Aidan O’Reilly (alwaysathief) wrote in the_dome, @ 2013-09-09 21:42:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | 04-10-2017, aidan, aidan and noah, noah |
Too Much To Do
Who: Aidan and Noah
Where: Brewery
When: Late morning
Noah had been looking for Sylvia in all the places he could think of she might be in town for hours. Not that he really expected to find her in town. He couldn’t imagine her going toward people if she wanted to hide but he needed to cover all his bases before he went trekking off into the woods or whatever. The last place on his list was one he had sworn he’d never enter. The brewery. But it was entirely possible she had gone to Aidan but told Noah she hadn’t for her own reasons. And if that was the case, at least he’d know she was safe.
So in he went with a breath of air filling his chest as though holding it would keep the alcohol out of his system. Keep him sober, clear-headed. His first thought was to glance around and pray that Darcy wasn’t here. Not that he didn’t want to see her but he needed to do this first. Finding out if Aidan knew where Sylvia was hiding was his priority for the moment. Yet he had no idea what Aidan looked like or if he was even there, so he simply went to the bar and asked the man behind it where he might find Aidan O’Reilly.
At the bar Noah was directed to the back room, the brewery proper, rather than the pub and restaurant that people frequented. Aidan was working with the beer, finishing up a new batch of pale ale. It was the last thing he needed to do for the day before heading out to the werewolf camp. His argument with Darcy was still on his mind, her questions and accusations, but she’d earned the place of absolute last when it came to people he wanted to talk to. He had a hard time believing her side of things when it came to Sylvia, even though he barely knew the girl, because he knew Darcy. Even his morning beer didn’t help mellow him out.
When he heard someone step into the back with him, he looked up, expecting to see one of his cousins. Instead it was another unexpected visitor, his second of the day. “Can I help you?” he asked, wiping his hands on his jeans.
Noah followed the directions he'd been given and glanced around though he didn't stop to take a look at anything. He had a mission and he all but had blinders on. He only stopped when he came upon the first and only person he'd seen since leaving the pub area. Could that be the guy all the fuss was about? Not that Noah was judging looks or anything but he hadn't quite thought he'd end up face to face with Aidan O'Reilly. Had rather hoped not to and now that he was looking at a guy who was potentially him, Noah felt the urge to walk back the way he'd come. Pretend he'd never come in here but he couldn't do that. He had to find Sylvia.
"Are you Aidan O'Reilly? The guy at the bar said I could find him back here and I need to talk to him."
“I’m Aidan,” he said, mentally sizing the guy up. Perhaps he was another wolf that Jack sent to him for some reason. If that was the case, he’d tell him the same thing he told Lochlan and Patrick. If not… maybe he wanted a keg for a party? The list of people that would be looking for him seemed rather short when it came to people he’d never seen before.
Noah took a deep breath, there wasn't really time for nerves now, even if the guy looked like he could easily break Noah in half. Which he might if Darcy's assessment of her family was any indication. In light of last night. "Do you know where Sylvia is?"
“No, I don’t,” Aidan sighed. “Are you Noah? I know she ran off last night. She didn’t feel safe in her house, so she went… somewhere. I was going to go look for her tonight.” After it got too dark to work on the werewolf camp in the woods. His life had gone from laid back and lazy to having too few hours in the day.
Noah ran his hand back through his hair, a measure of relief and frustration in the motion. "Yeah, I'm Noah. She left me a letter saying basically the same thing. I've been out all morning looking for her around town. Don't really think she'd be here but had to check, you know? And I know she likes you so…" He shrugged and sighed. "Did- did something happen with you guys last night?" he was treading lightly, not wanting to accuse but wanting to know nonetheless.
"She thinks I'm under a spell," Aidan said, not sure how much Noah knew about Sylvia's condition. She hadn't said much about him in their time together. The only reason Aidan had guessed this was him was because of Darcy. "When I showed up last night, she already had a suitcase packed. Do you know what happened with her and Darcy? Because Sylvia didn't even mention it to me, and I don't feel like Darcy's giving me the whole story."
Noah's mouth quirked up slightly in one corner. "She mentioned that. I'm pretty sure it's bunk but there's no telling her some things." Like that she wasn't in the kind of danger she thought she was. Or that he did care about her. He looked at Aidan and twinges of jealousy brought his mouth back into a straight line. He nodded. "Yeah they had a confrontation in the library. I saw it and tried to stop it going further. Sylvia ran off and I stayed a few minutes to try to explain Sylvia a little to Darcy." Which apparently had been his last strike in Sylvia's book.
"I don't know. It's be nice if I had some way to disprove her theory, but I don't know anyone else like her." And Jack hadn't been very comforting there either. "A confrontation," he said, jaw tightening. "What exactly went down? Darcy's saying things about Sylvia being mean, but its from her point of view." There had to be more to it. Sylvia had no reason to be as scared as she was. "How do you know Darcy?"
Noah shook his head. "She bit me too, man. There's no spell. I don't feel any differently about her than I did before. She's my closest friend and I want to find her because she's scared and I wasn't there for her when the bat… I need to find her." He stopped and shook his head again.
"Darcy wanted to understand what happened between you two, what she'd observed. And Sylvia hedged. She's not one for emotional outbursts and doesn't really understand them. She was quiet and matter of fact, and Darcy was the opposite. She got big and loud and to Sylvia I think that translated into dangerous. I think Sylvia believes Darcy would really hurt her if given the chance," he said with a frown, his brows drawn together. He wasn't about to reveal that Darcy had hit Sylvia. That didn't seem to be his place. If she hadn't owned up to it herself, why should he rat her out? "I know Darcy from school. I sit behind her in a few classes. I don't think Darcy would hurt Sylvia like that."
Okay, so Noah knew she was a vampire. That would help things immensely. “Did you tell her that? That you feel the same? Because I haven’t known her long enough to know the difference,” Aidan said, running his fingers through his hair. So much had happened that first night that it was difficult for him to tell if it was his emotions going into overdrive or if it was some crazy result of her biting him. “She shouldn’t be alone. Not with the full moon tomorrow night.”
Aidan listened to Noah’s interpretation of the altercation between Sylvia and Darcy. It sounded spot on from what he knew of the two girls. Darcy would have blown up. She would have been emotional. Sylvia… while he’d seen an emotional side of her, Aidan was beginning to think that wasn’t the norm. “I don’t think Darcy would purposefully hurt Sylvia, but this is a case of what she doesn’t know could kill her. Darcy’s the sort to rip that umbrella away just to prove a point and I think that’s what’s got Sylvia spooked. That and the werewolves.”
Noah shook his head. "We didn't know if it would take effect immediately. I went home but nothing has changed since." He didn't think it would but for some reason Aidan's wonder encouraged his respect for the guy. Maybe Aidan was good for Sylvia after all. Especially since not many people liked her. She deserved the know other people liked her. He wished so hard that she hadn't just left before getting to see this. "No… she shouldn't be. That's why I've been out for hours. Aidan, you've got to help me."
He balked for a moment. "Wait, wait. Are you saying Darcy was the one who did that? Stole her parasol?" That would explain so much more than anything either girl had literally said and yet he didn't want to believe it was true. He couldn't believe Darcy would be that cruel. “Werewolves?” he asked then, incredulous.
“No, Darcy didn’t take her parasol,” Aidan said. “Some guy did. But Darcy overheard me saying I was going to burn down his house over it. Which was probably a little overdramatic of me, but I was pissed. So when Darcy brought it up, I told her that Sylvia has some kind of sun allergy because I couldn’t just come out and say what she is. Though I’m gonna have to tell Darcy about some of it later because, yeah, werewolves.” If things would just slow down for a minute, then maybe he could build a werewolf camp and hunt Sylvia down all at the same time. Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to work.
“I will help you. I want to help you. I just have this other small crisis to deal with in the meantime. You know what happened with Sylvia and that bats? Well, everyone that got bitten by one of those wolves and survived is going to turn into a werewolf tomorrow night,” Aidan explained quietly. While they were alone in the brewery, he was still cautious. “I warned Sylvia about ‘em because they can hear heartbeats. They’ll know what she is. But we’re all potentially in danger if we don’t get something built to contain them before tomorrow night. But this is information you need to keep to yourself, got it? I don’t want to start a panic.”
Noah breathe a laugh. "No, not overdramatic. I think it about hits the mark of retribution. That guy, whoever he was, was an asshole and preyed on a girl who didn't deserve that." Oh, now he understood where the sun allergy thing had come from and while he got that Aidan had meant well, he knew the other guy had given Sylvia even more reason to freak out. "You can't tell Darcy. Not before we find Sylvia and make sure she's okay. Please. She's really scared of Darcy."
Noah looked at Aidan like he'd sprouted a second head but that expression quickly faded as he realized the validity. If Sylvia could be a vampire - something she'd clearly demonstrated - why not werewolves? Why not anything. "Yeah, I can keep my mouth shut. Just, don't be fucking with me, okay? I'm going to keep looking for Sylvia, here's my number, text or call if you can come look too. I could use whatever help I can get."
“No, I’m not going to tell Darcy about Sylvia, but I have to tell her about the wolves, since there's some in the family and I don’t think she knows,” Aidan said, then rubbed his hands over his face. God, how had this all gone down at once? He didn’t blame Noah for looking at him like that, not when he just dropped a major bomb in the middle of the conversation and just kept talking, but that’s how life felt at the moment. Like there was no time to sit back and wonder what the fuck was going on. “I’ll join you as soon as I can,” he said, taking the number from Noah. “I just have to work out in the woods while there’s still light to do so by. Let me know if you find her?” he asked, giving Noah his number as well. He hated that he couldn’t go with him now, but it was time he started working on the werewolf crisis instead.
Noah nodded. "Yeah, definitely, do what you need to do with your family." He didn't feel it was his place to tell Darcy anything about her family. Especially things like that because he didn't figure she'd believe it at first - if at all - and last thing he needed was her to think he was just as much of a freak as Sylvia. He was staying way out of that. He nodded again and took Aidan's number, surprised at the fact that there was civility in this conversation. He'd built it up in his mind that he must be wearing a visible sign of some sort that Aidan would immediately see and want to beat the crap out of him for touching his cousin. Not so. And in spite of his initial jealousy, he could mostly understand the draw between he and Sylvia. He still wasn't welcoming Aidan with open arms, but he was certainly going to accept whatever help the guy offered in finding Sylvia. "Thanks, man. I'll let you know as soon as I find her…. if I do. You too?" He re-slung his backpack on his shoulder.
“I wish I could go now, but shit kinda hit the fan all at once,” Aidan said. He didn’t like putting off looking for Sylvia, but he didn’t think it would do any good until he could give her some answers. When he found her, and he would find her, he needed to be able to reassure her, show her she didn’t need to be afraid, and have some kind of proof that a vampire bite didn’t put the receiver under some kind of a spell. If Noah could prove that, they were halfway there, but talking to Darcy would be the other half. That was a conversation that Aidan wasn’t looking forward to. “I’ll let you know,” he nodded. “Good luck.”
"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it," Noah said, both understanding and grateful somewhat that he wasn't facing one-on-one time with Darcy's cousin. At least for the moment. He needed help, he knew it. If she was in the forest, that could take days and days to search. He just hoped Aidan wasn't lying and keeping Sylvia hidden. That would suck, but at least Sylvia was safe, if that was the case. "Thanks, man. Good luck too." With that, he turned to leave, he had a long trek ahead of him, he was sure of it. It was off to the woods now.