What: Maze aftermath Where: Ella and Jo's apartment When: Wednesday evening Warnings: Maze aftermath Status: Closed, complete Gdoc
The maze hadn't bothered Kenny too much. Yes, he had died and while his injuries were gone and healed, he was still covered in blood. It was only a minor nuisance and one that he was quite used to. Running into a couple slasher film killers wasn't so bad either. The only thing that had made him pause was when he saw something that made him feel a bit weird? He wasn't sure why and he wasn't going to think about it, not when he had to keep Ella and Jo safe until they got out.
And now that they were back in the Villa, he was still more focused on them, but this time it was to get them back to their apartment and make sure they're safe and sound. And maybe clean up their wounds too since both had suffered a few here and there. He probably should take them to someone more professional but whatever. He'd clean his own wounds before because he didn't always end up dead. Sometimes he just got badly injured and he usually fixed himself up.
All three of them made it to Jo and Ella's apartment. Kenny figured they'd be cool there and he told them he'd be right back and he left to grab some things from his own apartment. Once he had left and closed the door behind him, Jo turned to Ella, her eyes wide.
"What the fuck?" she exclaimed. She hardly ever swore like that, but she was in too much shock. "How did he? What-? He died! We saw it! But how did-?" Yeah, she was completely lost for words. She didn't know what to think. This was completely insane! People weren't supposed to come back from the dead. What made it worse for her was how casual he was about it.
Ella was in shock. She knew it too. There was no other explanation. Because she’d seen Kenny die. And then, before she even had time to properly grieve if that’s what she was going to do, he was right there alive and well again. It didn’t make sense, and she couldn’t wrap her head around it, but she knew what she’d seen.
“I don’t…” she started, and shook her head. She looked at Jo as if she expected her bestie to have sprouted a second head. “It doesn’t...He’s…” Another shake of her head. Finishing a thought seemed impossible. There were too many thoughts rolling through her mind at the speed of light.
“I need...to sit down.” She dropped onto the couch with a thud. She suspected she’d broken her foot somewhere in the maze, but she’d forced herself to trudge on despite the searing pain.
Kenny had told them he came back from the dead a few times before, but Jo never actually believed him. After all, that was damn near impossible. He just thought he wasn't serious, that he was making a joke. He did have a strange sense of humor like that, and she had just went along with it. She never once thought it was actually true.
But apparently it was and she had no idea what to think or how to process what had happened. She didn't blame Ella for needing to sit down. She needed to as well and she did, sitting next to Ella. "You okay?" she asked, even though she knew it was a dumb question. Ella didn't seem okay and Jo wasn't okay either. But Jo had to ask. Of course, she had to. It was her job to make sure she was okay, even if she herself wasn't.
Ella sighed. “I’m okay,” she said. She shifted her posture, turning a little to face Jo. She looked like she’d been in the middle of a war zone, and she knew it. But she was in one piece, which she figured counted for something.
“I know what you’re doing. You don’t have to pretend you’re okay for me,” she murmured. “I’m fine. I’m just...it’s a lot to take in. I didn’t think he was serious when he said that happened to him. How is that even possible, Jo? He was dead. We saw him die.”
Jo frowned a bit when she got a good look at Ella's appearance. She hadn't really had the chance to look because of all the chaos, but she looked quite awful and Jo probably didn't look any better. Both had lots of scrapes and bruises and their clothes were torn and bloodied.
"I'm still going to," she gave her a look. But she wasn't sure how long she'd be able to keep up the charade. How could she? She saw someone die in front of her, someone she considered a friend, and he came back like nothing happened. "Me neither. I thought he was just joking around. Now I wonder what other crazy things he said were true." Kenny had told them stories about his childhood and town, but Jo always figured that's what they were - just stories. That he just had a wild imagination.
Now she wasn't so sure.
"I don't know. I-" Before she could continue, she heard the door open and she stopped, glancing up and seeing Kenny. He was carrying what looked like things from a first-aid kit. Jo had wanted to ask him so many questions, but she couldn't think of which to ask. Instead, she just blurted out, "are you okay?"
To which Kenny just shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine." He moved and set his things on the coffee table in front of them. "I'll clean you up first, then I'll do Ella next," he told Jo. From what he could tell, she wasn't too bad and fixing her up won't take too long. He sat next to her and Jo, giving a quick look at Ella, turned and let him do his thing.
Ella sighed. She would have insisted Kenny clean Jo up first anyway. She could be a right bitch, she prided herself on it. But Jo was her weakness. She might act like a bitch to Jo sometimes, but Jo had a way of bringing out her softness.
“You know it’s not normal, right? That you’re alive. That you’re fine. You should be dead.” She figured she’d just get it out there in the open. Kenny had talked about his dying before, but now that she’d seen it actually happen, she didn’t know what to think.
"Guess I'm not normal then," Kenny shrugged. He already knew he wasn't. Already knew he was some sort of abomination freak against nature. He was well aware that he wasn't supposed to come back from the dead, that no one was, and that the dead should stay dead. He didn't really need anyone to tell him that.
Whatever. He started cleaning Jo's wounds, which weren't too bad. "So... how did you... y'know? Get this ability to come back from the dead?" she asked hesitantly as Kenny wrapped up her leg in some bandages. She wasn't sure if it was offensive to ask or not. She never even dreamt of asking such a question. But Kenny didn't seem to mind.
"My parents let some cult perform rituals on them for free beer around the time I was conceived," he told her as he finished up.
Jo was speechless and she couldn't help but frown as well. "That's messed up. And kind of sad," she said quietly. She wasn't a stranger to alcoholics. Her own father was one and once in awhile, he got arrested for disorderly conduct. Even Ella herself drank sometimes. But she couldn't imagine either of them being that selfish.
"I guess," Kenny shrugged before reaching over and handing Jo and ice pack. "Here, that should help with the bruises," he told her and she took it, gingerly putting it against her cheek. Once he figured she was good, he turned to Ella.
"Alright, your turn. Take your shirt off," he told her, turning to grab the things he needed.
Ella glared at him. But she did as he asked, slowly moving forward so she could pull her shirt off. She wasn’t at all embarrassed to take her top off, not for the normal reasons anyways. Besides they’d already had sex, multiple times.
But she hated exposing her scars. Never mind that she was probably making new ones now. She dropped her shirt aside and wrung her hands together. “Just hurry up, all right?” She muttered. She wanted this part of the evening over with.
Even though she'd known him for a couple weeks now, Jo was still not quite used to Kenny's blunt way of speaking. When he told Ella to take her shirt off, she was a bit surprised and then worried, glancing at Ella. She doubted she'd actually take her shirt off and probably refused. Ella never showed her scars to anyone, not the men she'd slept with, and even Jo herself only seen them a few times. But to her shock and surprised, Ella actually did it. She actually took her shirt off and exposed her scars to Kenny. Jo looked between the two of them and thought 'interesting'.
And Kenny knew about the scars. He'd felt them every time they were intimate, but that was all he ever did - was just felt them. Ella always insisted on either keeping her clothes on or doing it in the dark. And while he didn't get the big deal, he went along with it. It was the first time he'd ever seen them and they were... incredibly unremarkable. Just scars, nothing more, nothing less.
"Yeah, yeah," he rolled his eyes before quickly cleaning off the blood. No, there weren't going to be any new scars, he could tell. The cuts and scrapes were a bit deep but not deep enough for stitches and definitely not scars. He finished cleaning and bandaging her up. "There, done," he said.
Ella tugged her shirt back on and folded her arms in front of herself. She felt vulnerable and exposed now. Even though her scars were not a new revelation for Kenny or Jo, she hated that she’d exposed them to both of them.
She sighed. “So what, now? You going to cut out and leave?” she asked Kenny. He was a guy, that’s what guys did, in Ella’s experience. They cut and ran when things got heavy, and at least in her mind things were heavy at the moment.
Once he was sure they were all good now, Kenny gave them some over-the-counter pills that would help with the pain. Jo was grateful for it because she was starting to feel a bit sore now that the adrenaline was starting to wear off. She took a couple pills out the bottle and headed to the kitchen to grab some water.
She heard Ella's words and she stood quietly behind Kenny, who was busy putting his things away. He just glanced at Ella, blinking. "No," he shook his head, a little confused. "Why would I leave?"
“Because that’s what people do,” Ella said. It was a fact. All her life, for as long as she could remember, people had left. Jo was the only one really, who stayed. Even when Ella tried to push her away, she stayed.
Ella glanced at Jo and shrugged. She really didn’t expect Kenny to stay. They were both patched up, they’d be fine. It’s not like they needed someone to look after them.
Kenny was still a bit confused. "Uh, okay. I mean, I don't see why I would other than to get changed," he poked at his shirt, which was still covered in blood. Yeah, he really should put on some clean clothes now that he thought about it.
"Oh for god's sake!" Jo blurted out suddenly, causing Kenny to glanced back towards her and giving her a 'what the hell?' sort of look. "She means you'll leave because you saw her scars. Because that's what usually happens." She didn't normally do that, but she couldn't help it this time.
"Oh, that," Kenny said then shrugged. "I thought you meant just leave in general or something." He hadn't really thought she'd thought he'd leave because of the scars. He didn't think they were a big deal. "But no, I still wouldn't leave because of that. Don't see any reason or point. They're just scars." He'd seen them, didn't think much of them, and wasn't bothered by them. Maybe a little curious, but that was it.
Ella glared at Jo with her outburst. It wasn’t like her to be so blunt, or obnoxious about it. Tensions were high, though, even though they were out of the maze and everyone seemed to be all right. Ella reached down to massage her ankle.
“Whatever. Stay, then. I don’t care.” She didn’t want to talk about her scars, or her feelings about them, or the fact she assumed Kenny would leave now that he’d seen them in the light of day. “But take off that shirt. No one wants to look at the blood.”
Jo hadn't meant to and to be honest, she wasn't sure why she did it in the first place. It just came out of her mouth before she could stop herself. But she had a feeling Kenny wasn't quite getting it and she felt like she had to help him understand.
Which he did now, a little. He still didn't think showing her scars was a big deal, but whatever. "Alright, cool," he said, shrugging. Though when she told him to take his shirt off, he just grinned at her. "If you want to see me naked, you just have to ask," he joked but took it off anyway.
Jo just snorted a bit before glancing at Kenny, amazed that he was perfectly fine. She'd seen him get killed yet there wasn't a scratch on him. "So... after you come back," she began, still feeling weird to say that, "your injuries just disappear?"
Kenny nodded. "Yep," he replied and turned to Ella. "We should probably check your foot. It's probably sprained or broken." He'd noticed how hard it was for her to walk and he wouldn't be surprised if it was the case.
“I’m sure it’s fine,” Ella protested. “I just need to stay off it. Maybe ice it for a bit.” She wasn’t a fan of doctors, and if it was sprained or broken she knew she should see one. She’d rather try to convince herself it was fine, give it a couple days rest, and be done with it.
If only it was that easy. She knew it wasn’t. But at the moment she was allowing herself the delusion.
“You’re weird. Like a freak of nature or something,” Ella said. She wasn’t trying to be cruel, she was just brutally honest. People didn’t die, and then...wake up fine, like nothing happened. That wasn’t normal.
"Ella!" Jo said in a scolding tone. "That wasn't nice." Okay, so she understood. It was strange and he really shouldn't be here after dying. He should be dead in the maze and it weirded her out too, but she didn't think Ella should've called him a freak of nature. Honestly, despite the strangeness of it all, she felt kind of bad for him having to die all the time.
While they were talking, Kenny had taken Ella's shoes and socks off and got a good look at her foot. He could already tell it was broken but even so, he squeezed it. Gently but still hard enough that it would've hurt her a bit. "Yep, it's definitely broken," he said calmly.
“Maybe, but it’s true,” Ella replied to Jo. “It’s not normal.” Nothing about this damn place was normal. How they got here was a complete mystery. And things happened in Goodland that defied logic. Things like the fucking corn maze that held them prisoner for days.
She sucked in a breath as Kenny took the shoe and then the sock off her throbbing foot. “It’s fine. I don’t need to see a doctor,” she insisted.
"Okay, I know it's strange but you didn't have to call him a freak," she told Ella. Even though she was well aware of how messed up this place was and that Kenny probably wasn't the only one who had strange abilities, saying that wasn't going to help anything.
Though Kenny didn't seem to care. Or maybe he just ignored it. Jo couldn't tell but either way, he just examined Ella's foot. "It's not, it's broken, and you really should go to the hospital," he told her.
Ella sighed. She looked down at her foot. It was swollen and looked terrible. “It’s just another scar to add to the canvas of my body,” she said with a sigh. “Fine. I’ll go, if you two will shut up about it.” She really didn’t care for doctors, but now that she was actually looking at her foot, she realised maybe she did need to get it looked at. She didn’t want a messed up foot because she was too stubborn to get medical attention for it.
Jo was quite relieved that Ella finally relented about going to the hospital. She knew how much she hated hospitals and doctors, but not getting her foot checked out would've just ended in disaster. "Thanks, El. And it shouldn't take too long."
Kenny just rolled his eyes, muttering something but really, he was glad she finally agreed too. "Is she always this stubborn?" he asked Jo who just nodded with a slight smile. Kenny just snorted and got ready. "Whatever, let's go."