Who: Aidan and Shayna Mae Where: Their house When: Mid-morning, Tuesday, January 16 Status: Complete
As Aidan headed down the stairs to make himself a cup of coffee, he wondered how far he’d get into the day before the exhaustion hit again. Coffee didn’t seem to make a difference, nor did the amount of sleep he got. He usually woke up in the morning feeling just fine, but at some point he’d begin to feel drained to the point where all he wanted to do was lay around. He still didn’t think he was depressed, but Aya’s comments kept coming back to him. He was an air witch; he didn’t get sick. There was no logical explanation that he could find, so he went about his day, trying to pinpoint exactly when the feeling was starting and when it started to fade away.
Like Aidan, Shayna Mae was starting to feel exhausted. She wondered if maybe she was getting sick, but she had no other symptoms beyond feeling tired all the time. She tried to chalk it up to the weather and stress from what might be happening with Max, but it was simply unusual for Shayna Mae to feel this worn out. When she headed into the kitchen that morning for coffee, she was relieved to see Aidan had already beaten her to it.
"I'm in desperate need of caffeine," she told him with a small smile. "How are you feeling today?" He looked tired too, and she was hoping he was clear headed enough for this conversation.
“Tired,” Aidan told her with a little smile. “Maybe somethin’s wrong with my bed or somethin’, but I’m just… tired.” He wished he had a better explanation, but he still wasn’t on board with the depression idea and he had no real cold symptoms. Maybe it was Point Pleasant being a bitch again. That wouldn’t surprise him. “Coffee should be ready in a sec. Want some toast? I was gonna put some on for me.”
Shayna Mae nodded and brushed her hair back from her face. "I've been tired too. I would just chalk it up to hibernation desire in this weather, but..." She moved to grab a couple mugs down from the cabinet. "Toast sounds great, thanks. I actually wanted to talk to you, if you're not going to take your stuff and run off." She smiled at him, knowing he would stick around if she asked him to. "How is Aya? Have you seen her around lately?" Shayna Mae hadn't, but she had a feeling the woman was avoiding nearly everyone in the house save for Aidan.
“I can stay,” Aidan told her, then put a couple extra pieces of bread in the toaster. He wasn’t a chef by any means, but he could toast bread and make coffee without fucking it up. “She’s around. She kinda comes and goes as she pleases. Doors take her pretty much wherever she wants to go.” He knew there were limits, but he didn’t totally understand them. He probably would if he followed her through them a few times, but he was worried she might take him somewhere and leave him and then he’d be stuck.
Shayna Mae was okay with that. Not having Aya around at the moment would probably make this conversation easier. Since Aidan was taking care of the toast, Shayna Mae was more than willing to get his coffee for him. "I was wondering if you've spoken to Max lately? I wanted to talk to you about what's been going on with him, but if he's already filled you in on everything, then I don't want to rehash it all." She would have to speak to their father next, just to make sure he knew something strange was happening. Their dad generally kept to himself but for meal times, but Shayna Mae didn't want to keep anyone in her family in the dark.
Aidan frowned and rubbed a hand over his cheek. “I’ve seen him, but not had some kind of serious conversation.” He saw his half-brother pretty much every day, but if he had to recall what they’d spoken about then Aidan really couldn’t say. None of it stood out, so he had the feeling that it wasn’t whatever Shayna Mae was referring to. “What’s been goin’ on? He didn’t break parole or anything, did he?” The last thing Max needed was to go back to prison. He’d just gotten out, they’d barely settled into a routine of having him around again. And if he had to go back, Aidan might just have to see if Aya could help break him out. A bad idea was already brewing and he hadn’t even heard what his sister had to say yet.
"No." Shayna Mae sighed. This family really needed to get better at communication. "He's been feeling off lately. His moods have been all over the place. We think it has to do with what happened to him in the fog... that one of those things... infected him with something, for lack of anything better to say." She managed a faint smile. "Knox touched him and couldn't suss out what it was, but he knew it was dark. Turns out Rostislav's woman is going through the same thing. I think he's scared and I have no idea what it could be."
“Fuck,” Aidan said quietly as he leaned against the counter. “I knew he’d been moody, but I didn’t realize it was something like that.” He just thought he’d had too much to drink or something, though Max was usually a lot more fun after a few drinks. “So what should we do? You think everyone who was attacked by those things is acting the same?” He didn’t personally know anyone else who’d been hurt, but he knew there were more. The ones that had been hurt had been lucky, of course. Most people who encountered the monsters had ended up dead.
"I think so." Shayna Mae paused thoughtfully. "I talked to Caius D'Onofrio and his mother is feeling the same way too. So between Max, Greer and Mrs. D'Onofrio, I think it's safe to say this isn't confined to just our brother. I don't really know what to do yet because I don't know what it is. I gave him some tea to drink to help with the mood swings, and I placed some stronger wards on the land, but... I feel a bit helpless," she admitted. "Caius is going to see what he can find out. It feels like this is out of our area of expertise, so to speak. It's dark and otherworldly... at least the fog was. Do you think... maybe Aya would have any idea, considering she's not entirely human.”
“I can ask her,” Aidan offered. “I feel like she picks up things like that, and she’s got magic of a sort, so it’s possible she might have an idea.” But she also might blow him off. She was kind of unpredictable that way, but maybe she’d have an interest in the problem since Max was living with them. It might impact her in the long run. “Did the tea help with the mood swings? Is there anything I can do?” While he usually let his sister drive when it came to things like this, Aidan wasn’t helpless. But this also sounded like it might be out of their wheelhouse completely. He just didn’t like sitting around and doing nothing when his family needed him and talking to Aya felt relatively small.
Shayna Mae nodded. "If you can ask her, that'd be a big help, Aidan. Even if she doesn't know, or won't answer, it never hurts to try. I think the tea might have helped, but I don't know what's attached to his injury and what's normal, you know? I think all I need you to do right now is keep an eye on him? Not all the time. But maybe check in on him more? Just kind of gauge his behavior, see if you notice anything out of the ordinary. I'm trying to figure this out as fast as I can. I have some help, but it's been hard."
“Yeah, sure,” Aidan said in all seriousness. “I’ll track her down. I think she kind of likes me, or at least is willing to put up with me, so maybe she’ll help.” He couldn’t promise anything, but Shayna Mae seemed to know that Aya was unpredictable. It was his fault that she was there, but he couldn’t control her in the least. “Let me know if you hear anything back from Caius or Rost?” he asked as he buttered toast for the both of them. “And I can try and look into who else was attacked. That might be good to know.”
If Aya could help, that was great, but Shayna Mae wasn't going to hold her breath. "I will. I expect they're both eager to figure this out too. I'm going to go into town later and try to get a better feel for things. We're always so protected out here that it's possible I can pick up on something outside of the wards." She poured them both coffee. "I just wish I didn't feel so tired lately. This weather must be getting to me. If you can find out who else was attacked and if they're experiencing similar symptoms, we can maybe try to form some kind of connection."
Aidan nodded, since he could totally do that, but his brain was still back on how tired Shayna Mae was. And he was. Their father was too, but that was such the norm for him that Aidan couldn’t tell if there was anything different about it. “Did you sleep okay?” he asked with a small frown. “Cause… I’ve been tired too. Like… really, really tired. Aya was asking the other night if I was depressed, but I’m not. Just fuckin’ exhausted.” He wasn’t sure what he was getting at, except that it was weird. As an air witch, he’d never been sick in his life, not from a cold, and he couldn’t think of anything else it might be if he was getting a decent night’s sleep.
"I slept fine," she said with a soft shrug. "But that's probably because I've been so tired lately." Shayna Mae paused, taking into consideration what Aidan was saying. Chewing on her lip thoughtfully she offered Aidan his coffee. "I wonder if Max is tired too. I know he's dealing with mood swings, but what about exhaustion? If it's affecting all of us in the house, maybe that means something. I don't feel ill, just tired... I completely zoned out last night while I was pulling some plants in the garden. That's not normal for me, but I've been so distracted by Max's problem that I didn't think much of it."
“Yeah, I’ve kind of dismissed it too, but if it’s not just me, then… then maybe it’s something,” Aidan frowned. He wasn’t coming up with anything concrete, but he felt like it deserved some looking into. When had he started feeling like this? What was causing it? He shouldn’t be perpetually exhausted without a good reason, but he didn’t have one. It would be easy to give some blow off answer, like the weather, but he’d never been affected that way in the past. “I know that’s not much help, but… I feel like something’s wrong. I’ve never felt like this without a reason.”
"I'm going to talk to dad," Shayna Mae said finally. "See how he's feeling. Then I may call Caius and ask him how he's feeling... if he's been around his mom, anyway. Maybe he can talk to his dad, since he would be in closer proximity to her. I'll reach out to Rost too." She exhaled slowly and reached out to touch Aidan's arm. "All we can do right now is gather information and figure this out. The sooner the better, because I don't know how much time we have."
If what they were feeling was in some way tied to what was happening to Max, it didn’t bode well for anyone. Aidan wasn’t as well connected as his sister, but he could work on finding out who else had been hurt, even if it meant sneaking around the hospital to peek at medical records. “I’ll see what I can find out too,” he said solemnly. “Keep me in the loop?” It probably didn’t even need to be asked. If this concerned a member of their family, he knew his sister would keep him informed.
Shayna Mae couldn't help but smile at him. "Yeah, of course. As long as I can find you." She nudged him playfully. "It's going to be okay. We've dealt with worse, right? We'll figure this out." She supposed she couldn't say they've dealt with worse when they didn't know what this was, but Shayna Mae had to stay optimistic. There was nothing that drew failure faster than a defeated attitude. And she didn't have the ability to let that happen with this. Not with her brother involved. She sipped her coffee and moved away to sit and eat her toast. She had a long day ahead, but she could sit with Aidan and have some breakfast first.