Nicholas 'Nick' Choi (stadion) wrote in remains_rpg, @ 2016-10-11 16:28:00 |
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Entry tags: | # 2019 [10] october, maizie wolfe, nick choi |
I will hold on hope
Who: Nick Choi and Maizie Wolfe
Where: The Lending Library
What: Nick and Maizie talk, mostly about Olivia and their shared concern.
When: October 4th, 2019 -- Afternoon
Two days. After eight days, two more should have been really easy. A total breeze. Right? Right. Except Maizie couldn't concentrate on anything at all -- not school, not her newly-arrived copy of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and certainly not work. Time crawled by, measured in the minutes that passed between texts from Liv and glances at the clock. And all the time Maizie was stuck at the front desk of the Lending Library, in book borrowing purgatory. Liv had said something about the separation exercising their resolve or testing it or whatever, but if that was true, she was very definitely failing. If her girlfriend had been on a voluntary vacation to Disney World that would have been one thing, because then Liv would have at least been enjoying herself. But just being locked in quarantine a few miles away, alone and sick and scared, meant that all Maizie could think about was the time that it would be over. A time that was still two days away. With a groan, she yanked the baseball cap (which was borrowed from Liv) off her head in order to run a hand through her hair. Then she tugged the hat back into place and sneaked a look at the clock. All of two minutes had passed since her last check. “I've got to find something else to think about,” Maizie muttered. She grabbed a stack of returned books and began sorting them, just to have something to do. As frustrated as she felt, Maizie knew she was going about the whole thing with way too much force, but the echoing thud of each volume hitting the table was kind of cathartic. So much that she didn't even notice as someone approached the desk. “So, ah, what did the books do to receive such violent treatment?” Nick asked as he stepped up to the counter, his gaze eying the way in which Maizie had been slamming them down. He understood needing some kind of release for the frustration enveloping this whole outbreak situation. It was frustrating at best and frightening at worst. Olivia had been in there now for eight days and in his opinion that was eight days too long -- but he was trying not to freak the fuck out about that. That didn’t mean he was succeeding. But at least Nick could say he was trying to keep his cool and trying to be positive. That’s what mattered, right? Coming to the Lending Library had been an attempt to take his mind off of things. Nick had come in search of medical textbooks or something that might give him a couple of hints as to how to navigate things with Lita while she was healing, but so far he had found absolutely nothing helpful on that front -- except for a beat up copy of the kama sutra, which he was still debating checking out or not. Setting the stack of books he had had in his hands on the corner of the counter (the kama sutra tucked away underneath a copy of “The Sun Also Rises”), Nick gave Maizie a serious look as he asked. “All joking aside how are you doing, Maizie?” At Nick’s question Maizie paused in her sorting, glancing first up at him and then down at the book in her hands. It was totally inoffensive, something about Eleanor Roosevelt, and a sheepish look crossed over her face. She'd let herself get caught up again, distracted from the task at hand. Carefully this time, she set the book atop the stack on her desk. “I dunno, I guess I’m okay. I mean, there’s just two more days, right?” There was no need to elaborate. Nick would know what was just two days away. After her and Savannah, he was the person who was closest to Liv, so actually she wouldn’t be surprised if he was counting down too. “Well,” she hedged, “maybe I'm a little worried still. I don't think it will really go away until she's finally out of there.” Maizie stopped, biting her lower lip. After all, Dad had been free and clear and coming home when he was taken away. Sure, it was safer now, but still. Nick gave a nod. “Right, only two more days, which are practically nothing compared to the last eight,” although he knew that it would feel like things were dragging on and on in the last forty-eight hours of Olivia’s quarantine. Plus, as much as he hadn’t liked Gray all that much, Nick was well aware that Maizie’s dad had been free and clear and yet had still ended up being taken away from her. That wouldn’t happen with Liv though, it couldn’t. Not only for Maizie’s sake, but selfishly for his own. He didn’t have family in Austin, but Liv had always felt more like family to him than simply one of his runners. He had scouted her, had spent more than his fair share of time trying to keep her out of trouble and her grades up while she had been in school and then when the apocalypse had hit he had vowed to continue looking out for her. Except now she sat in quarantine and Nick was both terrified and worried that because he hadn’t been there to try and look out for her, they might all lose her. He shoved those thoughts aside though. Maizie didn’t need anymore stress or worry put on her than she was already feeling. “I would love to say that it’ll go away, but you and I both know that would be a lie,” He replied with a faint smile. “All we can do is try not to overwhelm ourselves with worry, I think.” Nick ran a hand through his hair and propped a hip up against the counter, taking some of the weight off of his still healing knee. “Liv wasn’t bit though, so that has to count for something. Plus, if anyone can survive quarantine by sheer will and determination, it would be her.” Nick’s pronouncement brought a small, reflexive smile to her face. He had a point. After all, this wasn't the first trial Olivia had faced. The Nopales’ attack had been different but still awful -- violent and scary rather than this agonizing waiting. They'd made it through that, and the odds were very good that they'd make it through this too. Because, like Nick had said, Liv hadn't been bitten. “You're right,” Maizie acknowledged, with a nod. “I really think she's gonna be okay, even if this whole cold thing has me freaked out a little. But it's probably just stress, or whatever, lowering her immune system and making her susceptible to a completely normal, harmless virus. So, really, I've just got to stay cool for 48 more hours and then she’ll be home. Which should be totally doable. Right?” Though she sounded at least somewhat certain, her expression was still unsure. She nodded at Nick’s books. “And in the meantime, gotta keep busy. Can I check those out for you?” While his goal hadn’t been for Maizie to confirm he must be right, Nick could admit it was nice to know that someone else thought Olivia was way to determined to let the virus get her. At least that’s what he kept telling himself, because the alternative scared the fucking hell out of him -- but Maizie didn’t need to know that, because he didn’t need to be adding to the younger girl’s own concerns. “Right, it’s absolutely doable,” Nick confirmed, though he was aware that his tone wasn’t nearly as certain as he would have liked it to have been. There was no guaranteeing anything, even if in his gut he felt like this wasn’t the day, month or year that they would lose Olivia -- frankly he hoped he went first and that it was from old age and not the geeks, because he couldn't fathom surviving losing her. Nick’s gaze flicked down to the books and then back up to Maizie, unsure how to explain one particular book. Maybe he could make some joke about it? “Ah, yeah, sure, might as well get these check out,” he answered, hoping upon hope that things weren’t about to get really damn awkward. From Nick’s voice, Maizie knew they were both lying and scared to death about what was going to happen with Liv and Nathan and everybody else that was in quarantine. But what were they supposed to do? That was part of what made it a crappy situation -- there was no way to help, or to change the outcome. They just had to wait and try to be supportive and bear it all as best they could. “No problem. It'll take just a sec.” Taking the first book off Nick’s stack, Maizie started the checkout process, which was simpler now that their system was less cobbled together and more like a real library’s. Still, even though she didn't have to write down every title separately now, Maizie usually kept an eye on what people were borrowing. Call it professional interest, or nosiness. So of course she saw the title of the book that came after The Sun Also Rises. And she knew what The Kama Sutra was, too, even if she hadn't realized they had a copy. Finding it in Nick’s stack, Maizie only hesitated for a split second, a smirk crossing her face as she shot him a sideways glance. Then she kept going. As she finished with the last book, Maizie looked up with a wide grin. “I hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of these.” Nick caught the smirk that flickered across the younger woman’s features and was more than a little grateful that there hadn’t been a comment to go along with it. Or, well, a comment that was less subtle than the one Maizie said. “Ah, thanks,” he replied while he reached up to rub at the back of his neck. “I’m sure I will.” Oh god, why did he add that last part? He knew why, it was because it was the polite thing to do -- even if it made him feel more awkward. Although should he really? It wasn’t necessarily a secret that he was sleeping with Lita, and Maizie was eighteen. He chose then and there to stop being weird about this and just laugh it off. “So is this going to make the daily gossip update with Liv?” Nick offered a lopsided grin, hoping to dispel any last bit of awkwardness he felt about this situation. Honestly, maybe they could all use a laugh over this situation. Hadn’t they both just been talking about how stressed out they are while waiting for Liv to get out of quarantine? Maizie gave a soft laugh. “I dunno if I’ll mention your reading habits to her or not.” Did he really want Olivia to call him up and demand to know who he was Kama Sutra-ing with? Or maybe she wouldn’t actually care at all. Maybe it was just Maizie who was dying to know whether checking out this book was merely curiosity, or whether there would be some practical use for it as well. Was it weird to hope for the latter? Maybe so, but Nick was one of those people she just really wanted to be happy, no matter what, and if he had someone in his life to share stuff like this with? Well … then good for him. “Let’s just call it librarian-patron privilege. So no stress or whatever.” Maizie couldn’t help but give Nick a wink, though, before she pushed the stack of books across the desk and back toward him. She leaned forward, resting her chin in her hand and grinning up at him. “But if you wanted to do me a favor in return and confirm that there is somebody, or maybe drop a name, I’m not going to say I wouldn’t be interested in that information.” Nick offered Maizie a bit of a grateful smile. As much as he thought of Liv as family, and she was his family. There were some things she didn’t necessarily need to know -- and his reading habits was one of those things, at least in this case. “I appreciate the librarian-patron privilege here,” he started, a laugh escaped him at the wink Maizie gave him -- almost like they were conspiring here. Except they weren’t, not really. Nick wouldn’t have minded if Maizie shared this information with her girlfriend, after all secrets weren’t healthy for a relationship. He busied himself for a moment with shoving the books into the backpack he had with him, but once that was done Nick looked back up at the blonde and smiled softly. “There is someone,” for some reason he had sort of assumed that the Oval Office crew might have already known that he and Lita had started up their thing again -- but obviously they didn’t. He supposed now that they all lived in different homes nobody was as “in each others business” as they used to be. “And I don’t mind saying it’s Lita, but it’s not any more serious than it was the last time.” At least that was what he was still telling himself, though it felt more and more like a falsity each time he protested that fact to someone. Maizie, who had been watching silently while Nick packed up the books he'd just checked out, lit up as he divulged the secret of just who he was seeing. Or, well, kind of seeing, anyway. If there was any truth to his claim of things not being serious. Of course, as someone who couldn't help but immediately ship it, Maizie held onto a little hope that maybe Nick was just underselling the situation to her. He and Lita would make an awesome couple, in her opinion. “That's awesome, though!” For a second she forgot the whole ‘inside a library’ thing and spoke at a louder, more regular volume. With a guilty duck of her head -- and a glance to see if anyone was looking over -- she added, more softly, “I love Lita and I love you and I love you guys doing anything that makes you happy at the same time. So yay for, like, good news for once.” It was funny how even that one little thing could pick up Maizie’s mood a little. She was still totally worried about Liv, but it was nice to have a reminder that not quite everything was all doom and gloom this month. The smile that she gave Nick was more genuine than some of the previous ones. “Anyway, I won't keep you. Tell Lita I said hey if you talk to her before I do, and lemme know if you need me to bug Liv to call you or anything.” She doubted Olivia needed the reminder, actually, since she was pretty sure that her girlfriend was climbing the walls inside quarantine, but it seemed like the thing to say. Whatever hesitance Nick might have felt about revealing the information about him and Lita dissipated as he saw the way Maizie lit up. If him sharing this with her helped brighten her day even a tiny bit, then in his mind it was worth it. “Well, I’m glad I could deliver some good news,” he remarked with a small laugh, his mood having been lifted as well by the sheer fact he was able to put a smile on Maizie’s face. Later he would have to let Lita know that Maizie knew about their thing, although by this point he kind of assumed everyone knew -- so maybe Lita had assumed the same thing? “I’m, ah, heading over to Lita’s later, so I’ll make sure she knows you say hi,” Nick began as he readjusted the bag on his shoulder. “And don’t worry about hounding Liv to call me, we spoke yesterday and if I really need to call and check in I’ll call her,” he paused. “Plus, I’m kind of texting her every chance I get.” Nick was trying -- and probably failing -- to not be too overbearing about this quarantine business, but it was hard when Olivia was family and he had felt responsible for her since the minute she had walked onto the UT Austin campus all those years ago. After another moment Nick offered Maize one last smile as he said. “I should probably be letting you get back to your work,” he took a beat before he ducked around the counter and on impulse pulled Maizie into a hug. “She’ll make it through this.” Nick murmured as a farewell, aware he needed to hear those words just as much as Maizie probably did. “She’ll make it through, and so will we.” The smile that Maizie fixed on Nick in return for his was stronger than some of her previous ones in their conversation. Nothing about their situation had really changed, but she still felt better about it. Maybe it had helped to talk to someone that was just as worried about Liv as she was, like somehow they’d managed to bolster each other’s flagging optimism. The fear gnawed at her, of course, trying to erode her certainty into doubt, but hope was the thing to focus on. Hope would keep her going. It had carried her across eight days, so far, and it wouldn’t give out now, with only a couple more to go. “We all will make it,” Maizie repeated, this time with a nod. “Catch you again soon, Nick.” |