rylee mears (itsjustafeeling) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-10-09 13:05:00 |
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Entry tags: | #november 2017, carson, carson x rylee, rylee |
Who: Rylee and Carson
When: Tuesday, Nov 14, mid-afternoon
Where: their apartment
Status: Complete
Carson had worked an early shift, and he hadn’t had any clients scheduled for the afternoon, so he was on his way home at around two. He hurried, because he wanted to catch Rylee. They’d not really crossed paths for very long since Sunday morning with their work schedules, and there were things Carson needed to tell her. He’d promised to keep her up to date, and that was what he planned to do. Besides that, he still didn’t feel completely sane, and he really needed her support. And besides that, they still weren’t talking as much as Carson would’ve liked. So ... he hoped she was home.
He was relieved to see Rylee’s car still in the lot when he pulled up, which either meant she was off or heading off to a shift soon. Carson let himself into the apartment and glanced around for her, starting to head back toward Rylee’s bedroom. “Ry?” he called. “You decent?” He made it sound light as it slipped out, but he winced a bit to himself and shook his head. Idiot.
Rylee was getting ready for work when she heard Carson come home. She felt a bit relieved that she would at least be able to say hello before heading off to work for the day, and she wanted to make sure he was feeling okay and would be all right alone. It was possible he had plans, or had someone coming over, but that didn't mean she didn't like to make sure. Rylee had just buttoned her uniform shirt when Carson called her name outside the door.
Was she decent? Rylee snickered softly at the question and looked down at her clothes. Moxie's uniform was more than decent. It was downright boring. But she understood why Carson asked. Walking in while Rylee was changing, or partially clothed would probably be weird, and things were already weird between them. No need to make it worse.
"I'm decent," she told him, turning to sit down on the bed so she could pull on her socks. "Come in."
Carson nudged Rylee’s bedroom door open as he came to it, and his heart sank a little to see her in her uniform. She did have a shift tonight then, damn. “Hey,” he greeted as he walked in. He leaned his ass against the edge of Rylee’s dresser. “Got a late shift tonight?” He wasn’t sure if it was fair to dump all his fear and worry on her right before she was going to work -- Carson knew what Jane had seen in their dreams on Sunday would freak Rylee out, and rightfully so. It was pretty fucking freaky. He just didn’t have the first clue what to do about it, and Jane didn’t seem to know either. Carson didn’t really want to put off telling her much longer either though.
"Not too late," Rylee told him, setting both feet on the ground now as she looked at him. "I don't have to close at least." Maybe if he was around when she got home they could order Chinese food or something. Pretend things were normal even though they weren't. She had known Carson her whole life, and she could tell just from the way he was looking at her that there was something on his mind. It probably helped that she had been seeing that face a lot lately, so it was easier to recognize. Rylee clasped her hands together against her knees and studied him. "What’s wrong?"
At least she wasn’t closing, and Carson was sure he could stay up until she came home, so maybe he ought to wait ... but Rylee was looking at him with that expectant expression that he couldn’t really deny. He sighed and loosely crossed his arms over his stomach. “I haven’t had much of a chance to tell you, but we did the dream Sunday night,” he said. Carson had told Rylee about the last meeting they’d all had and what the plan was with Jane the dreamwalker. Whatever that really was. “It, uh ... it sounded pretty fucked up, from Jane’s perspective. But it can wait ‘til you get back home, if you want. No like, emergency or anything.” Carson was vaguely tempted to implore her to call out sick and stay home with him, but he didn’t want to get her in trouble, either.
Rylee's brows rose immediately and she shook her head quickly to dismiss the thought of talking about this later. She didn't care now if she was late to work, or if she didn't show up at all. Carson was more important. "No, I want you to tell me now," she said, scooting over on her bed and motioning for him to sit with her. "Come here and tell me what happened." He said it wasn't an emergency, but that the dream had been fucked up, and to her, that was sort of an emergency. He didn't look too distressed, and she had to imagine if it was really bad, or if he had been hurt or anything, he would have told her by now. But she wanted to hear about what happened, and if they had any new answers.
Carson was dimly grateful for her immediate interest, though it wasn’t exactly surprising. Since he’d manned up and told her about all of his bullshit supernatural issues, she’d been wonderfully supportive. Just like she had been when he’d gotten hurt: learning everything she could, doing everything possible to help him. Carson loved her intensely for that. It almost made him wish she had a big problem for once that he could help her with, instead of being the fucked up one all the time. He moved to sit down next to her with a sigh, and started describing the last shared dream as best he could. Then he told her what Jane had told them she’d seen over text messages. The monster out of the woods, all of them frozen while it gripped their heads, the way it had screamed at the intruder. “And she doesn’t know what it wants or what to do about it, so ... I dunno how much we accomplished,” he ended in a disappointed murmur.
Rylee had been learning how to listen to this stuff with more of an open mind, instead of immediately trying to rationalize it. None of this was rational, but it was real. And it scared her, even if she didn't want to show that fear to Carson. He was the one this directly affected, and she needed to try and figure out how to help him. "You have some more information, at least," Rylee said, taking his hand to squeeze it. "It's not much, but it's something. Did you wake up in any pain? Or with a bloody nose or anything like that?" He had said the thing gripped his head, but what did that mean? Had it done something to him and the others?
Carson gave Rylee’s hand a grateful squeeze back, nodding a bit. They did have more information. He wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing at that point, though. “Yeah, had another nosebleed -- not as bad this time -- and a killer fucking headache. And since then ... I dunno, my ears keep like ... going weird?” He scrunched up his face, not sure how to explain it. “It suddenly sounds like I’m underwater, but there’s this muffled talking coming from somewhere. I can’t quite make it out. Then it kinda fades away back into normal. I dunno if that’s related or something else.” He didn’t need another damn problem on top of everything else.
It was scary enough hearing about the dream, but knowing he woke up feeling poorly again made it worse. The nosebleeds really frightened her, because what if this thing had given Carson and the others a fucking tumor or something? She nearly suggested they go see a doctor, but she doubted Carson would agree to that. What could they tell a doctor anyway? No one would believe this. "Do you think maybe... you're hearing your dreams or something? Though you said you four can't really talk to each other, right?" Rylee released a slow breath, frustrated that she was so incredibly unhelpful to him right now. "Have you texted any of the others to see if they're experiencing the same thing? If not, it could be maybe you're getting sick or something."
Carson had had the thought that maybe their brains were being physically affected too, and it was maybe even scarier than the monster itself. If they were getting tumors or collecting brain damage because of all this shit ... well, there was still nothing they could do about it, but it would be horrible. Even more horrible. Especially for poor Jules, she was still just a kid. “I have no idea,” Carson admitted honestly, looking kind of helpless. He rubbed his thumb against Rylee’s hand. “I haven’t texted them yet though, no. But it’s kinda becoming more frequent, so I probably should.” They hadn’t texted him either, but if they were all experiencing the same thing, Carson figured the others might be passing it off as them getting sick too. He sighed and nibbled on his bottom lip thoughtfully. “I dunno ... what if it like, wants us to go out to that road? Jules found where it was and she felt really weird being there. But if we can’t fight it at all from here ...”
"How do you know you can fight it from there?" Rylee asked, not at all on board with Carson going out to any road that might have some creepy dream monster living near it, waiting for them to show up. Honestly, she had no idea what scared her more. The dreams, or his being a werewolf. If they packed up and moved across the country, would any of this stop? Rylee doubted it, given how many people escaped this damn town and always ended up coming back. "I don't want you going out there. If the headaches persist, I think we should see a doctor, just to make sure this isn't causing any damage. And maybe we can... I don't know, go to the library, see if there are any books on... mythical creatures or something. Maybe this thing exists in a story or legend. Fuck." Rylee ran her hand over her face, feeling exhausted and knowing she had no right to be. None of this was happening to her. "We're already researching werewolves, right? What's one more thing to type into Google."
That was the thing, Carson had no idea where they could fight a thing like this. If fighting would even be possible. Maybe it was completely untouchable, and this problem would just persist until it escalated into ... something. He felt so clueless and helpless, even now knowing a witch and some people who knew weird shit about dreams. They didn’t seem to know what to do either. It was a bit easier for Carson not to spiral down into helpless panic about it when Rylee was distressed, and he shifted in a bit closer to slip his arm around her shoulders. “Maybe we can find something,” he said, giving her a little squeeze. “Maybe now that we have an idea what it looks like, Nic can find some ... witchy shit about it, I dunno. But yeah, you’re probably right about the doctor.” He nodded a little and sighed, then gave her a wan smile. “Least all the CAT scan techs already know me, it’ll be good to catch up.” Lame maybe, but he had to try for some lightness.
Rylee knew the optimism was designed solely to make her feel better, and while she wasn't entirely sure anything he suggested would work, she appreciated the effort, especially given the fact that she should have been comforting him. The small upside was they knew a teeny bit more than they had before, right? Rylee focused on the last bit he said, nodding with a small smile. She was hoping that these headaches were shared by the others, because Rylee found she was more terrified about taking him to get a CAT scan and finding out something was really wrong with him. "Do you want me to stay home?" Rylee asked him, searching his eyes with her own. "I know it sounds stupid, but I kind of feel weird leaving you here by yourself all night."
Carson was forcing some optimism for Rylee’s sake, but he didn’t know what else to do. He knew she was scared for him -- he was scared for himself. And the three other people he’d been randomly tied in with for whatever insane bullshit rollercoaster this was. He’d been so overwhelmed with awful helplessness for the past couple of months, he was ready to grasp at whatever straws happened to be around. Carson also knew Rylee wasn’t really convinced, and he couldn’t blame her for that. “It doesn’t sound stupid,” he murmured, meeting her gaze. He didn’t really want to be left alone either. “And I mean ... yeah ... if you don’t mind losing out on the money and everything ... I’d love it if you stayed home.” He felt guilty admitting to that, but she had offered, so why say no?
"It's a Tuesday, tips are never that great," she murmured with a small smile. "Let me call someone and see if I can get the shift covered at least, so I'm not leaving KC in a lurch. If I can get it worked out, do you want to just order in and watch a movie or something? Or we can go somewhere, if you want to get out for a bit." It was a decent day, and maybe Carson would want some fresh air. Rylee kind of just wanted to get drunk and forget about all this creepy shit for awhile, but that wasn't going to help either one of them.
Carson’s lips curled thoughtfully and he glanced toward the window. Spending a night in with Rylee, just hanging out and hopefully not dwelling on bullshit sounded really nice. Like, beyond really nice. “How ‘bout ... I can run out and grab us some food and a couple bottles of something alcoholic and we can have a drunk movie night?” he suggested, looking back to his cousin and quirking an eyebrow. “M’kinda feeling the need to get shitfaced and laugh until I cry, y’know?” Carson offered her a half-smile. Sure, maybe it was fucked up to get drunk on a Tuesday night, but if neither of them were working, why not? There were mitigating factors, and dammit, they deserved an irresponsible night off.
Well, if Carson wanted to get shitfaced too, who was she to deny him that? It would make her feel less guilty for wanting the same thing. "I think that sounds great," Rylee told him. "Maybe not so much the crying part, but everything else." She nudged him gently with her elbow. "Chinese food? Pizza?" They would have to watch something humorous, although if they drank enough, anything could be construed as funny. "Are you sure you don't want me to go out and get everything? I don't mind."
“Happy crying, I meant,” Carson assured her with a little smile and a nudge in return. He definitely didn’t want to dwell and stew tonight over everything that was happening. He just wanted to spend some good time with the woman he loved, being together as much as they could be. After a thoughtful hum, Carson pulled a little face. “Pizza is usually easier to puke up than Chinese, if we get that drunk,” he pointed out reasonably. Carson grinned a little, then leaned in to kiss Rylee’s forehead. “I’m sure, I got it. I don’t mind either. Let me do something for you for a change. Whatcha want to drink?”
Happy crying. Wouldn't that be a nice change of pace? "Let's try not to get pukey drunk," Rylee said with a small laugh. "But just in case, maybe pizza is the way to go. As for alcohol, surprise me." She really had no preference on that and would drink whatever Carson brought home. But at least while he was gone she could find someone to cover for her tonight and then change into something comfortable. "I don't work tomorrow, but I would rather not be dead on my feet all day, so maybe not anything too strong," she added with a small smile.
Pizza was nice and greasy too, it would soak up some of the alcohol if they went overboard. Carson murmured an ‘alright’ and gave her an easier smile. He knew what she generally liked to drink, so his selection might not be too surprising, but that was okay. He twisted in place to wrap his arms around her and gave her a squeeze, then stood up. “Text me if you can’t cover your shift or something,” he said. He had a feeling Rylee would make it work one way or another, but still. “Or if you think of something else you want, like ice cream or something.”
The squeeze felt nice. Any physical affection from Carson was always welcome, but she didn't cling to him when he moved to stand. "I'll let you know," she promised. If she couldn't cover her shift she would likely just call in sick or something. Rylee wanted to spend the evening with Carson, so she planned to. "And what the hell, if you're stopping for drinks, maybe grab a carton of mint chocolate chip? I think I ate the rest of what we had last week." She grinned sheepishly and moved to stand with him. "Just be careful. If I think of anything else, I'll text you."
“Mint chocolate chip, gotcha,” Carson echoed with a grin. He probably didn’t need the extra calories, but he would take them anyway. What good was a night at home of indulgence without fat and sugar? And booze. He was already thinking of liquor that paired well with ice cream, so they could have a nice night of it. As Rylee stood up, Carson was tempted to move in and kiss her cheek or something, but he thought better of it. Chickened out, whatever. Instead he just tilted her a dorky little salute and turned to go.
Carson made pretty short work of the errands. Since he was getting ice cream too, he went ahead and got them an oven pizza to cook at the store, along with a couple of bottles of booze -- one whiskey and one rum -- and some soda to mix if they wanted it. It was going to be a bad night for diets, but that was kind of the point. Carson drove home feeling pretty good about having nice plans with Rylee. Comfortable, friendly plans. He just wanted to get drunk and forget about life for a while. Carson headed back in with the bags, hoping that Rylee had found a replacement for her shift and hadn’t had to fake sick or something.
Rylee had managed to find coverage for her shift that evening, provided she take their shift Friday morning, which she had been more than willing to do. It meant closing Thursday night and getting up early for the breakfast shift, but spending time with Carson tonight was worth it. She changed out of her uniform into a pair of soft gray yoga pants and a t-shirt while Carson was out getting their dinner. There seemed to be plenty of movies to choose from on Netflix, so she pulled up the browsing menu and left it there while she cleaned up the kitchen. The less mess to clean up in the morning, the better.
Eventually she heard him at the door and Rylee hurried over to open it and help him with a couple of the bags. "Morgan is covering for me," she told him as she carried a couple of the bags into the small kitchen. She spotted the frozen pizza and leaned over to pre-heat the oven after placing the bags on the counter. "So I'm all yours tonight. Did you get everything?"
Rylee looked cute and comfortable when Carson stepped back into the apartment, and he felt that something tug at his chest again. He could picture it all for a split second -- the two of them living somewhere no one knew they were related, as a couple, him bringing home supplies for an evening at home together, everything the same except both of them getting what they really wanted. Rylee could be all his for more than just the night, and be all his. It was an unexpected pang, but it was at least easy to cover up with carrying stuff to the kitchen. “Good,” he murmured. “Uh, yeah, lessee ... Got a pizza for a bit of money saving, got your ice cream, Coke, some crunchy snack stuff, whiskey and rum.” Carson pulled everything out of the bags as he named them, then turned to put the ice cream in the freezer.
Rylee would have been lying if she said she didn't often think about how differently this could be for them. It was usually pretty prevalent in her mind when she was crawling into bed alone, knowing Carson was right across the hall. She hadn't cared much about the consequences, or how difficult it would be to 'sneak around'... difficult and unfair, probably. When it came to Carson, Rylee was selfish, and she knew it. But he was the rational thinker here, and Rylee didn't want to push him away, or pressure him into anything. He had enough to worry about. They needed to get back on track, and this was a good start. "Oh boy," Rylee said with a laugh as she reached for the bottle of rum. Hadn't she learned anything from her night out with Zania? Puking at three in the morning was no fun. But... "Fuck it," she said before twisting the cap off and turning to find a glass in the cabinet. Might as well get the party started, so to speak. "What do you want? I'll pour you some."
Carson felt less and less rational as the days and weeks went on and his life got increasingly strange. What sense did it make to care what society and other people thought of him when he was a fucking werewolf? How could he possibly have a ‘normal’ relationship with anyone going forward, making an excuse every full moon to disappear for a night? That kind of thinking was getting ahead of himself, he knew that, he hadn’t even figured out a way to stay safe next month, much less months and years in the future, but still ... Rylee knew, Rylee understood, just like she understood everything else that had invaded his life. That fact was difficult to ignore. “Jack and Coke, please,” he told her with a wan little smile. “Heavy on the Jack.” Carson made himself useful by unwrapping the pizza and putting it on a sheet pan to go in when the oven was preheated. “I’m really glad you’re staying home with me,” he added after a moment.
Rylee grabbed another glass and set everything on the small island to get to work while Carson got the pizza ready. "I'm glad I did too," she said, glancing over her shoulder at him. "I think we both need a night like this, right?" She had gone out to the bar with Zan, but that was a bit different, given the circumstances. And frankly, it had been awhile since she and Carson hung out together like this. Maybe the alcohol would help dull some of the unspoken words that still lingered between them. They never really talked about their fight a while back, so focused on what was happening to Carson now that it just didn't as important anymore, even though it probably was. She poured the whiskey into the glass first, then added a bit of soda. It was strong, but that's what he wanted. "Jack and Coke," she said, turning to offer him the glass. "Heavy on the Jack. I would nurse that one until the pizza is done."
“Yeah, that’s the fuckin’ truth,” Carson agreed with a huff. He could hardly remember the last time he’d had a night of intoxicated fun on purpose. Maybe back when he was dating Felix, which honestly felt like forever ago now. And goddammit, if he didn’t deserve to get drunk and have fun with his favorite person, who did? As he picked up the drink Rylee made him, the oven beeped that it was done preheating, so Carson slid the pizza into it and set the timer. He took a sip from the glass in his hand and hummed his approval. He was definitely going to have to nurse it unless he wanted to get shitfaced pretty fast. “You missed your calling as a bartender,” he told her, ambling over closer to where she was standing with a little half-smile. “So, uh ... this is probably a stupid question, but how’s things going for you?”
"I think I missed my calling as a lot of things," Rylee said with a soft laugh. She poured herself some rum and set the bottle to the side before turning towards Carson. She took a sip of her drink and shrugged. She wasn't even sure how to answer that question without the conversation taking a nosedive, and this was supposed to be a night of fun. "They're fine," Rylee said after licking her lips of the lingering taste of rum. "I mean, as fine as they can be, right? I hung out with Zania the other night, which was fun. Apparently she's met some new hottie. Some tall, dark and handsome from New Orleans. So... that's a thing." She laughed and took another sip of her drink. It was probably beyond sad that the most exciting thing she had to tell Carson about was happening in someone else's life. "Classes are going good though," she added lamely.
Carson knew her well enough to know that ‘fine’ didn’t really mean that, but he couldn’t exactly blame her for not being fine. Were either of them, lately? He knew Rylee had had a girl’s night out, he remembered hearing her come home and then throw up later that night. Not that Carson was judging, he wasn’t; he genuinely hoped she had fun. He wanted her to still have as much of a normal life as she could with all this bullshit going on around her. He arched a brow and laughed a little at Rylee’s description of the guy Zan had met. “Well good for her, I guess,” he said with another amused huff. Then he looked more interested at the mention of classes, resettling his position to lean his ass against the edge of the counter. “Yeah? What do you like about them?”
Given Zania's track record with guys, Rylee hoped this one worked out, at least in terms of having a good time for a while without it imploding. "What do I like about my classes?" Rylee asked after taking a small sip of her drink. "I don't know. They're interesting. I'm learning a lot already and these are just the basic ones I can get out of the way online. I'm sure things will get more difficult, but... I kind of like having some sort of direction in my life," Rylee admitted. "I was kind of flailing a bit, just being a waitress. I want to do more. Not that there's anything wrong with waitressing, but..." Rylee shrugged and smiled a bit. "You know what I mean, right?"
He nodded a bit as he listened, watching her face. Then Carson gave a huff and rueful little smile. “‘Course I do,” he told her softly. He’d felt a bone-deep awful, depressing sort of directionlessness as he recovered from his injuries. All he’d wanted for most of his young life was to be a soldier, and then that had gotten blown to bits along with his leg. It had been difficult to pull himself out of it enough to figure out where to go from there, what he could make a career out of. But he’d done it, and he knew Rylee could do it too. “And you totally will do more. I’m super proud of you for taking ‘em. You’re gonna do great.” He’d told her that already, he was pretty sure, but Carson wanted to tell her again and make sure she knew. He sipped on his drink and gave her a little smile.
"I'm going to try," Rylee told him. At least if she could get certified, she could help Carson a hell of a lot more than she was doing now. "It's a long program, so we'll see." A program that cost money, of which she had very little. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to call off tonight, but at least she would be making up her shift. Since the pizza had a bit more time left, took Carson by the hand to lead him away from the kitchen. "Let's go sit down and see if we can agree on a movie. Preferably one that gets funnier the more we drink." With any luck they could get shit faced quickly and everything would be funny. It was a hell of a lot better than feeling any awkward tension between them.
“Hell yeah,” Carson agreed as he let Rylee lead him out of the kitchen. Drinks, pizza, and something to laugh at sounded perfect. He also wanted some couch-cuddling with his cousin, but he also knew how loaded those things could be now. Which didn’t really make him want them any less. But those were all Big Things to think about, and Carson wasn’t sure he was capable of doing that at the moment. He was feeling better in general though, just spending some chill time with Rylee, and that had to mean something, right? He set his drink down before flopping onto the couch with her and picking up the remote to start browsing.