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 Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 11:33 pm
She heard the footstep long before he even reached the door. Someone, either the twins or Valeriu, was here. And god, she knew which one she hoped it was.
Tepin couldn’t help but hold her breath, eyes glued to the door. If it was him… If it was him, she didn’t know what she’d do. She didn’t know if she should hug him or slap him. For running off, for making her worry, for doing something so reckless and stupid…!!
But… He was back, right?
The door handle jiggled, and confusion spread across her face. The door wasn’t locked… so why?
Hesitantly, she pulled herself up from her chair, eyes still plastered on that door as if he would burst through at any moment and tell her it was all just another one of his stupid jokes. But she had reached the door, and nothing had happened, Varu hadn’t burst through, laughing like an idiot.
Her hand wrapped around the cold handle, and slowly, she gave it a turn. Carefully, slowly, she pulled the door back, worried eyes growing warmer as she noticed who it was that greeted her.
In fact, tears had begun to well in her eyes.
He was okay.
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Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 11:43 pm
God, he was right to call the doorknob stupid. It was. So dumb. Always giving him smack - why, he ought to replace the entire damn door.
(Little did he know that he was turning the doorknob the wrong way.)
He watched as Nathan drove off, turning his attention back to the door. And then there wasn't a door, but an entrance! An entrance, filled with a tiny, tiny girl named Tepin.
A tiny, tiny, crying girl named Tepin. He frowned, first in confusion, and then in realization, reaching out to pull her into a gentle hug. No, no, he totally understood - the doctor, and Nathan, probably hadn't wanted her or the twins to be around. Surgery was too traumatizing.
"Hey, hey, it is okay," he hushed comfortingly, scooting them both inside and closing the soon-to-be-replaced door behind him. "The surgery v'ent just fine, no v'orries. I can breathe again, though I am beginning to suspect they drugged me up as badly as one of the kids in the Scene."
The couch sort of looked like a large, lumpy, man-eating monster to him: that was a dead giveaway. He frowned at it, suspiciously.
"Did the Carnegie hellions go home already? I v'anted to thank them," he added.
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Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 11:49 pm
“S-Surgery?!” She looked up from his chest, her eyes red from worry and tears, “Wait-- Wait! Varu-- what!? Where were you?!”
They were trapped in a strange sort of limbo in the entry way. While all Valeriu might have wanted to do was sleep, that was the last thing Tepin planned on letting him do. She needed answers. Now. And she needed to call the Twins and let them know that Varu was safe, albeit crazy, but that could wait until she had gotten the entire story sorted out.
“You went out on your own to get surgery!? I was gone for like twenty minutes!!” If the pain was so bad that he couldn’t have bared it for that long, he should have said something!! Instead of running off on his own like some kind of idiot!
In fact, it would do well to tell him just that.
“Idiot!”
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Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 11:57 pm
He was taken aback, staring at her as if she were some strange, incomprehensible little alien.
"V'hat do you mean?" His head tilted in confusion, and his body was quick to follow until he righted himself hastily, back to picking at the new, clean bandages around his chest in bewilderment. "You. You v'ent to the twins, and they knew a guy who is Quinn's dad, and he knew a doctor who v'ould treat me--"
Right. Right? That was what happened.
"So, they gave me some sort of drugs v'hile I v'as asleep to keep me asleep, and you guys took me over to the doctor's home, and, and--" He was stumbling now, rambling, trying to pull the pieces together. "And they treated me, and I v'oke up, and I got dropped off back here."
"That's...that's v'hat Nathan said. He said you v'ere v'orried, and that I should get home soon. That he knew the Carnegies," he floundered weakly, voice dying down unsuredly as he anxiously looked to her for any sort of confirmation, quiet and too confused for all the drugs in his system. "Right?"
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 12:14 am
“W-What? When we got here you were gone. I’ve been waiting since then. Seamus and Murphy split up and are looking around the city for you.”
Whoever this Nathan was, he had given him quite a load of bull. Tepin didn’t even absorb the entire story, and yet Varu believed it that much? Something could be very, very wrong. If, by some horrible chance, he had been taken in by the suits…!!
But would they have given him back like that? Her mind was already racing through the possibilities.
“You really didn’t leave on your own?”
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 12:30 am
He shook his head, and it sent the world spinning again. To counteract the natural pull of gravity (which seemed to be tugging on him from several directions, for some reason), he decided it was a good time to sit down.
He aimed for the couch, really he did. He ended up somewhere on the floor instead. God, he was tired, tired, tired. This was a very good place to sleep.
But no, no, he couldn't, not now. Something was terribly wrong with this. He groaned, and rubbed his forehead, peering up at her in sound disbelief.
"I just remember hating how boring the ceiling is," he murmured, resting his head back against the couchseat. "I think I fell asleep. And then I v'oke up there." Nervously, he traced the bandages over the incision marks, and it felt like a bucket of cold water had been dropped on his head.
"He looked like Quinn. He v'as the man in the picture," he insisted vehemently. "He knew my parents. Knew v'hat they v'orked in, told me not to tell Quinn about him."
Terrible thoughts were beginning to nag at him, flying quickly through his frenzied mind.
He was drugged up, he knew he was. What if - what if he'd been given hallucinogens? What if he'd dreamed it all up on his own? If Nathan wasn't really Nathan, and the house in Downers was not really a house in Downers--?
He sank back, and his grip tightened on the bandages.
"It v'as," he asserted. "I know it v'as."
He didn't want to consider the alternatives. Nathan was real, damn it.
"I'm sorry." He'd calmed down, somewhat. He was safe, back home. Tepin was here. He knew it was Tepin, he trusted his nose at least. "I did not mean to v'orry you."
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 8:20 pm
It didn’t take long before she was kneeling beside him, a look of concern coating her face. Why would someone kidnap him, just to release him back home? That seemed entirely counter productive to the idea of kidnapping him in the first place.
And he said he could breathe easier. If someone dangerous had really kidnapped him, wouldn’t they have tried to hurt him, rather than make him recover faster?
It didn’t add up, no matter what way she looked at it.
But he was home now. So the worst of her worries seemed to be over, for now.
“You’re feeling okay, right?” Hopefully he wasn’t going to just drop dead. “Nothing hurts?”
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 8:32 pm
He shook his head, paused, nodded, and then shook his head again, ruefully grinning up at her. "It still hurts, but not in the v'ay it did. I think it v'ill heal correctly." Maybe if he'd ever stop scratching at the bandages.
Nathan. That liar. He frowned. He'd let the man leave, hadn't paid enough attention to his surroundings to know where in Downers he was.
But he would find him again. And get the truth this time. All of it.
"Hey," he spoke up, snagging a hold of one of her hair-tails for his own amusement, "You said that the twins v'ere out looking for me, right?" He pushed himself to his feet again, trying to ward off the effects of the drugs. "Let's go find them," he suggested, and it would probably have been an honest and sincere act of concern if not for the look on his face.
"V'e v'ouldn't v'ant to v'orry them, da?" he smiled.
He hadn't forgotten that Murphy was on his hit-list.
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 8:42 pm
She scowled up at him, hoping that her expression would be enough to deter him.
He had just gotten his a** kicked, and then was kidnapped, and then drugged. And he wanted to go out and walk around?
Idiot.
“They’ll come back.” Her tone was monotone; she had no plans on letting him leave the house in this state. If something happened, she’d never be able to drag him back home on her own.
Pulling herself to her feet, she gave him another once over before crossing her arms.
“You should go to bed.”
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 8:56 pm
Bed. Bed sounded good. Better than sending Murphy to an early grave, for now at least. He looked up the stairs, then back at her. A sigh of defeat, a nod, and a hug.
"I v'ill. I know I've been enough trouble as it is," he muttered into her hair. It was definitely a better smell than the scent of chemicals that hung off him right now, and he was glad for it. "I v'ill hunt Murphy down later." He hesitated, before adding more quietly, "Thanks. For putting up v'ith all this."
He released her, and then turned to the stairs, motivated by the thought of his mattress waiting, just at the top. "I can't v'ait to get out of these jeans-"
THUD.
What. What. What! The stairs - they'd moved! They'd moved out from under his foot! He'd gone to step, and they'd up and moved, and he tripped, and was now sprawled along the first few steps.
His tail twitched. He growled.
He hated drugs. Making stairs move like that.
He settled for leaning on the railing this time. Climbing up on all fours was too embarrassing after that.
"Stupid stairs," he grumbled to himself, tripping and catching himself again as the world whirled. "Stupid doorknob, too. Replacing you all."
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 9:19 pm
Even if he said that the doctors fixed him, Varu still had brain damage. He was being way too touchy-feely for his earlier statements.
“Yea, anytime.” If he ever put her through this again, she’s strangle him, “Just go lay down. I’ll come up in a minute.”
She wanted to wait up just a few moments longer, to see if the twins would come back.
That thought, however, was quickly interrupted by a loud thud.
She turned.
She sighed.
She rushed over to the stairs.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Seemed like a reasonable question after he just fell down the stairs.
She watched him flounder once more, sighing under her breath.
“You want some help?”
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 11:01 pm
"I'm fine," he reassured, leaning back dangerously on his heels before rocking back forward and stumbling up a few more steps. "It's just, these stairs - they keep moving," he explained in frustration, hauling himself up a few more steps with the help of the handrail. "It's annoying. I don't remember them moving before."
God, he hated this. Hated that he could barely stand on his own two feet, that he'd been tricked so easily -- he clenched his jaw, pushing himself up to the top of the stairs, staggering unevenly.
Just hated feeling this weak. He wasn't weak. Wasn't, wasn't, wasn't. He was a man, he could - he could damn well be able to walk up his own steps and walk to his own bedroom. He made it, leaning against his dresser while rifling through the drawers for a suitable pair of pajamas.
"How long v'as I gone for, anyv'ay?" he ventured. It was closer to nighttime, now - darker. He found a pair of dark plaid pants, and tossing those onto his shoulder, worked on getting his jeans off.
Button. It was a simple button. Yet his fingers fumbled as if too large for the task, pushing and pulling uselessly at his waistband. Damn it. Damn, damn, damn. He leaned, too much, staggered in a half-circle in his futile attempts, and fell back on the bed. Sighing, he gave up for now, frowning up at the ceiling and brushing his heels against the floor. Carefully, his fingers traced the ridges and valleys made by the cracks in his mirror - a few slivers and shards missing here and there. Tezcatlipoca would probably be displeased.
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 11:20 pm
She followed three steps behind, her eyes glued to his every motion as her body swayed in beat behind. She wanted to be able to catch him, if he fell.
Not that she’d be able to hold him-- but at least she could lessen the blow.
When he made it to the room, she stopped in the doorway, leaning against the jamb and looking at him skeptically. He knew that she had followed-- and yet he was there, trying to undress. Yea, Varu was messed up. He was messed up bad.
“A while. What time was it when I left?” Looking up at to the corner of her eye, she tried to remember, “Several hours, anyway. Most the day, really.”
It had seemed so much longer than just a few hours. Each minute that passed by felt like days. Was she really that desperate for him? It was just because he was hurt, right?
“Uhm,” She looked now, his futile dance finished as he lay uselessly on the bed. Her face couldn’t help but be red, but… “You want some help?”
It was sad seeing him like this… But at the same time, it felt empowering to be the one in charge.
As casually as she could make it seem, she moved to the bed, seating herself a few inches from him and peering down curiously. He looked awfully small, from where she was looking.
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 11:47 pm
"That long?" he wondered. At least it hadn't been days - for that, he was grateful. He frowned down at the button on his too-stiff jeans. Minute by minute, his limbs felt like they were being filled with lead, and his head swam at every little movement.
Everything his body said told him to sleep. Sleep, now. Sleep forever. Don't even bother with the jeans.
But damn, they were uncomfortable. He picked at the plaid pants resting next to his head, wishing he could magic them onto his body. Comfortable, flannel pants. At her suggestion, he looked at her quizzically.
Looked at his pants. Looked back to her. It took a minute for the connection to fully click, and it was all-too-obvious when it did from the blush that graced his face.
"No, no, I can get it," he hastily replied, moving curiously numb fingers to try and prove that he could. He was met with failure. He frowned, looked away, looked back again, and decided to settle closer to her side so that he could bury his face in shame in the pillow that was her thigh, scowling to himself.
"Please," he amended. "Just the button. It v'on't v'ork," he muttered plaintively. It was alright, he decided; he had boxers on, she'd seen him in those before, they'd sufficed as his pajamas before. This wasn't any different from that. Right? Right.
It was nice, like this, he realized. She was warm, and he was cold from walking around with jeans. She was something solid that he could hold onto - and he did, wrapping his arms around her tiny waist.
"I should've come home sooner."
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Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 12:01 am
“R-Right, must be broken.” She said, placating him as best she could with her face so aflame. He had accepted it!? She didn’t think he would! She had said it expected to be rebutted as usual, and mostly just to get some sort of feeling of normality. He really must be sick!
But still, even as her face pointed stubbornly towards the wall, her hands reached over. One holding onto the fabric of the jeans (from as far as she could possibly manage) and the other working the button loose. There was no way this was happening. Absolutely no way. Varu wouldn’t just let her do something like this. Not when trying to prove that he didn’t want anything to do with her in--
In--in-- In that way!!
Her hands darted back as if he were made of fire and bugs, resting in her lap only to jump up in surprise as his arms wrapped around her. He was like some kind of child, clinging to anything that was nice to him.
It probably didn’t matter that it was here at all, he just wanted something to use for comfort.
“Yea, well,” Her eyes darted to the mess of hair that was so close to her leg, “You know for next time, I guess.”
He really did look like a little kid.
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