Ty Solomon (shadowbadge) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2022-10-27 20:39:00 |
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Entry tags: | #july 2018, jared, jared x ty, ty |
Who: Jared & Ty
Where: Winthrop then Seaview/Cooperdale Tunnel
When: Saturday afternoon 7/7
Status: complete
Jared was in a pretty good mood despite it being an overall gloomy day. The gray skies didn't affect his mood one bit because he'd been having a relaxing day at home with his man and then they'd gone to look at the open house on Winthrop. It wasn't exactly what he was looking for in a house but he already knew he couldn't realistically expect that unless he built one himself. It came close enough that he loved it and by the end of his stay there he was really nitpicking on the details and trying to feel something in there other than the welcome feeling that had greeted him the moment they walked in. Of course real estate agents had tricks up their sleeves, scented oils and whatnot to make a place more appealing, but Jared didn't think that was all. He really wanted this place and apparently so did Ty. He'd roamed alone through the bedrooms, just to stand there and listen. Most hauntings probably happened at night but it was worth trying to pick up on anything weird. It was promising that the previous owners were moving out because their kids had all left the nest and they wanted something smaller and also they'd lived there for a while so if something malicious really was in this house then... Well, it couldn't be very powerful, could it? He felt a little weird thinking about these things when only a year ago his main concerns would have been construction problems. Of course he looked out for those too but these days his main worry was reliving something like he'd seen at the Rogan house because he really didn't think he could survive something like that in his own home.
He joined Ty again in the kitchen after a while and tangled their fingers together. "You ready to go?" he murmured, wanting to leave the conversation about whether to make an offer until they were alone. He was pretty sure they were in agreement there and he felt stupidly excited about it all, already imagining their furniture in there and thinking ahead on all the things they'd need to buy and change.
The house wasn’t perfect, but it was close enough that Ty started to get excited after they’d only walked a few rooms of the place. The flaws he could see could be fixed, remodeling ideas had already started bubbling in his head, and even before Jared wandered off on his own, Ty knew they both wanted the place. He’d never purchased a house before, always renting apartments to live in alone, and it was an entirely different feeling to be looking at a place to call home with his husband.
Similar worries had crossed Ty’s mind about it being haunted, but instead of trying to suss it out himself, he chatted up the realtor while Jared walked it solo, and got a little more idea of the history of the place. Ty joked with the guy that he used to be a cop, so he could find out if he was lying about there never being any murders there, and the way the realtor laughed gave him a small pop of sadistic satisfaction. They would definitely do their research, but from his read on the guy, Ty didn’t think it was a lie.
He was examining the stove when Jared found him in the kitchen, and Ty beamed at him as he slipped his other arm around Jared’s waist. “No, I wanna start painting so we can move in already,” he murmured quietly back with a little chuckle, planting a kiss to Jared’s shoulder. He knew they had more real talking to do, but he was feeling sort of giddy and already impatient. Ty squeezed him briefly then pulled back so they could walk out.
Once they’d shaken hands with the realtor again and were safely in the car, he turned a grin and a raised eyebrow on his man. “So whaddaya think?”
Jared took a beat, inhaling and clutching his hands together before exhaling in a rush of words. "I really, really want that house," he blurted out, deflating a bit like telling Ty this had been revealing a big secret or something. "Not gonna lie." He shook his head and glanced back toward the house. "And I think... we should bully anyone else who's likely to buy it, classic intimidating tactics or straight out lies. We could fake a haunting? I really want that house." He was, of course, joking, though he was scarily tempted by it too. All they could realistically do was make an offer and hope they got it, but he had a feeling he wouldn't be finding another house on the market that he wanted this much any time soon, if ever. He didn't even need to ask what Ty wanted, he'd made it pretty clear in there and that just made Jared want it more.
Ty had to laugh, though he shared Jared’s anxiety over whether or not they could land the place. The open house hadn’t been packed, but there had been a few other people meandering through, and the place had been on the market for a little while now. “We can tell them they’re homophobes if they don’t sell to us,” he suggested, equally unserious, even if he kind of wanted to. They could swing their police force clout, or make a big sympathy bid because Ty had disappeared, anything that would get their foot in the door. He reached over to take Jared’s hand and squeezed it tight. “Let’s get our shit together and make an offer then. I don’t think anything better’s gonna come along, you know?”
It suddenly hit Jared that he wasn't as super privileged as he used to be as a straight, white man and he could actually use that homophobe accusation seriously. It was a little bewildering, and even more so that he'd never really thought about it before. The only backlash he had faced in coming out was from Ty's mother and it hadn't truly hit him that it was actual prejudice against him as well so that was probably a huge privilege too, he was a bisexual white man with good standing in society and an incredibly open minded family. "Let's get our shit together," he murmured as he let those thoughts churn in his mind. "Make an offer today." He felt giddy at the thought and he squeezed Ty's hand in excitement. "Do you mind if I make a little stop before we go home? Or should I drop you off at home first?" It felt like it came out of nowhere, the sudden urge to take a little walk in the woods behind Seaview, but it felt normal. He was about to buy a new place, it made sense to say goodbye to old memories, didn't it?
He did a little dance in his seat and let out a titter, squeezing Jared’s hand back. Landing the house wasn’t a guarantee, but now that they’d decided, he had an amazing feeling about it. This was going to be their new place, a home where they would hopefully spend many happy years together, raise some kids, have a dog ... Ty’s mind was alight with possibilities already. He was grinning hard enough to hurt his cheeks as he cocked a brow at Jared’s question. “Uhhhh, no, I don’t mind,” he said. Ty pulled Jared’s hand up to kiss the back of it. He didn’t want to part company today, not when they had such exciting stuff to do together. He wasn’t going to bitch about an errand in between. “Where we goin’?”
"Seaview," Jared replied and he didn't really know how to explain it or if he needed to at all. "I haven't been out there in ages." It wasn't exactly the perfect day to go for a walk, the only sunshine currently was inside this car because they were both stupidly excited and happy, but outside the sky was gray and the day seemed a little dull. "I actually... I want to check the tunnel, see what's changed, you know?" On any given day this might have seemed weird to him and he'd have felt like he had to justify this feeling, but not today. It felt pretty normal and he really wanted to go.
As soon as Jared answered, something seemed to click inside of Ty and he realized he wanted to go to Seaview too. Well, not exactly Seaview itself, but the woods behind it and what was nestled back there. It made zero logical sense to want to go to the Cooperdale Tunnel when they had so much to do for this new development in their lives and it wasn’t even a nice day to go out walking ... but Ty felt the same pull that Jared was feeling, and the same block against really questioning it. “Oh ... well, yeah sure,” Ty answered, some mild surprise in his tone. “Yeah that sounds good. Say goodbye to the old stomping ground and all that.” He gave another easy grin, the idea of checking out the tunnel folding seamlessly in with his bubbly mood. He’d known they wouldn’t end up living there again, but prepping to buy a house somehow made the departure from the mobile home even more solid.
It made perfect sense to Jared, whatever hesitation he'd felt whisked away by how easily Ty agreed. Of course it was logical to go to Cooperdale. There had been a lot of trauma there, he wanted to see it for himself and see that it was just a tunnel, just a place in the woods that had no bearing on their lives anymore. Call it closure. "Not staying long," he said as he started the car and he thought that was a given. "I'm also kind of curious what's going on with my own place, you know?" He wasn't, he was only really curious about the tunnel but the more reasons he had for going to Seaview, the more sense it made to actually take the time to go there. He didn't even feel the need to justify it more than that so while they drove they talked about the house and what they wanted to do with it if they got it. That had Jared's full attention for the duration of the ride, Ty had some ideas he hadn't thought of, he also had some ideas he wasn't necessarily a fan of but that's where compromise would come in. Before he knew it they were pulling into Seaview and he got a weird bout of nostalgia. It all looked the same - but it didn't. There was a car outside his old place and it felt a little surreal to see it there and know it was none of his business who it was.
Ty was perfectly content with not justifying anything and chatting about future plans all the way there. He knew he shouldn’t get his hopes up just in case, but it already felt like it was theirs and the possibilities of what they could do were endless. He found himself just rattling off ideas as they came to him, only half of which he might remember later. Ty felt almost as excited as he had been for their wedding, and definitely less nervous. He felt completely right and at home pulling into Seaview again, not at all concerned about why they were here. Ty glanced at Jared’s face as they passed his old place with its new car, and thought he picked up on a bit of melancholy from his man. Ty squeezed his thigh. There wasn’t much to say about it, time just continually moved on, and they had to as well. As soon as Jared parked the car, Ty climbed out and gave a little groaning stretch. He felt ready to venture out to the tunnel and see what they could see.
"It's weird to be back here," Jared said as they started their trek. His first issue with the tunnel was still fresh in his memory when he hiked out there with his neighbors and found a body part by the tracks. Just one of many mysteries that had never been solved. Would they find something weird this time too? He thought not, in fact he was almost sure they'd walk out there and find the place quiet and serene. It was time to put some of his demons to rest and seeing the tunnel like that would help. He wasn't ready to go anywhere near the Rogan house, but that was different. That had been personal and traumatizing. "I haven't heard that train in months now," he added and that was another thing that made him feel like things might just be okay now.
There should have been quite a bit of cause for concern, being overcome with random impulse to go to unusual places in Point Pleasant never seemed to turn out well. But Ty felt none of the hesitance he should have, he didn’t even question that they both had the same weird desire to see the tunnel. Because now that Jared had brought it up, Ty couldn’t wait to be there. He glanced over at his big man with a little grin while they walked. “You haven’t been here much in months, either,” he pointed out, though he wasn’t being argumentative, just vaguely amused. Those first few days in Seaview after he’d disappeared must have been beyond miserable for Jared, but at least they were far behind them now. “Wonder if anybody else has heard it since then.”
"Yeah, that's not an easy thing to find out," Jared replied because it wasn't like he could go knocking on doors asking people if they'd heard weird noises lately. For a brief moment he wondered why he was going to the tunnel at all but it was a fleeting thought and they were already walking there so it seemed stupid to turn back. "This town is full of weird things and noises though, wouldn't surprise me if it's an ongoing trend." He thought of the damn ice cream van he'd heard in the fog and a cold shiver went through him so he reached for Ty and gave him a quick and casual side hug. There was nothing quite like human touch to chase the ghosts away. "I wonder if you ever get immune to it all. There are plenty of people who've lived long lives in this town and don't seem fazed at all."
Ty took the opportunity to squeeze Jared’s ass, dropping his head briefly to that big shoulder of his. Somehow the idea of this place being haunted by a phantom train didn’t concern him too much. He’d seen too much bizarre shit. Point Pleasant was a hotbed for it, but after spending so much time in the place he’d been, Ty much preferred the occasional ghosts and unsettling noises. “I guess you kinda have to,” he mused along with his husband. “To preserve your own sanity. Or maybe the town itself kinda has that effect on people?” Or it was just an aspect of human nature. God knew there were stories of strange paranormal stuff happening all over the world. Maybe humans were more used to this kind of shit than they really understood. Ty didn’t have those answers, but they were definitely questions he asked more often these days.
Jared found that it was hard to be serious about things when his husband was grabbing his ass and he grinned, content to keep hiking fret-free. They weren't the only ones in the woods, he noted. A couple of people were walking in the other direction, the girl shooting them a shy and polite smile from the distance. It might have even been reassuring if Jared was at all concerned about where they were going, but he wasn't, just eager to check the place out. "We have some really good memories from here," he murmured. "Can't wait to have a firepit in the yard again, I miss sitting outside by the fire with you."
It was impossible not to notice the other people who were seemingly walking back from the tunnel, all of them crunching through the ever-present leaf litter on the forest floor. The whole situation seemed perfectly normal to him too, and he even lifted his hand in a small wave. They were all just people strolling through the woods on a gloomy day, nothing strange at all. “We do, yeah,” Ty agreed, bringing his attention back to Jared with a warm smile. “This is where all the magic happened.” He chuckled. Seaview didn’t seem terribly magical on the surface, but he didn’t think he would ever forget that first night, hesitant confessions, and their first kiss in front of the fire. Ty slipped his hand into Jared’s and gave it a squeeze. “I miss it too.” He couldn’t seem to stop smiling, he was so excited about the house. “We can brick it up all nice ... maybe build a little patio around it.”
"Oh yeah I'm already building shit in my head," Jared admitted and while he was trying to keep his expectations low, it was hard not to let his imagination soar with all the things he wanted to do with their new home. Seaview hadn't felt magical to him at all before that night with Ty, but because of him it was now packed full of good memories instead of just being the place that he'd settled on temporarily because he was hoping Sadie would take him back. Ty really had brought warmth and color into his life and even though their time together was jam packed with trauma as well, he continued to do so. It was nice to muse about what he wanted to do with the yard and the kitchen and the hike out to the tunnel didn't seem to take any time at all. "Man, it feels like such a normal place in the daylight," Jared said as they approached and he was relieved to see there was no body or strange banner hanging in the mouth of the tunnel; everything looked pretty serene.
It felt so good to even be at a point where he felt like he had a future, full stop. Ty hadn’t completely given up hope while he’d been trapped over there, but it had been difficult to come by after a certain point. He’d been fairly certain he would never see Jared again, and now here they were, married and about to put an offer down on a house of their own, making plans for renovations. He almost wanted to pinch himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming ... but it wouldn’t hurt anyway, so didn’t that defeat the purpose? Before Ty’s mind could take that and spiral into weird places with it, they had arrived at the tunnel. It did look as innocuous as an abandoned structure of concrete and rust could look, with the usual graffiti here and there. Just a place for teens to hang out and drink too early in their lives. Ty felt like he knew better on some level, but it was hard to worry about it at the moment. He ambled in closer to the tunnel mouth, his sneakers crunching on gravel. “I wonder if anybody ever walks to the other side,” he mused curiously.
"Probably," Jared said and grimaced slightly at the tunnel. "I can think about nicer places to hike though." He could imagine doing something like that when he was a teenager on a dare, but these days it felt like tempting fate in a super bad way. "I've heard the stories about Hicks," he added. "That guy who came through the tunnel and went on a killing spree in Seaview." The details were hazy but he knew that was the gist of it. "Guy was a loon but some people think walking through the tunnel is what made him crack." There were so many stories like that in Point Pleasant, he'd always laughed them off. Maybe one day Ty's story would be something people chalked up to superstition and rumors. As long as nobody really believed in any of these things, the town would just keep taking. Jared didn't know why but he felt like knowing made them a little safer somehow. More cautious. It was probably a laugh considering where they were but that didn't even occur to him.
On one level, it was just a retired train tunnel, from back when trains were a regular part of everyday life for most people. But standing there in front of the gaping black mouth of it, Ty felt like the difference was obvious. Having been trapped in an alternate dimension for months hadn’t made him any kind of expert on Weird Shit or anything, but it seemed foolish to give anything the benefit of the doubt anymore, at least in this town. If people said it was a fucked up place where fucked up things happened, Ty was inclined to believe. For some weird reason it didn’t freak him out today, though. He felt more interested than anything. “Yeah, I heard those too,” he murmured, staring into the darkness for a moment. Ty tore his gaze away to glance around, and something shiny on the ground caught his eye. At first glance it just looked like broken green glass, but he felt inexplicably drawn to it, and he moved in closer. He gave a curious ‘huh’ as he crouched down to pick it up -- it was indeed green, but not glass, more of a smooth rock. It glittered in the dappled sun and Ty immediately wanted to put it in his pocket.
"What you got there, baby?" Jared asked, his gaze lingering on the tunnel a little longer than he meant it to before he turned to see what Ty was up to. At least Ty didn't sound distressed so it obviously wasn't another body part but finding anything out here tended to be bad news. Looking over he could tell it was something small so he ventured closer, peering at the rock in Ty's hand. "That's pretty. Kinda looks like smoothed sea glass."
“Yeah, it does,” Ty mused, pinching the little stone between his fingers to hold it up to the light. He’d never really been a rock guy, not seeing much sense in collecting stuff that was just lying around on the ground, but this was a pretty cool looking rock, even though it was tiny. He stood up and smiled at Jared as he slipped his hand into his jean pocket. Ty meant to just drop it in there but he held onto it instead for a moment while he glanced around again. “I guess it can’t be all bad here,” he said lightly. “Weird bullshit abounds, but at least there’s pretty rocks, right?”
"Hey, there's another one," Jared said as he looked around and for some reason that cheered him up a lot. It would have been fine if Ty just found a cool looking rock but the fact they both did? He took the couple of required steps to reach it and crouched down to pick it up, holding it up first to look at it and then for Ty to see. For a second he'd been afraid it was just broken glass or something but no, it was a very similar rock, small and smooth like glass out of the ocean. "It's like a goodbye gift," he said with a smile as he straightened up again. "Imma hold on to this."
Ty followed him and looked when Jared presented the rock. It did look just like the one he’d found! “Oh cool,” he said with genuine enthusiasm. It was such a weird thing to get excited about, they weren’t even big stones, but for some reason it just felt neat. Ty looked around them some more to see if he could spot any more pretty green rocks in the old gravel, but he saw nothing but gray. For some reason that made their finds seem even more special. “I think those are the only two, too,” Ty told Jared with a smile. It did kind of feel like a little gift, something left just for them. “So long Seaview, thanks for everything.” He tittered softly.
"I'm glad we came out here," Jared said as he looked around again. "It feels like letting go, so long Seaview, so long tunnel, so long ghost trains.” It felt like he didn't need to ever come back here which was probably wrong since he was going to get his old job back and things tended to happen out here. Maybe not in his lifetime, maybe it would be quiet for a while. He sure as hell hoped so and right now he kind of believed it could be true. "Now we just need to decide where in our new house we're going to put these," he said, a grin overtaking his face. "Because we are getting that house, damn it."
Was it crazy that Ty’s first impulse was to say put them on the fireplace mantle? Probably. They were just tiny, pretty stones. No one would even see them on a mantle. Maybe in a pretty jar somewhere on a windowsill? They would figure it out. “Damn right we are,” Ty agreed with a bright grin. He hooked one arm through Jared’s as they started back toward the path they’d taken to get there. He couldn’t explain it, but it felt like time to go, their little visit was over now. “I already can’t wait to paint and decorate and stuff, does that make me extra gay?” He’d always lived in apartments he couldn’t do much to alter, and while all of Ty’s decor and furniture had been tasteful, he was looking forward to making this house really theirs.
"Baby, you always were extra gay," Jared teased him, giving his arm a little squeeze. "But no, it's gonna be our new home, our first real home together. I can't wait to work on it with you, pick out furniture and paint, fix everything that needs fixing and then live there for the rest of our lives." That was a huge one but he'd long since stopped being afraid of opening up about the big and scary dreams with Ty. They shared them now and it wasn't like they were unrealistic. It had taken him a while to heal from his divorce but he'd finally gotten to a place in his life where he truly believed he and Ty would never divorce, that this was it, they were in it for life.
“Fuck yeah,” he murmured, grinning. The big dreams weren’t scary to Ty anymore, and it wasn’t just because he’d gone through life-threatening scary shit now. He was fully out now, his mother had come around to accepting his sexuality -- even though she might still pray for his soul in church, but Ty could live with that -- and most of all he had a partner he loved to death and could rely on. Jared would do anything for him, and vice versa, so Ty felt just as secure with him. He was sure there were more struggles ahead, that was just life, but he and Jared were in it together, and they’d already proven they could survive incredible hardship. Ty just wanted to live, peaceful and normal and with his man, and it felt like this house was going to be the perfect place for that life. He couldn’t wait to get started.