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 Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 7:37 pm
Evan was used to not seeing Zack, but usually he at least got a text when the guy was going to be gone for a bit.
Now, it had been a few days, though. And it wasn't just Zack not coming home or returning phone calls—he was missing work. When confronted by their boss, Evan had covered, of course. He'd blamed himself. He'd lied and said Zack had been so sick that he hadn't been able to call out and Evan had promised to let the boss know. He'd taken the scolding that came with it, but the boss had bought it and that was all that mattered.
Zack was in the clear for at least a few more days.
…But radio silence didn't bode well for Evan. He shuffled into work early, eager to remove himself from an empty house, and invited himself to sit at the barstool in front of Cambria.
He was easy to read; he hunched forward and laced his fingers together, twiddling his thumbs for a moment before deciding on how he wanted to word this.
"Hey, Cambria? Have you seen Zack?"
Yep, perfect way to just ease right into the conversation. Totally not suspicious. Totally cool.
Except he was disheveled and obviously worried, and so obvious.
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 1:57 pm
Cambria always seemed to have a lot on her mind lately, things were getting busy with work and life and her love life and the fact that Zacks' brother was her new favorite patrol partner and she was planning so many things for group patrols and…and things were just going really, really well.
She glanced up at Evan and blinked, looking slightly like a deer in headlights as she thought about his question. When had she last seen Zack? It had been a while…a long while actually. And she had been so preoccupied with everything going on with her own life…that she hadn’t even bothered to try and contact him.
“I…I haven’t. It’s been a little while…but the boss just said he was sick so, I figured he just wasn’t feeling well enough to talk to me or something…”
The woman looked at Evan and put a hand on his head, fixing his hair a little, some worry starting to be reflected in her own eyes. “I’m sure he’s okay…when’s the last time you heard from him, Ev?”
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 2:18 pm
Evan was quiet for a moment and was visibly biting the inside of one cheek. His gaze was firmly set on the bartop and he nodded. "The boss said he was sick because I said he was sick. I've been covering for him for the past few days, but I haven't seen him since Sunday afternoon, before I came in. But. I've known Zack for a while. When we were younger…"
Not that much younger, but he didn't specifiy.
"…He used to disappear like this for a few days at a time. I mean. He and his friends used to just…"
He shrugged and figured what information he had probably wasn't anything Zack wanted Cambria to know, and he didn't want to upset Zack by sharing his private information.
"…Just take some time off and go do, you know, things. But…he didn't have this job. This…just doesn't feel like him at all."
He swallowed and looked up at her.
"…I'm worried something else happened. Like…"
His voice lowered. "…You know those things you take care of? …Your, uhm. Second job? I just…was wondering if maybe you'd seen anything…weird. I'm going to look for him." He sounded determined. "…But I'm trying to talk to all of his friends first. See if I can figure anything out. You…"
He shrugged and looked down. "…Well, he likes you more than anyone, so if he was up to something I figured he'd tell you."
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 2:31 pm
A chill ran through Cambria and she swallowed, thinking quickly. “Ev…If something…you know…uh. Something like that happened to him, or he was hurt or something, I know he wouldn’t want you to get hurt, and I know I don’t want you to get hurt either. You mean too much to me, Evan, and if anything happened to you, I don’t know what I’d do.”
Not that she would know what to do if something had happened to Zack…if he had gotten attacked by a youma, or had his starseed ripped out by someone in the Negaverse…
Her face was pale and she shook her head again. “No, Evan. I don’t want you getting involved, I couldn’t forgive myself if you got hurt…you should stay at his place in case he comes home, I’ll do the looking…you know I have the uh…the skills to do so so…just trust me on this, Evan…”
She wanted to rush out now, she wanted to rush out and go find Zack, maybe he was out with friends, maybe he was getting into trouble and getting high and getting arrested…
That would be so much better than the alternative.
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 2:56 pm
Evan scoffed when Cambria suggested Zack wouldn't want him to get hurt—like that was something Zack really had time to bother himself with. He just shook his head.
"I know his friends better than you. I know the places he hangs out. Hung out. If he's off doing something, it's better that I go talk to them. At least they know me, it won't be weird if I'm poking around. So, I'm sorry if you don't want me to get involved, but I can't just sit around and do nothing. You…you have your talents, and I have mine. And it's safer if I dig around and talk to his friends, and if you keep your eyes out for anything weird. Besides—Zack…"
Evan faltered.
"…He likes you a lot. He wouldn't want you digging up things from his past."
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 3:53 pm
“Don’t scoff at me, Ev.” Cambria huffed, looking a little upset at that. Why on earth would she lie about caring about him, because that was clearly what he was scoffing at. Had she not proved that they were friends yet? But…Oh.
“If you want to go try his friends, that’s fine…I thought you were going to go and see if he was somewhere um…else. Because I’ll take care of that. You’re right, I have my talents and you have yours…that’s a nice way of saying it…”
She glanced over her shoulder as a customer walked in and put a comforting hand on Evan’s shoulder. “I’m not going to bug you for the past things now, but since you’ve brought them up…I’m going to ask you about them as soon as we know that Zack is safe.”
Giving Evan a look and a little wave, she moved to help the newcomer to the bar, being as warm and as welcoming as she could be. There was a problem though…and she was going to do her best to solve it…or to help Evan solve it. Either way.
They would find Zack.
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Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2016 11:18 am
Evan looked guilty when she chastised his scoff; he hadn't meant it at her, but he nodded all the same. He resented the customer that had taken Cambria's attention, but he didn't have backbone enough to try and win her attention back.
…And he almost didn't want it if it meant revealing secrets.
Secrets that could make Zack hate him. Secrets that could incriminate him, ruin their friendship…
He shuddered under her hand but nodded, and stood.
He held up a hand to do a quick wave; a silent parting was best.
Evan retreated to the safety of the kitchen and started digging up old phone numbers.
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