all the creatures have it hard now Who: Isaac Callahan and Demi Rafferty Where: Isaac and Demi’s Apartment. What: A conversation after a long day. When: Backdated - September 9th, 2018 -- Evening, after this.
Waiting on the floor to buckle, down below their belts, crashing into yet another, drifting continental shelf, moving without motion, screaming without sound, across an open ocean, flying there on temporary ground, the old explorers had it easy, they discovered nothing new,
The apartment is spotless, has been for days now, and yet Demi finds herself with a rag and wood polish in hand. She can’t remember just how many times she’s gone over the surface of the dresser with the rag, once, twice, maybe seventeen times, she lost track ages ago. By now her reflection can be seen in it, face devoid of makeup, hair thrown up in the messiest of buns and a crease between her eyebrows that speaks of the worry that has sent her into this fit of cleaning. It’s a little known fact, one that truly only a handful of people know, that when Demi is feeling particularly uneasy about something she’ll set herself to cleaning. It doesn’t matter what she’s cleaning or why, all she craves are those few moments of focusing on a task, of keeping her hands busy and her mind away from the troublesome thoughts that wish to plague it. The skin of her hands is cracked and dry from the cleaning products she’s subjected them to over the course of the last two days, she knows she should stop, and yet she can’t.
Because the only other coping mechanisms she has is dance and Demi has tried that already. Something about the small studio doesn’t provide her with the space she needs to truly get lost in the music and movement of whatever piece she may be performing. A small voice toys with her, tempting her to pack a bag and set out for Butler.
She doesn’t.
Demi promised Cal she wouldn’t wander around the city alone, wouldn’t take to her old habits of setting out, destination unknown, simply to get out of the walls that were beginning to feel oppressive.
The small reminder of Cal stops her short, her hand hovering over the top of the nightstand now, her phone laying on her bed almost taunting her. He had sent a text earlier, had assured her that he still cared about her. A knot had unraveled in her chest after that, a little bit of the burden of Saturday night was lifted off of her shoulders. Yet, in the next moment Demi had come to the realization that if she ever hoped to mend their friendship completely she needed to rid herself off all the secrets she was keeping from Cal, every last one of them. The idea of recounting both her life leading up to La Quinta and La Quinta itself to him made her uneasy. More than uneasy, it turned her stomach, made her anxious and panicked all at the same time.
Along with the promise she made to Cal, one she can’t break after everything she’s already put him through, The patrolmen currently sitting down the hall from the apartment is a good deterrent as well. Demi knows why he’s there, even if she's not ready to believe it just yet.
Though, whatever burden had been lifted off after Cal’s text had only lessened the weight that Demi felt. Nina’s earlier texts had been coded, but she knew the code, knew what it meant. She didn’t want to believe it though, because believing it made it real. The patrolmen could be seated down the hall for a whole number of reasons, unrelated to her Hellhound connections, right? Demi was fooling herself, something she wasn’t very good at. Still, Nina’s news had been the catalyst for her current cleaning spree, the thing that had sent her straight into another round of manic busyness, anxiety rising at the idea of what that news might be doing to Rodeo and by extension his officers and the Dog Park. The question that continued to rise up in her mind wasn’t whether the Hellhounds would act, but when and how.
She wanted to believe that she had misunderstood Nina’s messages, that the rumor mill was wrong, and that patrolmen was just a new part of Lansing’s way of reminding her of her precarious place in the Capitol, but, if Demi had learned anything in her few short months her it was that most things concerning her lead straight back to her Hellhound affiliations, and her gut told her that man was outside the apartment because the rumor mills weren’t wrong, Nina wasn’t wrong -- Adelaide had been arrested, her phone and been found and now she was locked away in the Department of Justice. Which was why when she heard the door to the apartment open and the tell tale ‘thump’ of Isaac’s briefcase hitting the floor next to the door, Demi made a beeline for the living room, rag in hand -- though cleaning had been forgotten for the moment.
“I know you don’t like sharing Department of Justice information with me,” she begins, words hurried. “I need you to be honest with me though, I need you to tell me the truth. Has Adelaide Lansing really been arrested? Is she really locked up in the DoJ?” Demi’s dark eyes are wide, her expression concerned, worried and maybe a little panicked. She looks a frantic mess and she knows it. She has a small flicker of hope still, maybe she had read Nina’s message wrong.
It had been an unsettling day to say the least, what with having to interrogate Addie about being the Dog King’s sister and questioning her about any involvement she might have with her outlaw brother. So when he arrived home for the evening, he immediately dropped his briefcase and loosened his tie, quite ready to separate himself from all that. Unfortunately, Demi’s on him immediately, looking all wild-eyes and disheveled and asking him about all the shit he didn’t even want to think about.
Sighing and loosening his tie further before taking it off he threw it to the side, not caring where it landed. Nodding to her question he asked, “Just where do you think I’ve been all day, sweetheart?” Though he was informing her more than actually asking her a question.
He stepped further into the room, kicking off his shoes then shrugged his suit jacket off and tossed that away as well. Clearly he wasn’t going to get his mindless evening of not thinking about work shit, so once he was sitting on the couch, he looked up at her and asked, “I take it you knew she was the Dog King’s sister?”
The rag in her hand was twisted and knotted up -- much like her heart -- when Isaac confirmed where he had been all day and what he had been doing. Demi hadn’t read the coded messages wrong, this really was happening and that sent a chill down her spine. "Oh, I don't know, Disneyland," Demi fired back, not amused by his sarcasm, even if she knew it was his response to the day he had been having. In response, Isaac just rolled his eyes are her, equally unamused by her return sarcasm. Of course they would put him on the case, a high profile arrest and interrogation wouldn't fall into just anyone's lap. Still, it takes everything inside of her not to let her mind flash back to memories of when he had been tasked with interrogating her.
Those memories, combined with his own line of questioning for her, only served to spike the anxiety she already felt. "Yes," Demi answered as she set aside the rag in her hand and moved to pick up Isaac's discarded tie and jacket. "I've known this whole time who Adelaide's related to," she continued, stepping over to the couch and laying the jacket and tie over the back of it. "Is that why she's been arrested? Because she shares blood with a criminal?"
He hadn’t meant for her to pick up after him but he didn’t move to collect his things either. He was sort of just frozen there, letting the day sink into his skin. Demi obviously knowing about Addie and her relation to the Dog King made it even worse. “You know I can’t give you the specifics,” he started, though after a pause, looked over at her and narrowed his eyes slightly. What he was about to say was probably (most definitely) crossing lines but there was a lot at stake here and what good was his position of power if he couldn’t use it to protect the people he cared about? “Though I would suggest if you have an extra phone lying around, one that ties you to the people you used to run around with, you should get rid of it. You can give it to me and no questions asked, I’ll make it disappear.”
If Demi did have a phone that tied her to the Dog King she would go back into La Quinta, and not the nice part that Addie was staying in. And once she was there, there wouldn’t be a damn thing Isaac could do, short from burning down the Capitol, to get her out.
Freezing at his words, Demi’s blood runs cold and an image of her Hellhound phone tucked away in her bag leaps to the forefront of her mind. Still, her expression never changes and quickly she’s moving around the couch to sit down on it, legs drawn up underneath her. This is going to be a longer conversation than she intended it to be, she can already feel it.
“How would I have a phone from them? The only time I’ve left the Capitol it’s been with Cal,” Demi pointed out, hoping Isaac won’t press further, won’t force her to revert back to the woman who had sat across a table from him and refused to give him even an ounce of information. “Is that why they’ve put a patrolmen on me? Because they believe I’ve been in contact with the Dog King or his Hounds?” Her expression is stony, not a flicker of concern showing in her dark eyes as she meets Isaac’s gaze. “Is that why I’ve been made to feel like a prison in our apartment?”
“Didn’t that documentary guy take you to the hospital the first time?” Isaac asked, glancing over at her. Not that he really cared who she saw or where she went but it was inaccurate for her to say she’d only ever left with Cal. Given his profession he got a little fixated on the details. “I’m not saying any of this is right. But just think about it. If the Council president’s wife is getting treated like this for her blood relation to the Dog King what do you think they’re going to do to someone who has known ties to them?”
He ran a hand through his hair, tugging at it a bit in frustration. “I just don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“That was a routine doctor visit, Isaac, not some secret rendezvous” Demi answered easily, no indication of the slight spike of panic that ran through her at the idea that Isaac might suspect Nate of having ties to the Hounds. “And exactly how would Nate be connected to the Hellhounds anyway, or have gotten me a phone?” Nate might not have been the type to fit in with the Capitol folks, but he also wasn’t exactly the sort of man that screamed ‘associated with outlaws’ either.
“I don’t know, I guess it wouldn’t make sense,” Isaac shrugged, not really having anything more to say about it. He hadn’t been trying to suggest that Nate was tied to the Hellhounds or that Demi had used that doctor’s visit to get in contact with her old crew. He was mostly just pointing out that her statement of ‘only’ leaving with Cal was inaccurate.
Demi wanted to be anywhere but in this conversation right now, her fingers aimlessly picked at the fraying denim in the knee of her jeans, dark eyes darting down to look at the damage she was doing before looking back up at Isaac. “They’ll do the same thing they did before, I’m sure,” she replied coolly. “You have nothing to worry about, darling. They have no cause to arrest me, I’m not a spy and any information I could have given them they’ve got already if they know who Adelaide is related to.” It was a bold face lie, but it was one Demi needed to tell -- for her safety and Isaac’s.
It was probably safest for Isaac to not know just how close her connection to the Dog King actually was, so he didn’t push for any further details. Sighing, he rested his elbows on his knees and then placed his head in his hands. Today had been pretty awful, if he was being honest with himself, and he wasn’t sure he could handle any more bullshit.
“Can we talk about something else?”
The request for a change of subject was met with no objection from Demi. While she knew Isaac wasn't interrogating her, she couldn't shake the vague familiarity with his line of questioning. Soon enough she knew if the conversation continued she would be forced to revert back to the woman she had been in that interrogation room -- all one word answers and refusal to offer any kind of information at all. If that happened Demi knew without a doubt it would be more of a tell than anything else, Isaac would pick up on the shift and it would be like she had a bright neon sign above her head that flashed 'liar'.
And while that may not be untrue now, the lies she told were minor compared to the lies she might be forced to tell if Isaac continued to ask questions.
"What would you like to talk about?" Demi asked, shifting on the couch to bring herself closer to him. "Would you like to hear about how I've rid this place of every last spec of dust that ever existed?"
Isaac glanced at Demi out of the corner of his eyes as she sat down next to him, but made no move to sit up just yet. He wasn’t ready for it yet and so long as Demi didn’t mind, he wasn’t about to change that.
In the two years he’s been at the Capitol, he could never recall his apartment ever being so clean. It was… kinda weird. “Yeah, what’s that all about? Are we having guests over or something? If we are, I forgot. Sorry.”
For the first time since Isaac entered the apartment, or actually for the first time that day, Demi found herself laughing. “That is called I needed something to do with my hands,” she answered. “And no, we’re not having guests over. I, well, I clean when I’m anxious.” Demi could recall numerous times in which she had straightened up her own trailer -- along with any other space she was allowed into -- while the Hounds were out for the day. While she may never had voiced her concern for their safety, that didn’t mean she had never worried about them each time they would go roaring out of the gates of the Dog Park.
This wasn’t the same, now it was her own personal drama, coupled with Adelaide being arrested, that had her needing a distraction from her chaotic thoughts.
At her words, Isaac pushed himself up and turned to face Demi, his brows furrowed together. “Why are you so anxious? Is someone giving you a hard time? What’s the matter?” He asked, his questioned fired off in rapid succession.
What had started off as a moral dilemma that he couldn’t turn a blind eye to had somehow evolved into these feelings for Demi that he had trouble describing. He cared about her and wanted to protect her and he also found her attractive as hell. She challenged him and was extremely stubborn (which was sometimes (most of the time) a real pain in the ass). She knew what it was like to lose the person you loved most in the world. He wasn’t telling himself that this thing between them was love, or even an infatuation, but whatever it was, seeing Demi so unlike herself worried him.
It was touching how quickly Isaac seemed to snap out of his own exhausted state, displaying a kind of protectiveness over her as he fires off his questions. Despite her own anxious state, Demi found herself letting a small smile appear. “Nobody’s giving me a hard time,” she replied gently, hand reaching out to rest over one of his. After a moment of hesitation, Isaac flipped his hand over, lacing their fingers together. “Cal Davidson just found out what raider group I was with, we haven’t exactly spoken much since,” It wasn’t an out and out lie, that was part of why she was so anxious. Demi kept all the other reasons to herself, though. Isaac wouldn’t understand her concern over what Rodeo might be planning, or fully grasp why she worried about just how much it must be hurting him to have his sister locked up.
“How long have you and Cal known each other?” Isaac asked, his thumb slowly rubbing soothing strokes over her hand. At least when it came to his relationship with Demi, he’d known all those details from the start. Certainly hadn’t made things easy for them but he could only imagine how blindsighted Cal was feeling. Those assholes shot at DoR trucks all the time and killed the officers whenever they could get their hands on the trucks themselves.
A fond smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as her mind recalled the first few times she and Cal had met. It was years before Austin would be overrun by the undead, in truth Cal was one of the very reasons that Demi decided the city wasn’t as bad as she thought it was. Homesickness had been a struggle for her, so much so that until she met Cal and eventually a few other people, she had half considered moving back to Nevada.
“Seven years, give or take,” Demi answered, smile still brightening her expression. For the briefest of moments she cast her eyes down at their clasped hands, though she kept her surprise inside. She couldn’t voice just how comforting, or grounding, his touch was in this moment. “We had three disastrous dates, and then realized we’re better as friends,” her tone his wistful as she recalled an easier time in life, one when her biggest concern had been stage moms she dealt with. “And now I honestly cannot imagine not having him in my life.”
Isaac’s brows raised in surprise. Seven years was a long time. Funny how they crossed paths again after obviously being separated for an extended period of time. Cal had been at the Capitol and Demi’d been off with the Hellhounds. They couldn’t have been living more opposite lives but then there was that rule about opposites attracting. Apparently not always true if they had disastrous dates’ that hadn’t led anywhere. He wasn’t sure if he was jealous exactly, but, it was kinda weird knowing that he and Cal shared interest in the same woman, even if it wasn’t at the same time.
“If he means that much to you and you mean that much to him then I’m sure you’ll work it out,” he offered, giving her hand a squeeze.
All she offers in response to Isaac’s words is a faint smile, Demi wanted to believe that Isaac was right, that she and Cal would work things out -- but there was that ever present voice at the edges of her mind that wanted to convince her otherwise. The brief detour down memory lane was a welcome distraction for the short while that it had lasted, but soon enough Demi’s mind drifted back to the second issue that was currently circling in her mind, raising her anxiety.
Whatever Olinger had planned, she knew one thing for sure. Adelaide was bait. Anyone with half a brain would realize that. Still, there was also a part of Demi that was concerned about what might happen to the other woman if things escalate to the point of Adelaide being charged and sent to La Quinta. “And I’m concerned about Adelaide.” Again, not a lie. Just a tactful way to skirt the other issues plaguing her mind.
Nodding in agreement, Isaac sighed. “I’m worried about Addie too. Her son is locked up with her and her husband is nowhere to be found. I--” He started, though stopped himself short from saying how messed up the situation was, causing him to second guess the legitimacy of her arrest. “Hopefully he turns up soon. Jail is no place for a baby, no matter how temporary.”
“They can’t find Lansing?” Demi’s eyes widen at the news. There’s a flash of relief at the idea that her own personal boogeyman is nowhere to be found in the Capitol. But that sense of relief is short lived, because Lansing being AWOL means that there’s literally nobody in power that can attempt to protect Adelaide. “Jail is also no place for someone who is innocent.” She pointed out, bitterness seeped into her words.
Isaac wasn’t about to discuss whether Addie was innocent or not, because he didn’t have all the facts just yet, but there were some serious concerns he had with the case. He needed more time but the longer Addie was in there and the longer Lansing was missing the longer Charlie would be locked up. There really was no win.
“Not sure on the details yet. He went to the Hospital earlier but hasn’t return yet. Must’ve just gotten roped into some administrative stuff. I’m sure he’ll be back tomorrow.”
As expected, Isaac didn’t give up any information about Adelaide’s case. Demi knew not to push him for it either, he took his job seriously and it was a rare that he was even willing to discuss what little bit with her that he had.
She gives a small nod of understanding after Isaac finished explaining where Lansing had gone. “And what if he’s not back tomorrow?” Demi raised the question, not for one moment want to think about what the Mayor might do if Adelaide’s husband isn’t around to try and keep him in check.
Isaac inhaled a deep breath before exhaling it out slowly, trying to calm himself down. Demi’s questions weren’t irritating him necessarily, but he had tried to steer the conversation away from work but of course it just landed back here. Of course Demi had questions and concerns but he couldn’t really give her the answers she wanted. Not with the kind of detail she wanted. Not if he wanted to keep his job and keep them both out of trouble.
“I don’t know. Guess we’ll find out tomorrow,” he replied, sighing again. “I’m going to change out of this. Do we have any alcohol around? Because if so I’d really like to drink some.”
Untangling his hand from hers, he pushed himself to standing and ambled into the bedroom to change out his suit for some pajama pants and a tshirt.
Sitting on the couch for a beat longer than him, watching his back as he heads for the bedroom. Demi bites back the desire to ask more questions. Isaac is worn out from work, it's not fair for her to hound him about any of this -- especially not when she knows the answers he will give won't be nearly as satisfying as she wants them to be. "I'm sorry," Demi apologized. "No more work talk, I promise." She continued, climbing off of the couch and moving into the kitchen to the makeshift liquor cabinet there.
Opening the cupboard, Demi shifted a couple bottles around until her fingers closed around the bottle of red wine. It's not her favorite, but it's his -- a fact she noted early on in their co-habitation.
With wine in one hand and glasses held by their stems in the other, Demi made her way over to the bedroom, stopping just inside the door when she's met with the sight of a half-naked Isaac. "I'm declaring it a red wine night," she announced, a ghost of a smile brightening her features. Unlike that morning, she shamelessly allows her gaze to linger on him. "And if Netflix was still a thing I'd insist on watching a movie as well." God knows they could both use the chance to just relax.
Isaac turned around, bare from the waist up, and gave Demi a grin. “Oh, baby, you took out the good stuff,” he said, though felt a slight twinge of guilt. He must’ve looked more down and out than he realized if she was getting out the red wine. There were no secrets about it being his favorite (though before he had Demi in his life, he didn’t bother with glasses and just drank it straight from the bottle -- he was a classy dude like that).
“Damn, Netflix. Those were the days…” He said, shaking his head a bit to mourn the loss of having every movie and tv show under the sun available for instant streaming. “You want to stay in here or go back to the couch?” He asked, hastily pulling his white t-shirt over his head before looking at Demi again.
Instead of the anxiety she’s felt all day, it was replaced with the fluttering of butterflies in her stomach as Isaac turned around. This is still a new sensation when connected to him and Demi’s not sure if it was the the grin he gives her or the use of ‘baby’ -- whatever the culprit, she’s left standing the doorway for a half-second longer than she intended to, gathering her thoughts. “You really weren’t lying about the whole no tattoos thing,” she remarked, dark eyes gliding over the expanse of unmarred skin she had only seen briefly that morning. “And you seemed like you could use the good stuff, darling.” Demi added with a little shrug.
Propping a shoulder against the doorframe, Demi weighed Isaac’s question, trying not to feel a little spike of disappointment as he pulled his t-shirt on over his head. She really had been enjoying the view. “The Capitol has a movie theater though, that’s more than some places.” Demi pointed out as she pushed off of the doorframe and stepped into the bedroom. “The bedroom is probably more comfortable than the couch,” she started. “And after the day you’ve had you sound like you could use some comfort right about now.”
The bed was exactly where Isaac wanted to be so he was glad to have Demi’s blessing to retreat further into the room. He settled into the bed, sitting up against the headboard, already feeling relaxed.
Taking her cue from Isaac, Demi made her way into the bedroom and settled on what had become her side of the bed. Her back is pressed up against the headboard in a similar fashion to him and it doesn’t take long for her pass off the wine and both glasses with a faint smile.
Once the bottle of wine was opened, poured into the glasses and he’d had his first sip, he looked at Demi with an easy smile. “Thanks for this. Today was just--It kind of threw me off having to be on the other side of the interrogation table of someone I’ve known for the past two years.” He’d never had to treat a friend like a criminal before.
Few knew this side of her existed, the one that was nurturing and caring -- a side that was more selfless than selfish. It’s because of this hidden side of her that she’s able to ignore her own amped up anxiety and focus on Isaac, who was clearly dealing with just as much. “I can imagine,” she breathed out, her own smile small, but not nearly as tight as it had been earlier that evening. “As hard as it may be, I fully believe that you’re the right man to be sitting across from her though.” Isaac had shown mercy to her, a hound whore and a complete stranger while she had been interrogated and subsequently locked up in La Quinta. So she had complete faith he would make sure Adelaide was treated well, possibly even better than Demi had been, because there was a friendship there that would fuel his actions.