omg lol wtf (Evan/Stormy)

[Inle-roo]

Evan stared in bemusement at the texts on his phone as they came rolling in one after the other, enough like Stormy on a chattering streak that he read them in her voice.

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Glad to hear you made it okay.

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That does actually make me feel better.

And it did, despite the fact that he wasn't one of the people out there. Seven full hunters should be able to handle a lot, probably.

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I'm doing okay. I hope you're staying safe. Don't take risks you don't have to.

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Guess you'll have to ask him when you get back.

The texts came faster as Stormy extended the offer to let him stay in her room--and really, his room wasn't that small. He had certainly lived in tighter quarters, and it wasn't like he did much more than sleep in there anyway. He waited with a patient grin as Stormy's texted train of thought slowed to a resolute halt before responding.

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I'll tolerate him for your sake. I'll even be on my best behavior until he gives me a reason not to be.

Carefully worded, not actually promising anything so he wouldn't feel guilty about anything he may have felt compelled to do in the future. He was sure she would forgive him for almost anything eventually, but he remembered her threats of glitterbombing and girly posters.

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What are your objectives out there?

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You let me know if you need anything. Anything. They can't object to an extra body out there.

medigel

i saw what u did there and im jumping on this train late whoops

 

[medigel]

It took some time to get back to Evan, a little over an hour.

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Text to Herc <333:
I would but Benson only wants full hunters here. D: Jack's here only bc the other Lifer she wanted refused to work with her again.

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Text to Herc <333:
We're supposed to head to this big nest in the east. Right now we found an old base we lost contact with so we're trying to restore it. No clue why it went offline.

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Text to Herc <333:
We'll be okay tho! How are things back home?

Inle-roo

: DDDDDD <3

 

[Inle-roo]

An hour was better than Evan had expected, considering.

medigel

Text to Stormy:

That's unfortunate. Still, I'm sure people accidentally get portaled to the wrong place all the time.

All the time, Stormy.

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Text to Stormy:

I've got to be due for a promotion soon anyway. No better experience than field experience.

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Text to Stormy:

That's weird. Were the hunters manning it recalled? Be careful.

Evan felt compelled to remind her to be careful over and over again, just in case, but he curbed the urge; that she was a full hunter out in the field and he was still an intermediate stuck on the island meant she probably knew to be careful without being constantly reminded, and there were other people out there with her to tell her that, besides.

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Text to Stormy:

Things are things. I've got a surprise for you when you come home.

When, not if, because there was never any doubt in Evan's mind that Stormy would come home safe and sound.

That was a lie. He was still worried.  

[medigel]

She chuckled to herself. Ah, Evan, he of the ever extreme decisions for her benefit.

Inle-roo

Text to Herc <333:
Oh OH yay!! AHHHHH IT'S ABOUT TIME YOU JOINED US IN HUNTERLAND <3333 If they let you grab people and I'm back you'll totally pick me right? I want to help!

It was only fair for all the times he had looked out for her. Stormy wanted to be in the position for once and try to pay back a fraction of what he'd given her. That and, well, little sister and big brother.

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Text to Herc <333:
Evan "things are things" isn't an answer D: that just makes me worry. Unless you're bored that's okay

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Text to Herc <333:
What kind of surprise? Just a hint please please please

 

[Inle-roo]

medigel

Text to Stormy:

It hasn't happened yet! But if and when it does, I'll be sure to let you know.

He felt guilty even before he finished typing the text out. The chances were good that any mission he would be sent on would end badly and only slightly less that someone would get hurt. As much as he wanted to always be available to look out for her in the future, he'd be damned if he was going to put her in a dangerous position for his own sake.

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Text to Stormy:

I am bored. Nothing to do besides train and patrol, no one to cook for, you won't let me haze your friend...

He was kidding--mostly--but telling her that the girl he had dedicated a significant amount of time to sleeping with was probably a traitor wasn't something he was going to just drop into random conversation.

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Text to Stormy:

If I tell you, it's not a surprise anymore! But it's a good surprise. I think you'll like it.

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Text to Stormy:

Tell me how your mission is going. You said Jack was there? Isn't he another one of those ex-friends of yours that I'm not allowed to beat up?

 

[medigel]

Well of course it had to be a good surprise! Otherwise he wouldn't have hinted to her about it! But avoiding even a hint made Stormy squirm with dire curiosity, and never more did she want to get out of the mission than that moment: fierce cuddle-kissing with Gale and some awesome thingie from Evan. Why not now.

Inle-roo

Text to Herc <333:
Ex bf yeah. It's okay, I think we're okay.

She had absolutely no basis for this other than the fact that he wasn't levelling heavy gazes in her direction anymore; granted, this may have been because his eyes were still recovering . . .

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Text to Herc <333:
We found a tunnel hidden behind one of the walls at this base. Lots of hroseman, took Jack and Fred, only could save Jack

It felt so impersonal just putting it in a text. Fred Ashton had been a living, breathing, Harry Potter-obsessed Sun a week ago, and now he was a smear in a thoroughly bombed lair. Her mouth twisted a little with guilt, her scarred fingers twitching as she clenched them too tightly around the phone. No way was she going to mention those to Evan over texts.

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Text to Herc <333:
We're leaving for another actual base tomorrow to get us fully geared for the real lair invasion. They said something about destroying a clone factory or something

I'm scared.  

[Inle-roo]

Evan was seriously considering whether or not Stormy would deem it acceptable for him to threaten Jack should things turn out to be anything less than okay when he received her next text and suddenly, Jack became completely unimportant.

Lots of hroseman. Only could save Jack. Evan stared at the words for a few minutes, letting the harsh reality of them sink in. He was unaware of his hand tightening on his phone until the plastic casing creaked warningly in his grip. Rather than crush it in his fist in a physical display of his frustration, he set it carefully on the bed next to him. It was the only link to Stormy he had, after all, until she came home.

He swung his legs off the bed and hung his head, fighting to keep his breath steady. The heels of his hands pressed against his closed eyes as though he could physically push the visions of all of the things that could happen to her right out of his head.

Lots of hroseman. Only could save Jack.

He could see them overwhelming Stormy and her team, picking them apart and killing them by inches, playing with them even after they were long broken and devouring what was left, scraps of flesh hanging between their bloody teeth, smiling and laughing at his attempts to stop them and knowing that he was so ******** powerless--

He jumped to his feet and started pacing nervously, his fingers opening and closing into fists. The room felt too small. The island felt too small. He needed to be out in the open desert, where Stormy was, so he could protect her and kill, with righteous vengeance, anything that even dared to think to harm her. He had lost people to these ******** monsters before; he'd be damned if he was going to lose her, too.

The phone buzzed quietly and blinked with the indication that it had received a new message. Evan picked it up and read the new message over and over, looking for some indication that the mission had been successful and now they could come back. He kept trying to find it in all the words that indicated otherwise. It was useless to deny it.

medigel

Text to Stormy:

You'll need a replacement for the one you lost.

Come home, his twitching fingers wanted to type. Come back where it's safe. Don't be the one they couldn't save.

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Text to Stormy:

Don't try to be a Sun. Stay in the back. If it goes south, get out of there ASAP.

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Text to: Stormy

Don't be the hero either. Nothing is worth your life, I don't care what Deus says.

 

[medigel]

No turning back, she ought to type. No replacements. No more wasting time. Because Stormy had come to realize just what this whole mission really was: a list of adept expendables sent out to make as big a dent as quickly possible in the Sahara. Half the team had been picked at random for God's sake, and she knew they weren't the first or last group to do it. This was what it meant to be a soldier, she thought bleakly. Rise to the challenge, prove yourself, and still have an equal chance of dying as the trainees. No heroic moments, no recognition, maybe not even a chance to at least die with people you love nearby.

Not for the first time, she questioned why she had come to Deus at all. Her life continued not by her own skill but through sheer dumb luck. No mission she led ever turned out alright, and even in her own division she felt she was fading into obscurity. It was a well tread path spiraling down she tried and failed to avoid when left with her thoughts for too long.

I don't want you to see me like this, she wanted to say. You're not allowed.

Inle-roo

Text to Herc <333:
I'm not going to pull you away when you should be prepping for your promo, silly! You're supposed to be Herc after all <3

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Text to Herc <333:
[Phil voice] I got three words fer you: KEEP. TRAINING. biggrin DDDD

But she couldn't do anything except continue pretending she was just fine, like she had for months now. Sometimes she could even fool herself.

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Text to Herc <333:
You know me, I like doing defense better! There's like three Suns here anyway, my job's all support so don't worry!

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Text to Herc <333:
I know I'm not good at being a hero anyway, that's /your/ job! ; D

Nothing is worth my life, she agreed sadly. Not here. Everything worth dying for is back home, even if my life isn't worth any of yours. And strangely, that would be enough to keep her going: the idea that one day she might be able to show it.

(Hypocrite. Hadn't she made Gale promise her again and again not to give his life up for her under any circumstances?)

But the more she thought about it, the more a restless thought in her grew that maybe now, away from everyone that would stop her, could she prove her worth.

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Text to Herc <333:
So what kind of food do you like again? I'm still gonna make us like a family picnic or something when I get back y'know. Orrrrrr you could just bring it over if you wanna make it yourself!

 

[Inle-roo]

medigel

Text to ******** my promo

It was sent before Evan could censor himself, and he cursed himself for cursing, but there was no more honest sentiment.

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Text to Stormy:

I don't even know what the hell that means.

Laid out like this in a format he could look at and review over and over again, he could see all the ways she tried to deflect attention from things she didn't want to talk about. He reminded himself to be mad about it later, maybe take her aside and tell her, fruitlessly, that she didn't need to do that. He didn't want anything other than honesty from anyone, even if they weren't saying things he wanted to hear. He would do that, he decided. When she got back. When, not if.

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Text to Stormy:

I do know you and that's why I'm worried.

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Text to Stormy:

When s**t goes South I want you to pendant out of there and if the people with you aren't smart enough to do that then

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Text to Stormy:
dont do that dont you ******** do that dont you pretend everything is okay and this is a walk in the ******** park

i won't lose another one

i won't lose you

I'll help you make the biggest picnic you want when you come home.

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Text to Stormy:

Just come home safe.

 

[medigel]

Part of her was guilty for withholding her fears from Evan. A bigger part took some pleasure in keeping him distant, however, in seeing that he was all but begging to be there with her; it meant that for all of her mistakes, at least she wasn't shunned.

His overbearing brother impulses were among his best qualities, but she needed to exert control over her own life. Or at least pretend to know what she was doing. That act was about as stable as her footing in the sand.

I do know you and that's why I'm worried.

Stormy took a deep breath and sighed, feeling her spirits sinking a little more. It was definitely bad if a curse was slipped.

Inle-roo

Text to Herc <333:
Naturally big bro~ I wouldn't miss your sandwiches for the world

She didn't know what else to say. Small talk suddenly felt too shallow, and she didn't want to outright lie; dodging the subject was a more comfortable gray area anyway. Stormy almost decided to call him, but she doubted her voice would sound nearly as strong as she could fake over texts.

She wished it was possible to send e-hugs that somehow got translated to real ones. Maybe she ought to get a Life person on that.

Her tender moment was broken by a muffled yelp, and for a moment Stormy thought they were being attacked again. But it was in the room next door and it was V's voice and the thumps against the thin walls didn't require a college degree to understand. Looked like her complaint to Jack didn't quite get through. She almost laughed to herself at the timing: two lonely people just trying to ignore it any way they could.

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Text to Herc <333:
I can hear people having sex through the wall. It's like I'm finally getting the college experience I missed out on lollll

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Text to Herc <333
I feel like you should continue this by getting me drinks when I get back!

 

[Inle-roo]

medigel

Text to Stormy:

You should tell them to knock it off and get back to work.

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Text to Stormy:

The least prepared are the most likely to fail.

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Text to Stormy:

Seriously when they go down you get yourself out of there.

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Text to Stormy:

And you are definitely not drinking on my watch ever again. That was a mistake and I'm sorry.

 

[medigel]

Inle-roo

Text to Herc <333:
It's okay. Some people deal with stress differently you know?

It wasn't like Jack would listen to her anyway.

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Text to Herc <333:
Pretty please with cherries on top? Last time happened only because you gave me like a lot of vodka on an empty stomach!

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Text to Herc <333:
I just wanna spend time with my brother drinking like normal families do

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Text to Herc <333:
It wasn't a mistake

 

[Inle-roo]

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Text to Stormy:

Maybe when you're older.

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Text to Stormy:

Much, much older.

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Text to Stormy:

Maybe never.

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Text to Stormy:

It's a lot easier to say no to you when you're not looking at me with those big, sad eyes you make.

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Text to Stormy:

Guess you'll just have to come home and ask.

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Text to Stormy:

But even if I say yes, no way am I letting you drink indoors.

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Text to Stormy:

There is nothing normal about this family.