unbr8kable | IC Inbox

For real.

[After a second, kind of strained:]

Should've maybe done one more.

[Does pet his hair this time, incredibly soft and ready to pull away if he seems uncomfortable]

I got a bottle back in the room. Once I wrap you up you can have as many as you want.

[He doesn't pull away - and after a second or two, he leans into it, a little.]

Pretty sure a whole bunch is like. Not a great call?

But a couple doesn't sound bad.

Who needs a stomach lining anyways?

[Keeps combing through his hair, apologetic]

Maybe next time get the numbing thing.

...yeah. I was kinda worried I'd accidentally mess it up somehow if I couldn't feel it to tell, but.

[A beat or two, while he just closes his eyes and breathes.]

Y'know what they say about hindsight.

Yeah...

[Sighs]

...Sorry.

S'cool. Last thing I need's it getting infected, right?

[He manages something like a smile, though his face is still waxy-pale.]

Pretty sure I couldn't've pulled it off myself. So.

Probably not. But for more than just that.

...you don't gotta say sorry for anything else.

[His throat works as he swallows.]

This was on me.

No.

[Her fingers press into his skull, not hard, but present. Her voice isn't as steady as she wants it to be, but she pretends]

This's on that guy for--for using us. We're the victims here this time.

[He's quiet for a long, long couple of beats.]

[Then, finally:]

So what're you saying sorry for?

[She breathes in, and out, and in again.]

Yeah... Yeah.

[The hand on his head drifts over a bit so she can lean over to hug him best she can]

[He takes a shaky breath in - rearranges his legs, some, to make it a proper hug, and curls in toward her.]

[Presses him in, and holds him, and breathes, and that is enough for a little while]

[More than enough.]

[As the seconds drag by, the shaking subsides a little at a time. He turns his head so that the damaged eye faces outward - presses his cheek on the uninjured side against her shoulder.]

[Her breath hitches, softly, and she pulls him in tighter, angling her head to press against his and fingers knotting in his shirt.

At one point she makes a little noise like she's going to say something, but doesn't in the end.]

[He doesn't, either. He just holds on.]

[At length, one of his hands smooths across her back, careful - like he's confirming to himself that she's here, and in one piece, and as close to okay as she can be, given the circumstances.]

[Her breath catches again, a voiced little hiccup, but she presses closer still, enough that he can surely feel her heart pounding in her chest. Her one hand stays over the middle of his back, counting his breaths]

[There's no heartbeat to mirror hers, but she can feel him breathing - not quite steady - and pick up on the little tremors still working through him.]

[The hand on her back smooths down and then up again - to soothe her, maybe, but also to prove to himself that they're both here, in an ordinary bathroom, and there's nothing stopping either of them from reaching out for one another, if they need it.]

[She can't quite slow enough to match even his unsteady breaths but she's trying. She can't keep quiet, either, even though her voice comes out small enough that you'd think shutting it would be simple.]

Hey...

[She tangles her fingers more tightly into his shirt for a good while before she continues]

You think--they could set up other doorways like that?

[His hand keeps up its rhythm, slow and steady, as much to comfort him as it is to comfort her.]

What, like -

[He hesitates. Isn't sure he wants to assume the wrong thing.]

...like what?

[Careful to hide the wobble]

Like, how we were in the theater and then we weren't. Like that, where we could be--taken without being able to do anything.

Edited 2019-11-11 08:20 (UTC)

[Isn't quite as good at hiding the wobble in his.]

...naw. Naw, we - we know what to look for now, right?

They had to set it up. Had to like - get it ready or something first. Otherwise why have us go there?

But we know what to look for, now. So we won't - we just walk into it.

Edited 2019-11-11 08:26 (UTC)

[Listens, and breathes, and her follow-up comes out far more vulnerable than she was hoping]

So--you don't think they could just do it...anywhere...?

If they could do it anywhere, why go to all the trouble to get us out there? They coulda just grabbed us off the street.

No point in setting up an ambush if you don't need an ambush.

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Re: [Day 169, after they have left the theater]

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