Ryan McCormick (mediumwell) wrote in remains_rpg, @ 2016-11-27 08:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | # 2019 [11] november, ryan mccormick, violet holladay |
Who: Ryan McCormick & Violet Holladay
Where: The Scherbatsky home in the Greenbelt
When: Backdated slightly to 11/8/16, mid-afternoon
What: Reminiscing on a crazy year and perhaps gossiping about their neighbors and certain unsavory components of their collective pasts
"Everything okay?" Ryan asked as he walked up to Violet, once the girl she'd been seeing and her ex-Greenbelt friend had left the party. Though he knew Mina from book club, he'd tried to be a good wingman, giving the two women plenty of space to chat for the brief time that she'd been at the party, but he'd noticed that their goodbyes had seemed a bit… off. “I… don't know,” Violet replied softly, giving a shake of her head. She'd been glad to see Mina there, but something hadn't seemed right. The other woman had seemed… quieter, uncomfortable, and then when she'd followed her out to see why she was leaving, that hadn't gone well. Not bad, but not well. She looked over to Ryan and frowned. “Yeah, I don't know.” He frowned too, a near mirror image of the expression on Violet's face. "Did she say anything in particular to you? Or had something happened before she left?" Violet nipped at the inside of her lip. “She said she had to go to her dad’s for Thanksgiving but then she said something about it being too much time with criminals for her taste.” "Oh." Ryan had heard bits and pieces about other people's grievances with the Hellhounds here and there, mostly at the food truck and the restaurant, and he'd watched some of the documentaries that had aired after they'd moved. He remembered that Marina's interview -- one of their hosts today -- had been particularly intense, but for some reason he'd thought that had mostly been in her past. Or rather, in the Greenbelt's past. His frown persisted as he glanced around the room, looking at the familiar faces of people who'd become neighbors, good acquaintances, and even friends. "I guess I always kind of knew something was…. unsavory, to a certain extent, about some of the people. Especially after what had happened with you and the truck over the summer. But maybe I liked being here too much. Never wanted to look too deeply into it, you know?" It was kind of a naïve thing to do, he realized, especially for a guy who prided himself on his thirst for knowledge. “Yeah.” Violet frowned a bit deeper, absently tucking her hair back behind her ears. What had happened that day with the truck, it had colored her view of their neighbors for a time. She knew it hadn't been any of the ones who stopped by the truck to get food, but that didn't change the visual she had in her mind of the men who had forced her to the side of the road and given her a black eye. It could have been worse, much worse, but it had been bad enough. “They’ve been nothing but good to us since we got here,” she said quietly, not exactly keen on their conversation being overheard. “It doesn't exactly raise suspicions.” "I know what you mean." Many of the guys in this home -- hell, some of the women, too -- had physically protected them after Violet's incident, too, against the men who'd been in their club. That had to mean something. Still, though, it was Thanksgiving. The greatest culinary holiday known to man. Ryan didn't want to rain on their parade too hard, especially when there was nothing they could do until they found out what, exactly, Mina had been referring to. "I thought the meal turned out pretty well, didn't it?" he asked, retreating back to their safe space of all things culinary. “It did,” Violet agreed, almost visibly relaxing at the prospect of talking about food instead of whatever potential there had been behind Mina’s words. “Lots of food I wouldn't normally think about having on Thanksgiving, but that's part of what's nice about it. New foods, new traditions… but we still brought the old standards.” "Yeah." As always, he took his cues from her: as the tension started to leave Violet, so too did Ryan begin to feel a little less on edge. "I thought everything was really well done." Today wasn't really a day for critiquing dishes made with love, though Ryan still found few flaws with what he'd eaten. "Our first Thanksgiving in our new city." With possibly extra-unsavory company, yes, but it was still an event to remember. “It was, I was glad for so much to take in,” Violet agreed, stepping over to Ryan and slipping her arm through his, resting her head on his shoulder. He moved his arm around her shoulder; it was like second nature, relying on each other to stay upright. “Our first one here. It's… it doesn't feel like we’ve been here that long, like we just got here a few weeks ago but it's been months.” "A lot's happened since then. A lot of firsts, good and bad, but I'd say more good overall. Our first business… our first two businesses, actually." Ryan laughed, adding, "Our first renovation project. It's hard to even remember what Burgatory looked like when we first got here. Remember how all those zombies chased us out the first day?" “How could I possibly forget?” She paused, worrying at the inside of her lip with her teeth. “Soon it'll be Christmas, but without snow.” "Yeah." It was easy to let his mind shift to holidays past; even after the dead started walking, they'd always managed to make the most of the holidays with their small family. They'd just have to continue that now, together. "You think you'll miss the snow any?" “I think I’ll miss it,” Violet said after a moment, tilting her head back to look up at him. “I won't miss how cold it gets up there, but I like how snow looks - waking up in the morning, looking out the window and seeing it. It'll be weird not to have that.” "Me, too. I can't even remember the last time I wore anything heavier than a button-down." Ryan's thoughts drifted briefly to the parents he hadn't seen in three years, wondering as he always did about where they were and if they were still alive, before he pushed the thought aside. "I think I'm getting used to the heat, though. Just a little bit." “What'll we do without the need to wear coats?” Violet teased, nudging his side. “Or scarves? Half my look, completely gone due to the climate.” To be fair, she'd left most cold weather things when they'd packed up to move, but that wasn't the point. “I wonder if it'll feel like Christmas without it.” "I guess we'll find out!" he said, laughing and returning her nudges with a few of his own. "I don't know, though, this feels a lot like Thanksgiving even without the cold and chance of snow already. Maybe it'll surprise us." “I hope so.” Violet slipped her other arm around his waist to be able to give him a hug before taking a step back and tilting her head toward the food. “Come on, I want to get some pie before it's all gone.” Ryan glanced over his shoulder just in time to see three big MC members arguing over how they were going to divvy up the final pieces. "I don't know, it might be too late," he said, amused, though he allowed her to lead him back over to the kitchen all the same. |