Carson Durand (dontlaugh) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2019-08-18 19:48:00 |
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Entry tags: | #december 2017, carson, carson x rylee, rylee |
Who: Carson and Rylee
When: Friday morning, December 29
Where: Home
Status: Complete
For a while Rylee was sure the fog was never going to end. That they would all eventually starve to death, or resort to violence and panic. She had gotten stuck at Moxie’s with about fifteen other people, and other than one or two outbursts, everyone had thankfully stayed fairly calm. At least until those dark shadows were spotted. No one had wanted to stay near the windows, understandably, so they had piled behind the counter, and into the back kitchen.
Rylee had checked her phone so often to see if it was working yet that she eventually ran out of battery. So Friday morning when the fog had begun to dissipate and they were sure the shadow creatures were gone, Rylee had run out to her car, climbing inside to plug in her phone with her car charger. As soon as it got enough power to turn on she had called Carson. So much tension she had been carrying for the past two days began to fade as soon as he picked up and she could hear he was okay. They agreed to meet back at the apartment once Carson drove Jared to the hospital, and Rylee had to resist driving to the hospital herself just to see him with her own two eyes.
But she made her way back home, slowly and carefully, a bit overwhelmed by the amount of damage done to some of the homes and buildings. Rylee purposefully ignored some of the darker patches in the snow, well aware of what they probably were. What the hell had happened here?
Inside her apartment, it was still cold from the power outage, so she turned up the heat and started a pot of coffee for something hot to drink. She was in desperate need of a shower, but she wanted to wait until Carson was home so they could see one another and she could make sure he was truly okay.
Carson hadn’t been eager to take Jared to the hospital, as he was internally chomping at the bit to get to Rylee, but it was something the cop would’ve done for him. Not to mention the guilt that had been burning in Carson’s stomach since the moment Jared burst through the gym door out of the fog. Nothing Carson could ever do could make up for what had happened to Sadie, but he could try to soothe himself with small favors. Luckily Jared hadn’t asked him to stick around or anything, so he’d headed to the apartment as fast as he could safely go.
He parked and hurried to the door, almost forgetting his keys in the process. But then Carson was walking inside and the smell of coffee hit him and he almost fell to his knees and cried with relief. “Ry?” he called as he pushed the door shut and locked it, turning to head toward the kitchen.
Rylee was moving as soon as she heard the door open and she smiled at the sight of him, despite how exhausted he looked. She was sure she appeared the same to him, but she didn't care. She hadn't had showers at Moxie's, but she doubted he would care about that either, so Rylee threw herself in his arms, clutching him tight. He was solid and alive in her arms. "I was so worried about you," she murmured, not entirely sure she would ever stop clinging to him. "Are you okay?" Rylee had asked on the phone, but she needed to hear him say it again, just for the reassurance.
She looked goddamn radiant to Carson, for the few seconds he could see her until they were hugging. He dropped his keys to the floor with a clank and squeezed her with both arms, his balance swaying backward just a bit. She smelled like stale grease and fear sweat, but there was Rylee underneath that, and that was what Carson had needed. “Yeah,” he told her, a little breathless. “Just cold and sore and starving. Are you?” He wanted to look at her, kiss every inch of her face, but he couldn’t seem to let go of her enough to do that yet.
"I'm fine." He felt so good in her arms that she didn't want to let go. "Cold, but I'm warming up. Moxie's wasn't the most comfortable place to be stuck but we had food, at least." Rylee pulled back to look at him, searching for any sign that he might be hurt and not realize it. She knew how silly that was, but it was instinctive anyway. Carson had been through enough as it was. "I can make you some food if you want to change into clean clothes. I turned up the heat too, so hopefully the apartment will feel warmer soon." They both probably needed showers and a long nap, but Rylee figured that would come soon. She was exhausted, but felt oddly wired now that she was home and the threat outside was gone.
Carson let Rylee look him over, doing the same himself now that she’d broken the hug. ‘Fine’ was a relative term, and he was sure there were marks on them now that couldn’t be seen, but her body looked unharmed, so that was a good start, at least. Carson briefly debated whether he wanted food or a shower first, and decided on food. Especially if Rylee was going to make it for him. He was dying to get his leg off and let his stump breathe and rest, and the clothes he had on felt kind of stiff with sweat. He was definitely gross. “That would be great, if you don’t mind,” he told Rylee with some sheepish relief. “Just ... don’t go to much trouble, a sandwich or something would work. And some of that coffee.” Carson pressed a kiss to her cheek before he started toward the bedrooms.
Rylee could agree to that. She wasn't sure she had the energy to do much more than sandwiches and chips anyway. If she had the patience for waiting she probably would have just ordered a pizza, but she was pretty sure those businesses weren't up and running again just yet. Hopefully Dino's didn't get damaged in all this fuckery. While Carson went off to change, Rylee made some ham, turkey and cheese sandwiches before just grabbing the bag of potato chips to open on the small kitchen table so they could share the bag. She made him coffee too and then sat down with a soft sigh. She hadn't been able to relax at Moxie's and now that she was home it felt like adrenaline was slowly seeping from her bones. Carson was okay. Her mom and sister were okay too. She wanted to know what had happened, but at the same time... she didn't want to know anything. Maybe it was dangerous of her, but ignorance was bliss at the moment.
Carson got changed into some fresh sweatpants and a clean zip-up hoodie -- he still felt cold, even though he’d had his car’s heater on full blast; it was probably hunger more than anything -- and took his leg off. Tossing all of his dirty stuff into the hamper, he grabbed his crutch and made his way back to the kitchen. Carson’s stomach growled just at the sight of the sandwich and chips waiting for him, and he sat down with a little groan of appreciation. “You’re the fuckin’ best,” he muttered to Rylee. “All we had was like, Gatorade and protein bars.” Carson had barely gotten the words out before he was stuffing the first huge bite into his mouth.
"That's why gyms suck," Rylee said teasingly, needing to lighten the mood now that the majority of the fear was out of the way. She took a bite of her sandwich and slumped back against her chair to enjoy it. They'd had diner food, but had been eating sparingly just in case they were all stuck there for days, or longer. And then the power had gone out and they left the freezers shut to try and preserve most of the frozen meat and everything. So this tasted really good to her. She chewed and eyed Carson, still thankful he was okay. "Did you have a lot of people in there with you? Is everyone okay?"
Halfway through his sandwich already, Carson wished vaguely that he’d asked for two of them. It didn’t matter though, he could get up and make himself another if he wanted. Anything from the kitchen, really. It was at least satisfying his stronger hunger pangs. “There were five of us,” he told Rylee. “Well ... started as four, but yesterday morning when ... they showed up, Jared took shelter with us.” Carson gave Rylee a meaningful, sorrowful sort of look, but it couldn’t last long as he took another bite of food. He’d spent hours feeling guilty and awful, now he just wanted to eat and unclench, for fuck’s sake. “We all ended up okay though. How many were with you?”
Rylee paused mid-chew when Carson mentioned Jared showing up but she didn't ask him about it. He had probably been stressed out enough without the added weight of Sadie on top of everything. She figured if he wanted to talk about it, he would. But right now Carson probably wanted to try and relax. Reaching into the bag of chips, Rylee pulled one out and popped it into her mouth before shrugging. "Fourteen or fifteen," she explained once she had swallowed. "Me and two other waitresses, John and Sammy." She wiped her greasy fingers on her paper towel. "And then the customers who were there and got stuck with the fog. No kids, thankfully. A couple teenagers but they were mostly okay to deal with. Almost everyone was of the mind that the things in the fog were probably rabid animals, or sea creatures that came to shore. I don't think they realized how big they seemed."
That was a much bigger crowd than what Carson had had to deal with, and he was pretty grateful for it. It had been bad enough, crowding into the back office with four other people, he couldn’t imagine the chaos if the gym had been packed. Rylee was right that he didn’t want to talk about Sadie. Nor did he want to talk about how close he’d come to confessing to Jared, in the middle of the freezing, hopeless night. Now that they were out of there, it seemed so incredibly stupid, he couldn’t believe he’d nearly done it. So Carson focused on what Rylee was saying instead, letting out a derisive snort. “Sea creatures big enough to flip a car over? My ass,” he muttered. “But with how this town is, bet they’re not even thinking better of it today.” It was amazing, the evidence people could completely ignore, right in front of their faces.
"We didn't see any cars being flipped," she pointed out. "I didn't even know how bad it was until driving home. I knew it had to be more than some rabid animal. They always say that when..." Rylee trailed off, realizing that had been the excuse the cops had come up with for Sadie's mauling. "Well, they always have an excuse. Sometimes I wonder if they come up with them on their own or someone else tells them what to say. Maybe they don't even know." Except Jared. Who seemed to know exactly what was going on in this town. "But you're right. My mom was more worried about insurance covering the roof of the garage that got damaged. She barely seemed to care about what could have possibly done it."
Carson didn’t miss the meaningful pause there, and he felt the back of his neck get a little hot, but he let it go. He knew all about the dumb ‘reasons’ the people in charge gave when something like this happened -- and even though it was rarely this big of an event, something was always happening, it seemed like. He was now part of the mysterious fabric of the town and it made him feel queasy, so he tried to focus on the stuff that was definitely not his fault. “Yeah, Jared took shelter at the gym in the first place ‘cause one of ‘em flipped his car. So we heard about that pretty fast,” Carson said grimly. He sighed and rubbed at one of his eyes, then added, “Glad your mom’s okay, though. I think something here ... makes things easy to forget, somehow. Magnetism or something, I dunno.” He wasn’t smart enough to have answers, but he did know the pattern of the general public just letting things fade out of their minds.
"I don't know either. Except I don't forget. I remember." Rylee blew out a soft breath from her lips and then picked at her sandwich. "I can't even begin to theorize how this town works. Or why things are the way they are. All I can do, all we can do, is just take things one day at a time and try to... avoid fog monsters, among other things," she added with a tiny grin. Then she reached over to curl her fingers around his wrist, drawing his hand down into hers. "I was worried about you, though. And I'm glad you're okay. Were you able to check in with... Nic and everyone? I mean." She tapped her fingertip against her head.
Carson remembered too. And had even before his whole life had changed. He wondered if that made them special somehow, or if everyone did actually remember, they just didn’t want to acknowledge it. Rylee was right, they probably couldn’t figure it out and it was a waste of brain power. He focused on her instead, giving her fingers a squeeze as she took his hand. “I was worried about you too,” Carson told her with a faint smile. He’d uselessly obsessed over her safety, and getting that phone call from her had been an indescribable relief. But all that sounded dramatic at the kitchen table with chips in front of them, so he didn’t say it. “I heard Nic at least,” he said with a slow nod. “He warned us about the fog beasts. He saw one, apparently. But it seemed like we were mostly trying to block each other out. They’re all alive though.” Carson knew that without having to really hear from them.
"That's good." Rylee made a mental note to text Zania and check in on her as well. There was a small part of her that figured witches could take care of themselves, but surely there were things out there stronger than they were. Rylee let go of Carson's hand to pick up her sandwich and take another bite. She was hungry, yes, but she could feel the exhaustion start to sink in deeper and while she wanted a hot shower too, her bed was calling for her. "It's kind of strange to be at the point where I accept fog beasts without trying to think of a more rational explanation for what they were. You could have said aliens and I probably would have believed you by now."
Carson ate some more too, then grunted an amused sound around the food in his mouth. “Fuck, who knows, it could’ve been aliens,” he said with a shrug once he’d swallowed. Carson drank some more coffee, grateful for the warmth it spread through his insides. “I dunno what not to believe in anymore. I feel you. I just wish I wasn’t like, part of it. Next full moon is in three days,” he said. He sounded incredibly tired, Carson couldn’t help it. He just hoped Vex and Lem’s house had survived okay and they could still help him. In a murmur, Carson added, “I was trying to make plans on what to do if we were all still stuck in the gym by then.”
Oh, right, the full moon. How was it here already? It felt like yesterday she was watching Carson shift behind those bars. Rylee frowned, but she supposed she ought to be thankful this fog didn't happen during the full moon, trapping Carson somewhere where he could hurt people. Like the gym. She nudged his foot gently beneath the table. "Well, you don't have to worry about that now," she murmured. "You'll be safe when it happens. But if you're afraid this could happen again, during the full moon... I wonder if there's a way we can get sedatives, or something strong for you to take. I'm not sure how that works to be honest, other than what Nick explained. Maybe we can ask and try to find a Plan B for these kind of situations."
Carson didn’t volunteer that one of his plans had involved stealing Jared’s gun and putting a bullet in his brain. Or just running out into the fog to take his chances. It was amazing how dark a mind could go in a situation like that, no need to recount it to Rylee and worry her. Carson was not going to be responsible for another death if he could help it, that was all there was to it. “Yeah maybe, I don’t know,” he murmured before finishing off what was left of his sandwich. Carson munched a few chips and took a sip of coffee. “It’d be worth it to ask.” They still had Nick’s number and everything, though he doubted the guy was going to show up for Round 2 of the cage. “I just wanna get through this one.” He was too tired for anything more.
It was probably smart of Carson not to reveal to Rylee his most desperate plan if he had been stuck in the gym during the full moon. She wouldn't have taken the news well at all, especially given how tired she was. "We'll work it out," she assured him. Even if she had to talk to Nick herself, or find someone else. It would be worth the hassle to make sure Carson was safe, and everyone else was too if this ever happened again, at the wrong time of the month. "And maybe after we shower and get some sleep we can call Vex and make sure the basement is still ready for the full moon."
Carson nodded -- that sounded like a plan. Everybody in town probably needed some good sleep, so he didn’t mind waiting. He just hoped all of his keepers were okay out there. “Speaking of,” he murmured, pushing back from the table. “You wanna shower with me? I’m dead on my foot.” He was sure Rylee was worn out too, and Carson felt itchy and gross now that his stomach was taken care of. He wanted to get clean and slide in between some sheets and curl up to Rylee and forget everything for a while.
Rylee smiled softly. "Yes. I've been feeling grimy ever since I left Moxie's." She stood and took their plates over to the sink. "I honestly feel like I might be able to sleep for sixteen hours straight if no one bugs us." Nothing would feel better than to wash her hair and put on clean clothes and get into a soft bed, especially with Carson. She wiped her hands on her uniform and then turned back to him. "Did you have your meds with you? Do you need them?"
Sixteen hours in bed sounded like heaven, and Carson was almost tempted not to shower at all and just get to the sleeping. But bed would feel much better if he was clean, and he wanted to enjoy some actually conscious time with Rylee. He was standing up as she looked at him again, and Carson shook his head. “Nah, I didn’t have anything on me ... probably oughta start doing that,” he said, mostly as a muttered reminder to himself. “They’re all in the bathroom, I’ll take a round.” Missing a dose or two of his meds might make him feel kind of shitty, but he didn’t think he would throw his body off too much. He got his crutch on his arm again and gave Rylee a little smile as he started out of the kitchen. “C’mon, let’s wash all this bullshit down the drain.” For a while, anyway.