|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2017 7:42 pm
Cambria was exhausted. She had made sure Evan got back to the house, and tucked him into the bed before powering down. She knew it was reckless to be powered up at home but…there was no way she could have carried Evan if she hadn’t been so…
She did what she had to do.
Once that was done, the woman grabbed a beer from the kitchen and sat down beside the bed to drink it, not wanting to stray far from Evan in case he awoke and was confused. Once the beverage was done, she put the can on the floor and took one of the male’s hands, holding it loosely in her own. It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep as well…
It had been one hell of a night, after all…
She hoped Sanidine was all right…and wondered what she’d say to Zack once he got home…speaking of that…she idly wondered where he was, though it didn’t stop her from slipping into her own oblivion.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2017 8:11 pm
Evan was exhausted; he'd remained unconscious the whole trip there. In some way, things seemed the same. He was still wearing the same outfit he was wearing the day before--it still even smelled like food.
His hair was different though--longer.
He almost seemed relaxed in his sleep; his breathing had evened out while he was unconscious and while he remained pale it wasn't the sickly grey color it had been earlier.
In the middle of the night, Evan's brows furrowed. For a second, his grip on Cambria's hand tightened. His head jerked and his eyes squeezed shut a bit more.
When he woke up it was with confusion. He recognized the room--it was Zack's. His mind told him where he was. He just wasn't sure he belonged in here. Thought of the Rift slipped through his mind with so much force he had a headache. He could go through the motions, but there were things in his mind that just weren't there. Parts were missing and his head hurt. Images kept flashing--places and faces he remembered, like from a dream he'd been trapped in too long.
He remembered hurting. He remembered agony. He remembered fear and hopelessness and darkness.
His body suddenly felt like it had overheated and his mouth felt dry and he was hungry.
Evan moved his hand away from Cambria's in a violent jerk as he slid oer the other side of the bed. Only--he overcompensated. He meant to swing his legs over the side and slide off but his body didn't feel right. He hit the ground hard--knees first, and before he could catch himself with his hands, his forehead met the carpet.
It hurt, and he saw stars, but in some way it felt like some sense had been knocked into him.
He groaned and rolled onto his side, reaching up to rub at his face. At first, he missed his head entirely, but by the second try he found his eyes, his nose, his cheeks.
They were in the right place. His hair was in the wrong place, but his face was where it was supposed to be. He reached up to rub at his forehead and groaned.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2017 10:49 am
Cambria woke with a jerk when Evan’s hand was removed from hers, and she bolted up at the resulting crash, scrambling onto the bed and looking over the other side at her fallen friend. “Evan. Hey, hey it’s okay, you’re safe at home, It’s me. It’s Cambria…” The words tumbled out in a rush, coming out as a husky whisper, her throat dry from sleep.
Hesitating, she reached out and touched his hand lightly, not wanting to startle him. “Or Lysithea. Whatever you’re more comfortable with calling me. It’s so good to see you…” She had to stop talking for a moment, closing her eyes as though she was in pain. “Are you okay? That fall sounded like it hurt.”
The question wasn’t just about the fall. She knew that and honestly, she hoped that he did too. Even more honestly she knew the answer was that he wasn’t okay. Not by a long shot...but...he was home. He was human...he was here...and right now, that was all that really mattered.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2017 5:21 pm
Evan did not pull away when she touched him; he bristled, but he seemed to realize what she was saying. He would have answered her, only in that moment he seemed to forget how to use his mouth--and brain.
He didn't know if he was okay. He was alive? He could understand her. He was home, and safe--that meant he was okay, right? Bruised, maybe--it hadn't been a kind fall--but he knew that he was supposed to say yes.
You were supposed to tell your friends that you were okay when they asked, even when you know--and they knew--that the answer was no.
They both knew it would have been a lie, and he didn't want to lie to her.
Instead, he curled a little closer into himself--and fumbled to grab her hand in his own. His grip was weak but his fingers moved across her skin like he was trying to familiarize himself with what it felt like to hold hands.
When he could manage words, a good few seconds later, he rasped, "What happened?"
He knew some things. He didn't want the full story. He just wanted to know how she had fixed him--because even with his mind as muddled as it was from everything, he remembered the last thing he'd seen as a youma was her face, and the first thing he remembered seeing when he woke up again was her.
She had done this. She had saved him.
He just wanted to know how.
...And he wanted to distract her from asking the questions she, as a good friend, had to ask. He didn't want to answer. She wouldn't want to hear the real answer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2017 5:21 pm
Cambria was happy when he took her hand...and she was even happier when he answered her.
So he still had access to speech, that was important…
Gently, she spider climbed off the bed to sit beside him, careful not to move his hand too much, lest he let go...she didn’t want him to let go, honestly she never wanted him to let go again.
For someone she had been jealous of to the point of almost getting sick over it...Evan had become one of her very best friends, and perhaps the most important person in her life...but how could he not be? She had seen him at his utter and absolute worst...and then she had saved him…
She had found a way to save him…
Swallowing, Cambria wrapped an arm around his shoulders and drew him towards her, placing a kiss on the top of his head. She needed the reassurance that he was here. That he was alive and well.
“You fell off the bed...I guess...I guess you were having a really, really long bad dream. A dream that’s all over now, and...well. More like a nightmare. A nightmare that’s all over now...you’re home and safe with me...and I know that Zack is gonna be so happy to see you here…”
She kissed the top of his head again, savoring the feeling of his hair--his human hair. “He’s been worried sick. I think in your absence he realized just how much he really loves and needs you in his life, Ev…”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2017 5:22 pm
Evan made no effort to sit up--or even to lift his head and look at Cambria. He let her wrap an arm around him, move him. He seemed like he was little more than a limp doll, malleable and willing. He was tired--guarded and uncertain, but how could he not trust Cambria?
And she was warm, and safe. He rested against her and closed his eyes, drawing in a calming breath.
There was a hole in his heart, like the time that had passed had calloused certain parts of him. Still, when she mentioned Zack his head lifted just slightly. "He did? ...Are you sure he wasn't just drunk? Sometimes he says silly things when he's had too much to drink."
It wasn't quite a joke, but he just seemed so unwilling to believe in something so nice. He wanted to be wanted, to be missed. To be loved.
He didn't realize that he'd started shaking again.
"Where is he, is he here? Can I see him?" he asked, almost hopefully. He'd stuck with Zack for protection from lesser things than the Negaverse and being turned into a monster; Cambria might have been a Senshi, but he hadn't forgotten the way Zack had protected him. When he felt like it, of course, but Evan had already blocked out the memories of Zack abandoning him, or tormenting him for fun. He only remembered the good for right now--because almost anything was better than being trapped in a body while your mind slowly died, while you lost contact with the people you cared about and yourself.
"...You two are both okay, really? This isn't the dream?"
It felt like a dream, but he needed to clarify. She kept talking like this was the truth--but was it real? Was he going to wake up in an hour, tiny, deformed and covered in fur? Trapped without the ability to communicate, doomed to die and be reborn and twist into a monster?
His breath hitched in his throat and he had to force out the words. His throat was burning and he recognized the wetness in his eyes as tears just waiting to spill. He didn't move, too afraid of shattering a fragile reality.
"Are you sure it's over? It's not--it's not going to come back? I'm not going to be that th--" the words caught in his throat and he had to pause and try a second time, "That thing again?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2017 5:22 pm
“There you go, precious…” Cambria felt better when he was in her arms, it felt so good to hold him while he was like this, normal sized and not fuzzy...it was so nice to have Evan in her arms instead of a deranged teddy bear. Even if he had been cute like that. At times.
“No, he wasn’t drunk when he was worrying...I...I mean, we both did get drunk a few times...when we just...before I had found out where you were, I mean...It got a lot easier for me then, I knew that you were...well, if not safe, I at least knew you were alive and I knew that there had to be some way to help you…”
She drew in a long, deep breath and forced her voice to become much more jovial. Evan fed on others emotions...or he at the very least picked up on them a lot easier than she did. “Of course you’re not going to become that thing again. How could you?” Cambria held up his hand, stroking the back of it with her thumb. “Look at your human fingers, they’re as nice as ever, and your human nose--” She booped it with the index finger on her other hand, giving a small smile. “You’re as human as I am, and that’s how you’re going to stay. I’ll always, always, always protect you. You know that.”
If he hadn’t trusted her on that before...he sure should now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2017 5:23 pm
Cambria was right--Evan fed on emotions. He was sensitive to the emotions of those around him and tried to alter his own emotions based on what they were presenting. At least, he did if they mattered.
Cambria mattered.
It might have been a subconscious thing that night; he picked up on her enthusiasm and found himself nodding. He was tired--too tired to process his own emotions, so it was just easier to focus on hers. She sounded so confident, so reassured, so happy.
Evan didn't have much of a clue on what happened--at least, in real terms. He remembered things, but didn't know what they meant. Didn't know the specifics. But Cambria knew--and he could trust her. If she said it wasn't going to happen again, then it wasn't going to happen again.
His mind was close to wandering; he had flashes of the life he'd lived through the youma's eyes. Flashes of a hand in his chest. Flashes of pain.
She was talking and he tried to latch onto her words but the fog in his mind seemed to roll in and try to claim him. She stopped it though, probably without even knowing that she had saved him again.
She was touching his hands--and his nose was what brought his attention back to her. He nodded slowly, and with more conviction a few seconds later when he'd actually had time to process what she had said. He didn't sound convinced, but he wanted to be.
He just had one more question burning in his mind.
"...How did you know it was me?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2017 5:23 pm
“You knew me. You knew me and came to me, and the agent that had you...he said your name was Evan...and...and that’s how I knew you were my Evan.” Her Evan. Her best friend and one of the two loves of her life. The amount of happiness she wished upon this boy was enormous, and the only issue was making sure that he got that happiness. He always had the worst luck of anyone she had ever seen.
“Besides. How could I not know it was you...the look in your eyes...and the way that you cuddled me and…” She swallowed, trying so hard to keep her voice strong for him, but her eyes were welling with tears.
“I’m just so glad we got you back, Evan...I am so, so glad. You are one of my very best friends and I love you so much…” She kissed his head again and gave him a tight squeeze.
“You want some mac and cheese? I’ve...I’ve got about forty boxes...I always bought a few every time I went to the store...I knew I’d find a way to get you back, and I knew you’d be hungry when I did so...We also have about twenty cases of Dr. Pepper so you’re set with that as well...I think I got over excited…”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2017 5:23 pm
In some ways, Evan remembered. When she described it, he remembered. Things were a blur, but he remembered seeing her, knowing her. He remembered her talking to the General he was with--a face he'd known so well but which was currently lost to him.
He couldn't recall what they'd said--he couldn't remember any of the conversations. At the time, he'd been able to understand. Now, it was like watching a foreign film with no subtitles.
Only, worse, because it was like watching it on a scratched disk where everything kept skipping and scenes were missing.
He was doing okay until she sniffled--and then it was contagious.
Evan lasted all of a second before his brows were knit and his own eyes were watering. He didn't want to cry--not in front of her, and not now. It wasn't like she hadn't seen him cry; he was emotional and everyone knew it. He had sort of given up trying to hide it--at least around her.
She didn't judge him for it.
The only thing he could muster was a fragile, trembling, pathetic, "Yes. Please."
His stomach growled with a hunger he hadn't known he possessed, but his skin felt slimy, greasy. "I'm starving," he whispered. "Can I--Could you make me some? Please? And I--Can I get a shower? Just real quick?"
He was practically begging; he didn't want to be away from her, but he knew the next few minutes were going to consist of ugly tears and trying to make sense of things enough to make it through the night. If he could take care of two birds with one stone--get a shower and have a few moments to clear his mind, and end up with his favorite meal?
It had been a small comfort before, and now it sounded like heaven.
...If he could just pry himself from Cambria for long enough to let it happen.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2017 5:25 pm
Cambria’s lip trembled and she nodded, though her grip on the boy only tightened. What if she was wrong? What if he did turn back into a youma while she was away from him...what if this was all some awful, cruel trick that was going to be blown up in her face the moment she was away...but…
...But hadn’t she fallen asleep? And here he was, still human...so...so clearly…
...Maybe…
“Okay! Go ahead and get a shower, and I’ll put the water on for the food, and I’ll set up a nest for you on the couch...and we can cuddle and I’ll put your favorite movie on.” He was going to be fine. She wasn’t going to lose him just because she was away from him for a few minutes...and honestly, perhaps to prove this to herself she kissed him, full on the lips and grinned, tear streaks on her face.
“We’re going to be fine. I’ll see you in a few minutes. Don’t take too long now, my friend. I’ll make more Mac and Cheese than we can eat, and we’ll have a real celebration, you and me.” She stood, trying to draw him with her, if only to make sure he could stand. “Everything’s going to be fine now. We’re together and you’re home”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2017 5:25 pm
Though Evan seemed flustered with her kiss, he was more distracted with adjusting to the change in height. Standing felt okay, but it felt like he was still a little dizzy. He swayed just slightly--not enough to cause alarm, but enough to tell him that he was going to have to get used to this.
"That all sounds perfect," he said, and tried to force a smile. He turned away from her quickly so she wouldn't see him scrubbing at his eyes and trying to keep his breathing even. He managed to make it to the dresser and fumbled for some clothes--any clean clothes, he didn't care if they were his or Zack's or even Cambria's.
His hair kept getting in his face but he didn't try to brush it back. Not right now, when it was his last little shield, hiding his emotions from Cambria.
He wanted to rush towards the bathroom but even as he shoved clothes under his arm, he found himself locking up.
Cambria was here, in Zack's house. With him. But...
Quietly, as if afraid of the answer, he asked, "Where's Zack?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2017 3:15 pm
Cambria let go of Evan only when she was sure that he wasn’t going to tumble over, and when he had grabbed the clothes, she made her way to the door.
She paused at the question, however and frowned slightly, taking out her cell phone and glancing at the time. It was still within a reasonable time for Zack to come home, and she was sure that he would…he just wasn’t here yet. “I think he’s still at work, Ev. Must be a big rush or something, don’t worry, he’ll be here soon and I know he’s gonna be so happy to see you…”
She flashed a smile and leaned against the door frame, glancing back at him. “I’ll send him a text to let him know what’s going on, okay? You just go on and get your shower…I’ll take care of everything.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2017 3:29 pm
A look of nervousness crossed his face but he forced a smile. It felt like he was walking through a dream and he was hesitant that one wrong move would have him wake up to the same nightmare he’d been having for the past year.
If it was a dream, he was going to try and enjoy it.
“Okay,” he said, forcing himself to nod.
He wanted to say more but the downside of being stuck in a dream meant that it felt like you were trudging through mud or giant pools of jello. He felt like he was two steps behind and nothing he could think or say was worth it.
Except, at least, for his soft, “Thank you,” before he slipped into the bathroom.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
