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Evan Greer ([info]the_wanderlust) wrote in [info]paxletalelogs,
@ 2010-09-20 20:15:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:amphitrite, io, poseidon

Who: Evan and Paul, for meow?
What: A topless, painful introduction.
Where: The hallway on the first floor, for starters.
When: After this shit show.
Warnings: Language, unintentional nudity (most likely)? Long story. ;D



What do you give the girl who has everything? A box full of insects, of course! Except, she didn't have everything -- she hardly had enough money saved up to pay for this month's rent, let alone utilities. The appearance of a beautifully-wrapped gift had made her childishly happy, snapshot memory of a forbidden kiss sending her spirits soaring into the stratosphere -- and now, she'd never have another birthday party again. Welted skin was crawling with bugs alive and imagined, her shirt was stuffed under the seal of her infested apartment, and her right hand had done a very convincing impersonation of a hoof.

Tears leaked from both eyes, even the already swollen-shut left eye, salt water stinging the un-patterned gnat bites scattered here and there down her cheeks and neck. She didn't care that she was only wearing a 'washing day only' black sports bra and jeans -- she would have ripped those off to rid herself of gnats if she hadn't been struck stone-still by the appearance of a friggin' hoof where her right hand should have been. It was gone now, but it had been there. Hadn't it? She couldn't have been allergic to bees. She would have died as a kid in Kansas. She had to be hallucinating. Too much pain, too much venom. Too shocked to stand, too hurt and bewildered to even crawl, Evan let her bare shoulders dig into the wall, crying out with a hoarse, muffled sob that rang through the first floor hallway and died in the open space of the lobby, "help ... somebody, please ...!" Now-human hands covered her swollen face, crying as she might have as a kid. "Help...!"


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[info]i_sea_you
2010-09-21 02:11 am UTC (link)
It was a late night for Paul at the Ocean Institute, catching up on the work he had missed because he was...unfashionably late last week. But he couldn't help it! There was morning sex to attend to, hours of it, and dream interpretation after that. Not that he and Cassie had gotten very far, but the point remained.

So after burning the midnight oil, Paul stopped to get her a lovely arrangement of flowers, planning to drop them off as a surprise. But that idea was abandoned when he heard shrieking and screeching coming from the first floor hallway - close to Cassie's apartment, in fact.

"What the...?" He rushed ahead, his stomach doing flip flops the second he saw the blubbering mess of girl. The flowers were dropped and quickly he knelt beside her, almost stung in the face with a few bee stragglers. They were stamped out and sufficiently squashed, even though his confusion was beginning to reach astronomical proportions. What the hell had she done, stuck her head in a beehive?

"It's okay, it's alright," he said, trying to shush her as he looked for any leftover stingers. "Shit, this is crazy...which apartment are you?" No more bees looked to be buzzing around, so he concentrated on just getting rid of the stingers, brushing one from her shoulder. He tried to remember what the protocol was for a hospital visit. This definitely looked like more than 10-20 stings.

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[info]the_wanderlust
2010-09-21 02:32 am UTC (link)
Even with a door between her and the insistent buzzing, it seemed to swell to a cacophony in her ears, bringing a dizziness that she couldn't quite shake. This must have been what the kid with glasses in My Girl felt like. Didn't he die? And the blonde chick had a meltdown about his glasses -- she didn't have anyone within a twenty hours' drive that would even cry if she croaked. Except maybe Vince. Or Eli or Pierce, but she hardly knew any of them! Which begged the question: who in god's name would leave a box of pissed off insects for her? Death by bees? What the hell!

Hands lifted to cover her ears, to block out that incessant buzzing, she didn't even know someone else was in the hallway until he fell into the limited field of vision in her right eye. She'd asked for help, so she shouldn't have been surprised to see someone, but to have him suddenly appear like a genie drew a short, hoarse scream. Oh, okay. He was helping! That was good! So why did she still stare at him like he was just another giant bee in a human suit? Blame it on a deeply repressed sanity issue courtesy of her not-so-latent-today nymph soul. What the hell was he doing, hitting her?! ... oh! The stringers! Okay, good. She'd stop trying to wriggle away from him now.

The question about her apartment was answered with an emphatic point with a shaking finger -- you know, towards the one with the muffled buzzing sound and the shirt stuck in the door crack. Her tongue was twisted: not from allergic swelling, but from utter bewilderment. When she finally did manage to speak, her one open eye wide and piercing, all she could manage was a strangled, sobbing, "fffucking ... box of bees--!" It was like the remake of the Wicker Man with Nic Cage: ohgodnotthebeesthey'reinmyeyyyyes!

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[info]i_sea_you
2010-09-21 02:49 am UTC (link)
Well, that didn't really answer his question but luckily Paul did notice the abandoned shirt in the door when he actually looked up - he had been focused on the swelled up girl in the hallway prior to this moment. And she was right next door to Cassie too, even better. Some assistance would be appreciated. They needed cold compresses and a trip to the emergency room, most likely.

"The bees are gone, it's going to be alright," Paul said, trying his best to sound reassuring. "We'll get you some help. Just stay right here..." Not like she was in a position to be going anywhere. He stood up and stepped over the six feet or so, knocking on Cassie's door - hopefully she was home.

"Cass!"

There was a bee-stung girl slumped outside the door? Just another day at Pax Letale.

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[info]humancondition
2010-09-21 05:51 am UTC (link)
Cassie was on the far side of her apartment when the commotion started. Her music was playing, not too loud, but enough so that the initial noises didn't quite reach her ears. It all sounded so very distant. The knocking on her door was clear though, as was her name and the familiar voice saying it.

Dressed only in a long and loose shirt went to the door and immediately began to smile when she caught a glimpse of who it was. "Paul! What--" Her words caught off abruptly as a stray bee flew up by her face and she reared back. "What...?" The buzzing sound caught her attention and she looked around to see the girl slumped by the door. "Oh shit!" Of all the things she expected to see, this was not one of them. She froze for a split second before spit out the one thing she could think of.

"Inside." A command and direction for everyone in earshot, including herself. She flung the door wider behind her and moved toward the girl to help her up. They couldn't just stay out here in the hallway. There was probably a better and more efficient way to do this but her mind wasn't processing everything as it should. All she knew was that the girl couldn't stay out here and she was in dire need of a shirt.

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[info]the_wanderlust
2010-09-21 06:45 am UTC (link)
The skin-tingling feeling of skittering insect legs, the fluctuations of air where wings brushed past her, the venomous ache settling over her in god only knows how many places ... the attack was over, but she couldn't seem to shake the feeling, couldn't stop trying to rid her body of those evil, biting bastards. The more she hit at the unseen devils the louder the drone in her ears seemed to grow, to the point where she was biting back a scream on account of panic, not pain. And even though she didn't know this guy, the idea that he was leaving, abandoning her in the hall --even if he only was going a few feet away-- nearly had her wanting to crawl after him. She'd attempt to curl her legs to her chest instead, watching him with her good eye, trying to catch a breath enough to beg him not to leave her, but she couldn't even do that. Too many bites and stings. Too much goin' on.

Wait, who was this? Pretty blonde lady, the look on whose face pretty much confirming Evan's fears that it was as bad as she thought. Or as bad as she would have thought it was, if her mind wasn't as scattered as Zeus' kids. Funny thought, that. Where was Zeus when bees were flying out of her 'happy adulterous relationship!' present? Probably up on Mount Olympus, trying to make the ceiling lights flicker on a dare. "I thought he sent me a gift." Crooked smile fell from paling lips, tears continuing their downward trek, but her muscles seemed to want to relax a bit, rather than twitch and jerk and shudder. Which was a good thing, aside from the fact that it meant she was probably going in to shock.

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[info]i_sea_you
2010-09-21 11:50 am UTC (link)
Paul scooped the bee pincushion up in his arms so Cassie could hold the door open and he carried the precious cargo (he also agreed that she was in dire need of a shirt) into the apartment, laying her down on the couch in the living room. Then of course he had to sufficiently murder the one or two bees that flew in after them, swiftly ending their yellow-and-black-filled lives.

"Jesus 'effing Christ!" he exclaimed once he was done swatting the kamikaze killers with knives on their asses. And what was the girl talking about? She thought he sent a gift? Paul didn't know what that meant, exactly, but he did know that there was only one person in the world who had access to this many bees and would stuff them into a gift box...

No time to think about that now. The bee victim didn't seem to have difficulty breathing, which meant she probably wasn't allergic, but something needed to be done.

"We should take her to the hospital," Paul said to Cassie as he went into the kitchen to get ice and a towel. He knew ice was one of the best remedies for bee and wasp stings; it would help with the swelling at least. "I mean, that was a shit ton of bees. That's a lot of venom."

Back into the living room he went, applying ice wrapped in a towel to the stings - especially the one by her eye, that looked painful. "What's your name?" he asked the girl.

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[info]humancondition
2010-09-21 05:45 pm UTC (link)
As soon as she saw Paul set the girl down in the living room Cassie immediately ran to her room. Grabbing a pair of jeans for herself she slipped it on quickly and then grabbed a loose blouse she had from her closet. There wasn’t much build difference between she and the girl but the looser the better. The last thing she needed was constricting clothes to irritate her skin.

She came out as he was as asking her name and she approached gingerly, lifting the girl’s wrists to guide them through the sleeves. “I’ll go grab my car.” Once she was satisfied that the girl would get clothed and Paul would get some answer from her, Cassie went to grab her keys from the stand by the door. “I’ll bring the car right out to the front?”

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[info]the_wanderlust
2010-09-21 06:46 pm UTC (link)
Had she heard the word hospital in the other room? Probably, but there was no telling. From where she sat on the couch, she fancied she could hear the insects in her apartment; the sad part was, that wasn't the crazy talking. There were actually that many of the little winged devils swarming through her sad little apartment. Could they come through the vents? Everyone in the building would be totally fucked if that was the case. Deep breaths. One at a time. She was safe now ... with these total strangers. Yipe. One blue eye narrowed in on the good samaritan from the hallway as he re-appeared from wherever he'd gone. She had the same apartment set-up, so her money was on the kitchen. And what was that in his hand? Aaah. Cool compress. He was a smart one. "We should tell somebody." Landlord seemed to have fled her vocabulary at present, but maybe he'd get the point.

Her name? "Evan ... Greer, one-oh-six." This said through winces as the beautiful blonde was helping dress her one arm at a time, bringing to her attention for the first time that she had been pretty much half-naked for this entire introduction. A small detail considering the damage done to her body. "... thanks." Okay, she was more calm now. Mild shock from venom was normal with this many stings; she'd be thanking her immune system for automatically shutting down her crazy later. But wait -- there was that thread of panic again. They were going somewhere? Hospital. "No, no ... no, I can't go." No insurance. No money. They'd call her dad, and what would he say? "No hospital." They could just ... leave her in a bathtub, couldn't they? She'd get better eventually. That's how they handled this kind of stuff in Kansas. Rub some dirt in it.

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[info]i_sea_you
2010-09-21 06:59 pm UTC (link)
Paul picked up on Evan's cues, alright. "No one even knows who the landlord is," he said hastily, because he was aware of how strange that sounded. "This building is...different." There, that was an appropriate description that would surely not freak out the bee pincushion even more.

He kept the cold compress pressed to her flesh wounds (of which there were numerous), nodding at what Cassie said. "Yeah, we can meet you out - " Then his attention was diverted when the recipient of Stingers of Death insisted that she didn't want proper medical care. "...but you've been stung and bitten by a swarm of angry insects," he stated, rather obviously. And by the way, how the fuck had that happened? Moving on. "I really think you should go. Just so they can check you out." He glanced over at Cassie, and he doubted she had enough calamine lotion to slather this girl with. She needed a truckload.

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[info]humancondition
2010-09-22 12:37 am UTC (link)
Each wince of Evan’s was mirrored across Cassie’s face. She hated that it was hurting her but it was a necessity. Dimly she wondered if she was trying to avoid the hospital just so she didn’t have to put on more clothes but she doubted that it was it. Not with the way her voice faded in and out. Maybe she hated hospitals? That could be it. But a quick glance down to the skin that peeked out from under the fabric didn’t bode well for at-home care.

“You really should see a doctor…” she gently, leaving her keys on the stand for now. It was as if she read Paul’s mind, or at least she realized they had a bit of a stalemate on their hands. Best to go get some lotion to start. It wouldn’t be enough, but it was something. “Urgent care isn’t too far from here and they’ll be really gentle. Promise. But we should really take you to see a doctor…”

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[info]the_wanderlust
2010-09-22 03:01 am UTC (link)
Oh, she wanted to see a doctor. She wanted a nice nurse to pat her hand and give her ice cream. She wanted money to pay for the hospital visit. She wanted to not feel like her body was on fire, and she wanted to not have an apartment full of bugs, and she wanted to not have some crazy person trying to kill her and she wanted a pony, but damn it, sometimes you can't have what you want. If she went to the hospital, they'd probably call her father back in Clark County and he'd show up like angry father magic and whisk her back to back roads hell, and then she'd never find out what her friggin' destiny was or why, even after all of this, she couldn't stop thinking about a stolen kiss under flickering lights.

But she couldn't verbalize all of that, so instead she just shook her head like a frightened child, although the way her shoulders sagged pretty much signaled defeat. "Just don't tell my dad, please ..." She would have added more, tried to explain, but she found that her one good eyes was having trouble focussing, the lid sliding to half-mast. "He just ... he wouldn't get it." That last a mumbled addition. What was there to get about a box of bees, or anything else in this building? they didn't even have a landlord. It didn't make any damn sense.

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[info]i_sea_you
2010-09-22 11:50 am UTC (link)
"You're over eighteen, right? They don't need to call your dad," Paul said, already sliding his hands under her so he could lift her up off of the couch and carry her bridal style to the car. She was drooping and didn't seem like she could walk straight, that was why he was doing it - not to undermine her feminist ideology or anything. But she wasn't heavy, and he was fairly muscular from all that hard work as a seaman ba-dum-ch!. "And we won't tell him, promise."

Then he realized he hadn't introduced himself yet. But to be fair, he had been a bit preoccupied with making sure Evan didn't die. "Oh, sorry, I'm Paul in 1005. This is my girlfriend Cassie. Mind if we ask what happened with the bees?"

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[info]humancondition
2010-09-22 05:37 pm UTC (link)
Oh thank god! They finally convinced her to hospital and Cassie abandon her quest for lotion before it begun. She grabbed her keys and swung open the door for them so they could head down to the car. Leave it to Paul to have his head on straight and when he introduced the both of them, Cassie waved her fingers at the poor girl with a small but warm smile, mouthing a silent ‘Hi’.

Despite her trying to gently usher them out of the apartment and into her car in the parking lot and still somehow be as calm as possible, she couldn’t help but steal a curious glance at Evan. “You said you thought it was a gift? Like, wrap and bows and everything?” She wanted to help the girl as best she could, but still she had to know what happened because, “Seriously. Who keeps bees around?”

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[info]the_wanderlust
2010-09-22 06:07 pm UTC (link)
Over eighteen. Right. She hadn't been to a hospital since she was nine, when she'd managed to fall off of a fence and pop her left arm out of socket. She'd had to walk home, too, holding her limp noodle limb to her stomach and whimpering like a kicked puppy. At least she'd stopped sobbing now -- not much point to it. The lancing pain had lessened to more of a raw, biting ache -- or maybe she'd just gotten more used to it. Oh, the tears kept coming from some unseen ocean behind her eyes, but at least she wasn't bawling like her nine year old self, laying in a field wailing for someone to help her. Nah. She was too tired.

Hey-o ... she was moving. And it hurt. Oh -- he was carrying her. Gotcha. What the hell? Where was her mind wandering off to? Leaning into the Sea King's chest, Evan stifled a low groan, letting it die in her throat. Deep breaths. She was gonna be fine, and her dad never had to know. And now, introductions! Jolly good. Paul and Cassie. "Cute couple." Grinning with one eye shut and bits of blood speckling her face from the biting gnats pretty much made her look like a pirate; they'd laugh about it later. Woof, dizzy. Both eyes were closed now, letting her focus more on those deep breaths. Yeahp. Things were gonna work out just fine.

"Big box, pretty wrapping ... blue. Note, too, said ... I deserved it. Someone ... hates me, 'n I just moved in ..." If she hadn't had the bejesus stung out of her and hadn't managed to slam her head twice, once against the wall and once against the cabinet, she might not have answered so plainly the questions about the box. Mm. Nap time.

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[info]i_sea_you
2010-09-22 06:20 pm UTC (link)
Paul made quick work of the trip to the car because this girl needed to get to the hospital quickly. And he didn't think her passing out was a good idea either.

Into the backseat she went, he helped her in and then sat beside her, reaching forward to give Cassie a squeeze on the shoulder before settling back. Oh, he knew who kept that many bees around - or would use them for nefarious purposes.

"Who would hate you? Did you...do anything?" he asked cautiously. "You seem like a pretty nice person to me." Keeping her talking seemed like the course of action right now.

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[info]humancondition
2010-09-22 09:50 pm UTC (link)
“Deserved it?” Cassie couldn’t help but seethe. Granted, she had literally just met Evan but she couldn’t imagine anyone deserving a face full of bees besides Nicholas Cage. She didn’t have too much time to dwell on it though for soon they were in Cassie’s old blue Cabrio and heading to ER.

“No, you’re a sweetheart,” she reassured Evan over her shoulder, never once taking her eyes off the road. “And it doesn’t matter what—” She bit it back, for even she knew that she could overreact sometimes when she felt slighted. Maybe that was a tiny understatement. But bees?! “Did something happen recently?” That was probably a better place to start.

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[info]the_wanderlust
2010-09-23 12:25 am UTC (link)
Nice person. Sweetheart. She appreciated the confidence from two total strangers, and didn't she look the part of sweet damsel in distress? But they didn't know about the kiss that, when she really put her adled mind to use, was most likely the cause of her severe pain.

"I..." Vince lived in the building. They probably knew who he was. Probably knew his wife. Probably had plenty more reasons to like his wife than they did to like her. She couldn't. "I made a mistake." she couldn't begin to explain.

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[info]i_sea_you
2010-09-23 01:45 am UTC (link)
"A mistake?" Paul repeated blandly, and he didn't believe that for a second. That must have been one hell of a mistake. What could have possibly warranted such a retaliation? He may have had some idea, however...

And here was the scene in the movie known as their lives, the scene where a loud clap of thunder boomed menacingly right as realization occurred. God damnit! Paul suddenly felt the urge to kick something. He just couldn't get a grip on whatever this was; as soon as something short-circuited in his brain, it was like the weather went to hell. There was no rain, yet, and he concentrated on holding it at bay - it was better than nothing.

"Well, I don't know if whatever you did deserved eighty million bees and gnats..." he trailed off. "You're going to be okay." The apartment would be dealt with later. He didn't want to think about what was flying around in there, especially in such close proximity to Cassie. If he did, the rain would surely begin to pour.

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[info]humancondition
2010-09-23 05:49 am UTC (link)
Cassie was shaking her head before she could stop herself. "Mistakes get you reprimanded or yelled at, not a box full of angry insects," she muttered to herself, her grip on her steering wheel tightening for a moment. But Paul was continuing and Cassie was doing her best to drive quickly and safely to the hospital. It wasn't far, only a few blocks, and there was hardly any traffic to maneuver around.

"Completely okay," Cassie promised as she turned the next corner. The hospital was just in sight now and she'd stop by the entrance so Paul and Evan could get in as quickly as possible. "You'll be better in no time, put this behind you, find out who did it, and everything will be great." Sure there were complications, but those were just details. Best to stay positive, right?

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[info]the_wanderlust
2010-09-23 06:19 am UTC (link)
Oh, Evan wasn't about to get into a moral discussion about her small but still serious indiscretion with a married man. She didn't even know who Vince was. Politician, producer, all around social type of mogul ... she had no idea. All she knew was that he was handsome and charming, and powerful, and funny and maybe a reincarnated god and that a coffee meeting had gotten the better of her judgement. Was the usual price of an adulterous kiss a box full of bees? No, probably not. At least it hadn't been a shotgun shell to the head. A hollow grin flickered over her face as she leaned heavily against the back of the seats. "Coulda been worse." Now wasn't that a scary thought.

Paul and Cassie ... they were just nice folks, weren't they. Genuine good samaritans. "Can't thank you enough ..." They took her side without hearing the other ... a thought that occurred to her as they pulled up to the ER entrance, Cassie assuring her they'd sniff out the culprit. A thread of panic stirred her momentarily from her half-conscious state, practically sending her heart into arrhythmia. "Idon'wanna press charges." Deep breath, her head lolling to the side to allow her open eye to silently beg the King of Seas. "The doctors ask ... 's'was an accident." If the present had been from Vince's wife -- god damn, didn't that thought feel wretchedly familiar -- she didn't want anyone looking in to it. Best settled on their own terms ... whatever the hell those were supposed to be.

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