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 Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 2:12 pm
Maybe it was a little more than five minutes -- but if so, it was damned close. Waking up on his little cot in the pitch back of the basement wasn't exactly a reassuring way to come out of dreams about the eternity of life, or about a world turned on end, about every death he'd even brushed up against by proxy. It was shaking enough, in fact, that he was reconsidering the comparative dangers of sleeping on a couch. Or outside for that matter. It was nice out here. Se he settled under a tree to wait for Peyton, cigarette case in hand, toying with it in a way that was slow and familiar by now: over his fingers and around, flicking it open [to find it empty] and then closed again, head tipped downward. Behind the mess of his hair, his eyes might have been just a bit red, his skin just a bit pale, shaken. In this moment he looked more serious than he had just about since he came to the island. Engaged in great thought. Or, maybe, conversation.
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 9:09 pm
Peyton had made a couple of quick pit stops on her way out to meet Ever for tea. First, she had dropped Tubadiah off with America, then Quint and Jessel with Taym, hugging them both, before heading up and onward towards the cafeteria to fetch a cup of hot tea for Ever, and a bottle of water for herself. Sugar packets were stuffed into her pockets, and a couple of creamers(she wasn't sure how the Lifer liked his tea). When she found him he was under the tree she had told him about, and and she made sure to scuff her feet a bit as she approach so she didn't all out startle him when she sat down across from him and held out the Styrofoam to-go cup with his tea. "I have some cream and sugar, if you need it." Both were extracted and set on the grass between them. Now that she could see him she'd not the slight redness of his eyes, and the smile she'd been wearing melted into something softer and more reassuring. Usually, Peyton was first in line to jump into missions. She was a girl of action. This time? This time she'd been given the chance to stay behind, to watch over the island, and she'd taken it, because there were things there she needed to protect. In a way she was sorry for her choice, but Astrid had woken up, and she was glad she'd stayed behind to be there for her sister.
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 9:37 pm
Another easy twirl of cigarette case around his hand before it stilled, and he blinked up at Peyton -- eyes narrowed against the glare of sunlight. Ever hadn't gotten much sleep; he hadn't since he got to the island, period, but worse now. It showed on his face, in the delay before he took the tea, in the way he looked down at the cream and sugar before opting for neither and just wrapping his hands around the cup. "...thanks." And slow to say that, too, trying to figure out what Peyton's game was in all this. He blinked at her, slowly. "You look calm." It wasn't quite accusing, but it was certainly puzzled. He couldn't imagine coming out of the last however-long and looking calm like this, smiling at someone. He kind of wanted to bite someone's head off.
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 9:48 pm
The smile she gave him faded around the edges as the signs of sleep deprivation became glaringly obvious. She recognized them, having only recently fallen victim to many a sleepless night after another mission had gone to s**t. His observation on her emotional state earned him a puzzled blink, then a frown before she twisted the cap on her bottle of water to pop the seal. "I am, for the most part. I stayed behind with a few others to make sure Deus wasn't left unprotected or completely short handed." A pause, so she could take a drink, then she set the water down between folded legs. "Missions can be hell," she offered, emphasizing the last. "Not all of them, but I think there's some unwritten law somewhere that says all first time missions will be hard for our newest hunters." She recalled her own, the sword through her chest, dying, coming back. She thought back to trip to the Sahara that they had only so recently seemed to have gotten over. The belly of the beast, the infection, and the fire. "Nightmares are normal." She was trying to be comforting, without being condescending.
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Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 10:18 pm
The tea helped more than the platitudes -- but at least Ever didn't say that out loud, instead opting to fill his mouth, regardless of how hot it was. It singed his tongue, baked his palms, and as he swallowed he settled back against the tree, considering Peyton with a flat expression. He wasn't smiling, and that was new, perhaps. At least in public. "I want out of the basement, how do I do that?" It was a thoughtful question, but serious: very serious, not just the heat of a moment. "...and when do I get my leave? It's been almost a month. How do I do that?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 4:23 pm
All of these was terribly familiar. Peyton had experienced it herself, and then she'd watched that same, haunted look slide through Taym's eyes, and then America, and Camille, and Noah. Now Ever. It wouldn't end there, she'd see it again, of that she was certain. The only comfort came from knowing that it would get easier to cope. If that was even the right word for it. Maybe they all just got numb, maybe jaded, but whatever caused it, the traumas, no matter how terribly, seemed just a little less traumatic after a while. So she sat across from him and watched him with neutral eyes as he drink his tea, knowing that no matter what she said, it probably wouldn't be all that comforting. "You can ask around, see if anyone is moving up soon, or if anyone registered to a first floor room isn't living in their room anymore." Her lips twitched thoughtfully. "Or you can try to find someone to move in with on the first or second floor, as a room mate." As for leave? "After a month you should be able to take leave. They usually like it if you take someone with you that's been here a while."
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Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 8:50 pm
"They might like it, but do I have to?" It was frank, and obvious that in this moment, Ever absolutely didn't want to take anyone with him. There was no one he could think of off the top of his head he'd enjoy hauling along, who wouldn't be a hinderance to any plans he might make. It made him shrug, a hitching twitch of one shoulders as he watched her over his mug. "There must be somewhere I can wander off alone on leave for a few hours and get so drunk I can't stand up." The conversational tone of that didn't make it any less depressing.
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Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 9:28 pm
"No, you don't have to. It's recommended, but not strictly enforced." She was fidgeting with the cap of her bottle, tightening and loosening it over and over. "You can go very nearly anywhere, except home, or where anyone might recognize you. That turns into a big mess, and endangers people." This was a familiar conversation. Hadn't she just been talking to Mikael about these exact things? Yes, though the circumstances had been different.
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Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2014 9:57 pm
"Hm." Ever thought about that for a moment, eyebrows pulling together and expression distant. It looked like concern over not being able to see friends and family, perhaps, even if it was something else entirely: an internal debate over just how strictly people couldn't recognize him. He'd sip his tea, and think about the answer. "Well, it's a big city. So long as I didn't go to the same neighborhood, it'd probably be okay. Right?" He looked back up at her, and slowly, he looked more relaxed. The idea of going somewhere familiar, even if it wasn't too familiar, was reassuring. "I don't have family or anything, just maybe some exes somewhere, and I don't really want to run into them anyway."
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Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 10:18 am
"So long as there is no chance of you running into anyone from your past you should be fine. It doesn't really matter how important they were to you. You're supposed to be dead, so them seeing you creates a problem." She was lecturing, but her voice was soft. If he did go on leave without a more veteran hunter with him, these were important things he would have to keep in mind for himself, so she wanted to make sure he understood the dos and don'ts. She took another drink from her bottle, capped it, then set it aside so she could draw her legs up and loop her arms around them. "I was serious about everyone going through hell during their first mission. If you find you need someone to talk to, for whatever reason, everyone here understands."
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Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 10:46 am
"Uh huh." It was the most polite and yet also dismissive way of saying '******** no'; Ever didn't want to talk things out with a near stranger, and even thinking about it made warning words echo in his memory. Perhaps Taym worried about his life, physically being beaten to pieces, the threat of death. Without really understanding it, Ever was much more afraid to open up to someone and have them rip his feelings apart. He didn't know these people well enough to play that game. "I'll just steer clear of where I called home, then. It was a pretty small area." And he paused, thinking about it. "I mean, we get a bunch of money, I can go somewhere more upscale."
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Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 11:20 am
If he didn't want to talk that was fine, he didn't have to. She just wanted to make sure he knew the option was there. "That would be the best plan, steering clear." They did make good money, really good, considering they didn't have to pay any bills. "Where you thinking of going?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 2:41 pm
"Going to buy new shoes, I guess, because these are beat -- " He shifted a little to show off his boots, battered and held together, in places, with frayed duct tape. The adventure into the desert hadn't done them much good, either. Ever shook his head and finished off his tea, more quickly than he really needed too. "Then I'll find somewhere selling cheap drinks, and have way too many. Figure out how to use grindr, get laid, spend the night somewhere, and come home." It was very frank. If she wanted to judge him for it, so be it.
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 4:45 pm
Peyton eyed his boots with a scandalized look. "Those are an abomination. Yes, please replace them." Shoes were one of the things the short teen had a real eye for, and poor Ever's boots looked like they'd been run over by an 18-wheeler. As far as the rest of it? "Not that unusual of a first leave plan, actually." It wasn't the first time she'd heard it, and it wouldn't be the last. So she smiled in what she hoped was a comforting, friendly matter. "I hope you get to accomplish everything you set out to do while you're gone."
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 7:08 pm
"How old are you, even?" A hypothetical question: it was between bemused and annoyed with her tone, with her comforting manner, but at least he looked more focused, now. More himself. Less of that distance behind his eyes. Ever shook his head at her, absently, rolling up to a crouch, halfway to standing. "I have duty, but I do appreciate the tea."
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