Saturday December 6th 2008
Who: Keely and Garret What: Trying to comfort and throwing dirt Where: Outside at the track When: Evening Rating: PG 13 for language
Okay, so Garret was obviously not okay and he wasn't going to let her in. Maybe. So before she went crazy with the sledge hammer, she first checked his front door. Locked. Damn it! So, maybe she should check outside. He was able to walk through walls, probably ducked outside. In running shorts that she usually wore to bed, a pull over hoodie and sneakers, she went outside and looked around. Hmmm. Listening to the trees and the plants, she jogged over to the track to find Garret running laps in his jeans, shirtless. "Oh boyo," she cooed softly, watching him for a moment before jogging over, increasing her pace to match his easily and joined him, not saying a word.
Okay, so maybe Keely was right about destroying his place. Breaking plates and punching picture frames wasn't exactly the best way to vent. So instead, Garret decided to run. Why not? It was dark out, and quiet, and freezing cold so no one else would be wandering about. Plus the cold would motivate him not to just fall down and stare at the stars and let himself freeze to death. Okay, so that was a bit dramatic. But Dragon was getting married, and that was the end of everything, the final nail in the coffin.
He saw Keely on her way over well before she got there, and it made him growl breathlessly. Figured. The last thing he needed was sunshine in a dryad suit. Huffing out his breath, he glanced at her sideways. "What," he demanded shortly.
--- "Nothin'," she said as she ran next to him. "Just takin' a late run's all," Keely answered. The way she was greeted made her a bit less cheery. He really was in a bad mood. Maybe he ran most of it out it would be better. Hopefully. She still had no idea what was going on. If someone had died though, he'd be a bit more open. Did one of his boys leave? It'd be weird if they did since they'd apparently been together a while. Sorting through the possibilities in her head, she kept pace with Garret.
It was a strange sight. This tiny red head running with this tall, broad, shirtless man in jeans. All around the track. Like some turtles or dogs.
--- Garret managed to stand about two more laps around the track before he couldn't take it anymore. Stopping, he turned to Keely to glare her down, panting slightly. "Keely," he said gruffly, "I'm really, really not in the mood right now. No I don't wanna talk about it, no I don't want company, no you can't help. Okay? It's just... something I need to... get through. By myself." Emphasis was placed on the last, his blue eyes boring into her.
--- Keely was getting a nice exercise out of this. That is till Garret finally stopped and turned to look at her. It was twilight, so there was still some light, but not much. It didn't take much to understand the look on Garret's face though. "Yer me friend Garret," she said firmly. She'd stared down worse that this grumpy man before. "Usually when a friend's havin' a problem I take notion ta stop and make sure he's okay. Yer not okay and I don't know what yer thinkin' when ye tell me yer fine and I hear dishes breakin'." Her green eyes bore right back at Garret. It seemed that he'd met his match in stubborness. "Garret. If I were bein' this pushy, if Rorie or Declan or any of the others ye care about were suddenly breakin' things, the runnin' off and pushin' ye away, wouldn't ye follow to make sure they know they're not alone?" She asked. "I'm not tryin' ta be nosey, I'm tryin' ta make sure ye don't get yerself in a spot that ye can't get outta. So be mad at me, be grouchy like a bear, I don't care. If it makes ye feel better, scream at me, yell at me! I'm not goin' anywhere though."
--- There was nobody on the planet who could match stubbornness with a spoiled, selfish rich kid who never had to work very hard to get anything in life. All he really had was his stubborness, because that was what got him his way, and Garret just got his way. He just did. "Fine," he said simply, "then I'm going somewhere. Away. Your point is made, you're here for me if I need an ear. Fantastic." Turning on his heels, he started off, running a hand through his hair. Calling back over his shoulder, he added "And unless you're a completely shitty friend, you'll respect my request to be left the hell alone!"
--- This man was infuriating! Beyond all capacity as she yelled back at him in Gaelic, not very lady like things. "Fine then!" She yelled back. "Expect a hole in yer wall and yer things sifted through when ye get back!" She screamed at him. It was a possible empty threat, with Keely you never knew. She was mad now because Garret was being a jerk. First he makes her worry because she hears things breaking and then he runs off like this, it was making her want to chase him down and tackle him! Which she started to, and then she ended up picking up a clod of dirt and hurling it at him and knicking his head. To say Keely didn't take being told to bugger off very well, would be an understatement.
--- He hadn't invited Keely into his personal business, so the fact that she was making it her own was beyond infuriating. What right did she have, exactly, to think he owed her anything? He was fuming to himself as he stalked off, stopping dead in his tracks when she chucked something at him and hit him in the head. Oh, that did it. That so did it.
Turning on her, he crouched low and grabbed a handful of dirt, recalling his years of baseball and whipping it hard at her, the dirt crumbling but a good amount of it still crashing into her stomach, smearing her pajamas with dirt. "PISS OFF!" he screamed angrily.
--- Keely wasn't that far away really, a few yards away. She also deserved the dirt clod that hit her in the stomach. Thankfully there weren't any huge rocks, but it still hurt like a bitch. Especially from someone that knew how to throw something hard. Crying out in surprise and pain, she stumbled back. Ow, ow, ow. Last time she threw something at Garret. Holding her throbbing stomach, she didn't say anything as Garret turned. She was starting to feel the idiocy of her actions. She hated to be one of those people that just barged in and thought they could save the day. Keely threw things at those people too. She didn't feel like going after him just to get to her apartment, so she turned and walked towards the woods to be a tree for a night and let Garret have his space.
--- Damnit damnit damnit. That was so completely unfair! She was the one who had come into his space, demanding and annoying and being a bitch... and now she was sad and hurt and walking away and there was a huge lump of guilt sitting on Garret's shoulders that he could not ignore. Damnit damnit. Fucking puppy faces would kill him every time.
"Keely," he called, jogging after her. "I'm sorry, I didn't... I'm just... are you okay? I didn't mean it. I'm being a jerk, I shouldn't have done that."
--- It felt like the wind was knocked out of Keely, but she wasn't letting it stop her from going else where. It was like messing with a hornets nest. She should have known she would have gotten stung. She didn't really feel any anger or anything Garret, she was mad at herself. She had hovered! Her mother hovers and it pisses her off more than anything! Keely was making mental notes of baked goods to give to Garret to help smooth over a bit when she heard him call her name and job over.
Turning around, she looked up at him. She was still holding her sore stomach, feeling it just hurt more and more. "No, it's me own fault for pushin' and hoverin'," she said shaking her head. Okay, it didn't feel so good to stand and shake her head. "Ye were in the right." Dryads didn't generally get sick, but physical things, like clods of dirt, did hurt and damage.
--- Augh, no, that face! That horrible sad, adorable face. What the fuck was he supposed to do? "No, I wasn't, I was wrong. You just wanted to help and I was being an ass and I'm sorry. I am." Smiling reassuringly, he took her hand, then pulled her into a small, gentle hug. "You're just being a good friend, and like usual I'm being a douchebag."
--- "It's fine Garret," she said softly, hugging him back for a moment before wincing at her belly. Oh that was going to hurt for a few day. Last time she provoked Garret. "I'm just gonna go back ta me flat now. Ye've got an arm on ye," she chuckled slightly, hoping he didn't feel too horrible. Ow, ow, ow. No chuckling. Chuckling bad. Oooooowwwwww. It was stinking and throbbing and it was cold. Time to go home.
--- With a little pout, Garret pulled away. "At least let me walk you home?" he offered. "And grovel a bit more? And get you anything you need? And shower you in compliments because I feel awful and I hate guilt more than anything?" Well at least Keely was taking his mind off Lloyd for the moment.
--- "Aye, ye can walk me home," Keely nodded. Though she didn't let go of him. She felt a bit off, her legs were wobbly and the like. If it was still hurting in the morning she'd go to the infirmary. Eck. "We'll see what else I need when we get me back ta me flat," she said giving him a soft smile at least.
--- Witha return smile, Garret let Keely hold onto him as they walked, not going too fast because she was, after all, a Lil'Bit. After a few moments of quiet, however, familiar sadness crept back in. And he sighed. "He's getting married," he said simply. "An ex. And I should be happy for him, and I am, but... not really. Not at all, actually."
--- Keely didn't know who 'he' was, but she wasn't going to press about that. The fact that Garret was talking about it at all was amazing to her right then. "Ye still love him, don't ye? A lot." She could get that. Never had it happen herself, but she could understand some things even then she hadn't done it.
--- Nodding a little, Garret sighed again. "I'm happy in my life. What we had was... I can't even describe it. It was maybe the best thing that has ever happened to me. But it's done, and it's over, and I'm the one that ended it so I shouldn't be so... fucking furious that he's moved on. I want him to be happy, he deserves it. But..." But that meant losing him forever, really letting go. And how was Garret supposed to let him go?
--- Listening, Keely nodded. It made sense. "Ye both deserve ta be happy is sounds like. Just because he's gettin' married doesn' mean ye have ta let him go though. Ye keep a part o' him with ye, in yer mem'ries, in yer heart. I'm not goin' ta tell ye ta not be angry. I'd be angry too if someone I loved was marryin' someone else, even if I was with the person I'm supposed ta be with," she said gently. "He'll always have a part o' ye too Garret. Ye both will have spaces that neither of the people ye're with now will be able ta fill because that's yer spot for them."
--- It was what everyone said, and they were right. Of course they were right. It didn't make it easier though. It was his Dragon, his Dragon, no one else's. It just hurt too damn much, even though it shouldn't.
"Thanks," he said with a smile, though it was insincere. "You're right. It'll be okay."
--- "My piece didn't help did it?" She asked looking up at him, seeing that smile. "Declan used ta give me the same smile when I made him try my first loaf o' soda bread. He ended up spittin' it out when he thought I wasn't lookin'." Sighing, there really wasn't anything she could do apparently. They were at her apartment and she remembered his wasn't that. . . Clean. "Ye want ta come in for a bit? So ye don't have ta deal with yer apartment?" She asked turning to him. Maybe a break from looking around his place alone might make him feel less. . . In a hole. "I can offer cuddles if ye get me an ice pack," she said giving him a sweet smile.
--- At least Keely was trying, and that was something. She was a good woman. Declan was damn lucky to have her as his friend, and possibly more, if the two of them ever sorted themselves out.
"Thanks, but... I should get my place straightened up. Rorie comes over early sometimes and... I don't want him to worry." He needed to get over this tonight, because the last thing Garret wanted was for Rorie or Mal to think that he wasn't okay when they finally heard the news. Mal would give him that blank stare that practically demanded to know how Garret could be so stupid. And Rorie would worry that he wasn't happy, and he really wanted Lloyd back, and that was a discussion best left unhad.
--- "Alright, ye take care love," she said giving him a careful hug, so she wasn't stressing her stomach out. "Ye got a couple o' good boys, take care o' them," Keely said before standing on her toes and kissing the corner of his mouth softly. "Ye need anythin' I'm next door ta ye," she said, turning to open her door. "Night Garret, hope ye get some sleep."
--- It didn't occur to Garret, until Keely had already pulled away, that he could have stolen a proper kiss from her. That was how far gone his mind was at the moment. Damnit, a missed opportunity. "Good night, little red," he smiled ruefully, making sure she was in her place before phasing through the door to his own. The place was a mess. Rorie would be suspicious if it was too clean, but he wasn't going to sleep much tonight so... might as well be productive.