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 Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2016 12:07 pm
Ever wasn't dead, anyway, which meant that he really had no excuse for not at least sending a text to Zeke -- except, of course, that staring at the words on the screen made his head swim just a little, that an explanation evaded him. He was king of avoidance, so when the moment came, that was what he did. At least this time when he came back to his room, all his supplies hadn't been trashed; there weren't condoms on the floor, or discarded vodka bottles, his box of cigarettes was mostly together. And, on the bed, there was even a carefully wrapped package that had probably been sitting there the better part of two months, waiting for him to come back. He ignored it, for the time being. Instead, with the door cracked, he set to packing up his handful of meager belongings, new coat tied roughly around his waist and an unlit cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. He had to decide if he'd be taking the torture equipment with him, when he headed upstairs. And if so, how?
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Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2016 8:18 am
It had been an annoying couple of months, to say the least. At first it had just been a wait. An annoying wait to get something back that he rather enjoyed. Patience wasn't his best, but he'd been cooping just fine, in his own particular way. That wait had stretched on far longer than anticipated, and then led into worry, and finally back around to annoyance when the Mist had learned Ever was alive, recovering on a different base. Well. That the Life was alive was something. Regardless, Zeke had been a touch grumpy for the better part of a month now. Not that his patients had really noticed much of a difference. His bed side manner was already pretty abysmal, so nothing on that front had changed. Really, the only ones that might have noticed any significant change in mood were the people that were the closest to him. Harley, and perhaps Zac. The end of a long shift placed the Mist slogging back to the dorms with the intention of falling into bed. He almost didn't notice the cracked state of Ever's door, and had in fact waked past it before the sight had registered. Now, knowing that he'd locked the Lifer's door after dropping off a certain Christmas gift, that door shouldn't have been open, and since Ever had yet to contact anyone to let them know he was heading home, that lead the Mist to believe a certain cowboy had broken in to make himself comfortable again. Zeke stopped in the hall, a flat look crossing his features as he turned and reached for the door to let himself in. "You'd think you would have learned not break into people's rooms, after the last...time." Pale eyes had belatedly picked up on just who was sitting on the edge of the bed. Not Wyatt. "You're back." He sounded somewhere between relieved and annoyed.
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Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2016 11:07 am
For a moment, Ever just blinked up at Zeke: a processing moment, a delay in which things put themselves back in order, memories righted themselves and the world focused just a touch. Then he raised his eyebrows, leaning back just a hair and pointing to the wrapped package on the med next to him, as of yet untouched. "Is that yours?" No apologies, not right now; not when it wasn't really his fault. Just an attempt at familiarity that came out slightly stilted.
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Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2016 11:34 am
That's an odd sort of delay. Zeke's brows dipped just a touch, not quite narrowing as he watched Ever's expression, his body language, before the Life had leaned back to point at the gift sitting on the bed near him. "Yeah." His head tilted minutely to one side as he watched the other hunter. The obvious question resting on the tip of his tongue, but considering who he was dealing with, he wasn't entirely sure how well it would be received. He'd ask later. A flick of his eyes took in the rest of the room, the packed up possessions. "Going somewhere?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2016 3:47 pm
His reply was brief but eloquent: one finger raised to the ceiling above his head, and a brief flash of a smile as he rolled up to stand. Hopefully, Zeke had the wits to understand, especially with the extra help in the form of a flash of color, the ombre fade down the fresh coat wrapped around Ever's waist. He caught up the box, tucking it under one arm, and then the battered messenger bag he'd had for a good decade at this point, and pointed to a box of assorted goodies as well, meaningfully. That was for Zeke to carry, apparently. Since he was here... "It's bigger, I guess. Want to see?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2016 4:08 pm
Hazel eyes rose as Ever pointed upward, and Zeke made a soft 'ah' of understanding, half a smile ticking at the corner of his lips. "Well congratulations." Good to know he hadn't been gone for so long without something to show for it. Although it did seem as though Zeke had just caught up to the other man, and now there'd be a gap between them again. Ah well. Things to work for. Obediently the Mist reached for the box, lifting it easily into his arms and nodded meaningfully towards the door. "Lead on."
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Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2016 4:49 pm
"How's your winter been?" It was just a little bit dry, maybe as close as Ever was going to come to acknowledging just how long he'd been gone. Between them, they could get most of their stuff, just leaving a few assorted items [in the Iron Maiden] to be collected later. It gave him time to decide if he wanted the torture equipment, too, if he wanted to find some way to lug it up the stairs and into his fresh start -- His jaw shifted a little, as he started for the stairs, closed firmly on further questions. Or on letting anything else out.
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Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2016 5:26 pm
Zeke, fighting off a yawn as they headed for the stairs (it'd been a long shift), brought broad shoulders up in a shrug. "Mostly uneventful. You missed a drinking game." And Christmas, of course, but there was no need to bring it up. It wasn't as if anything exciting had happened, and Ever had his gift, even if he hadn't opened it yet. "So which base did they have you at?" They hadn't shared much about the Life's recovery, or at least not much with him. Only that he was alive, being kept at another base while he recovered from whatever had happened on his mission.
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Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2016 10:53 pm
That made Ever shrug one shoulder, brief, swiping at his cheek and adjusting the wrapped package at his hip. It wasn't like he'd actually explored the base -- hadn't done much aside from testing in rooms, putting a puzzle back together -- "Northern Europe. It was cold, and boring, and they wouldn't..." He hesitated, and then huffed out a sigh, looking at Zeke. "No access to alcohol." Another lapse into silence while he appreciated the sound of access to alcohol several times in his head, slowly climbing the stairs.
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Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2016 12:19 pm
Dark brows rose curiously when Ever paused, but he made a small comprehending sound as he continued. Curious now. "Well, that's easily fixed. We've both got a few bottles stored away." Well, Zeke did. He couldn't have said for certain if the blonde still had anything left. Another glance to the side as they headed up to the second floor. "Was there a reason they cut you off? Or just a stricter base then ours?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2016 6:53 pm
"I dunno." He hesitated just a moment, though; maybe that wasn't entirely true, and maybe he felt just a little bad about it, already. He flicked Zeke a look, adjusting his bundle on his hip. "It was mostly infirmary. I'm not sure they let folks drink in the infirmary here, either."
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Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 9:27 am
What Zeke really wanted was to pry, digging at whatever details he could. Fortunately he knew better, knew Ever better, than to do that. But that didn't mean he wasn't itching to know what had happened, and how hurt the Lifer had gotten himself. "You're free to drink now, though?" Only a little push, for the sake of not doing any further damage. They were reaching the second floor landing, and Zeke slowed so Ever could pass him to lead the way to his new room.
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Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 4:40 pm
"I'd like to see them stop me." When Ever had pointed up, he hadn't just been dramatic: he slid past Zeke and fished out keys as he went, leading him not to just any room but the same room. 204 instead of 104, but it was exactly above the room they'd been in just moments before. He shouldered the door open into an empty space, only a bed off to one side. It looked emptier, for its increased size. "I've still got a few bottles. Worst case we can...uh..." He blinked back at Zeke as the word slipped away -- and he gestured, vaguely with one hand. He got the point.
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Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 5:02 pm
"Hmm." An acknowledgment for a response that wasn't quite an answer. Either cavalier, or avoidant. If it was the latter, well, it wasn't as if Ever wasn't in the best company to do potentially health risking activity in. He followed him into room, pale eyes flicking around rather eagerly. He hadn't been in any of the second story rooms yet, and it was nice to see what he had to expect. "This all seems a little familiar," he finally pointer out, smiling lazily as he moved to set the box down beside the bed. "Minus the desk chair." He took a seat on the edge of the as of yet bare mattress, bouncing experimentally. There seemed to be a set of sheets folded near the foot. "Do we have cranberry juice for the vodka?" Now he was just being a smartass.
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Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 6:50 pm
"Bad, probably." He remembered that word, at least: dropping down to sit next to Zeke and slowly dropping back onto the mattress. It made him pause for just a moment, head tipped, wiggling in a testing sort of way. He shot a look up at Zeke, both eyebrows raised. "...is this mattress nicer than my old one?"
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