Lem Collier (littlelem) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2020-11-19 20:04:00 |
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Entry tags: | #group scene, #may 2018, lem, nic, vex |
Who: Nic and Lem and Vex
When: late evening, late May, after this scene
Where: their houses
Status: complete
No surprises, that was what Vex had said. He was concerned about Nic being dangerous while thinking Vex was still dangerous, or ... something. Lem was just elated that he was back and things could start getting back to normal. Whatever that looked like for them. She just hoped that Nic would be happier too. With ‘no surprises’ in mind, she hurried out of the house and headed across the yards, back to Nic’s house. She’d been there earlier in the evening, before she had come home to find Vex miraculously in the shower, so it would be weird for her to come back. She brought her phone with her and texted Nic as she walked -- hey i’m back. i’m at the door, come down for a min Lem walked up to the front door to wait, doing a little dance in the shadows and smiling to herself.
After Lem left, Nic had gone upstairs to change and wind down for the evening. It felt weird to lounge around the living room when Zania and Gabriel were there, well aware that his mood brought down theirs. He didn't mean for it to, but there just wasn't much that could pull him out of his funk. He was tired more than he was willing to admit, and even though it was a mental and emotional toll that exhausted him, sleep was generally the solution. He was in bed reading when Lem texted and his brow furrowed, worry immediately creeping in. He hadn't expected her back tonight. Pulling on a shirt, Nic headed down the stairs, barefoot when he opened the door. "Hey, everything okay?" he asked, his face pinched with concern. She was smiling, but that was even more jarring. He hadn't seen Lem smile like that in months.
Lem beamed brighter when Nic opened the door. He looked tired and worried, which was generally how he looked all the time now, and she felt like she wanted to kiss his face off. That was something else they hadn’t done much of in months. She knew that would just confuse him though, and Lem didn’t want to do that. She grabbed his hand instead and bounced with it. “He’s back,” she told him, her voice just above a stage-whisper as if they had to keep it quiet for the moment. Vex had said no surprises, so might as well get the news out right away. “I went back home and he was there, in the shower. He’s back and he’s okay Nic, he’s himself again. Come, come!” Lem started to pull at him, unmindful of his lack of shoes or agreement.
"Who's back?" Nic asked, his mind not immediately able to identify who in the world might be in Lem's shower. His first thought was Vex, but Vex was dead and if Lem thought he was home then she was likely hallucinating, which could be a very bad thing. She looked so incredibly happy... "Lem," he said as she started to pull him out the door. He let her pull him, leaving the door slightly ajar as they made their way across the lawn. "It can't be him. He's gone." And if it really was him, what did that mean? She said he was okay, but Nic was certain that Lem would have said that even as she felt herself withering away. He would have to see for himself, though he wasn't sure which was better--Lem imagining Vex's return or Vex back, sucking the life out of everyone around him.
Nic’s skepticism couldn’t put a damper on Lem’s mood. She definitely knew Vex was real, and he was home, and he was fine. If anything, she felt more energized being around him, not drained. “Oh it’s totally him,” she told Nic with a light laugh. “I dunno how it happened, but he’s home. And he wants to see you. Just like, don’t shoot any fireballs at him when you see him. Water-balls, whatever.” She tittered a bit, squeezing Nic’s hand as they approached the door. It had always been convenient to live so close together, but now that was even more apparent. Lem didn’t think she would’ve had the patience to drive back across town or something. “You’ll see!” She had left Vex in the kitchen, so she assumed that was where he would still be as she pulled the door open and ushered her boyfriend into the house.
"I'm not gonna shoot him," Nic muttered, still skeptical about who or what was waiting for them back at Lem's house. Even when things had been at their very worst, Nic hadn't wanted to hurt Vex. Sometimes he wondered if what he'd done was worse, but he couldn't have killed him, even if it would've been a mercy kill. When they stepped in the house, Nic felt the hair on the back of his neck rise, goosebumps cropping up on his arm. There was very clearly someone else in the house, so he tried to prepare himself for anything, even the worst, whatever that might be.
When Vex heard the front door open he got up from the kitchen table. It didn't feel right to keep sitting there when Nic was coming in and he doubted he could sit still even if he wanted to anyway. He walked to the doorway and met them in the hall, giving Nic a tired little smile. It was good to see him, to really see he was alive and unharmed even if Vex had shot him. He couldn't help but wonder if he would have survived without magic but that was a dark road he didn't particularly want to go down; the what if road forked into too many dark scenarios. "Hey Nic," he muttered and really, what else could he say. As happy as he was to see him there was a lot of guilt and mixed feelings to unpack.
Lem wasn’t completely oblivious to the tension between them, but she was too happy about this reunion to let it bring her down. Plus, she had only vague memories of what had happened out in the driveway when Vex was trying to take her away. None of that mattered anymore to her. He was home and he was okay, that was all she cared about. Lem beamed and gave a little bounce as she squeezed Nic’s hand again, like she could pass some of her excitement along to him that way. She bit her lip against squealing out a “see?” and glanced between the two men.
Nic didn't make it any farther than the kitchen door. That was where he stopped and stared, unable to make his feet move any further. Vex was there, standing in the kitchen, looking a little worse for the wear but very much alive. He couldn't tell if he was draining energy like he'd been before, since he'd never personally felt it, but Lem seemed fine. No, scratch that, Lem seemed fucking fantastic. Nic wished he felt the same, but he couldn't swallow down the apprehension that came with the good news. His mind kept wondering what the catch was, since this was nothing short of a miracle in his mind. "Hey Vex," he said, finally finding his voice. "You...you feeling okay?"
The stark difference between Nic and Lem was almost funny but Vex knew damn well why Nic was so apprehensive. He had been too, that was why he'd needed Lem to tell him before he saw Vex. "I just had a bowl full of pasta, some bread and a beer," he said with a nod back at the kitchen. "I'm chock full of yeast so I guess that's good." His lips quirked into a crooked little smile for a second but then he took a heavy breath. "I'm sorry I shot you. I wouldn't have if I wasn't out of my head... Are you okay?"
Nic had never been completely sure that it was Vex who shot him. That night had been crazy, the fog had made it hard to see, and there was a chance it could have been Ty instead. He hadn't held either of them responsible for their actions, but he still felt a ghost of a twinge where the bullet had hit him. "Yeah. Zan patched me up," he said, speaking to his physical health, since his mental was far more questionable. "How did you get here? Did anyone else come with you?" He thought about asking about specific people, but there were far too many to name. Carson, Ty, Miriam, Brianna, Max. And Jasper. He didn't know the Lucas kid, but that would be an important one to Jules. All of them were important to someone, and there were more that Nic didn't even know by name. If Vex was back, what about the rest? And were they a threat? He still couldn't tell, though Vex seemed far more himself than when he'd left.
"I don't know," Vex replied honestly. "And I don't know. I woke up in the woods alone, didn't remember anything. Couple of days maybe, it slowly started coming back to me so I walked home. That's all I know. I was hoping you knew about Carson but I guess he's not back yet." He waved at them to come into the kitchen, it was too awkward to stand out there in the hallway and in the kitchen, well, he could offer Nic something to drink, they could sit down and talk. "I'm not the best judge of whether I'm back to normal but I feel like I am. Like we sobered up the moment you guys disappeared."
Lem followed Vex toward the kitchen, still holding onto Nic’s hand. This was going well, in her opinion, and it made her happy in a deep way. The tension might take a while to fully dissipate, but they were at least speaking civilly to each other. There were no doubts in her mind that Vex was Vex again and not dangerous, but she understood why it might take Nic longer to come to the same conclusion. He would get there though, she had faith. Once they were in the kitchen, Lem finally released Nic to sit down at the table. She tucked her feet up under her and smiled at the both of them, content just to listen for the moment.
Nic followed, but didn’t make it as far as sitting at the table. He lingered near the counter, unable to commit to more than that. So far this sounded like a miracle, but he was having a hard time accepting that. In his experience, everything had a price. “I haven’t heard from anyone, but… that doesn’t mean anything.” He wasn’t sure anyone would reach out to tell him they were back after what they’d done to them. The only one that was easy to check on was Carson, but a little mental outreach brought back only silence. If Carson was back, he’d cut him off and Nic didn’t blame him. “Was he with you then? Before? Do you know about any of the others? You don’t remember anything?” It was a lot of questions, but he was having a hard time grasping how this had happened.
"I was with Carson the whole time," Vex replied, just to tackle one of those questions at a time. "Well, he was wolfed out the whole time but he wasn't a mindless killing machine, it was... It was nice." God he missed the wolf, of course he hoped Carson was safe and back to human since living on this side as a werewolf was never going to work out well but Vex knew he'd selfishly miss the wolf forever. "I didn't remember a thing when I first woke up, just... Everything was so clean and crisp and bright." He closed his eyes as he thought about the woods, the cold water, the texture of everything not being grotesque. It had been amazing but painful, the filth had made things softer. "But I remember now. Some guy got killed right after you guys disappeared, but I think everyone else got away, I think... There were at least ten people." He frowned as he tried to count them in his head but it was still a little fuzzy, especially since he hadn't gotten to know most of them. "They all hid away at Juniper, I stayed there sometimes with Carson. I don't know how I'm here or if anyone else is, just that... I'm here and I was wrong about so many things."
As far as she knew, Lem only knew one other person who’d disappeared with Vex, and that was Carson. Her social circle in this town was still very narrow, mostly by design. It was good to hear that most everyone survived though, at least as far as Vex knew -- maybe that would take some of the burden of guilt off of Nic’s shoulders. It didn’t fix everything, of course, but every little bit helped. “Do you remember who you saw last? Besides Carson?” she asked Vex, her tone mildly curious. Lem didn’t exactly care if any of the others came back, besides for what it would mean to Nic. She had Vex back, and that was all she truly cared about.
“He was a wolf the whole time?” Nic asked, surprised but also not. Every time he’d gotten a tiny glimpse into Carson’s mind it had been all static, impossible to understand, but it had that feel to it, just without the anger. It brought rise to a number of questions in Nic’s mind concerning how time worked in the dimension they’d been in, but he knew Vex wasn’t likely to have the answers. “Was there a full moon there the whole time?” It was the only plausible explanation, but Nic didn’t really expect any of it to make sense. “Do you know who died?” He asked quietly. He hated to know exactly who wasn’t coming back, but it might also rule someone out. If people were going to start popping back up, he didn’t want anyone to get their hopes up if Vex could confirm they’d died on the other side.
"There was no moon," Vex replied. "No sun, no moon, no weather. Just fog and filth as far as you could see." He narrowed his eyes as he thought about the man who'd been the first to die, the only one Vex had seen die. "I didn't get a good look at the guy and I didn't know him. Late thirties or early forties, white, brown hair, average build." That was all he had on him and it didn't feel like much. He wasn't even sure he would be able to pick him out from a photograph. "Last people I saw were uh... Max and Greer, a cop called Solomon. There were others, Miriam D'Onofrio was there. A couple of teens. I saw women in the wall once, a girl we've seen before in a vision and another one with her. Like ghosts."
Lem had already heard about perma-wolf Carson, but not about the guy who died. He sounded like the plainest man to ever man, so who the hell knew who he’d been. It probably made her a bad person, but she didn’t really care. Somebody had been bound to die, that was just how these things seemed to go. And it obviously hadn’t been a lot of people, so that was good. She just hoped Nic didn’t guilt himself too much about it. They’d done what they had to do, and it obviously hadn’t been permanent for everybody, so Lem thought it would end up being okay for most of them. She glanced between the two of them, biting her tongue on asking which girl Vex had seen. Nic wouldn’t know, and she could ask Vex later if she remembered. “You should see the bottom of the tub, it’s filthy,” she told Nic. “We had to cut a bunch of his hair off, it was so matted. It’s gross there.”
"Ty Solomon," Nic said. "One of the teens might've been Jasper Lucas. A woman with long, red hair would've been Brianna McCarthy. Um... there were others, but... They were all alive, last time you saw them?" He couldn't remember them all, but they all weighed on him as lives that he'd helped take. Vex was back though, and maybe others were too. Nic wanted to believe that everything would be okay, but the curtain wasn't lifted off him as easily as it seemed to be with Lem. He looked at her, trying to process what she was telling him. His brain was so sluggish that it took a second to understand that she was updating him on Vex's condition, as well as his new hairstyle. "Looks good," he said, attempting a small smile. "I'm glad you're okay."
"They holed up in Juniper, or some warped reimagining of Juniper," Vex said. "Boarded the windows and doors. Me and Carson dropped by sometimes but we liked to roam, even if those creatures were everywhere. We kinda learned where we could walk and when, the small ones were no match for a wolf." He was staring blankly at the wall behind Nic and Lem as he spoke, droning the words as he tried to remember and then kind of wished he didn't remember at all. "I thought those things were- I thought I was chosen. I felt amazing those last days but it was just an infection." He wrinkled his nose and visibly snapped himself out of it, getting to his feet. "You want a beer? We have some beer, I'd like to share one with you, put all this shit behind us if you're ready."
Nic wished he could snap out of it himself, but now he was thinking about the others. At what point would Rylee ask him about Carson? What if the only ones that came back were the ones who'd been touched by the fog creatures? Rylee hadn't spoken to him in the months since Carson had disappeared, but if Vex came back and Carson didn't, then he doubted she'd ever speak to him again. Caius was also going to have questions. As was Jules. He felt like he needed to warn her most of all, but he also didn't want to get her hopes up. Having some of them come back, but not all, would be crushing. "Sure," he answered, surprised that they had beer, but then it could've been there for months. It might not be great, and he didn't feel like a drink, but he felt like yes was the right answer. "A drink would be nice."
Lem stayed in her chair, since Vex was up and she wasn’t a waitress, glancing between the two men as she idly picked at her cuticles, small hands in her lap. Vex had already told her most of this, and she wanted to give Nic time and space to process everything, so she didn’t speak up again. He didn’t seem to have really cared about Vex’s hair anyway. She had already forgiven Vex while he’d been gone, so there was nothing really to sort out, but she wanted him and Nic to be on good terms again so they could all get back to normal. Their weird version of normal, at least.
Vex grabbed a beer for Nic and it was funny how just drinking a little bit had him a bit light headed. It was nice though, a nice buzz that had him feeling mellow. He popped the bottle open before handing it to Nic, sitting down a bit closer to him and Lem once he joined them at the table. "I think whatever infected us was terribly disappointed we didn't kill you," he muttered. "But fuck that thing, whatever it was. It's good to see you're okay." Whatever it was. It sucked not knowing why or what this had all been about. He'd half expected to run into something else on the other side, something scheming terrible things, something disappointed that its plans hadn't worked but if there was such a thing it had stayed away from its disappointing projects. It had warned them, but none of them had acted on their warning.
“I’m pretty sure it had its sights set on the whole town. A day or two more and it would’ve succeeded,” Nic said, coming over to the table and picking up the beer. He considered it a moment, then took a sip. He’d purposefully stayed away from alcohol over the past few months, certain that if he started down that road it would be too hard to stop. Things had been hard enough lately that he didn’t need to get lost in the bottle as well. “We never meant to hurt you. We thought that maybe we could—could pull that thing out of you, or something. We didn’t have it all figured out, but we ran out of time. And then we ran out of options.” It felt like an awkward apology when he wasn’t entirely sorry for what he’d done. Letting them stay would’ve been worse, but it still felt wrong. He was still sorry for the way it went down, even when so much of it was out of his control.
Vex was sure some of the others would never forgive the four for what they did. He understood why it was necessary but not everyone had the insight he did into these matters. He had to wonder how many of them had never dealt with the stranger layers of reality before the fog and how utterly confusing that would have been. If they did come back, Nic and the others might be in danger again. "It had to be done," he said and he meant it even if it wasn't without regret. "I want you to strengthen your hoodoo stuff, protect your house and yourself in case the others come back too. I doubt they'll come after you but who knows. Not everyone was a peach over there." And maybe things would have gone the way they had wanted if the people on Vex's side had actually been capable of cooperating.
Lem frowned a bit over the idea of anyone wanting revenge, that hadn’t occurred to her yet. She knew Nic could defend himself, but what about the others? One of them was just a teenage girl. Sure she could open portals into other hell dimensions, but that wasn’t always practical in the moment. “But everybody was kinda ... back to normal once you were over there, right?” she asked quietly. This meeting was mostly for Nic and Vex to talk, but now she was curious. “Like the mind-control stuff stopped?”
Nic wasn’t worried about himself, but Neil and Jules were vulnerable. Especially Jules. Neil could at least electrocute someone, if he really had to, which wasn’t a great solution, but was better than nothing. Jules might be safe on account of her being the one who could throw them back into the hell dimension, but he knew her abilities were unpredictable and he didn’t want to bank on them steering clear of her for their own safety. “Is there anyone in particular that we should watch out for?” He asked. “I don’t know if anyone else has made it back, but… I should probably let the others know that it’s a possibility.”
"The mind control stopped," Vex verified. "But I'd be wary of all of them until you're sure. I was a cop for a long time, I've seen the unlikeliest people taken in for awful shit. Revenge, passion, greed... Hell, boredom sometimes. I hope none of our people are out to get back at you for this but the only ones I can be sure that aren't are me and Carson. Do you know any of the others? Personally, I mean? I know Max and Greer were at your Christmas party but beyond that?"
“The D’Onofrios are witches, as are the McCarthys,” Nic said. “I spoke with both of them when everyone went missing. I wouldn’t call them my people, but we’re on decent enough terms.” There was kind of an unspoken truce among all the witches that kept them from lashing out at each other magically. An actual witch war could decimate the town, so it was in everyone’s best interest not to take things to that level. “Ty Solomon knows me, but it’s hard to imagine him coming after me. He’s a good cop. I don’t really know any of the others, except Max and Greer, like you said.”
Lem pursed her lips a bit at the name D’Onofrio, she knew about those people. The wife was one of the ones who went missing, but she had gotten all kinds of bad vibes from the husband too when he’d shown up at their door. “The D’Onofrios don’t like us,” she piped up, exchanging a Look with Vex. “A while back Vex called out the wife for being telekinetic, and she got upset and sent her husband here. I dunno, maybe he’s fine with you though.” That last part was directed toward Nic, but then Lem looked at Vex again. “Did you and the wife make up over there? She was with you, right? I mean, not with you and Carson, obviously, but ... around ...”
"She didn't want anything to do with us," Vex replied and to be fair, most of the people there didn't. Sure, they were grateful when Carson was around, there was safety in having a werewolf on their side, but they'd still been wary of him, as if they worried he might snap at any moment. Vex couldn't really blame them for that, he'd seen what a werewolf could do to a person and it was far more disturbing than what Carson did to the monsters on the other side. "There was a guy there, Archer, he might be a problem," he muttered and the list of people Nic knew already was somewhat reassuring, even if he knew that people were more unpredictable than they'd like. "You should reach out to the ones you know already, make sure you're on good terms. If they're back."
"Zania and Caius D'Onofrio have history," Nic said. "And if Anthony didn't hunt me down when his wife went missing, he's not going to if she comes back." He'd initially thought Caius might be a problem, but going through Reagan seemed to have prevented things from escalating, if that had ever been an issue. The name Archer didn't ring any bells, but there were a number of people who'd gone missing that Nic couldn't identify. "I don't... I don't know that any of them would like to hear from me again. But I don't know how to find out if they're back without inquiring. I also don't want to get anyone's hopes up. But I can ask around.”
Lem could understand not wanting to get anybody’s hopes up, since they had no idea if Vex was the only one who came back or not. She didn’t really care about most of the people who had gone missing, but she’d spent a little time with Carson before and after the full moons, and she liked him and Rylee. Plus he’d been a part of Nic’s dreams and his group in the woods, and now she knew he’d been important to Vex too. Lem looked over at Nic with her brow furrowed. “Are you going to tell Rylee?” she asked quietly. She felt for him, she really did. He’d been bearing so much bad news in this whole situation, and while Rylee might be relieved to know Carson was alive last they knew, it might just make things worse for her. They couldn’t know if they would return.
Vex grimaced at the mention of Rylee. He had no idea if Carson was alive, if he was coming back, there was no certainty there and it hurt enough for him alone. Thinking about Carson's cousin gave him a pang of sympathy that didn't sit right with him. She loved him, that much was obvious. Not everyone would sit through a full moon while their cousin shifted into a werewolf but she'd endured and stayed with them, waiting it out. That was love. "I wish I knew for sure," he muttered but he wanted to contact her because what if Carson had come home too and they'd just ended up in different places.
"I don't know," Nic said. "If Carson's not back, it will make things worse. And I don't think he's back yet. I can't reach him at all." The telepathic connection that he'd had with the dreamers was still there, even if they didn't need it. He could reach Neil and Jules, but as far as he could tell, Carson was still gone. He liked to think that Carson would reach out to them as soon as he returned, but if he was lacking memories like Vex, then he probably wouldn't even know he could do such a thing. "I'll listen for him though. And I'll tell the others to do so as well. Just in case."
That telepathic connection would come in handy if Carson did come back, Lem appreciated that on his behalf. And at least Nic knew Rylee pretty well, so Carson would get connected to his family again once he showed up. If he showed up. She hoped he did. As scary-fascinating as he was as a werewolf, he was a pretty nice guy too, at least in Lem’s experience. He deserved to not rot over there in some hellscape. Some people truly did deserve that kind of fate, but not anybody they counted as friends. “Too bad we’re not telepathic,” she said to Vex, giving a wry little smile. “You wouldn’t have had to wander around for days.”
Vex was honestly glad that he'd had those days to clear his mind. No, not clear it - fill it. He remembered enough to come home and that included knowing how devastated Lem would have been if he didn't know who she was. He smiled at her anyway, reaching over to run his hand over her head and leaving that remark otherwise unanswered. "I hope you hear him," he told Nic. "I miss him. Might have to adopt a big dog now, I don't know how I'm gonna sleep without that massive furry critter next to me." He was half joking, his smile a little crooked but it was true though, for as much as he hoped Carson was alive, it wouldn't be the same if he was human now.
Watching the casual affection between them, Nic suddenly felt out of place. Lem was happier than she'd been in months, but he couldn't let go of the fact that others were still missing and he was to blame for it. Maybe she didn't blame him now, but she had an hour ago and the effects of that didn't fade the moment Vex came home. His gaze dropped to the table as he tried to focus on the conversation, the beer no longer sitting well in his stomach. "It'd have to be a big dog to compete with Carson." The wolf had been huge; Vex needed something that would take up half the bed.
Oblivious to Nic’s mood and doubts, Lem grinned brightly again at the prospect of getting a big dog. “Like a Saint Bernard? Or one of those like ... I dunno what they’re called, but Russians train them to fight bears!” she said, her nose only wrinkling briefly in thought. Since Nic was sitting across from her, she stretched her legs out to put her feet in his lap, feeling like her own joy was contagious. It wasn’t, but Lem was just thrilled that Vex was alive and safe and knew himself and now if the rest of them came back too, everything could go back to normal. That was the hope, anyway.
"Wolfhound," Vex decided. "But it wouldn't be the same. It was still Carson, he was smarter than a dog." He still thought a dog could be nice but he'd never been the type of guy to be any good at taking care of a pet so it was more of a joke and a fantasy than anything else. He could barely take care of himself before and during his time on the other side, he hadn't had to eat or bathe so it hadn't really mattered how shit he was at those things. "Fuck, I hope he's back, nobody deserves to stay in that shithole, especially him." Carson hadn't even been infected so it had been doubly unfair that he was there.
Nic glanced down at the feet in his lap, then back at Lem, still trying to process the entire situation. He wanted to be over it as easily as Lem, but it wasn’t as simple as Vex coming back for him. “I need to make some calls,” Nic said as he pushed back from the table. “If others are back, I… I need to know what’s going on.” He might end up with a ton of dead ends, but maybe no one had told him because he was to blame for them disappearing in the first place. But Reagan might be honest with him without getting Caius all wound up, and from there he could figure out the others. He wanted to celebrate with them, he really did, but he needed answers first. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” he told Vex in all sincerity. “I don’t know how you found your way back, but all that matters is that you did.”
The way Nic pushed away from the table without touching her foot caught Lem’s attention, and she finally noticed some of the tension in his face. He didn’t look as happy about Vex’s return as she would have thought, but there were a lot of others probably still on his mind. She frowned a tiny bit, but it didn’t last long, her expression smoothing out as she got up as well. “I’ll walk you to the door,” Lem murmured, though it was probably unnecessary. She definitely wanted to give him a big hug before he went away.
Vex stood up too, offering his hand out to Nic with a concerned little frown. "Are we okay, Nic?" he asked quietly because it'd be so easy not to be. He could blame Nic for his last few months of hell, Nic could blame him for shooting him, everyone could blame Vex for nearly killing Lem and he knew damn well that if Nic hadn't stepped in when he did, Lem probably would not have survived the night. It made his heart feel heavy, knowing how many people had gotten hurt because of it and how blind he'd been to it all, megalomania and chaotic faith driving him on in his madness.
“We’re good,” Nic said as he took Vex’s hand, his smile small but genuine. A lot had happened between them, but he didn’t hold any of it against Vex. It wouldn’t be fair to, considering he’d not been in his right mind at the time. If anything, it was Nic that felt like he should apologize more. He knew he’d done what had to be done, that they’d had no other choice, but he still wasn’t okay with sacrificing the infected for the good of the town. There had to have been another way; they’d just been unable to find it. Hopefully now it wouldn’t matter. Hopefully now they’d all come back, but he needed to find out if that was the case. Maybe he’d feel better once it was completely resolved. Nic didn’t know. He just knew the cloud over him remained, despite the cause to celebrate. “I’m sure I’ll see you soon,” he said, then headed for the door. Lem didn’t really need to walk with him, but she was always welcome if she wanted to be there.
It was good to watch them shake hands, even if there was still a certain tension in the air. They were the only two men in the world that Lem gave a shit about, and seeing that they could put this behind them was an incredible relief. She just hoped against hope that things wouldn’t go sideways again. Lem hurried to follow Nic to the door, gently taking his arm as he reached for the knob. She slipped in front of him and wrapped her arms around his waist to hug him tight, her face pressed into his chest for a moment. She wanted to apologize for the past few months, try to explain to him that she was crazy and dependent and she hadn’t meant to shut him out so much, express how grateful she was for his consistent support ... but words were stupid and she didn’t know the right ones. Maybe she would later, but for now she just hoped he would absorb some of it through her embrace. “I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” she murmured as she turned her face up to him.
Nic closed his eyes as Lem wrapped her arms around him and wondered to himself what it all meant. There were so many layers that he couldn't wrap his head around them all, but the one that stood out the most at the moment, the one that beckoned for his attention, was the question of what were they anymore? He'd stepped out of the boyfriend role months ago, well aware that Lem's feelings for him weren't enough in light of what he'd done, but he hadn't left her completely because she'd needed him. Now that Vex was back, someone else would make sure that she ate, or even got out of bed. Or maybe she'd do that on her own. It was hard for him to imagine what they'd do tomorrow, but he nodded anyways, her place in his life a constant that he wasn't quite so willing to let go of. "Yeah, of course," he murmured. "You know where I am."
Lem was well aware that her brain was kind of broken and didn’t process things the same way that others’ did. Her feelings for Nic hadn’t really changed, they’d just been smothered and buried for a long time ... longer than they’d existed before that ... but they were still there. Now the un-burying could happen, and she wanted it to. Lem knew she’d behaved badly a few times in the darkest midst of her depression, and maybe it was hard for Nic to care for her now, but she had hope they could make it through it. She’d gotten too attached to him to let go easily, she’d never been good at that. “Okay,” she said softly back, studying his eyes for a moment. Moving her hands to cling to the front of Nic’s shirt, Lem rose up on her toes and pulled at him until she could press a soft, brief kiss against his lips, then let go. “Goodnight.”
Nic's heart lurched as Lem pulled him down for a kiss, a kiss of her own accord. Even though it was a short one, it felt like some kind of a milestone to him, something she hadn't been all that interested in since before Vex was gone. He'd missed the spunky little sprite that she'd once been and he hoped that maybe this was a sign that she wasn't completely gone from him. For now though, he was still stuck in his own depressive fog, aware that he should probably find his way out, but not entirely sure how to do that. Maybe if everyone returned, and Lem truly forgave him, he could find a way to move on as well. "Night," Nic said softly. He brushed his fingers against her cheek, then gave her a small smile before heading out the door.