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 Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 8:51 pm
He knew missions went on a while, sometimes. And that you got too busy dodging traps and natural disasters to answer your phone.
Harrison flipped uselessly through his message box, waiting for Rep to get ready for bed.
Maybe he'd come in tonight. Harrison was cold most of the time. He wore socks, out of courtesy, and sleeping beside Rep was like being in bed with a person-sized space heater, but the fusioned monster mattress always felt a lot cooler when it wasn't at capacity.
When Jordan wasn't there.
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Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:11 pm
Rep had been careening through the last few days in an almost manic way. Normally, he was relaxed and acted like nothing could really bother him, the ever invincible a*****e. But last few days there had been an edge to everything he did, a hint that perhaps he was trying a little too hard to stay distracted - any spare moment not occupied with some sort of activity was spent on twitter.
He hadn't noticed how much hard work he was undoing every time he was.
The bed had also felt larger to Rep the last few nights, undeniably. He'd told himself he was spoiled, that once upon a time he'd been glad of one warm body, let alone two. But it didn't change that feeling of something important missing.
As he got into bed, he sidled over possessively. It was never about heat for him - the island was marginally too hot for him even on the coolest nights - it was simply about the contact. He rested his chin on the other man's shoulder and eyed his phone with a subtle frown. Barely a word had been said about the worries between them, felt rather than discussed. But you could only ignore some things so long.
"Still nothing?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:28 pm
"Not yet," he said, letting Rep watch over his shoulder as the already read messages zipped by.
He closed the phone, placing it carefully on the desk beside the bed before making himself more comfortable.
"How's the song coming?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:33 pm
As Harrison got more comfortable, Rep very lazily did too, possessing an almost feline ability to adapt to make almost any position comfortable while hoarding body heat.
"Not bad. Better since I at least figured out the notes. Still need to come up with less shitty lyrics for one thing, need to work on getting the balls to sing it for another."
There'd been more time to practice too, but that went without saying.
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Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 9:57 pm
"Shitty's fine. So long as it gets done soon."
It seemed, for a while, like that might be it. Harrison wasn't good at being chatty when it came to anything serious. Or admitting that he didn't want to close his eyes. He listened to Rep breath a while, found it was easy, as usual, to match it.
"Started having dreams again. About Julie."
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Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 10:12 pm
A subtle nod was his only reply. It had to get done soon. Every mission was another fraction of his dwindling luck he used, he was trying to fight probability and he had never gotten along with maths. One day soon that luck would run out.
The silence in the cosy room was never quite silent and Rep, trying not to focus on his imminent demise found himself also focusing on the sound of breathing. It was soothing for a bit, but he slowly realised, just as the bed felt too big, it felt subtly too quiet aswell.
Harrison's comment jarred him out of his distant draze, but he didn't outwardly show it, simply stretched a little and despite the darkness, glanced in his direction. "Really? What sort of dreams?" He almost felt bad asking, as if the question was somehow stupid or cruel, but he did anyway.
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Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 10:38 pm
"Like she'll be baking, but everything she makes is full of bugs. And nobody else notices, so they're all eating it. s**t like that."
He was quiet again before he continued.
"For a while after, whenever I was holding on to you or Jordan, I'd worry instead of your back, there'd be a hole. Or that maybe some bugs had snuck back in people's clothing. And that one night they'd take everybody over again. I had dreams about that too. But mostly Julie."
One of his hands was already on Rep's back. Had been since Rep lay down next to him. It moved over the solid space.
"I haven't had them for a while."
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Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 10:57 pm
Rep listened intently and didn't interrupt with his usual joking comments. In the dark his imagination seized hold of the mentioned scenarios and ran amok with them in the moments of silence. He'd almost managed to forget the bugs, pushing them so far to the back of his mind that they only returned to the fore in those black nightmares when he was alone, but there in the dark, listening to Harrison talking about them, the old chills came back.
The mention of his lingering fears simply gave Rep more of a context for subtle touches he remembered, he was used to having Harrison's hand on his back, and he'd never even noticed before.
He moved just a little nearer, twining himself about him a bit more possessively - defensively, before he replied.
"I had some ******** up dreams after those missions with the horsemen - I think everyone had bug nightmares after Julie too." It was a dismissive comment, but his tone was honest and concerned, everything about his posture far from relaxed. Why now? Why did they come back now?
Jordan wasn't even here to reassure he was okay. There hadn't been a word.
"I want to know where he is." It had nothing to do with the dreams, but at the same time, given the timing of their return - he had a feeling it was everything to do with them.
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Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 11:52 pm
"...Nobody else has been out the same amount of time. That I know."
He rested on Rep's chest.
"What do you think they got him doing?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 12:03 am
"He's ******** smart. And tough. Probably got him doing important s**t." It was almost like he was trying to convince himself out loud. "Like remember when he had that text on his phone back in the horsemen place? He feels like he's a step ahead all the time."
He didn't know how much he believed it. Jordan was smart and tough, but he was also human and with the same fears and vulnerabilities as they had, and he was still a trainee, trainees didn't get sent on solo missions.
"I want him back." It was a very petulant and childish statement. But with just the two of them he didn't censor himself, he meant it.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 12:16 am
"Might be with some older hunters. Candace got sent out on a rescue mission with a bunch of guys. Small town. Zombie attack. Caelius and Aria and Mark and all were there too."
He smiled at Rep a little.
"Not older. Senior," he corrected. "Anyhow, yeah. He's smart. Too smart to leave us to our own devices for too long. ...He'll come back tomorrow and the whole ******** room'll be covered in mugs and neon."
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 12:31 am
Rep furrowed his brow slightly the moment the term older hunters was uttered, but it wasn't even necessary as Harrison corrected himself almost immediately afterwards. Still, even the correction temporarily made him aware of his own age, practically old by island standards - another countdown over his head. He shoved it aside. "Aye, it could be to do with that. I mean, he's been doing good lately. Took charge on that mission even. "
That he'd return was easier to believe when you heard it out loud.
"Yeah, he'd know better than to leave us two alone to do anything that involves not getting distracted every ******** five minutes. He'll probably be annoyed at the mess in here." He smiled distantly, drumming his fingers across skin as he thought warmly of the stern looks they might get.
"Aye."
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