Nathaniel Posey (twentytwenty) wrote in remains_rpg, @ 2016-10-21 08:27:00 |
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Nathan had just one more day in quarantine to go. Well, a day and a few hours, but he wasn’t really being technical about it. Freedom was almost close enough for him to touch. But he knew he wasn’t exactly out of the woods just yet, even if most cases turned a lot sooner than day ten, there was still some percentage of possibility. He hadn’t asked for the statistics. He’s not sure the staff would have given them anyway. Most of the symptoms that had terrified him days ago were letting up. Signs that it was probably just a cold after all, but the doctors hadn’t diagnosed that either. He knew one person that might be able to shed some light, though. If she picked up her phone. If he had it right, Demi had been released the day before. Before he could second guess calling, he hit the button to dial her number, then he stretched out and waited while it rang. A day out of quarantine and Demi was already feeling the tension inside of her uncoil, though not completely. It couldn't, not while Isaac was still inside those walls, or so many others that Demi cared for deeply. She had never been overly religious, but she found herself sending up silent prayers for their health and safety while they each sat out the last of their stay. Her mind would drift to Isaac more often than not, to the things she wanted to talk about with him once he was out, or the way she missed his solid weight beside her in bed, or the way he kept her in line better than anyone else she had met in her life. Demi was stretched out on Noa's couch in her living room, book in hand and Duke and Hobbes curled up on the the floor beside the couch when her phone rang. She wasn't even embarrassed by how quickly she snatched it off the side table and answered, barely looking at the name on the screen as she did so. "Hello," she spoke quickly, pausing to pull the phone away from her ear to confirm who it was she was talking to before she continued. "How do I rate a phone call from you, huh?" Demi teased, bypassing her desire to express her sympathies over Jackson's passing -- she was positive that Nathan hadn't called for her to bring him down. “Thought I should call and congratulate y’all on makin’ it out,” he replied, amused. He knew that calling Demi had been a good decision when she didn’t try to ask about Jackson. He was fine talking about his friend with people that had really known him, because they were probably feeling something about it too, but he didn’t think he was ready to hear that from all of his friends. He still hadn’t completely wrapped his brain around it even though it had been almost a month. “Pretty badass of you, darlin’.” A laugh could be heard fluttering over the phone line, amusement still ringing in Demi’s words as she spoke. “I’m pretty sure my being badass had nothing to do with it, sweetheart,” she replied, though the thankfulness in being immune was also clear in the way she spoke. “Pretty sure I just hit whatever genetic jackpot made me immune, but I’m not complaining.” Part of her couldn’t help but hope that immunity was infinite, because she couldn’t imagine losing Isaac, or even losing Nathan. “Hey, take it. Your genetics are badass!” he replied spirits already lifted higher than they’d been before he’d called Demi. Nathan’s words earned a little laugh from her. “You don’t look like I do without having badass genetics,” she knew that wasn’t what he meant, but she couldn’t pass up making the remark anyway. Switching gears back to immunity talk, she paused for only a moment before adding. “How are you doing, darling? Craving brains yet?” Demi tried to make a joke of her question, but in all seriousness she was more than a little concerned about his status. He shifted on the small bed, but couldn’t find a comfortable way to relax so he moved to the floor instead, with his back against the bed frame. Demi’s question reminded him how many times he’d been asked how he was feeling since he’d entered quarantine. “Nah, not yet. Reckon I’m probably in the clear, but I’ve still got a day to sit and wait.” “Make sure you keep it that way, sweetheart,” Demi knew that Nathan had no control over whether he did or didn’t turn, but that wasn’t going to stop her from saying what she had said. “Your sister’s already lost enough people to this damn virus,” Of course Savannah had only actually lost one person, but to Demi that was more than enough. “Hell, we’ve all lost enough people to this thing.” You couldn’t throw a rock without hitting someone who had lost someone to the virus, actually. “Ouch,” Nathan responded, making a face even though Demi couldn’t see him. “Nice shot there, Rafferty, bringin’ my sister into this.” He already knew he didn’t want to go just so his family wouldn’t have to suffer through that. Whether or not they were real happy with him right now (Savannah was speaking to him at least, that was something), he thought dying on them would probably still leave a dent. “What you gonna do next? Call me less of a man if the virus takes me?” There was barely concealed laughter in his voice though, so he doubted that Demi would believe he was serious. “It wasn’t meant as a low blow,” Demi began, realizing in hindsight that it could easily have been taken that way. Thankfully Nathan knew her well enough to know that she hadn’t actually meant to dig into a sore spot with her words. “You’re not going to let the virus take you, so we’ll never know if I’d end up calling you that or not.” There was a teasing tone back to her voice now as she spoke. They both knew she would never utter those words, even if Nathan did fall victim to the virus -- which he wasn’t going to do. There was a short pause before Demi added. “And anyway you’ve been bitten once and proven immune, you being in there is just a precaution.” “A very long, very borin’ one,” he replied with a snort. “I ain’t been through somethin’ this mind-numbin’ in a while. Boot camp, maybe.” But even then he’d been able to get out and see things between four walls and a bed. He could last one more day though. “I wouldn’t have taken boot camp to be something someone might consider mind numbing,” Demi remarked, though she could freely admit her knowledge of boot camp was limited to how it was portrayed in movies at best. Shifting on the cold floor of his room, Nathan snorted a laugh. “It ain’t all exciting like they make it seem. It’s a lot of routine and shit.” He had preferred flight training a lot more than that. Moving the phone from one ear to the other, Demi laughed softly. “Way to ruin the image I had of Boot Camp,” she remarked, tone teasing before she shifted the conversation back towards quarantine. “Just one more day and you’ll be free of there, sweetheart.” It was meant as encouragement, even if Nathan didn’t really need any. “I’ve been staring at the countdown on my wall for the last week,” he told her, dropping his head back against the bed frame. “Made it through three of those Harry Potter books, and I’m not seein’ the appeal. But it ain’t like they gave me anythin’ better.” “I had a countdown like that too,” Demi admitted, smiling slightly when she thought of the look the doctors had given her when they had noticed the little pencil marks on the wall. She just thought they should have been grateful she did it in pencil and hadn’t just scratched the marks into the paint. Her smile faltered into a look of shock -- one she knew Nathan couldn’t see -- when she caught his remark about the Harry Potter books. “You don’t like them at all?” she questioned with surprise clear in her tone. Amused by what obviously sounded like surprise (and offense maybe) in her tone, he responded quickly, “It ain’t that I didn’t like ‘em. But I don’t reckon I’m the demographic they were aimin’ for with those books.” “You mean you’re not a young adult?” Demi questioned as if she were shocked. “In all seriousness you’re probably not their demographic, but I would recommend giving the rest of the books a chance at least.” Who knew maybe one of the latter books would change Nathan’s opinion some. “Darlin’, I could parent a young adult,” Nathan countered, ignoring the weird way that made his thoughts hiccup. He hadn’t thought about being a parent in a long, long time. “But I’ll do what y’all say, ‘cause you ain’t gonna give up on it if I don’t.” Demi could be stubborn, he knew that much. She wasn’t a woman to go toe-to-toe with if you weren’t prepared. “I’ll see if I can borrow ‘em from someone.” Maybe the lending library had copies if he couldn’t. “And I’ll give you my reviews. Y’all are gonna get tired of hearin’ from me.” Nathan’s words brought a smile to Demi’s face, they weren’t untrue -- he could parent a young adult -- although she had never actually heard him talking about being a parent before. Maybe quarantine was changing him. “Just remember you’re the one who brought up that you’re old, not me,” she remarked in a lighthearted and teasing tone. “And see that’s the smart Nathan Posey I know, listening to what I say and not giving me any kind of gruff.” In reality he probably just knew she wouldn’t drop it until he agreed, so it saved them both time that he gave in so easily. “You do that,” Demi began with a smile. “I can’t wait to hear your reviews on them, sweetheart. I’m sure it will be entertaining if nothing else,” she paused. “And you know damn well I won’t get tired of hearing from you.” Especially not if it meant he was out of that place and alive. “For right now you just focus on getting out of that place virus free, okay?” Nathan laughed. “You’re real pushy, anyone tell you that, darlin’?” he asked, rhetorical and good-natured. “I’m gonna do my best. I’ll talk to you later, alright?” Nathan waited long enough for Demi’s consent before he added a goodbye and hung up on the call. The phone call might not have solved the world’s problems, but it had done what he’d hoped, and he felt a little bolstered by Demi’s ability to believe that it was all going to turn out. |