Jared Gaines (thatbigguy) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2020-04-11 02:29:00 |
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Entry tags: | #january 2018, jared, jared x ty, ty |
Who: Jared & Ty
Where: Cemetery
When: Wednesday morning 01/17
Status: Complete
Jared had never felt this tired on a morning shift. He kind of zombie shuffled through the routine of getting ready and getting to work and it was oh so tempting to take a nap in the cruiser once he was out on patrol. No amount of coffee seemed to work and he kept cracking the window open for some cool air to keep himself from falling asleep behind the wheel. A call came in around nine about some suspicious activity at the cemetery and damn if that didn't just sound very status quo at the moment. Jared took the call and drove out there, not sure what to expect. A dead cow, half-frozen people, vandalized graves - it could be anything, so far it had been a lot of things. He didn't feel terribly bothered by it which might have been a good thing if it didn't feel wrong. Jared was a man who passionately cared about things and this week he'd felt weirdly numb and unaffected by everything. Some might say that was normal, shutting down after everything that had gone on but Jared didn't like it. He hadn't shut down like that when his dad died, when Sadie died, when he first heard the train. If anything his emotions had flared up - not died down. Was this what depression felt like?
He parked the car near the gate and walked along the wall. The caller was long gone but he did have his name and home address for follow up questions, for now all he needed was the directions he'd gotten. It had started snowing, but the spot was easy to find anyway, not yet covered by the fluffy flakes. It looked like blood. A lot of blood, though it was oddly dark, especially against the white of the snow. Jared didn't feel worried by it, or like he might be in danger, he barely even felt compelled to do his job but he did anyway, stalking back to his truck to get a tarp to keep the area clear of snow while he investigated. He'd at least need to take a sample, make sure this wasn't human blood, make sure this wasn't yet another crime scene. While at the car he thought maybe he was being too frivolous and while he didn't really care right now, he knew Ty would be furious if he got hurt on account of being careless. It wasn't like him to be careless so... Damn it. He huffed a little sigh and called for backup on the way back to the spot, making it clear it might be nothing but better safe than sorry, right?
By contrast, Ty was having a great week. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he’d just been feeling really good. Capable and strong, on top of his shit. The only thing that penetrated the golden glow and made him feel worried was how worn down Jared was getting. Ty had asked him a dozen times how he felt, if he thought he was coming down with something, but he didn’t seem to have many symptoms besides fatigue. Ty figured he would come out of it. And if he didn’t, Ty felt confident that he could convince Jared to go to the doctor. If all else failed, he could call Mama Gaines and have her convince him. It was flu season, after all.
He’d started his day out at the station, finishing up some paperwork from his last shift, then Ty got some coffee to go and got into his cruiser to patrol. When Jared’s call came over the radio, he didn’t hesitate to pick up his mic to answer back. There was only one other deputy out on duty, and his last check-in had indicated he was on the other side of town, so Ty was the closest. “Be there in five,” he told Jared over the radio, already turning his car around. It was closer to three minutes, since there weren’t many other cars on the road, and then he was pulling in behind Jared’s cruiser. Ty pulled his hat on, got out, and started walking toward where Jared said he would be.
Normally Jared would have been elated that it was Ty joining him but like with everything else, he found it hard to care. He knew it should worry him and he feigned a little smile for Ty to keep him from fretting more. "Glad it's you," he muttered and there was a half formed joke in his mind that went away too quickly so he left it at that. "Need to take some samples, take some pictures and then go look around." He waved his hand vaguely at the dark splotches in the snow. "Not much of a crime scene without a body but it sure looks like one. Like someone or something got bludgeoned or stabbed, see those blood splatters on the wall?"
It probably said something unpleasant about him that Ty was more concerned about how his boyfriend looked than the evidence of an obviously gruesome crime. That was a lot of blood, already darkly congealed on the snow. And the stone wall. And the path. “Yeah, someone definitely died here,” he muttered, his brow furrowing as he looked around at the scene. It was full of footprints and signs of struggle, and he wondered just how many people had been involved in whatever had happened here. “Okay uh ... if you’re taking point on this, what do you need me to do?” Jared looked half asleep, but he’d been the first officer on the scene, so Ty wasn’t going to just waltz in and take over. Not unless Jared wanted him to -- because he felt like he could, just that he shouldn’t. Yet.
I don't care Jared thought but rather than say that he just gave a long suffering sigh and shook his head. "I guess-" he muttered, pulling one glove off to rub his hand over his face. "Take some samples while I take some pictures. We should go look around together." It was so tempting to ask Ty to take over, he looked like he was awake and rearing to go whereas Jared just felt tired and kind of cold and wanted to go back to the cruiser and close his eyes for an hour or three. He slipped his glove back on and pulled the camera from his pocket. "I'm forgetting something," he muttered, more to himself than to Ty. Maybe Ty should be in charge.
There was zero enthusiasm there, and Ty’s eyes narrowed briefly and thoughtfully for a second before he nodded. He pulled a baggie with a few pairs of latex gloves inside out of a coat pocket and removed a pair to tug on. “Got it. Don’t think we got any calls last night about any new missing persons,” he said. Even though missing persons happened fairly often in Point Pleasant, everybody on the force heard about them when they did. No report didn’t mean that someone didn’t die though, they might not have been missed yet. Ty walked in closer to the scene and looked at it for a moment before standing up to go back to his car to get some supplies out of the trunk.
Jared branded the camera, idly wondering what this could be. 'Just another shit show' his brain provided unhelpfully and he sighed, snapping off a few pictures until he heard Ty returning. He wondered if it even was blood, it looked too dark somehow but at the same time he was almost certain that it was and he hated the fact that a part of him wondered if it was even human blood. They didn't have any tests on them so samples would have to do for now, samples and photographs. He let Ty do his thing as he went through the photos on the camera, making sure they were in focus and thorough enough then stared at the cemetery wall, the wheels in his head sluggishly turning. "I don't see any drag marks or any footprints we can use." Almost like whoever had been here had made sure to shuffle the snow enough to mess up his prints. Or the
snow had just covered them already. It was hard to tell. "Want to check inside the walls?"
Ty focused on the work for a little bit once Jared was done photographing, bagging up some samples of the blood and carefully searching the ground for any shell casings or usable clues. It was difficult when crimes happened in the snow, since it was so malleable, and it seemed like whoever had done this had cleaned up as much as they could. Whatever had been done in the first place, this could’ve just been a hunter bagging a kill too close to the cemetery -- and being messy about it -- or self defense or who knew what else. Ty was fanning out into a wider circle when Jared spoke again, and he gave the cemetery wall a glance. “We’re pretty far from the gate here, but ... yeah sure, couldn’t hurt to have a look,” he agreed. Ty pocketed the stuff in his hands and started walking that way.
Jared imagined fucking parkouring the damn wall and the idea was so laughable right now, he might do it on a good day when there wasn't snow and ice everywhere and his body didn't feel like it should be hibernating. "Maybe Zelenka saw or heard something," he muttered. "Though he's been spending less time here at night." He only knew that because of the latest damn incident. "I don't know if it's worth our time questioning him, I don't even know if this is a damn crime scene." He trailed after Ty as he spoke, glancing back at the mystery spot before they turned the corner. "Think I'm coming down with something," he added, feeling defeated by it. "I just want to go home and sleep." He wasn't even sure what he was looking for. Sympathy? Reassurance? Or maybe he was just making excuses because on some level he knew he was probably shitty company right now.
He knew Jared wasn’t feeling great, that was more than obvious, especially in the tone of his voice. Ty hadn’t heard him sounding this down and drained since Sadie had died, and it was worrisome. “Yeah?” he asked, looking over at Jared. “You don’t sound like you feel good. I can handle finishing this up if you wanna tell Grady and go home, you know?” Ty’s impulse was to reach over and try to feel Jared’s forehead to check for a fever, but there were hats and gloves in the way so that probably wouldn’t work. “I can talk to Zelenka though, just in case. Where’s he staying usually, if not here?” Ty had talked to the eccentric man quite a few times over the years they’d both been in Point Pleasant, but he felt like the caretaker was more friendly with Jared.
"He's in Seaview these days," Jared replied a bit absentmindedly. "And no, I called for backup 'cause - you know - if this is a crime scene it's better not to go it alone." He might feel like shit but he was sure he'd snap out of it and spring into action if they faced any sort of real danger. "I don't know if you heard but someone opened up the old mausoleum. You know, the one that's off limits? So... I fucking hope this isn't connected to that. The last thing we need is another unsolvable mystery." He wouldn't be surprised if that was the case though, they couldn't pay him enough to go in there to look around and he hoped Rost had locked the damn thing up again. Despite his words he could feel the temptation to just go home getting stronger. It seemed like with every minute that ticked by he just felt more listless and tired.
“After we wrap this up then, you should go home, get some rest,” Ty said, looking over at him with a bit of worry in his eyes. He knew that Jared would probably be fine, he was probably just coming down with a cold or something, but still. He needed to rest so he could get better, because he looked pretty awful. And sounded awful. “No, I didn’t hear that, about the mausoleum,” he answered a moment afterward. “Was there any damage? Like the broken headstones?” Again, nobody had been reported as missing, so that was a good thing. Bad things tended to happen around that place, if the stories were to be believed. And Ty was learning that quite a few of them probably actually carried some truth to them. They got to the main gate of the cemetery and walked through, Ty’s head already swiveling, his gaze sharp and alert.
Jared shook his head. "I didn't take the call. I just know the chain was broken and the door was open but I don't know if anything was-" He trailed off, reaching out to stop Ty when they were just a few steps inside the gate. "The statues," he said quietly. "They're all- they're all fucking different." He'd never paid those statues much attention but he remembered that the last time he'd entered the damn cemetery the two statues closest to the gate had had their arms stretched up to the skies. Now they stood with their heads bowed, one with its arms crossed and the other with one hand out, palm raised up as if pleading. Had Rost moved the statues around? Was Jared losing his mind, finally? He could swear these were the same statues and they were big too, not easily maneuvered.
Ty stopped when Jared put a hand on him, his alertness spiking higher before he really registered the words. “The -- what?” he said, frowning as he looked at the statues closest to them. Ty couldn’t remember them ever being different, but they weren’t something he really paid attention to, and it had been a while since he’d been in the graveyard. “What do you mean, different? Different how?” Ty’s eyes turned back to Jared, and there was even more concern in them now. This time he did pull off his glove and reach up to feel Jared’s cheek. It felt cold to the touch, but they were outside, so maybe a fever was going to be difficult to feel without going inside his clothes some more.
Jared clenched his jaw in mild annoyance when Ty touched his face. He had hoped Ty had noticed the statues too but now he wasn't even sure what he'd seen. "Fuck this," he muttered quietly. "I'm out. I'm done." Why hadn't he taken pictures when he was here last, then he could show Ty or at least compare the statues, make sure it was a different one because this was insane. He threw his hands up and turned on his heel to stalk out of the cemetery and despite feeling angry he didn't feel angry enough, like it was all smothered under a blanket of indifference. That irritated him even more but even that felt off somehow. "Let someone else deal with this crazy ass cursed place." He stopped as abruptly as he'd turned in the first place, dug the camera out of his pocket and took a picture of the closest statue - just in case it was different again next time.
Ty’s brows shot up as Jared literally threw up his hands and started walking away, turning to watch him get the few dozen paces he got before he stopped again. He glanced back in the direction they’d been going, thinking of just letting Jared have his tantrum and continuing on to the mausoleum to check it out, at least. But that was probably a dick move when his boyfriend was obviously in distress. So Ty followed after him. He’d never seen Jared look quite so defeated and it was worrisome. “Really babe, I can handle this and then talk to Grady if you want to just go home and get some rest,” he suggested again. “You really sound like you need it.” Ty gave the statue Jared had photographed an uneasy glance. It didn’t look any different to him than normal, but he didn't really know what ‘normal’ was supposed to be. “I can find Zelenka and ask about the statues too,” he added, just so Jared felt a little less crazy. Hopefully.
If Ty suggested asking anyone else, Jared would have told him very firmly no, he did not need other people thinking he was losing his mind. Rostislav Zelenka though... He probably wouldn't think twice about why Ty was asking about the statues, the man was superstitious and odd. Jared had only dealt with him on a professional level but even then Rost had obviously believed in some odd things. Jared could no longer blame him, he'd seen too much weird shit himself in the last few months to doubt him any longer. "Yeah," he muttered and if nothing else, maybe he'd have one crackpot supporting his crazy theories. "Ask him if he moved a few two hundred pound statues around the yard just for the fuck of it." He glared at the statue again, as if it had moved like this just to slight him. "Or else I've finally gone insane or I have a fever or I don't know, Ty. I'm losing my shit here."
He thought but didn’t say that those statues were way more than two hundred pounds. Ty felt sure about that, like he was feeling sure about most things for the past few days. It was kind of nice, better than being scared all the time. “Stop, you’re not insane,” Ty said, almost amused at the idea. He reached up to push Jared’s hat back off of his forehead to feel his temperature again. He didn’t feel feverish to Ty, but his hand was kind of cold now so who knew. “You’re just overworked and overtired and this fuckin’ town is a loony bin all by itself. So listen to me, okay? Go home, get in bed and just rest. Sleep, watch TV, jerk off, whatever you have to do to relax, hear me? Boyfriend’s orders. I’ll talk to Grady, tell him you weren’t feeling good. He doesn’t have to know why. I’ll take care of it.” Ty felt like he could, like he could handle running the whole force by himself, really. But he wanted to take care of Jared too, and if that just meant bossing him around, so be it.
Jared wanted to protest because they were understaffed and overworked and he was fine, only he wasn't. He'd never felt sluggish like this before, not without a fever bogging him down or snot clogging up his nose. He hated being sick, it was a shitty reminder that his body was vulnerable and had its limits despite how much he worked out and despite the healthy breakfasts he made sure to eat. He was human, not as frail as most humans but not invincible by far. His desire to protest was heavily overwritten by how good it all sounded, especially the sleeping but the jerking off and watching TV sounded nice too. Maybe a hot shower like a cherry on top. He sighed, ducking his head to bump it against Ty's, the already soft contact cushioned by woolly hats. "Doesn't feel like I'm sick enough to go home," he mumbled. "But you're right and you're being a bossy bastard about it so..."
Ty could tell he’d won even before Jared said anything, and he was already smiling. He reached up to cup Jared’s face, stroking one cheek with his thumb softly. “Hey, whatever I gotta do to make sure you stay okay, I’m gonna do it,” he murmured. There was no way he could control most things, of course, but he could harass Jared into going home when he was sick. Ty tilted his head and kissed him a few soft times, not at all worried about catching whatever it was he had, then patted his chest as he pulled back. “I get off around six, I’ll pick up some dinner to bring home too, sound good? Or if you’re not hungry then, I’ll make you soup or something. I love you,” he said.
"Sounds good," Jared agreed, mellowed by the affection and a little less grumpy about going home. "But do me a favor and wrap up here, go talk to Zelenka. I called for backup, if something happens to you here I'll never forgive myself." Maybe he was being overly dramatic but he didn't think so, his feelings aside, it would look bad to request assistance only to leave that assistance to fend for itself. "We've got samples and we got photos and no other real evidence anything happened here. At least until we get it tested." He felt like the words were coming out flat, automatic almost, and Ty was right, he needed to get his ass home and go straight to bed.
To Ty’s ears, he was definitely being overdramatic, and a tiny smile crossed Ty’s face, but he managed to keep from outright smirking. Nothing felt dangerous to him at the moment, in spite of all the blood he’d just seen. It was daylight, it was just a cemetery full of dead people, there was nothing to be scared of. He didn’t blame Jared for calling for backup though, and Ty was glad he’d been here to harass his man into going home. “Okay, I will,” he promised, straightening Jared’s coat collar a bit. He rubbed his chest again and smiled at him. “I got it handled, go on and get outta here. I’ll check in with you soon, okay?” If Jared was going to fret, Ty could let him know he was fine after he’d had a look around and talked to Zelenka.
At least Ty didn't have what Jared had yet, that was a small comfort. The guilt of going home would weigh more heavily on Jared if two of Grady's deputies were out of commission at the same time. "I love you," he mumbled and took some comfort in the fact that Ty looked fine. "I'll drag my ass back out here if you need me," he added though he was sure Ty wouldn't call him, he'd call someone else. That was a little annoying to think about but Jared just hoped it wouldn't come to that. "So just call if anything comes up." He ducked down for a little kiss before turning to walk back toward the cruiser and that promise felt like a lie. His body felt heavy and he knew on some level that once he got in bed, he wouldn't want to get back up for anything.
“I love you too,” Ty told him before he returned the kiss. He knew as well as Jared did that he would call everyone else before he called him, but that didn’t need to be said. He knew he would be offering too if their positions were reversed. Ty gave Jared a pat on the ass before he got too far away, then watched him walk back to his car. He looked so tired, Ty had a brief worry that he might fall asleep behind the wheel, but it passed quickly. Jared knew himself well and he would stop driving if he had to. Ty waited until Jared’s car pulled away before he turned to go further into the cemetery to finish looking around, and to hopefully find the groundskeeper and see if he knew anything.