handled today. She was so caught up that she didn't even stop when Eliot came home. Not until Cody bounded downstairs, damp and with his tail wagging back and forth as he begged for attention. It was almost as if he knew she needed it. For the first time today she sat down on the floor, giving Cody the attention he asked for, letting him comfort her as her eyes filled with tears again.

She was still on the floor with Cody when Eliot came into the room. "I'll wash them with mine," she said, clearing her throat but avoiding to try her tears. If she didn't Eliot wouldn't see them. "I can't guarantee that it will be dry, not without putting them in the dryer which I'd rather not to, but I'll try." She had a couple of good clothes to alternate between, if nothing fancy. They'd have to buy a few more once they got funds. She didn't like that, she really had no urge to spend a dime more than they had to. The more they could save the better. They might need it in the future.

She couldn't help the small groan escaping her as she got up from the floor, but once up she just reached for Eliot's clothes. It was just another thing to do to keep her mind off things. "Watch the food and I'll get these cleaned."

She stopped herself, pausing and reaching out to touch Eliot. "How are you doing?" she asked, because his day would have been just as bad as hers if not worse. "Do you want to talk about it?"

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_eliot_spencer
2012-10-06 08:03 pm UTC (link)

At the touch, Eliot slipped a hand behind her neck, closed eyes empty eyes, and rested his forehead against hers. He exhaled slowly, soaking in her nearness. "It was bad," he murmured, an understatement if there ever was one. He didn't let his boxed emotions free, but he didn't withhold the truth. "We wanted to leave, and now I feel helpless because we can't do more here."

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april_kepner
2012-10-06 08:22 pm UTC (link)

Having him so close to her almost made her crumble, it was impossible to keep her walls up when he was this close to her. "I know," she said with a strained voice. "Seeing it on TV, it's not the same. I- I didn't realize. Before it was just... a horrible story. It wasn't real, not this way."

It was hard to explain, especially after spending most of the day trying not to put words on her emotions, or acknowledge those emotions. Yet she couldn't have put it better if she'd tried. She'd thought she understood, but it was all fiction until today. Stories, true and horrible stories, but still stories - but today those stories became reality and they were worse than she could have ever imagined.

Dropping the clothes on the floor, she wrapped her arms around her husband and pulled herself close enough to bury her head in his neck.

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_eliot_spencer
2012-10-06 08:36 pm UTC (link)

Eliot held her close, trying to give her comfort, to find his own. He'd seen people do horrible things, had done horrible things himself, but it did nothing to dull what he'd felt today.

The scent of food needing to be tended to finally drew him away from her. He cleared his throat. "I'd better see to the food, and feed Cody. After we eat, I'll need you to check my eyes. The dust was thick enough to breathe."

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april_kepner
2012-10-06 08:49 pm UTC (link)

April nodded. "Right," she said, forcing herself once more to gather herself. "I'll go look at them after I put this in the washer," she said. "Unless you want me to-" she stopped herself, looking out into the kitchen. There was no table to set, not chairs to sit on. "find a picnic blanket?" she suggested as she put the clothes in the washer and turned it on.

She had made sure that they've brought a few of the blankets and pillows they still had from the ranch. She'd saved a lot, but knowing there would be no beds for some time she'd wanted something to sleep on other than the floor. She supposed it could double for a table as well as a mattress. Right now comfort wasn't all that high on her list of priorities. They'd get some furniture when they got money, but they'd get the cheapest possible ones and save as much money as they could. She wanted that money for when this was over and they had to run again.

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_eliot_spencer
2012-10-06 08:56 pm UTC (link)

"They can wait, my stomach can't," Eliot said with a small grin. He went over to the stove. "Hopefully, we won't be too long without some semblance of furniture. I'd settle for a single chair, for you. Camping on the floor can't be good for you. Though, you still manage to snore like a tree shredder."

Cody kept on April like glue as she moved around. Eliot found the labels April had put up already and that little bit of normalcy helped him to relax more. "Nate been home?"

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april_kepner
2012-10-06 09:14 pm UTC (link)

April shrugged. "It doesn't matter, we'll move before long anyway," she said, though her back was already killing her and she wasn't all that far along yet. She remembered the beginning, when she and Abby and Mike had moved in together and she and Mike had gone shopping for furniture. Their only concern then had been that their money would cover it, or at least her only concern. She'd wanted to turn their house as much into a home as she could with the limited budget they had. She'd done it again at the ranch, and to some extent at the school.

This time around she couldn't be bothered. Even though this was much more of a home in itself than the school could ever be she was much more acutely aware of how temporary this was. Sooner or later anything they bought would be blown up. Not shipped off into storage or to some new place, not saved, none of it would be saved. Even if they managed somehow miraculously to move before another attack nothing they bought here would be brought with them, which meant everything they bought was a waste of money.

They needed a bed, they'd need a table and chairs and possibly a sofa, but the rest was surplus. The less they had the better. They could save the money for if they got a home of their own in this dimension. It all depended on for how long they could live off the hope of finding a better dimension to settle in.

At the question, she shook her head. "No," she said. "I assume he's eating there, though we'll save him some just in case." She moved upstairs and got the blanket, spreading it on the floor. Her hand went down to pet Cody, she didn't fail to notice how attentive he was being. "Am I too loud?" she then asked, worried a bit that she was keeping Eliot up at night. "I'd give you the medical explanation why pregnant women snore but while it might help put you to sleep it wouldn't keep me from waking you up," she said, though the joke didn't quite reach her voice. She just wasn't in the right frame of mind to be making jokes at this time.

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	_eliot_spencer 2012-10-06 09:22 pm UTC (link)
	"Nah, it's kind of fun. Nothing says marriage like the comfort of making unseemly noises without reproach." Eliot began dishing up what was finished cooking. He was filling the quiet now with mundane things, to distract himself and hopefully April as well. "On the relocating front, what did you want to do about the marriage certificate?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	april_kepner 2012-10-06 09:42 pm UTC (link)
	April looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?" she asked. "We have one, what's there to talk about?" she asked. It wasn't as if there really was any reason for them not to have it. A child was hard to keep hidden after all. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_eliot_spencer
2012-10-06 09:47 pm UTC (link)

Eliot frowned. "Didn't Vance say we'd have to register or something again? For the taxes and such? Unless I misunderstood. I'll admit I wasn't listening much after he said we were coming back here."

Eliot finished with the plates and brought the food over to the blanket, shuffling his feet until he found the edge of it. He set the plates down and said a short command to Cody so the dog wouldn't eat their food.

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april_kepner
2012-10-06 09:55 pm UTC (link)

"He asked us to think about the marriage license and if we want them or not, but that was before we left." She hadn't thought more about it after they'd agreed they'd stay. She'd just assumed it would be done and it had.

"We have the same last name, my name was something else before." She had to think. "Johnson, I need to remember that. I was Emma Johnson, now I'm Emma Davies. Either way, we're married, just like we should be." She petted Cody as she sat down, then moved closer to Eliot. Feeling him close to her grounded her and made the tension lessen if only a fraction. Talking about things that had nothing to do with what they'd seen today helped too, though she knew it was just postponing the inevitable. Sooner or later they needed to talk about it.

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nate_ford
2012-10-08 06:38 pm UTC (link)

When April returned to the house, Nate had opted for staying behind and eat with the rest of them. Partly this was because he felt it vital to keep creating ties with the others in the group, and partly because April showed every sign of needing and wanting to be by herself for a while.

Although she'd worked obsessively since returning, Nate was surprised to see that she'd kept on going when returning home. There was a smell of food, the sound of the washer going, no boxes standing around (not that there had been many but they'd had a couple of them standing in the living room this morning when they left the house).

Calling out, he headed to the kitchen where he could hear Eliot answer back. He couldn't deny how grateful he was for being put with April and Eliot, even if he wasn't sure it was the best from a strategic point of view. In the end there wasn't anyone else he'd rather share a house with.

"Hey," he said as he entered the kitchen, about to go on when Eliot turned around and... well looked at him seemed the wrong expression though he supposed it was what he was doing. The fake eyes had been difficult to get used to, the gaping holes he could see now were shocking. It didn't matter that he knew it, not when he hadn't seen it before.

Catching himself he stepped inside the surprisingly clean kitchen. "April has been busy," he said. "Or have you helped? You got back with the others I assume."

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_eliot_spencer
2012-10-08 06:51 pm UTC (link)

Eliot had caught the shock and horror that flashed across Nate's face before he was able to hide it. He arched a brow. "What was that look for?" he asked.

"April did it all, not that there was much to do. She's upstairs taking a bath. Sore back." Eliot dried another dish, watching Nate. "We saved some food for you, in case you didn't eat. We thought you might have gone to the mess hall but weren't sure."

Eliot didn't know what Nate had been doing all day, but he seemed less wrung-out than April and himself. Eliot was also checking through the walls out front and back constantly, which didn't help.

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nate_ford
2012-10-08 07:06 pm UTC (link)

Nate shook his head. "I haven't seen you without the eyes before. Sorry."

He did raise an eyebrow at the not much to do comment. "That comment just means she didn't tell you how bad it was before," he answered. "I'm not surprised she has a sore back." And if she was taking a bath she must have cleaned the bathtub too.

He shook his head at the offer for food. "Save it for tomorrow. We had burgers at the team center." He could see how tense Eliot was, but decided not to ask but instead offer an ear if Eliot decided to bring it up.

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_eliot_spencer
2012-10-08 07:16 pm UTC (link)

"Oh, that's right. You haven't." Eliot made a gesture towards them. "Great, huh? Now you know why I got the conformers. Beats wearing sunglasses all the time."

Eliot frowned. "No, she didn't. I thought she just got food and unpacked the dishes." The bathroom stuff and towels had been put up the night prior. "Crazy woman," he muttered, silently promising to give her a foot rub later.

"How're you holding up today?" It wasn't a casual question.

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nate_ford
2012-10-08 07:38 pm UTC (link)

"It's not as if you haven't told me," Nate said. "But yeah, I get why you got them."

Nate snorted, for some reason he wasn't surprised. "Yeah no, the layer of dust in here was a health hazard," he said. "At least she left it in the living room." For now at least, she might attempt it tomorrow.

He didn't fail to notice the tone in the question and he knew what it meant. "I'm fine," he said. "But then I was here all day. I wasn't out there." He left it hanging, the question not asked but still in the air between them.

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	_eliot_spencer 2012-10-08 07:50 pm UTC (link)
	"Good," Eliot said, turning back to continue drying the dishes. "Can't say the same, but I reckon that's to be expected. We'll get through it, a day at a time. I'm gonna need another suit, though." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	nate_ford 2012-10-08 08:07 pm UTC (link)
	"The suit is easily arranged," Nate said. "We'll go and get one for you tomorrow after work." The rest was harder and Nate found himself looking at the cupboards, wondering if April would have bought anything alcoholic and, if so, where she would have put it. "What was it like?" he asked, wishing so much he'd had a drink in his hand right now. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	_eliot_spencer 2012-10-08 08:17 pm UTC (link)
	Eliot continued with his drying, searching for a way to answer. He finally settled with a tightly said, "Devastation." It wasn't the same feeling as a death of someone known, or that of a natural disaster. It was somewhere in between, personal but not and really it just made him angry and helpless feeling. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

nate_ford
2012-10-09 04:23 pm UTC (link)

What was there to say to that? Nodding, Nate leaned forwards against the counter. "Are you going to be able to handle it?" Nate asked. "And not the 'I must' way, but the actual way." There was a vast difference between the two, and they both knew it.

He was silent for a while, looking at his empty hands and once more longing for a drink. "Are you regretting you stayed, or are you grateful that you did?" he asked quietly.

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	_eliot_spencer 2012-10-09 04:38 pm UTC (link)
	Eliot exhaled slowly before nodding. "Yeah. Once I get back into the right frame of mind, I'll be good. It's been a lot of years since I've seen this sort of thing first hand." Setting the towel on the edge of the sink to dry, Eliot turned towards Nate. "Grateful isn't the word, but now that we've experienced this we don't want to be anywhere else." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

nate_ford
2012-10-09 05:17 pm UTC (link)

It wasn't hard to understand, he hadn't been out today but he'd seen the faces of those who had been. He knew what it was like to get wrapped up in a case, in helping someone, this was just on a much more massive scale.

"Just don't loose yourself in that frame of mind," Nate said, moving and giving Eliot a clap on the shoulder. "And don't let April overdo it either. In fact, why don't you go upstairs to her. I'll finish up down here." Not that there was much to do, but he could read a book or perhaps even go out and see if he could find a drink.

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	_eliot_spencer 2012-10-09 05:21 pm UTC (link)
	Eliot nodded. "Thanks." He started out of the kitchen and paused. He turned back and said, "It's good to have you here." (Reply to this) (Parent)