Reginald 'Reggie' Delallo (reggie_delallo) wrote in rrinitiative, @ 2013-04-29 12:21:00 |
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Entry tags: | day sixteen, jason, jason and reggie, reggie |
Trying to Be Comforting After a Very Bad Night
Characters: Jason and Reggie
Setting: around 1am, Reggie's room
Jason was exhausted.
When he and Brady had first dragged Meg and Ryan down to the infirmary, Jason hadn't realized that the nurse, Violet, had been murdered earlier in the day. Because of that, he had stayed and helped Cal as best as he could, because between Meg, Ryan, and Susanna, not to mention Brady's thankfully less serious injuries, Cal had been a bit overwhelmed by himself. It had been... a lot to deal with. While at least Susanna had been alive - although Brady had seemed to have mixed feelings about that - she would most likely be paralyzed, at least for a while. And Ryan had definitely had internal damage. Then there had been Meg and her multiple knife wounds. And he really didn't know any of them, had only spoken briefly to Ryan before when he had been caught following him and hadn't particularly liked him, but still, dealing with shit like that was mentally exhausting and a little emotionally draining. He had been better at dealing with it, back when he had been working as a firefighter and having to deal with it every day. It had been almost three years though, and he had almost forgotten what it could be like.
So once he had helped all he could, he had gone back to his room, stripped out of his clothes and stood under in the hot water of his shower. He stood there for a while before he got about to scrubbing off the blood - mostly Ryan's, from when he had carried him down to the infirmary - and finishing up his shower. Once out, he grabbed the bloody clothes he had been wearing and tossed them into a trash bag; they were not salvageable. He pulled on some clean clothes and considered his bed for several long moments. He was tired and desperately wanted to go to sleep, but at the same time, as tired as he was, his bed wasn't all that appealing. It... really wasn't where he wanted to be.
Without checking what time it was, Jason headed back out, making his way over to Reggie's room. He could admit, to himself at least, that right now, he wanted the comfort of being around the other man right now. Plus... It was probably stupid, but considering today - or yesterday, whatever - had ended with one dead woman, three people critically injured, and Brady at least fairly seriously injured, there was a part of Jason that really wanted to make sure that Reggie was okay. That nothing had happened that he didn't know about. Knocking on Reggie's door, he leaned tiredly against the door frame as he waited, despite the uneasy sense of jitteriness he felt.
Reggie naturally had issues with sleep. Some nights his headaches got bad, and other nights he just couldn't sleep. This night was one of the latter, and he had been fooling around with his playing cards. After playing a few memory games with them, he had just started to pass the time by trying to toss them into a hat.
When Reggie heard a knock at the door, he was a little surprised. Hell, he wasn't even really dressed for visitors at the moment. Setting his cards aside, he walked up to the door wearing a pair of Pajama pants and a white wife beater. He was surprised to see Jason on the other side, but that quickly turned to concern when he saw the state that he was in.
"Hey," Reggie said softly, stepping aside so that he could come in. "Something happen tonight?"
Pushing himself off the doorframe, Jason smiled slightly when he saw Reggie. He didn't answer the other man right away, instead taking the chance to look him over as he moved inside the other man's room. It relaxed some of his tension, to know that the other man was alright, that he hadn't fallen victim to people taking advantage of the non-fuctioning cameras. He kissed Reggie, gentle and slow, before moving over and sitting down on the couch, letting his head fall back and closing his eyes.
"Wanted to see you," he finally said. Because he wasn't sure how to explain what all had happened, much less put voice to that sense of guilt that told him that maybe, had he stayed with Ryan and Brady instead of assuming Brady could keep an eye on Ryan, things wouldn't have gotten so bad. And there really wasn't any good way to break the news that someone had been murdered. He didn't know if Reggie knew Violet or not - Jason hadn't, hadn't even known she had existed really - but still, in a group as small as theirs, that was a big thing, as was the knowledge that one of the group had been the one that had killed her.
Even though Jason smiled at him, Reggie could tell that something was amiss. Jason had the look of someone that had seen hell. Still, he couldn't stop himself from returning the kiss, even though he was now quite worried about the other man.
When Jason sat down, Reggie walked over and sat beside him. "Not that I don't love being greeted that way and being seen, but it seems like something happened." Reggie may not be the brightest bulb in the box (even pre-head injury), but he wasn't blind, and he could see that something serious had happened to Jason tonight.
Jason didn't think Reggie was stupid. Not in the slightest. However, he just wasn't sure where to start with everything that had happened today. Or yesterday, rather. Might as well start at the beginning. "Jae asked me to keep an eye on Ryan today, since the cameras are down." Jason wasn't sure if Reggie knew Ryan, but that wasn't really the point. He wasn't going to mention her suspicions. "It wasn't a big deal. Closer to mind numbingly boring than anything else. I took a break when he and Brady went on patrol together. Figured he could keep an eye on Ryan then." He considered how to explain the next part. "Honestly, I still don't know what happened. I got part of Brady's story, but the rest of it? I don't know. But right now, Susanna's down in the infirmary, probably paralyzed, possibly for life after getting thrown off the second floor balcony. Meg's got... several knife wounds at least. I have no idea how they figure into the whole thing. Brady said he ran into them fighting and when he tried to help Meg, Ryan attacked him. Ryan's down there too; Brady stabbed him and did some pretty serious damage. Of course, Ryan stabbed Brady too, but he's... mostly okay, at least. I stayed with Cal and tried to help him out, because sometime today, someone murdered the nurse that was helping him." Sighing, Jason rubbed at his eyes. This whole thing was messed up. "So basically, we took advantage of the cameras being down today to prove to the people running this place exactly why we shouldn't be allowed back in public."
Reggie's eyes went wide when Jason began his explanation. He had heard some rumblings of distrust about Ryan ever since he had been stuck in the stocks. Still, hearing that versus stabbings, a dead girl, and another one paralyzed was just...completely insane. "Sweet Jesus it sounds like things went to hell while I stayed locked up in my room." He wished he and Jim had seen something during their patrol that would have prevented this, but their day patrol was not even worth mentioning. "Are you hurt at all?" Jason had said that he had only been helping out, but who the hell knew?
Caught off guard by the question, Jason glanced over at Reggie before he shook his head. "No. I'm fine. Like I said, I let Brady keep an eye on Ryan for a while. By the time I got there, both Meg and Susanna were unconscious. All I did was break up Ryan and Brady. And then, you know, help out Cal after Brady and I got Meg, Ryan, and Susanna down to the infirmary." He sighed, leaning lightly against Reggie. "I'm just... tired. And I wanted to see you. I wanted to..." He cut himself off then. He knew it had been a little irrational, to be worried about Reggie. But... after all the violence of the day, not to mention a murder that he had known nothing about... He hadn't been able to help being a little worried.
"Sounds like things got real fucked up today," Reggie said, relieved when Jason insisted that he was OK. He looked physically OK, but he couldn't stop himself from asking it. From the sound of it, things had went completely off the wall insane, so who knew what the hell had happened. When Jason leaned against him, Reggie picked up his arm and rested it on Jason's shoulder, letting him get a little closer. "I'm glad you came by then," he said, understanding what Jason couldn't quite say. Hell, he couldn't even remember the last time someone had truly been concerned about his well being. Memory issues aside, he realized that was sad as hell.
As tired as he was, Jason still couldn't fully get rid of that feeling of jitteriness. Being close to Reggie helped, but it couldn't make him stop thinking, about the dead nurse, and who had killed her (and it sure as hell wasn't Ryan, because while Jae might have suspected him of raping that one girl, he had kept an eye on him, and Jason knew that he hadn't killed that nurse today), about Brady's recounting of the night's events, about how Susanna and Meg fit in, and how he was pretty sure Cal simply didn't have the resources to treat all of them here. It didn't stop him from feeling guilty and thinking that he should have stayed with Ryan and Brady during their patrol either. He wasn't freaking out - he had seen worse than this as a firefighter - but that didn't mean he wasn't slightly shaken, and as a result, overthinking the whole thing.
Distracted by his thoughts as he was, it actually took him a moment to realize that Reggie had spoken. "I'd say fucked up is an understatement," Jason said, not moving from where he was pressed up against Reggie. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but the people in charge had better get those cameras fixed soon. I don't think this place can take another couple of days like this."
"I think this place is going to burn to the ground if we have the cameras gone for too much longer," Reggie agreed. He would have hoped that the administration had picked out people who had just been people who had fucked up hard in some way but were redeemable, but if people were fighting to near death or randomly killing others, it DID look like a huge mistake had been made in who was chosen for this place. Not that he expected the admins to be infallible (they had already proven plenty that they weren't), they still should have shown some better judgment than this.
Reggie could feel the tension coiled around Jason. "Turn your back to me," he said, twisting around on the little sofa that he was sitting on so that he was facing Jason. A back massage didn't fix everything, but it might help Jason relax enough to go to sleep tonight.
Jason had not been the most paranoid person in prison. He hadn't been one of those inmates that always kept his back to a wall, never letting another inmate behind him. He had been wary, yes, and cautious. But even though he hadn't been that bad, had someone asked him to turn his back? He wouldn't have done it, not without asking why, and even then, he probably would not have cooperated, especially not when he was tired. So it probably said a lot about how much he trusted Reggie that he didn't question him, didn't even think about it, simply did as the other man requested without protest and his only hesitation from the fact that turning around meant moving from his spot against Reggie, not from reluctance.
Reggie hadn't even put much thought into that, asking another inmate to show him his back. It was hard to think of this place as a prison, but, after what apparently happened tonight, he had apparently needed that bit of a reminder. Still, for now, this could be their little sanctuary. He ran his hands up Jason's back, going all the way up to Jason's shoulders before starting to kneed them, looking for the spots that were tense and coiled up, which he had no problem finding at all. Jason was one big ball of tense feelings.
Relaxing slightly, Jason sighed gratefully as he felt Reggie's fingers dig into his shoulders. He bowed his head, letting his chin rest against his chest as he closed his eyes. "You don't have to do this, you know," he said softly. Guessing at Reggie's response to that, he added, "But thank you."
Reggie couldn't help but smile when he heard that little sigh. "Just because I don't have to doesn't mean that I don't want to," he said, focusing on the shoulders for the time being. "You've had a hell of a night, after all. I just want to help you feel better." He smiled wider. "And you're welcome."
Refraining from pointing out that his night had been nothing compared to that of the people still in the infirmary, Jason stayed quiet, simply enjoying the feel of Reggie's hands on his shoulders. It hurt, but it was the good kind of hurt; Reggie knew what he was doing, that was for sure. And Jason was ridiculously grateful for him, not only for the massage, but just for being here. This, all of it, meant more than Jason knew how to say.
Oh, Reggie knew that Jason had the light side of the night, but that didn't mean that he didn't still want to make him feel better in some way, even if it was just his own presence that helped to do so. Reggie had done this a time or two in his life, and, went he felt some of the tension finally leave Jason's shoulders, he moved down the center of his back, rubbing along the way in an effort to basically try and turn Jason into a puddle before he was over with. Unless he found a way to make the other man relax, it was doubtful that he would ever be able to get the man to get some rest.
Keeping his eyes closed, Jason focused on the feeling of Reggie's hands and on keeping his breathing slow and steady, not letting himself think about anything. He had never been very good at anything like that, but right now, Reggie's hands gave him something else to focus on. He wasn't quite able to keep himself from sucking in a slightly sharper breath when Reggie's fingers found one particularly sore spot, but still, the combination of the massage and, more importantly, Reggie was helping him to slowly relax.
Reggie kept his hands busy, knowing that it was likely to be a little painful if Jason really was half as tense as he felt, but also knew that it would be good for him in the long run if he kept this up. He could feel the younger man starting to relax, gasping on occasion when he hit a special spot. "Sounds like that was a bad one," Reggie said with a slight laugh.
Reggie's laugh made Jason smile, even though he knew the other man couldn't see his face. He nodded slightly in response to Reggie's comment, and after a moment or two added, "Not anymore." He didn't say what he was thinking: that after tonight, he definitely owed Reggie. He didn't want to make this about owing or keeping tabs on that sort of thing. But that didn't stop him from considering something he could do for Reggie, not because he felt like he had to, but simply because he wanted to. It was a good thing to focus on, and he grinned to himself as he relaxed and considered his options.
Reggie didn't think of it as simply being owed or anything like that, but he'd be happy to enjoy any benefits of such an arrangement. For right now, though, he was more than content to keep rubbing the aches and pains of the night away. "Good," he said back, happy that he could hear the smile in the other man's voice. Right now, he thought that the best thing would be to get Jason relaxed and help him sleep, preferebly in here with him.
Reggie really should ask the administrators if it was possible to buy himself a larger bed. Twin beds really weren't made for two people.
It was quiet for a while, Jason considering different things he could do for Reggie while the other man continued his work. It was surprisingly easy to let himself relax now, lulled by the quiet and the feel of Reggie's hands over his back. Hell, he was feeling pretty good by the time he pulled away and turned around on the couch so that he was facing Reggie. Leaning forward, he pressed a gentle kiss to the other man's lips. "Thank you," he said quietly as they broke apart, voice serious as curled into Reggie's side. He had said it before, but it bore repeating.
Reggie was actually quite happy when he felt Jason relaxing. It wasn't good for a person to walk around so tense. Sure, the time definitely called for it, but he also needed to get his rest and be good for tomorrow...or later today, or whatever. When Jason turned around and kissed him, he smiled at him. "You're welcome. It was my genuine pleasure," he said to him. "You wanna stay here tonight?"
"I wasn't planning on leaving unless you asked me to," Jason admitted. The prospect of going back to his room alone hadn't been particularly appealing, mostly because alone meant without Reggie. If he was being honest, he appreciated the nights they had spent together, enjoyed having someone that close. Okay, so he just liked Reggie, period, and liked being around the other man, even when it was something as simple as sleeping.
"Good," Reggie said, leaning forward and wrapping his arms around Jason's waist. He didn't exactly relish sleeping alone in the room, either. Sure, it seemed like everything was subdued for the night, but who the hell knew how long that would last? He didn't like the idea of Jason being attacked (or himself, for that matter!). Seemed like a better idea to just cocoon in here for a while.
"So how was your day?" Jason asked, belatedly realizing that while Reggie had listened to him, he hadn't asked the other man about his own day. Hopefully, it had involved less bloodshed than his own. Honestly, sometimes he wondered about this place. Still, he couldn't regret that he had ended up here, not when here included here, with Reggie. Running his fingers down Reggie's arm, on impulse, Jason laced their fingers together.
Reggie chuckled, giving Jason's hand a squeeze on impulse. "A lot more calm than yours," he pointed out with a slight laugh. "I did some work and then I spent most of the day in the workshop." It was honestly how he spent a bunch of his days. Now he wondered all the more if he should hide more or involve himself more. He hoped that this place would get a little better now that one of the troublemakers was dealt with, as fucked up as that sounded in his head.
Even though he hadn't expected anything different, Jason was glad to hear that Reggie's day had been mostly uneventful. Considering the other option for the day seemed to be batshit insane, calm was definitely the more appealing of the two options. "That's probably a good thing," he said. He knew that Reggie enjoyed working on that old car in the workshop, so he knew when Reggie said calm, it didn't necessarily mean boring.
Leaning against Reggie, Jason was quiet for several moments, thinking as he stared down at his and Reggie's hands. He knew he was tired, and would probably start nodding off before too long, but still, even though it sort of killed the lighter mood, he felt like he needed to say it. "Be careful tomorrow, alright? I mean, especially if the cameras are still down, but even if they're working again... There's still whoever killed that girl wandering around. So just... watch out for yourself, okay?"
Reggie was grateful that his day had been calm. Sure, he was mostly easy going, but he didn't know how he'd react to that sort of pressure. He was really in here for more minor offenses than some of the other people, although he'd dealt with plenty of nasty people over the years. He just personally hoped that things would manage to calm down a bit.
Reggie had taken to running his fingers through Jason's hair when things got a little more quiet, but he understood why the man said what he said. "I'll make sure to be careful," he said, even if a part of him wanted to protest that he could take care of himself. "Do you guys have any idea who...who did it?"
Jason knew that Reggie could hold his own in a fight - had been slightly impressed the one time they had had that friendly sparring match - but that wasn't going to stop him from being worried. He had been sure of Brady's ability to hold his own - and, more than that, win - in a fight as well, and he had ended up stabbed and almost strangled. Yes, he knew that it was very likely that the fight and the murder were completely separate incidents, but still... They were both proof that other inmates were starting to arm themselves, and that tended to skew the odds in a fight. So yes, he was worried, but he also knew better than to say anything more than he had on that subject.
Turning slightly into the touch of familiar fingers in his hair, Jason shrugged in response to Reggie's question. "I have no clue. You'll have to talk to the guys with Law Enforcement. The only reason I even know about it is because her body was in the infirmary when Brady and I took Meg, Ryan, and Susanna down there." Jason sighed, running his thumb over Reggie's hand before he admitted, "I had never seen her before. I don't even know who she was; I didn't think to ask Cal for her name."
Reggie knew that Jason was just worried about what he had seen that day. Apparently, the whole thing had been a huge, bloody mess. Especially if Brady nearly went down for the count, then he really did need to be aware of what was going on around him more. This place was starting to get really crazy, and it would do him no good to allow for male instincts to get in the way of actually taking care of himself, or, god forbid, even Jason.
It really was kind of amazing to realize that they likely didn't know half of the people in this place. It seemed like people were in and out a little (likely even more so after tonight, as he doubted the admins would allow for people who tried to kill one another to stay). Reggie knew he needed to make a point to get to know more people here. "I'm sure it'll get around if anyone actually knows." People were likely taking advantage of the cameras being out. "Everything is likely to come out in the morning." He doubted there would be much secrecy, even if they tried.
"Probably," Jason agreed. In a place like this? Gossip about another murder was bound to spread. However, he wasn't sure that was a good thing. There was no telling how people would react to that, especially if the cameras stayed down. Which brought up the question of what had made the cameras go off in the first place. He wasn't going to ask, because he knew Reggie didn't know anymore than he did, but he did wonder. "Kind of makes you wonder how the guys in Law Enforcement are going to handle it." It also made him sort of glad he hadn't gotten voted in as Law Enforcement.
Especially with the computers, gossip tended to get out very quickly. It was something that could drive a person nutty if they thought on it for too long. "I'm sure they'll figure out what to do. Do they have the stuff to dust for fingerprints and all that jazz?" He figured they might, but who the hell knew around this place just what was going on and what anyone had access to? You'd think they'd keep the cameras working, after all.
Still leaning against Reggie's shoulder, Jason closed his eyes, shrugging as he did so. "I don't know. You'd think so, otherwise they're having to rely on he-said, she-said, and that'll probably get them nowhere fast." He knew he was probably going to end up dozing off before too long, and he should probably move, but honestly, he was comfortable here. He'd give himself another minute or so, then they could move this over to the bed.
"Good enough reason to get the cameras back up and running." Depending on the 'honor system' here seemed to just be a bad idea. "I'm sure you're right and they got something to work with," he agreed, reaching up and running his fingers over Jason's scalp again. He should probably steer them over to the bed, but it was kind of comfy here too.
Jason had to hope Reggie was right. Otherwise, he wasn't sure what sort of leads they would have. Hell, he wasn't entirely sure what they were going to do about the fight either. Still at the moment, he was too tired to worry about it any more. Especially with Reggie's fingers in his hair again. He let himself enjoy the feeling for a moment or two more, but pulling away from Reggie, though not before he gave him a quick kiss. "You keep doing that, and I'm going to fall asleep. And while the bed isn't that much bigger, I think we'll both regret it if we fall asleep on the couch tonight." Although it wouldn't be the worst place they had slept together; that would be the workshop.
Reggie was just glad that Jason was relaxed enough to even be thinking about sleep. "But I'm comfortable," he playfully protested, sticking out his bottom lip briefly before smiling. "Alright, we'll head to bed, but only because you said it so nicely." He finally stood up, taking a moment to stretch a bit and work out a few kinks. One thing that sucked about getting old: things popped a lot more when you stretched than they used to.
Jason grinned slightly as he watched Reggie get up and stretch. Standing up, he moved behind the other man, briefly wrapping his arms around Reggie's waist as he pressed a kiss to the back of his neck. "Tell you what, I'll return the favor as soon as I know I'm not going to fall asleep in the middle of it." He would to help Reggie work out the kinks now, but he was fairly sure he'd end up asleep halfway through. Pulling away from the other man, he took of his shoes and socks and made his way over to the bed.
Reggie just laughed when he said that, resting his hands on Jason's arms for a moment. Yeah, that would be great to enjoy on a better night. "I'm gonna hold you to that," he teased. Reggie was already in pretty much what he slept in, so he just climbed into bed next to Jason and made himself comfortable.
When Reggie slid in to the bed with him, Jason shifted over on the small bed, making sure the other man had room and wouldn't fall of the bed during the night. "Thanks. For... Well, everything," he said one last time as he pushed himself almost on top of Reggie. He kissed the other man, a sort of lazy goodnight before fitting himself back beside Reggie, curling up against him.