Olivia Jensen is on her way to ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ғᴀsᴛ (sprinted) wrote in remains_rpg, @ 2016-08-07 14:19:00 |
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Entry tags: | # 2019 [08] august, maizie wolfe, nathan posey, olivia jensen, savannah posey |
Who: Savannah Posey, Nathan Posey, Maizie Wolfe, and Olivia Jensen
Where: The Oval House in the LBJ District
When: All day on August 3, 2019
What: It's been a year since Gray Wolfe's death at the hands of the previous Capitol regime.
8:00AM - Olivia and Savannah. By the time Savannah came downstairs and into the kitchen, Olivia was just putting the finishing touches on lunch -- chicken, salad, and potatoes -- and snapping the plastic lids into place. Breakfast was almost ready, too, even though Olivia wasn't sure if she or Maizie would be all that hungry. She knew it wouldn't go to waste with her and Nathan in the home as well, but that didn't mean she wanted them to fast out of sadness or whatever. The urge to stay in bed and cry all day had been strong but Savannah had gotten herself out of bed, showered and dressed herself for work as if today was just another day. She carried her shoes downstairs, not wanting the clacking of her heels to wake anyone, and entered the kitchen, startled to find Liv already there. "Hi," Olivia said, turning to look briefly over her shoulder at Savannah. The anniversary of Gray's passing also marked the anniversary of when she'd moved in with the two of them. Despite how difficult it had been at first, she couldn't imagine her life without their little family now. Olivia couldn't help but feel guilty about the weird kind of happiness she felt about what this date meant for her. "I cooked," she added unnecessarily. Eyes a little wider than normal, Savannah took in the scene before her, before finally settling her face into a smile. “Mornin’ honey. It smells good, though it always does when you’re cookin’.” Rather than asking what the occasion was -- because it was pretty obvious -- she asked, “What’d you make?” "Thanks." Caution or not, emotional day or not, Olivia still preened inwardly at receiving a compliment from Savannah. She knew she wasn't exactly the most exciting cook, but it was nice to feel like she could contribute to their livelihood even if she was still getting used to the new normal. She slipped one of the containers into a bag and set it on the counter, pushing it over a little towards Savannah. "Chicken for lunch." Olivia turned the gas burner off, adding, "Bacon and egg sandwiches for breakfast right now, though. The eggs we got from the Greenbelt are like, pretty good." Weird to think of anything from the Greenbelt being edible, but Olivia hoped Savannah would prefer to dwell on that rather than the rest of the stuff going on today. “Yeah? I’m still impressed they’ve got actual livestock over at the Greenbelt,” Savannah said, picking up a sandwich and looking at it thoughtfully. It was also nearly unbelievable that they got to eat real food again. Months and years of canned and boxed food at the library made her feel like fresh produce and an honest-to-God home cooked meal would never been a reality again. She took a bite, chewing it happily, before adding, “Real good, sweetheart. Thank you.” "Thanks." Olivia couldn't help the shy, pleased smile that appeared briefly on her face at the praise. She leaned forward to reach for one of the other sandwiches and began to eat, both of them standing around the island together. The silence between them was nice, companionable even, but Olivia couldn't help but wonder if she was supposed to say anything to commemorate the date. There was no point in pretending it was anything but the day it was, but she had always been terrible with words. After a moment she swallowed, half of her sandwich already eaten, and made eye contact with Savannah. "I --" Ugh, everything sounded terrible in her head, and the longer she tried to pick something out the longer the pause stretched out, ratcheting up her anxiety even more. Another swallow, this time to get down her nerves, before she finished her sentence. "You know, maybe we can order some movies from the catalog. It would be fun to have like, some family movie nights next month. Spend more time together or whatever. Not that I -- Not that I don't want to spend more time together this month. But you know…. What I mean." God, Olivia hoped Savannah knew what she meant, what she was struggling to say. She offered her another smile, hoping she hadn't screwed up by saying nothing when she wanted to say everything. Maybe she could try again if Savannah wouldn't mind. Savannah’s amused smile grew as Olivia continued to talk… and talk. She had a bit of a word vomit problem, but it was endearing at the moment. “That sounds real nice. We’ll have to talk about what movie we want to order. I’m bettin’ that you, me and Maizie can outnumber Nathan so we won’t end up with some Fast and Furious type movie.” "Yeah. That sounds great." Olivia wouldn't have minded some crazy car heist movie, but it was pretty cool seeing Savannah smile like that. Grabbing a napkin and wrapping the rest of her sandwich in it, she gave Liv another smile. “I better get goin’ to work now. Thanks for breakfast, sweetheart. And lunch. I’ll see you tonight, okay?” "Sounds good." Olivia turned to make sure the other lunches were in order, then returned Savannah's smile with one of her own. This wasn't so bad a start to the day, she hoped. Maybe she'd helped for real. "See you then." 9:00AM - Olivia and Nathan. With only Nathan and Olivia in the house, he felt some weight lift from his shoulders, since he wasn't as concerned about saying the wrong thing in front of Savannah or Maizie. He was upset that they were upset, but Gray hadn't meant the same to him. He'd been the man that had strung Savannah along, and nearly every time Nathan and Gray had interacted it had left a bad taste in Nathan’s mouth, even though the man himself had been nice enough. But still, he recognized loss and what that did to a person, and he'd been Savannah’s love and Maizie’s family. Even if Nathan wasn't sad he was respectful of that. “How you doin’, kiddo?” he broached the silence as he rinsed a few plates and craned his neck to look at Olivia. “You know, food was a good idea.” Olivia was the one in the house that he didn't know where her feelings on Gray’s death anniversary stood, but he knew enough not to ask outright either. She nodded a bit, taking the plates as he washed them and swiping at each one with a towel before setting them in the rack to dry. "Thanks. I was hoping it would be," she said, glancing sideways back up at him. Olivia had gotten used to his presence over the last few months; even the annoying nickname wasn't so bad anymore. "I don't know. I'm okay. I mean, like I'm kind of super drained already, but." As much as she wanted this day to be over, she knew it paled in comparison to Savannah and Maizie. Olivia wiped another plate dry, then added, "This is kind of weird for me. Like for them this is the day that everything went to shit, but for me it's the day I moved in with them and like." She shrugged, shaking her head. "Obviously I never left. Okay, maybe for a little while, but I came back." “I’m gonna reckon that doesn’t matter in the long run. The leavin’, I mean.” "I hope not. Otherwise they're pretty good at pretending they aren't holding a grudge." It was a joke, really, one that was maybe based in a little bit of her biggest fear. Nathan passed another dish towards Olivia, reminded how the day had changed all their lives in some way or another, except for his. “It’s weird for me too,” he continued. “Not in the same way, obviously. But me and Gray, we got a long ‘cause of Sav, but…” he cut himself off before he finished his sentence. He didn’t need to unload all his feelings about how Gray had treated his sister onto a twenty-something. “I wasn’t here for the days and months afterwards.” Maybe that was for the better too. “I think bein’ there for the both of ‘em is all we can do, y’know.” Nathan wasn’t a fount of wisdom on the subject, as much as he might have wished he was. "Yeah. Me, too." She looked over at him, her eyes lingering a little longer on his face and expression, as she tried to figure out if she'd sensed something else besides general empathy and unease. Olivia knew she could ask about it, probably, but instead she just turned her attention back to the dishes. "At least things are better around here. Well, sort of." The danger posed by the rogues still weighed on her, but things hadn't been so bad lately even still. "That water party was fun the other day, right?" A thought occurred to her then and she added, a look of irritation flashing over her features, "I think I saw Daniela Diaz checking you out then." Snorting, Nathan raised his eyebrows at Liv. “If she was it was probably just ‘cause she was worried I’d drown myself. Not a lot confidence in my abilities there,” he replied as he finished washing the last dish and pulled the stopper on the sink. “Wouldn’t have been the only one doin’ it though, if she was.” He had caught a fair amount of looks that day, he was used to it. “That bother you?” He’d caught Liv’s brief change in expression before she’d opened her mouth. Even with their relationship in a better place, he couldn’t ignore an opportunity to poke at her a little. For years, Olivia's default answer to such a thing would've been something like: 'Of course Dani Diaz bothers me; she's a bitch and a half.' But after they'd had their weird fight in the lending library stacks, they'd been at a weird non-truce. Her usual response would've felt false. So instead she shrugged a shoulder as she answered, "We bother each other regularly." Truth be told, the idea of multiple people checking out Nathan was more vomit-inducing than anything related to Dani. Like, sure, he was good looking and whatever, but he was like, her uncle. "You're not the only one here who has abs, so." Olivia shrugged again, smirking this time. This topic was way easier than their previous one. He muffled a laugh by turning it into a cough and turned around to lean against the counter. “I know I ain’t the only one,” he retorted. “Some of those Hellhounds do too.” He went for the joke first, smirking at Liv for a few seconds as she rolled her eyes. “Wouldn’t hurt to have a gym worth usin’, though,” he mused out loud. “There’s probably only so long I can use the yard, and the fitness center on the campus is a mess.” He’d checked, because the place had been familiar stomping grounds for him way back when. "It would be pretty nice." Olivia's athletic down time was spent mainly on the track, of course, especially now that it was much safer to get over there. Their house was nice, and so was real meat and vegetables and stuff, but having a real gym for cross-training would actually feel like things were back to normal. "Maybe we could get one going or something." That was something to chew on. “Maybe,” Nathan replied, pushing off the counter and popping his neck out of old habit. “But I reckon that’s a brainstorm for another mornin’. You and me have other places to be for now.” He had pushed it enough with the time that cleaning up had taken, but talking with Liv had been good. “Give me a heads up if you hear either of ‘em are havin’ real bad trouble today?” More than the usual that Nathan knew Savannah and Maizie would be working through. "Yeah, I will." Olivia set the towel down and shot him a brief smile. "See you later." 4:45PM - Maizie and Savannah. At first work had been a good thing, a distraction. Until late in the afternoon, anyway, when Maizie had stumbled across a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird and started to cry right there in the stacks, just because it reminded her of talking about the book with Savannah last July, while Dad was missing. Any other day she would have been fine. Today it was obviously a sign she should go home. Which was how she came to be sitting on a sofa in the living room, reading through the last texts from Dad and hugging a pillow as tears streamed down her cheeks. She'd had this idea that if she just gave into the grief instead of fighting it, eventually she'd just burn out, like a candle running out of wax to burn. So far it wasn't going so great. Hearing a sound from somewhere else in the house, Maizie looked up with a start and dropped her phone to wipe her eyes. God, what if those rogue Hellhounds were trying to break in or something? “Hello?” she called, her voice still kind of wobbly from all the crying. Savannah had done her best to act like today was a normal workday. She’d gotten up and dressed and went to the office -- she’d conducted business as usual despite the date. For the past year she’d missed Gray like crazy but knew that she couldn’t let her life stop, so she’d treated today like any other. Only as the day went on, she could feel the facade crumbling and knew it was time to get herself home. What she hadn’t counted on was finding someone already at home. “Hello?” Savannah echoed back, stepping into the house, her heels clacking against the wooden floor. The voice had sounded off and once Savannah stepped into the living room she understood why. Maizie looked like she’d been crying. “Oh… honey, what’re you doin’ here all by yourself?” Savannah asked, crossing the living room to join her on the sofa. “I couldn't stay at work.” Wiping her eyes again, Maizie scooted down a little so Savannah could sit on the sofa too, if she wanted. Then she let out a shaky laugh, the kind that was half hiccuping sob, and gestured at her phone. “Reading those final messages Dad sent was a big mistake. I thought if I thought about him for a while, and really remembered him …” Maizie faltered and looked over at Savannah, tears filling her eyes again as she gave the older woman a beseeching look. “Did you know that some days I don't even think about him once? I did all the time at first, and I wished he could come back and just be there for a while. I can’t even remember when I stopped doing that, but I did. That great big hole inside of me where he was missing got smaller.” And the most awful thing of all? Maizie wasn’t even sure if she cared that she’d stopped thinking about him all the time. She was happy. Sitting next to Maizie, Savannah felt her throat tightening with emotion. She’d been running from this all day and it seemed like that was over now. Swallowing hard, she reached out, resting a hand on Maizie’s arm. “I think your daddy would have wanted it that way, sweetheart. It doesn’t mean that you’ve forgotten him. It’s like that for me too--” Savannah said, “--I miss him but it doesn’t … consume me all the time. Even though today I damn near felt like dyin’,” she tried to say with a laugh, though more of a choked sob came out. “I did too,” Maizie admitted, her expression miserable. She shifted, slipping her arm around in such away that she could grab hold of Savannah’s hand in her own and give it a comforting squeeze. “It was a pretty crappy day, to tell you the truth. I mean, I guess more than anything that proves neither of us have forgotten him, even if we’re still getting on with our lives. Or else we wouldn’t be sitting here crying like this.” She sniffled, then gestured at herself, as if that just proved the point she was trying to make. “Maybe you’re right and the days we don’t spend crying are important too, because that’s more like what Dad would want for us. Or -- I don’t know. Something like that. As long as it’s not a cop out.” Maizie knew she was spinning her wheels, but it was harder to justify all the moving on she’d done when everything felt so raw all over again. Biting at her lip for a moment, she finally gave a helpless shrug and added, “I’m just real glad I have you, Savannah. That’s all.” Leaning in and wrapping an arm around Maizie’s shoulder to hug her, Savannah kissed at the top of her head, still trying to stave off tears. She wasn’t managing very well though and the tears rolled down her face. She supposed it just couldn’t be helped. Not today. “I’m glad I have you too, sweetheart,” she sniffled, “A year ago, I couldn’t even begin to think we’d be like this. And I hate that it took your daddy dyin’ for us to get closer, but I’m still glad that we are. You and Liv and Nathan and Lita and Nick and Luc and--” she sniffled again. “You’re my family and I love you so much. Don’t ever forget that, okay? You mean so much to me.” Strangely enough, this was what broke the dam, and once the words were out of her mouth Savannah didn’t even pretend to stop her tears anymore. Body shaking from tears, she just hugged Maizie tighter, reluctant to let anything so precious away from her right now. This fresh round of crying was enough to set off Maizie’s tears again, and in a heartbeat her arms wrapped just as tightly around Savannah as Savannah’s were around her. It was a while before the sobs let up enough that she could speak again, and by the time she lifted her head and pulled back, wiping her eyes, Maizie’s whole head was kind of stuffed up. That said, though, she actually did feel a little better. Maybe she didn't need to let out her emotions so much as she needed to share them. And share them with Savannah, specifically. “I love you,” she said fiercely. “No matter what else happens, I hope you know I'm gonna be here. Family has to stick together.” As Savannah had pointed out, they’d come a long way since Dad’s death, from Maizie downright resenting Savannah at times to being as good as mother and daughter. It had been a pretty crappy way to get closer, but it was an upshot that Maizie didn’t regret one bit. Life was a lot better now that the two of them were on the same side. “I love you too, sweetheart,” Savannah said, giving Maizie another squeeze before pulling back herself so she could wipe away at her tears. They were both a wreck, but she didn’t mind. They’d needed this today. Laughing a bit as she felt the tension from the day had been from her body, she gave Maizie a watery smile and said, “We should get cleaned up. Babs and Teddy are comin’ over for dinner tonight.” Maizie nodded, tucking her phone back in her pocket as she stood up off the couch. “It's still strange to think those two used to be married. Or are still married, or whatever.” She reached up to run a hand through her hair, realizing for the first time just how disheveled all this crying had left her. Maybe there was time for a quick shower before everyone started arriving. Before Maizie headed for the stairs, she paused to give Savannah a smile that was more determined than genuine. But it was a start. “I'll see you in a few. Thanks again for listening, Savannah.” |