Jared Gaines (thatbigguy) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-10-13 13:20:00 |
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Entry tags: | #november 2017, jared, jared x ty, ty |
Who: Jared & Ty
Where: Marina
When: Friday afternoon 11/17
Status: Complete
The week had been a great deal more tolerable than Jared had expected. He still felt grief crash in at random intervals and it was hard to shake but he'd thought it would be a lot worse somehow. No doubt it would have been if he was still single and he could easily imagine that taking a sabbatical in Texas would have been tempting if things hadn't changed so much in his life lately. Wednesday had been absolutely clear of any worries and sadness in a way that was almost a little weird and it made Thursday harder to deal with, like he was coming down from something. Not that Jared really knew what coming down from something felt like since he wasn't exactly prone to drug use but something close to this he imagined. At least the weather wasn't horrible on Friday morning so things were looking up by then and he had plans to meet Ty after work. Jared's shift wasn't until late so he took his time at home, tidying up a little and prepping for the winter a bit, then waited for Ty to drop by so they could go out together. It might be a little corny but he wanted to go to the annual Christmas tree lighting, it felt like they needed a little light in their lives and Sadie had always loved it.
It had been a quasi-weird week for Ty. There had been all the deer corpses, and then just something ... nice in the air on Wednesday. He hadn’t even been bothered by the shoplifting calls and the public sex calls they’d gotten. It had been a pretty damn good day. It had just felt kind of strange in the light of Thursday. But now it was Friday, and his early shift had gone pretty smoothly. Jared was set to work overnight, and while that really sucked, it left them some time to go see the tree lighting at the marina. It wasn’t an event Ty went to every year, he’d really only been a couple of times if he wasn’t working it, but Jared seemed excited, and there was something sort of romantic about it.
Ty changed clothes at work and headed over to Jared’s, already not really looking forward to the night alone. He hadn’t spent the night in his own place for a while, and he was honestly kind of tempted to ask Jared if he could still sleep over, to be there when he got home in the morning. They would hardly cross paths, but it would still be nice to have a cup of coffee and talk to him and kiss him goodbye in the morning. He huffed a little laugh at himself and shook his head as he pulled up to Jared’s and parked in the drive. He was so disgustingly in love. here, you coming out? he texted.
Jared didn't even bother answering the text. He was ready to go and only had to grab his keys before heading out. He smiled over at Ty from the porch as he locked up, then jogged out to the car and got in. "Hey baby," he murmured, leaning over for a kiss. Ty wasn't the only one who was disgustingly in love, Jared was so far gone that just seeing Ty made his heart happy. "Long day?" he asked and pulled down his seat belt.
Ty smiled back through the windshield as Jared came out, and he rather enjoyed watching his tall boy head over to the car. Oh how he missed staring at him when they were working a shift together. “Hey,” he greeted back before smooching Jared once he was in the car. “Nah, not too bad. Nothing crazy going on. What have you been up to?” He put his own belt on and put the car in reverse to back away from Jared’s house. “Ready to hold hands and drink hot cocoa and all that lovey dovey shit?” Ty flashed him a grin.
"Fuck yeah," Jared replied happily. "You better get used to that, I get mad sappy on Christmas and I can already smell it in the air." That was one of many reasons he did love living in Maine, they got actual Christmas Weather and it was beautiful. "You think you'll be prepared because you've worked with me for years now but this is your first relationship Christmas with me, so beware." He laughed and shot Ty a cheeky grin. He was exaggerating but only a little, he did love Christmas, especially when it snowed.
He laughed heartily at that, because it fit Jared so well. Ty could remember Jared being pretty jolly around Christmas time in the past, but it wasn’t something he’d paid much attention to. Their job could suck the holiday joy out of pretty much anyone, to boot, so his good cheer had probably been subdued in uniform. The holiday had kind of an emotionally fraught aura in Ty’s mind -- plenty of bad family fights had happened around Christmas -- but he already got the feeling this one was going to be worlds better. “I am prepared to be bowled over with mad sappiness,” he said, grinning again. “I don’t think I’ve ever actually had a boyfriend on Christmas, this should be interesting.”
"Ooh," Jared all but purred at him, eyes going wide. "I'm gonna have to pamper you." He grinned, obviously excited at the prospect. It would be different this year, Ty's family wasn't accepting and Jared's family was all the way down in Texas but Jared really loved the holidays he'd spent in Maine so, he could make it work. Pampering Ty would make it easier. "You're gonna have to show me your holiday traditions," he added and reached over to rub at the back of Ty's head.
Ty enjoyed it every time Jared pampered him in any fashion, so that was promising, and he didn’t look adverse to that in the slightest. “Oh no, not the pampering, anything but that,” he deadpanned, then laughed again. “Well, as a kid it was mostly go to church. So let’s skip that one. We always did one present on Christmas Eve though. And my dad liked to read to us in front of the fire. The Bible or Christmas stories or whatever.” Ty paused for a moment, then glanced over at Jared again. “I wanna make new traditions with you,” he said.
Jared's smile widened and grew warmer. Oh he liked the sound of that, all traditions started somewhere and he couldn't help but picture them together, a little older, maybe with kids, definitely a dog, sitting by a Christmas tree and doing something very personal to them. "I love it," he murmured, already thinking about little things he could do for his man to make him happy, something small and silly and fun to start with. "As long as I get to spend Christmas with you I'm happy."
Ty felt the same, and hearing it out loud made his chest feel all gooey and sweet. He was picturing a very similar scene, and it kind of made him want to drive straight to a courthouse to marry Jared Gaines right then. Fuck, he had it so bad. Ty reached over to snag Jared’s hand and brought it to his lips to kiss. “Nobody else I’d rather be with,” he said. He was going to do his damndest to pamper Jared back, too. In spite of his optimism, Ty knew the holiday would probably come with bittersweet memories of Sadie -- Christmas was always an amplifier of grief -- and he wanted to shower Jared with as much love as possible.
Ty wasn't the only one who had it bad. If he had suggested they go get married Jared would say yes on the spot. It was kind of amazing because when he thought about it he felt like he should be jaded by now. He'd been here before, more than once, believing fully that this was it, that his current partner was the one. He'd really believed it with Sadie, pictured himself growing old with her, having kids and getting dogs, white picket fence - the works. Yet it didn't diminish his feelings for Ty in any way. He could feel optimistic about this relationship and not fall into the trap of thinking about how it hadn't worked out last time and that spoke volumes of how Ty made him feel. "I know this season comes with baggage for everyone," he said, eyeing Ty with a warm little smile. "We can start fresh."
Ty was old enough to know that he was possibly being naive. That this relationship could crash and burn somehow and he could end up heartbroken. That was always possible. He just couldn’t imagine it happening, given how they actually interacted and how they felt about each other. They’d been through some trials too already, and they’d built on a basis of friendship ... Ty really felt like he was with the man he was supposed to be with, and he’d never been in love like this before. He briefly glanced over with his own little smile. “Looks like we’re off to a good start,” he murmured. “Tree lighting, here we come. New tradition number one.”
"Hell yeah," Jared replied with a warm smile of his own. "Are you getting a tree?" he asked and maybe it was too early to think about it but still, he liked getting a tree, he just didn't have a whole lot of decorative things to put on it. He'd left most of what they had with Sadie because he'd been dumb and hoping they'd get back together before the next Christmas rolled around. Stupid. Now she was dead and he had a fleeting thought of how he might be able to get some of that stuff they'd bought together. It was something he quickly dismissed because no, he wanted everything new now.
“Hadn’t planned on it ... but I’ll put one up at my place if you wanna spend Christmas there,” Ty offered, glancing over at him again as he pulled them into the marina parking lot. It was pretty packed, and he started cruising to find a spot for them. Ty never really decorated for holidays, he had never seen much point in it when it was just him in the house, and he often spent the holiday itself with his family elsewhere. But if Jared was his new family, Ty kind of liked the idea of sitting around with him and gazing at a pretty-lit tree, then waking up together on Christmas morning and going to open presents in front of it. He parked the car and cut the engine.
Once the car was parked, Jared leaned over and kissed Ty with gratitude and love. "Get a tree," he murmured, happy he'd consider doing that since he knew it was for him. Ty's place was probably nicer in the winter than Jared's so spending Christmas there would be nicer. Jared would probably still get a small tree. He liked the smell of it and the way it looked and it was a tradition he couldn't shake. "Let's go look at the big one," he added between kisses, then grinned at Ty as he pulled back.
Ty guessed that settled it, they were doing Christmas at his house this year. Even if he didn’t get into the holiday much anymore, waking up on Christmas morning to Jared in bed with him sounded kind of like bliss. Maybe he could skip seeing his mom entirely, and make it a perfect fucking day. Ty happily kissed Jared back while he was there, then gave him an answering grin as he reached for his door handle. “That’s very size-queeny of you,” he teased with mock-offense that didn’t match his smile in the slightest. Ty pinched playfully at Jared’s side, then climbed out of the car, giving a little groan and stretch.
"If I'm a size queen it's all your fault," Jared muttered knowingly as he got out of the car. Ty was pretty big, when Jared really thought about it he was kind of impressed with himself that he could take it and enjoy it as much as he did. There was a joke about it too; once you go black...? That wasn't a joke he wanted to crack at his black boyfriend, they were pretty cool about the racial stuff but some of those jokes were... risky? Not worth the risk. "Maybe I should make sure you get a big tree too," he said with a click of his tongue and a cheeky smile at Ty as he joined him at the sidewalk.
“Oh I got a big tree,” Ty murmured back, giving Jared a cheeky little grin. “You love it.” He very nearly grabbed his crotch just for emphasis, but there were some people headed the same direction they were, so he didn’t. He could be vulgar at home, but they had to keep some kind of professional decorum in town. But what was the point of having a boyfriend if you couldn’t make subtle dick jokes out in public? Ty took Jared’s hand, linking their fingers together, and started toward the marina. He could smell the cider and cinnamon already, and all the lights looked pretty even from the parking lot. This was going to be nice.
Jared laughed and then nodded in a way that said Ty was all too right. "I do love it," he agreed, bumping his arm against Ty's and leaning down to murmur, "But I don't think you want me decorating that tree." He paused, smirked and leaned in again. "It would look real pretty though, wrapped up in lights. Hm." Now there was a mental image he didn't mind, festive and erotic at the same time, it made him wish he was a good photographer because he could absolutely see it as art in his mind.
Ty had seen some nice erotic photography involving Christmas lights and certain anatomical structures, so he could picture what Jared was picturing too. It made him want to find a photographer who was good at that kind of thing, to take some boudoir pictures of him for Jared. Maybe that could be his Christmas present. Especially since they weren’t spending it with family or anything. “You can be the angel on top,” he couldn’t resist saying, flashing Jared a wicked grin. Ty snickered, unable to help himself. Sometimes Jared walked right into those sorts of jokes. Once their feet hit the wooden planks of the marina, Ty pulled him toward the nearest drink stand to get some refreshments.
Jared barked out a laugh at that one because it was funny on more levels than one and he was still snickering like an idiot when they hit the refreshment stands. Thankfully he didn't know anyone well there because this was not a joke he could share. He tried to smooth his face into a calm smile instead of a dorky grin as they waited their turn. Yeah he was no angel and he was feeling that keenly now as he tried to switch his thoughts from dirty to something more appropriate for the setting. "You're such bad influence," he murmured quietly and gave Ty a sidelong glance.
There was still a part of Ty that was hyper aware of the people around them, and whether or not they were looking at their linked hands. He and Jared had been open about their relationship for a while now, but he still wasn’t used to being in crowded public spaces with him. The joking around was helping, and of course just being in Jared’s easygoing presence always helped him relax. It was just an itch in the back of his mind, being Looked At. “The worst,” he agreed with a little grin. Their turn to order came up pretty quickly, and Ty got something hot with some alcohol in it, ready to sip on something that was warm in a couple of different ways. Once Jared had his drink too, Ty led them to wander away toward where the tree was.
There were a few people to greet once they drew closer, fortunately nobody who wanted to make small talk because Jared wasn't really in the mood to chat for long, he was there with Ty and wanted to focus on him and the tree. "This is good," he murmured after drinking some of his beverage. He was aware that some people were staring but it was hard to give a damn. He was pretty sure the whole damn town knew they were dating by now so they shouldn't be surprised to see them together. He let go of Ty's hand once they'd found a good spot to stand, opting to wrap his arm around him instead.
Ty was good with just saying passing hellos to the people they knew -- and there were quite a few of them. You didn’t get to be a cop in a small town without being known by most of the citizens, especially being the black cop. Nobody roped them into any long-winded conversations though, which he was grateful for. “Yeah?” he murmured back to Jared, taking a sip of his own drink while they found a good spot to stand and wait. His cider was good too, especially with whiskey in it. Ty hummed his approval and took another sip, leaning in against Jared a bit. It was a good spot to people watch as everyone milled around the tree, and he started to feel some actual good cheer seeping into him. “This is good,” he agreed belatedly, meaning more than the drinks.
Maybe the people they knew that were standing near by could feel Jared's desire for some privacy. He sure felt like his body language was speaking loud and clear with the way he was holding Ty and leaning in to speak softly to him. He wasn't really listening through the formalities of speeches and such, more focused on Ty and his drink, waiting for the lights. He couldn't deny it all gave him a warm and strong feeling of community though and it was pretty amazing how far they had come that he could stand there with a man and still belong. He couldn't imagine how it made Ty feel, he had been hiding for so long. Jared hoped he felt safe and loved and happy, that was all he really wanted for him. It was all making Jared feel sappy and he leaned in again and kissed Ty's temple gently. "I want to spend every Christmas with you for the rest of my life," he admitted. It wasn't a marriage proposal or a request or anything, but he felt like he had to say it right there and then.
The speeches were the same kinda hokey bullshit they said every year, so Ty didn’t pay much attention to them either, looking around at the crowd instead. It was a nice place to be, and nobody was hassling them. He wasn’t worried about most of the people around them, but it was still hard to shake that paranoia that he’d had ingrained into him for so long. Part of him was looking for his mother’s face amidst the people, but he tried to stop that and focus on how nice Jared’s hand felt in his. The soft kiss made him smile, and Jared’s quiet words gave Ty butterflies in his stomach. It was a little amazing that he could still feel those, if he was being honest. He couldn’t help but love it, though. It kind of felt like a marriage proposal, even if he knew better, and as Ty looked over at his boyfriend’s face, the tree lit up and bathed him with golden light. Everyone started clapping and cheering, and Ty couldn’t even look away. He kissed him instead, then murmured a “me too” against his lips.
It did feel like a magical moment, the timing was so perfect, it almost felt too good, like it was a scene in a feel-good holiday movie. Jared just stared at Ty until they kissed, warmth spreading through his body that had nothing to do with his drink. They weren't making promises or requests but it still felt like they were on some non-pressuring level and Ty looked even more breathtaking in the golden lights. Jared felt intensely grateful in that moment. Things had been so bleak and dark, even before Sadie died he'd been stressed and down for other reasons, he needed this golden moment, like all the good and pure in the world was converging right there with the lighting of the tree and they could gather strength from it just by standing near by.
It was a little slice of time that Ty wanted to live in for a long time. He wasn’t really a believer in Christmas magic or any of that Hallmark channel bullshit, but there was something about being with all those happy people around a big beautiful tree with all that joy buzzing in the air, and kissing his boyfriend. His man. The only one he wanted for the rest of his life. Like all Moments though, it had to end, and as the crowd started milling around again, Ty pulled back to give Jared a bright smile. “I love you,” he murmured over the din of renewed chatter around them. “Wish you didn’t have to work tonight.” Given their profession, it was doubtful that they would ever end up with the same schedule all the time, but damn if he didn’t wish for it at the moment.
"I'll come straight back to you when it's over," Jared promised. "And wake you up if I have to." That wasn't something he'd always felt comfortable doing but they were getting into the gentle rhythm of an established relationship where Jared knew what to expect when he snuck into the bedroom while Ty was sleeping. He might not always wake up all the way, but he usually stirred enough to accept a kiss and pull Jared's arm around him. It was more like coming home than Jared had felt in a long time, a reminder of how much he hated sleeping alone. Jared caught Ty's hand and gave it a little squeeze. "I love you," he echoed. "Thanks for coming here with me."
Ty smiled in a way that said he didn’t mind being woken up by Jared in the slightest. And he didn’t, even if he had an early morning or something. He’d never lived with anyone before -- and still technically didn’t, but this was the closest he’d ever come -- and he loved it. The feelings he always got when he felt Jared’s weight crawl into the bed and all that warmth snuggled up to him were more fulfilling than he would’ve thought possible. He squeezed his man’s hand back and kissed his cheek one more time. “Of course,” he said. “It’s our new tradition. C’mon, let’s walk around a bit.”
They strolled around some, went back for drinks and admired the tree. Jared was absolutely on board with this being their thing now and he would fight for it to last for years to come. Still there was a small part of him that worried that Cindy Solomon was somewhere in the crowd, ready to come out and distill awkwardness with a look alone, something that might taint the day a little but time ticked by and he saw no sign of her. Nobody else seemed to care though they definitely got some looks. "We should make something like this at home," he murmured as he finished his drink and led Ty to a nearby trash bin to get rid of the cup. "It's damn good."
Ty just wanted to make the best of the time they had together tonight, and he enjoyed the casual strolling and people-watching. He’d relaxed a bit out of looking for his mom, deciding he didn’t care if she was around to glare at them or whatever. This was exactly where he wanted to be, so that was where he was. “We can probably put it together,” he agreed. Ty idly glanced over at a loose knot of young girls nearby, and seeing them with their heads together, talking to one another, reminded him of that girl he’d found in the woods. And what Grady had told him later about her. It had drifted in and out of his mind in the ensuing days, but he hadn’t been quite sure how or what to tell Jared about it yet. Ty had seen and heard about a lot of weird things, but all that was a special kind of weird. “Hey, uh ... remember me tellin’ you about that girl?” he asked, his eyes coming back to Jared.
Jared was busy thinking about ways to make the perfect hot holiday drink and 'that girl' didn't register as anything in his mind. "Uh no?" he murmured, looking over at the gaggle of girls as if he might recognize one of them as part of some story he'd now forgotten. It was the look on Ty's face that brought it back and his eyebrows arched a bit. "Oh, the crazy one?" He did remember, though he knew she hadn't been arrested or anything so he wasn't sure what had happened to her since Ty picked her up and brought her to the hospital.
“Yeah,” Ty said slowly and thoughtfully as he started them walking again. “Turns out she wasn’t so crazy after all. Grady had the lab do a DNA test and she’s really a Lucas. Like ninety-nine-whatever-percent positive to be Gavin Lucas’s offspring.” He was still a tiny bit skeptical on what that might mean -- maybe Gavin had sired some other kid when he was a teenager or something and just not known it -- but her story and how he’d found her and all that ... but how was that even possible? “And I think there was something weird about the stuff that was on her backpack, the black stuff. I dunno man, but the stuff Grady said was kinda ... unsettling.”
Jared got a feeling in the pit of his gut that reminded him of the weird things with the train sounds he'd been hearing a few weeks back and he shook his head. He didn't want to know, that feeling of not wanting to know was strong and all-consuming. "What did Grady say?" he asked anyway, already thinking along similar lines as Ty, that this girl might be Gavin's daughter but that didn't mean she was Olivia Lucas's daughter. Or had they tested that as well? He really hadn't paid attention to that case with everything else that was going on and now he wasn't sure if he regretted that or not.
Ty could see that this news unsettled Jared as well. But he’d started talking about it now and he kind of wanted to see it through, to get his man’s opinions, even though he didn’t really have all the facts. “He believes her story,” he said, his voice dropping a bit as though someone might overhear them. “That she was ... I dunno, somewhere else. Like a different dimension, I guess. That she went in nine years old somehow, then came out nineteen, two weeks later.” Ty clucked his tongue a little and shook his head in a helpless gesture. He didn’t know what to think, honestly. It all sounded completely insane, but didn’t a lot of things, when you really looked at them? It was hard to argue with DNA evidence, too. “I thought she was probably a scammer or just nuts, but now, I dunno.”
Jared swallowed dryly and wished he still had a drink in his hand, no matter what kind. "Well I guess-" he started, his brain going into overdrive to find a plausible explanation. Grady was no fool, if there was a weak link in the girl's story, he would have found it but if he was right, the world was fucking crazy. "Some kind of... glitch, black hole thing." Nope, he had no idea. "There are a lot of things we don't understand but... Maybe she's..." Conspiracy theories weren't really his thing but he could understand why people might choose the idea of some grand coverup rather than believe something like this could possibly happen. "I don't know. You saw some of that evidence?"
Jared’s gears were grinding as much as Ty’s had been over the whole thing, apparently. Ty could sympathize. None of it was easy to wrap your head around, and he couldn’t even pretend to really have an explanation for any of it. Grady hadn’t either, which was both frustrating and something to appreciate. “Yeah, I saw the lab results,” he said, giving a helpless little shrug. “I dunno what to make of it, really. She was pretty convinced of where she came from, who she was. And the family took her back, so ... what does that tell you?”
Jared shook his head. What did that tell him? That they were desperate, grieving, disillusioned? He didn't know what to think and it showed. "So where was she?" he asked even if Ty had mentioned a different dimension or 'somewhere else' and he doubted Ty had any theories of his own. How could he? This all sounded so unbelievable and, frankly, ridiculous. "A different dimension sounds a little... hoaky." It wasn't really aimed at Ty as if he didn't believe him but he wasn't sure how to process the fact that Grady believed it and... Did Ty? "What was that black stuff? Did you send it out to the lab?"
Ty didn’t take offense. It was a little hoaky, and difficult to accept. And he hadn’t accepted it at first, it had taken Grady believing it, and the DNA evidence, and the confused call-back from the lab about the black stuff. And the fog and the way it had affected them, and so many other things about Point Pleasant. “Yeah we sent it,” he said, even though he’d said so already. It was easy to miss the details with all the other bullshit he was saying. “Or at least Grady swears he sent it. The lab said they didn’t get it. They were pretty confused too. So ... I dunno, man. I just don’t know. But I dunno who else she could be.”
Jared shook his head again and he felt like asking a lot of questions, questions Ty had already answered, questions Ty couldn't answer. "I don't know, man," he muttered. "This is fucked up." It hit home how you had to see something to believe it. He trusted both Grady and Ty and yet he wanted to take his own DNA sample, bring it to a lab in person, stay and watch while they tested it and find some damn loophole that would tell him this was just a hoax. "I don't know what to do with this information," he admitted and it wasn't fair but he half wished Ty hadn't told him. Of course he didn't want him to keep it to himself either but he also didn't want to know.
If Jared had given voice to that impulse to do it all himself, Ty would’ve related. He’d had those same impulses too. He glanced up at Jared’s face at the last thing he said and gave a faint, humorless chuckle. “I don’t either,” he agreed. “It’s just ... I dunno, been on my mind, off and on. Thought I would share the fuckedupness.” Ty paused for a beat, then nudged Jared with his elbow and gave his hand a squeeze. “Sorry,” he added in a murmur. Maybe it was all fucked up, but if Jared knew something fucked up that he couldn’t explain, Ty would want to hear about it too.
"It's cool," Jared replied. "I want you to tell me about stuff, no matter how frustrating it is. I just honestly don't know what to do with it." The worst part was that he believed it, he didn't feel like he had the option not to believe it considering the source and what the hell did that even mean? All he knew was that he really didn't want to think about it, much like the train sounds that he'd been hearing that had stopped at some point and he wasn't going to question why. It was uncomfortable and weird and he wanted to forget about it.
“Yeah, I know the feeling,” Ty agreed with real sympathy. He didn’t know what to do with it either. “Maybe there’s nothing to do, just ... watch out for big black oil slicks in the woods?” He gave a faint chuckle, trying to add some levity to the situation and failing, most likely. Ty pulled Jared’s hand up to kiss the back of it, kind of regretting even bringing any of it up when he had. None of it out and out disturbed him, though maybe it should. Ty had just seen and heard about too much weird shit in his time as a deputy in this place. He just hoped Jared could shake off some of the weirdness before he had to work an overnight shift.
"Avoid oil slicks," Jared repeated with a nod. "You found her out by the bridge, right? Sweetbriar?" Maybe avoid that damn place too then. It had flooded and they'd put up some warnings there to keep people out, now Jared couldn't help but wonder if there were more reasons for that than the one they'd been given. The thought irked him. Did this mean he was going to start seeing strangeness and conspiracies around every corner? That just wasn't him at all, he preferred things simpler than that. "If it's all true, how the hell are they going to work around that? She's supposed to be just a kid." It wasn't like Ty had those answers either, Jared was more thinking out loud than anything.
“Yeah, around Sweetbriar,” Ty confirmed, giving a little nod. And given how cold it had been that day, Amelia couldn’t have come from very far away to get to the bridge. He hadn’t even really thought about the warnings that had gone up, but it was probably a good idea in general for people to stay away from that place. And many other places in Point Pleasant, if he was being honest. Really, they all ought to move somewhere far far away and forget this place existed. That was overly dramatic though, and not really feasible. “I dunno, man,” he answered, predictably, and shrugged again. However the Lucases worked it out, that was their business, and Ty wasn’t going to question it. The girl hadn’t done anything illegal, so that was where his involvement ended, as far as he was concerned. “Really though ... with how fucked up everything can be, I just wish ‘em luck, you know?” At least they’d gotten their daughter back, in some form or fashion. If it was all true.
"You know what," Jared murmured. "That's a good take on the whole thing. I hope they're happy, I hope it's really her and I hope it all works out." He wrapped his arm around Ty again and pulled him in closer. "And a merry christmas to all," he said in his best rendition of a 50s announcer voice-over. How else was he going to deal with this? It was all too weird to deal with in any serious fashion and he couldn't let himself go down that road, not right now. Dealing with weirdness and the recent deaths in his life was too much so he tried his best to focus on Ty and their new tradition. "Sorry, I don't mean to be flippant about it, my head's just spinning."
Ty laughed a bit at the ole-timey impression, slipping his arm around Jared’s waist while they walked. He gave Jared a firmer squeeze at the last part, again regretting telling him a bit. At least right then. “I get it, don’t worry about it,” he said. “I’ve been sitting on it for a while, I just wasn’t really sure how to talk about it, you know? It’s really weird, but ... I dunno, it’s a nice change to have a sorta-positive kinda weird.” At least there had been no corpses involved in this one -- so far, anyway. That would be pretty insensitive to say though, so Ty didn’t. He leaned his head against Jared’s shoulder briefly. “It’ll be even more nice to get outta here for a while next week.”
"Yeah," Jared said and he hoped it would be a proper vacation with nothing weird happening back at home. It needed to be confined to Point Pleasant even if he didn't really know what that said about the town. Home needed to be normal. "My mama's gonna love you, just hope you don't get overwhelmed by everyone." Thanksgiving was a nicer topic to focus on, far nicer than thinking about a nine year old girl coming back as an adult from some other dimension. Jesus, was this his life now? "You better brace yourself for eatin' a lot, there'll be so much food."
Going to Texas seemed like it would be some kind of perfect, tropical vacation. It would be warmer, they wouldn’t have to work, hopefully Jared’s family would accept him, and they could just fucking relax and eat too much food and watch football and cuddle. Ty wanted to be there right at that very second. “Oh I can pack it away,” he answered with a grin. “And I can handle your family, no worries. I’m honestly looking forward to like, a big loving family to overwhelm me.” That was something he’d never really had, and it sounded nice. He shot Jared a smirky little glance. “You ready for all of them to know?”
"Hell yeah," Jared replied without hesitation. "If I gotta wager I'd say my cousins will all be cool about it, mom's sister definitely already knows, her husband might be a little weird about it but he's surrounded by girls who are all pretty liberal so he knows to shut up if he has a problem. My grandma will love you, she just loves everyone unless they're a criminal so you get extra points for being a cop." He stopped and thought about it. There were some relatives he wasn't entirely sure about because it honestly had never come up but he couldn't imagine they'd make a scene at his mama's house.
Ty let out a soft laugh and an ‘aw’ at the part about Jared’s grandmother. He wasn’t too surprised to hear that various cousins and aunts and such would be cool, but grandparents always seemed like a gamble. Maybe even more of one since Ty was black, but he didn’t bother to bring that part up. He would be there, they would see him, and they could accept it or get over it. That feeling of calm confidence was really nice to experience. It might not last once the plane actually landed, but Ty would ride it until it fizzled. He gave his man a squeeze and just smiled ahead of them as they walked. It was a beautiful night, and he really didn’t want it to end, but it was getting closer and closer to the time that Jared had to go to work. But Ty would be in bed waiting for him when he got home, and they would enjoy the time they did have together as much as possible.