[PRP] On Watch (Evan/Stormy)

[Inle-roo]

It didn't occur to Evan to let Stormy know that he had found their wayward brother until the second afternoon. An oversight, to be sure, but minor in comparison to all of the other ways he had ******** up this week.

medigel

Text to Stormy:

Come to the pod room.

He hesitated before sending an additional message.

Quote:

Text to Stormy:

Bring something to eat.

He was hungry. He hadn't left except to use the bathroom, and then it was right back to sitting in front of Tuck's pod, waiting as though the other man might wake up any minute instead of in the better part of a week.  

[medigel]

When she read the text, the first frightening and irrational thing that came to mind was, This is it. He's done. He's getting someone to pod me for my own good. Maybe Evan had found out about her own brand of crazy this past week. Of course not from her, no, she hadn't texted him or Tuck since the mission because she was scared to. How much space was too much space? What was too little? How long was she supposed to wait before getting in contact? Luckily, Evan answered one of those questions for her.

But then a second, even more horrifying prospect occurred to her, and that was what spurred Stormy on her way, fear be damned.

She looked like she was getting ready for a camping trip when she rolled into the Life Labs a little later: she carried a large backpack with a sleeping bag rolled on top, two large pillows under one arm, and a plastic bag on the other that smelled of warm chicken and bacon. She was almost comically thin under the weight and looked like she hadn't slept, but that wasn't new.

"Hey," she called to Evan as she tottered over, half-nervous, half-hopeful. Even if he was mad at her, food was a good bribe. He could hate her on a full stomach at least.

Inle-roo

 

[Inle-roo]

Evan had only brought himself and a half empty bottle of something alcoholic to the labs. The bottle had been empty by yesterday evening, and the label sat in a pile of neatly shredded snowflakes next to it. His head turned towards the door as it opened, and he barely suppressed a wince; he was sore from sitting against the wall for so long.

Whatever Evan had been expecting, it wasn't Stormy looking like she was going on a camping trip. She had just gotten back not too long ago, after all; surely they wouldn't send her back out this soon. Especially not with as rough as she looked. She had been getting better, but now she just looked exhausted again. Evan could relate.

"Hey," Evan replied cautiously, his nostrils flaring as he scented the cooked meat. "Going somewhere?"

medigel

 

[medigel]

"Going here." She toddled the rest of the way, turned her head, and saw Tuck asleep in the pod. Something frigid pierced her chest and made it hard to breathe, but it wasn't completely unexpected: it would be her luck to have driven him to do something bad enough to get podded. At least he looked okay. Not angry or sad or scarred, just...asleep. That was already better than what she and Evan got, it seemed.

Carefully Stormy knelt and began to unload, setting the pillows and bag down before slipping the backpack's straps off. "I had a feeling I'd be staying a while," she said with a small frown as she untied the sleeping bag from its perch next. "Sorry it took me forever. I got us bacon chicken ranch salad in the bag, and there's like Gatorade and water and alcohol and chocolate and chips and other stuff in the backpack."

It was obvious that he wasn't going to do this alone.

Inle-roo

 

[Inle-roo]

This was no place for Stormy. She belonged upstairs in her nest of pillows and blankets, not down in the cold, sterile labs waiting like a dog for its master to come home, loyal and stupid and endlessly patient. It was not her place to be here. Tuck was his Moon and his responsibility and for a moment he considered telling her to leave.

Tuck was hers, too, though, despite whatever had happened between them on the mission, so instead he watched as she made herself comfortable. He didn't know whether he was grateful for the company or annoyed by the intrusion, but he still had six days to decide.

"You're sure as hell not drinking down here," he remarked, turning his attention back to the pod. If she wanted to stay, that was fine--for the time being--but boundaries needed to be set. "This isn't a slumber party. We're not down here to have fun."

medigel

 

[medigel]

She gave him a slightly wounded look. "I know that. But there's no point in being uncomfortable. You're not going to leave and neither will I unless we need something," she said. "Plus he might want food when he wakes up. So I came prepared."

Stormy leaned the sleeping bag and pillows against the wall for now, then stood and grabbed the bag of food. "Bacon's still warm," she offered hesitantly, trying to gauge Evan's mood.

Inle-roo

 

[Inle-roo]

Evan's attention remained resolutely on the pod in front of him. "You don't need to be down here, you know," he said, not unkindly, just matter of fact. Stormy was the one who had taken matters into her own hands, after all. She had done what needed to be done when Evan had choked. He owed her, too, but this was his penance to Tuck.

Still, he was hungry, and there was no harm in sharing lunch, at least. It smelled delicious, too. He hadn't planned for food. He sighed, tilting his head against the wall just enough to be able to see Stormy. "Forks? Napkins?"

medigel

 

[medigel]

"Yes, I do," she said simply.

Stormy dug around for the silver forks and napkins in the bag, grabbed them, and then peeled the plastic bag off and nudged it to the side. Evan would get the lion's share; then she'd eat what was left, if anything.

A thought struck her as she offered him everything. "Heidi?"

Inle-roo

 

[Inle-roo]

Evan sighed, but didn't argue further. He knew how stubborn Stormy could get, and it wouldn't do either of them any good to argue. He figured he would wait a few days for her to get bored or tired of sleeping in a bag on the floor or realize that Tuck would wake up with or without them watching over him before suggesting it again. That was fine. He could be patient. He would enjoy her company--as always, and despite the circumstances--for however long it lasted.

He kept the container between them so they could share it, nodding his thanks as he took a fork. Plates, he thought belatedly, but he had done better with even less before. Evan gave Stormy a sidelong glance as she mentioned Heidi, not sure how much to tell her. He didn't like to gossip, and it wasn't either of their business anyway. "I saw her. When we got back," he clarified. "She's...they'll work it out. She's stronger than she comes across, I think. I don't think she'll let him get away with being a dumbass."

He wondered if Tuck got hungry in there as he took a bite of the salad, uttering a noise of surprise at the taste. "It's good," he said. "I didn't know you could cook."

medigel

 

[medigel]

Stormy made no motion to dig in with him, frowning.

They'll work it out.

So Heidi and Tuck's fight hadn't stopped with the mission then. Just another domino she helped knock over. Her heart sank a little more, but this shouldn't have been unforeseen. Tuck had looked really mad.

"Starting to pick up things now that I've got a kitchenette," Stormy said, losing the frown for something vaguely sad. Her hand twitched at her side before she looked at Evan, nerves rising again.

"Are you mad at me?"

Inle-roo

took me forever to notice i was missing a word......

 

[Inle-roo]

It was on the tip of Evan's tongue to offer to show Stormy some easy things to make. This wasn't a social visit, though, and Evan wasn't planning on taking the time out to cook anything more complex or time consuming than a sandwich. Her budding culinary skills could stand to wait a little longer.

He could see Stormy looking at him out of the corner of his eye--could damn near feel it--but his gaze was fixed on the pod. He didn't answer her for a while, turning what started as a simple question into something more than it needed to be. He wasn't angry with her, not really, but neither was he pleased. He was disappointed, he came to discover, which had never been an emotion he had felt towards Stormy.

"He was going to be your surprise, you know," he eventually replied, gesturing at the pod with his fork. "I was going to blindfold you and put you in his room, or something. I figured you'd be happy to see him."

medigel

thats ok i caught myself quoting ol j man in this post

twice

 

[medigel]

She was both relieved and crestfallen that Evan wouldn't look at her.

"I am," she said too quickly. "I am," she repeated, slower and softer.

Stormy hugged her elbows and turned to face the pod. The sight of a seemingly asleep Tuck was minutely easier to focus on.

"I just..." Her brows knitted, struggling to find a short enough summary to describe what had been boiling for months without her even knowing it. It seemed impossible.

"...He keeps leaving without saying a word," she mumbled. "N' for a moment, I didn't want to get attached again, 'cause every time someone leaves it hurts and I can't keep doing that. I wanted him to feel what it was like, just for one mission. That's it. Just one stupid moment, not..."

Her grip tightened.

"I was mad and stupid and petty, and I regretted it once we finished escorting that patient. But he looked so angry when we got back, Evan. I got scared trying to talk to him might make it worse, so I didn't. And then it got worse anyway." Her throat constricted and she tucked her chin in, staring hard at the tiles next.

Every decision she made had been wrong again, what a surprise.

Inle-roo

 

[Inle-roo]

It was times like these that reminded Evan that almost all of the people on the island were civilians, no matter how hard Deus tried to force them into the mold of something more, and that a lot of them were still children despite the experiences that should have made them all grow up too fast. Stormy was not an exception. It was hard to remember that sometimes, but moments like these were firm reminders.

"That's our job, Stormy." He overshot patience and went right into incredulity. "That's what we signed up for. We get deployed how and when the higher-ups see fit, and we don't always get a chance to say good bye. We can't always take the time out to text. It doesn't mean we don't miss each other. It doesn't mean we suddenly stop caring. Being out of contact hurts us just as much as it hurts you. But we're there--we're here, with Deus--to work."

That Stormy knew what she had done was wrong and regretted it was encouraging, but it wouldn't wake Tuck up any faster. Maybe it would be good for her to stay after all. It would certainly be a good object lesson.

"You'll have plenty of time to apologize to him when he wakes up." When, not if, and Evan was counting the days. "Don't think it'll get much worse. It can only get better from here. I'll even hold him down, if you need." It wasn't an entirely unselfish offer; Evan had his own apologies to make.

medigel

 

[medigel]

She thought long and hard on his words and would continue to do so long after that moment. Things like the job were obvious, and yet she needed reminders. It had always been this vague umbrella term under which they all were crammed together, but the times when it actually interfered with her life weren't so often.

Hadn't she done close to the same with Nevada when she had been deployed without warning? Lost her for months and then gotten angry when she came back?

That was different. She went straight to Otto to talk instead of me and didn't even let me know she was back for several days.

< < It was just as childish. > > The bones rattled softly in her head, but Thane was cold. < < You have been coddled for too long. It unbecomes a warrior. > >

"I'm sorry," she said quietly to the pod, and it wouldn't be the last one. It was so easy to remember things like family and so remarkably difficult sometimes to remember things like hunter, let alone marrying the two. But she had to believe it would get better like Evan said, because if she didn't then she didn't know what else she could do except wallow and beg that it did.

Stormy scooted closer to him until she could lean her head against his arm. "Can you teach me how to be stronger?" she asked after a moment. "More like you?"

Inle-roo

 

[Inle-roo]

Something in Evan was mollified as Stormy apologized to the pod. She was a child, yes, but she had--until the recent mission--proved time and again that she was capable of growing up. She had grown up, and other parts of Evan were a little sad about that.

He didn't shrug Stormy off as she leaned against him, but neither did he tuck her under his arm the way he would have before she had left for her mission. He wasn't mad at her, not really, but he didn't want that kind of mutual comfort right now. He had done Tuck wrong, too, and he didn't deserve it.

"You don't wanna be like me, Stormy." He knew he had his issues, he wasn't too proud to admit it. He wanted her to be genuinely happy. He wanted to protect her from the things that would do her harm. He didn't want her to be strong like he had to be strong, because that would have meant that he'd failed her. "You're getting stronger in your own ways, and that's enough."

medigel