Jared Gaines (thatbigguy) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2022-07-23 21:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | #july 2018, jared, jared x ty, ty |
Who: Jared & Ty
Where: Castle View
When: Early Tuesday evening
It had been a nice day, fun but very emotional and Jared was feeling a strange mix of perky and melancholic when he came home to Castle View. He'd texted Ty and they'd decided on take out so he'd been the one to pick it up on his way home from the cemetery. Between meeting Carson and visiting Sadie's grave he thought he'd be feeling a lot more sad but it had been purging in a way, having a one sided conversation with a dead woman and lying to a close friend. Nuances were everything.
He jogged up to their apartment with Chinese food in hand, wishing now more than ever that he still had a fire pit in the yard. It was the perfect day to stay outside even now that it was getting a little darker. "I hope you're hungry!" he hollered as he opened the door, listening for Ty and unable to keep himself from imagining himself coming home to him in their own house.
Ty’s day had not been as emotionally fraught, thankfully, but it had been interesting. It wasn’t every day you got to see a man turn invisible right in front of your eyes, after all. It had been good to catch up with Sage, and he thought the younger man had appreciated the check in. It had been nice to see him all cleaned up and not cowering in a corner like he’d so often been Over There. Not that Ty blamed him in the slightest.
In any case, when he’d gotten home before Jared he’d done some chores and lounged around a bit, enjoying his day off and mulling everything over. He was exiting their bedroom after putting some laundry away, smiling at his man’s booming voice filling the apartment. “Always hungry for you, hot stuff,” Ty answered lightly as he approached. He rose up on his toes to kiss Jared hello, then reached for the bags he was carrying so he could get his shoes off and get comfortable.
"Thanks, babe," Jared murmured and got to work on unlacing his boots. "It's done," he announced. "I talked to Carson." It was pretty obvious it had gone well, he felt lighter and he was willing to bet it showed, either way Ty was always pretty good at reading his moods. "It was something he'd been worrying about, obviously. I told him it wasn't him." He felt good about that decision but he felt it now more keenly that he needed Ty's blessing just as much as he'd needed Sadie's. Visiting her grave had helped in that regard, even if he couldn't really talk to her. It was just that feeling of peace he felt while he was there, the cemetery hadn't been creepy for once, the sun was shining and the birds were singing and everything felt just right for a change.
Ty had known that Jared planned to talk to Carson today, since he’d confirmed the werewolf’s location, but he hadn’t been sure exactly how Jared would approach it. His brows lifted a bit at the announcement, but he couldn’t say he was shocked. Jared wasn’t the type of man to be filled with vengeance, especially against someone he’d considered a friend. From talking to Vex, Ty had determined that Carson hadn’t been in control of himself when he’d killed Sadie, and he hoped that this news meant he didn’t even remember it. Ty was relieved that Jared’s current vibe seemed calm and sure of his decision. “I think that’s probably for the best,” he said with a soft smile, reaching out with his free hand to squeeze Jared’s shoulder. “So he was worried about it ... did he remember anything at all?”
"He was worried, yeah," Jared replied and kicked off his boots before giving Ty a smooch. "He doesn't remember anything on the full moons, still has no control once a month so - he has to get locked up for the night. But he's got a place and he's a reliable guy, I think he'll be okay. I don't know, taking a huge weight off his shoulders lifted some of mine. I think Sadie wouldn't want him to suffer when it wasn't his fault." Was he still rationalizing it to himself? Maybe, he found that saying it out loud helped and Ty was the only person he could talk about this to.
Rationalizing or not, Ty thought it was a good way to look at it. It was possible to completely lose one’s life to some quest for revenge that would never bring anybody back from the dead anyway, and he didn’t want that for Jared. His man needed to heal, not poke at a festering wound. “You knew her better than me, but I get the feeling that you’re right.” Ty squeezed his arm and turned to head for the kitchen to get some plates for their dinner. “I don’t know him that well either, but as long as he’s staying with Vex, I think it’s safe. Vex’s aunt was killed by a werewolf too, quite a while back, so I’m sure he’s taking plenty of precautions. What do you want to drink?” Ty set the bag down and moved to the cabinet.
"Oh shit, I remember that," Jared said as recognition hit him. "Animal attack on Ludlow, that was his aunt? Shit." That had to be weird, hanging out with a werewolf after losing someone to one but maybe it had helped Vex heal. Jared could kind of see how that might work. "Well I'm glad he's helping him and not going off on some mission to kill all werewolves," he said as he followed Ty, the relief of being home and having no more plans for the evening washing over him. "I'll just have a beer and then you can tell me about your day," he said jovially and grabbed the bags Ty had put down to start opening them. The smell was delicious and his stomach rumbled a bit to remind him it had been too long since he last ate.
“Yeah, me too,” Ty chuckled. He could very easily picture Vex doing that kind of thing, the guy definitely had a few screws loose. Instead he and Carson seemed genuinely close, and that was probably a good thing for both of them. Nobody needed to be handling all this alone. Ty set the plates down for Jared to fill and went to the fridge to pull out a couple of beers. “Not a lot to tell ... I just witnessed a man vanish in front of my very eyes today,” he said, his tone bemused. “I went to check in on Sage. Turns out his new thing is that he can turn invisible.” Ty let out a helpless sort of laugh and shrugged as he opened their drinks. “He’s been practicing and he’s learning how to control it better, it used to only happen when his eyes were closed.”
"Jesus," Jared blurted out, his eyes going wide. Someone going legit invisible sounded insane. Of course all of this sounded insane but unlike Ty and Greer, Sage's thing was something that could be seen - or not seen, as was the case. "I'd say that's a lot to tell," he said and grabbed his plate and drink, heading to the living room with Ty. "So now you know Greer can see people's deaths, Sage can turn invisible and you don't feel pain. Sounds like everyone has something, you gonna track down more of them?" Not that Ty needed to track them down, he apparently had a radar for everyone now.
“Yeah, that’s the plan,” Ty said as he settled in next to Jared on the couch. “I’m gonna go up to Overlook soon to talk to Miriam D’Onofrio and Brianna McCarthy. If they’ll see me, that remains to be seen. Better me than Vex, though.” He chuckled faintly and took a swig of his beer. “Oh and Sage told me he’d talked to the Lucas kid? Jasper? Apparently he can find anyone and anything, like he’s a natural GPS tracker. Which is also really weird. We’re turning into the X-Men or something, and I dunno what to think of it.” Ty mixed up his food a bit for that first bite, letting out a little grunt of approval as he chewed.
"Has he thought about becoming a cop?" Jared said only half-joking, his eyes a bit wide as he considered the possibilities of a gift like that. He'd never in a million years thought he'd want a Lucas man on the force but things seemed to be changing fast lately. "You could probably form a crazy team of some sort, just don't get sued for copyright infringement when you name it." It was easier to make light of the situation than it was to fully grasp it and he wondered what they could even call themselves. The idea that if not for Ty he would have no idea this was even happening in town was a little bit sobering. Sure, he had been there when the fog hit but without Ty he would have a lot of clues that made no sense and absolutely no answers.
Ty chuckled over the idea of a Lucas wielding a badge too. Jasper was surely still too young and irresponsible for that, and who knew how long these “powers” were going to last ... but who knew. Stranger things had obviously happened, and would just keep happening. Being able to locate people like that would make Jasper invaluable to the force, but he would have to want to use it for that type of good. “I might bring it up when I talk to him, I dunno. If he’ll talk to me, you know how they are,” Ty said, still sounding vaguely amused. “Something Sage said was interesting though ... he’s been practicing, and like, learning to control it better. So I’m wondering ... if I can learn to turn mine off, you know?” He had no idea how to start trying to do that, but if the possibility was real, it was probably something he should reach for.
Jared was thinking about how of course the Point Pleasant PD would end up having a damn psychic of sorts working for them and assisting them with cases but that train of thought was quickly forgotten. He sat up a little straighter and turned to look at him with wide eyes - so much for not giving away how exciting the idea of that was - a spark of hope lighting up inside him. If Ty could control his pain levels, that was a game changer; Jared wouldn't have to worry about him constantly, wouldn't have to be constantly wishing he had x-ray vision to check if he was bleeding internally or had a burst appendix. He caught himself and tried to temper his eagerness but it was hard because god damn, he wanted that really badly. "We can find a way to train you," he said. "You can still feel things, we can work with that."
It felt bittersweet to see Jared’s face go on that little journey -- Ty wanted him to be excited and happy about something, of course, but that opened him up for disappointment if it didn’t work. What if Ty couldn’t figure it out? Or it just wasn’t possible for him? He gave Jared a wan smile and nodded a little. “It’s worth a shot, just ... don’t get your hopes up too high,” he said with a note of gentle warning. “Sage’s thing is something he can actively do, I think mine is more passive, so ... I dunno. But we can try,” Ty didn’t exactly miss the pain itself, it was nice not ever having any aches or soreness, but he knew it was more about the peace of mind. He couldn’t be monitored by doctors twenty-four-seven. He ate another bite and washed it down with some beer.
This was exactly why Jared hadn't wanted his reaction to show, he knew he couldn't get his hopes up and he didn't want Ty to feel bad about how stressed he was about the situation. "We'll have fun experimenting," he said jovially before shoving some more food in his mouth, his thoughts racing for a few seconds as he tried to imagine how best to go about actually testing this theory. Kinky sex obviously came to mind but he had a feeling Ty needed to be a little more focused than he would be in the throes of an orgasm. "Oh hey, I really want to go look at an open house on Winthrop," he said and tilted closer to Ty as he fished a bundled up piece of paper from his back pocket. "You hear anything shitty about that street?"
Ty wasn’t sure how fun it would be, but he wasn’t thinking of doing it in a sexy way either. He’d never really been into receiving erotic pain, and now that it wasn’t physically possible for him, he’d all but forgotten that anybody liked it. He had no idea yet how they would test it, how he would even try to feel it, but Ty supposed that was something they’d just have to start trying. He was grateful when Jared changed the subject, eyeing the paper that he pulled out of his pocket as he forked up another bite. “Winthrop? I know I’ve been called to a couple of domestics over there, but nothing big. There’s a house for sale?” Winthrop was a pretty nice neighborhood, and it was Ty’s turn to get a little excited about a prospect.
Jared unfolded the paper with the basic information before handing it to Ty. "Yeah, it looks... It could be perfect," he said and tried not to get too excited about it. "Or it could be haunted, but I'm starting to think most of the houses in town are." He continued eating, watching Ty intently as he read over the information. It was a big decision and one he'd had to make before but that didn't make doing it all over again any easier. The dream scenario was that they would buy it and it would be perfect for their needs, the flaws easily fixed and before they knew it they'd have their dream home, a dog and a fire pit in the yard, a nice study that could be turned into a spare bedroom if they ever took the big step to grow their family. "What do you think?" he asked after a moment and tried not to think about the more negative paths this could take them down.
His stomach was fluttering as he took the paper and started scanning over it. They’d been looking at so many listings already, Ty felt like he was fluent now in all those acronyms and realtor-spin -- ‘cozy’ usually meant cramped, ‘needs some love’ usually meant major repairs were needed ... it was all in the phrasing. But the facts of what Jared put in front of him looked really good. The acreage, the square footage, all the little details. Ty already wanted more pictures of it, but going to the open house was even better. “I think it looks amazing,” he answered, looking up at Jared with a sunny smile. “And honestly I think I’d live with a ghost for this screened in porch and the fireplace.” He chuckled, glancing at the paper again to check the time of the open house. “I’ll make sure I’m off that day, we can definitely go.”
Jared wasn't sure he could say the same, not after the Rogan house, but that wasn't a memory he wanted to drag up, not tonight or ever. "If the ghost has manners and pays rent, I suppose..." he drawled then smiled wryly because the odds of a ghost being well behaved in this town were probably slim. He hated the idea that all this shit was actually real, ghosts and monsters and witches, other dimensions, things that could temporarily alter a man's personality and make him do terrible things. He just wanted their home to be free of all of that, a haven in this mad world. "I really like the look of it," he agreed. "I'll hire a priest, a psychic and a rabbi if I have to," he added, absolutely recycling his joke from earlier when he'd talked to Carson. It had made him laugh, hopefully it would make Ty laugh too, he needed to keep this light.
Ty did laugh as he folded the house information back up and set it on the coffee table. “Add a shaman and whatever the Muslims call their guys to that list, maybe we’ll be okay,” he added dryly. He didn’t even really know if he believed in all of that religion stuff, but it wouldn’t hurt to cover their bases, right? Maybe they could drag a witch into it too, like Sage had suggested. Ty knew of a few of them now, but he’d never had to approach any of them for any magical favors, and who knew how effective they actually could be. It was all just a big question mark to him, but it was hard not to believe anymore that such things were possible. “But fuck yeah, let’s go check it out, babe,” he said with a warm smile, lifting his beer to clink it against Jared’s. “Might be our future home.”
Jared wanted that to be the case and hearing Ty say it made him feel warm and fuzzy despite his attempts at not getting his hopes up. He wanted this so badly, a perfect house to share with his perfect husband, to build a life that was as close to normal as they could get now, which admittedly probably wasn't very close at all. Still, their home could be a haven and he had every intention of putting in the work to make it so. "Imam," he said after he drank to Ty's little toast. "An imam, a rabbi and a priest walk into a haunted house on Winthrop..." He chuckled. "Whatever it takes. Just not those evangelical fuckers, I don't even think they buy the shit they're peddling. I'd rather have some humble servant of god who actually believes in all of this." Since he didn't really feel like talking about religion he changed the subject again, preferring to focus on the house and what it could be to them. "I keep daydreaming about the two of us in a place like that, fixing up things, getting a dog... maybe a kid or two some day. Which is probably insane but if we adopt, those kids are already out there, they just need someone to look after them."
Ty laughed a bit at the old joke setup, and didn’t comment on the evangelical reference -- he knew those types of ‘holy’ men all too well. They had traumatized him about being gay from an early age. Glad that Jared moved the conversation along, Ty pushed that old shadow aside and focused on their future instead. It would be something of a triumph, to live a happy life as an openly gay man who’d survived all kinds of shit, determined to be happy with the person he loved and build a nice life for them to enjoy. Jared’s words made him smile so hard his cheeks hurt, and he felt that pleasant loving pressure in his chest swell further. “There’s nothing insane about that,” Ty told him. “It’s one of the saner things I can think of, honestly. You’d make a great fucking dad. You will. I want all of that for us too.”
"I know," Jared replied with a sappy smile of his own. It was still a relief to hear it, especially after everything Ty had been through. Jared might think twice about actually bringing children into his mad world but adopting was different and he had always wanted to be a dad. It made perfect sense to him to start a family with Ty, but with all the trauma and strange things going on, he hadn't been sure that was still a mutual dream. Hearing that it was made him feel so happy it almost made him sad and he just smiled at Ty for a few long seconds before forcing himself to look away and finish his food. "You'll make a great fucking dad too," he murmured. "You're the most amazing man I know."
He had more doubts about himself than Jared -- one of them had grown up with a loving, supportive father and it hadn’t been Ty. Marlon Solomon had loved his son, he’d just shown it in ways that were so misguided. But maybe he could just use that experience to make him a better father himself. Any kid of theirs would at least know that they were fully accepted for who they were. “Damn right I am,” Ty murmured with a little grin. Jared knew himself, so that obviously wasn’t completely true in Ty’s opinion, but he wasn’t going to turn it down as a compliment. He leaned over to bump shoulders with his big man, then focused on eating the rest of his dinner, his attention much more on his daydreams about what their life could become than whatever was on the TV at the moment.