apocalypsehowcomm | closed; and i grew a hairy skull

"I'm from a world where superheroes and supervillains are a real thing, not just something you see in comic books. Like, I understand the need for secrecy, but are you scarier than the Global Guardians accidentally punching a hole through my office while I'm working, or the Torch Singer setting my car on fire in a fight? No. I'm used to being normal--hell, sub-normal--in a world of people who're...super."

She shrugs, watching him cross to the counter. "And yeah, the milk was fine. Thanks."

"Oh, wow. That sounds sort of like my world, except it's not superheroes or supervillains. It's supernatural creatures. Werewolves, vampires, dryads, banshees, the whole nine yards. We only got found out within my lifetime, exposed to humans. They're not even done legislating what happens to us if we step out of line or what happens when humans hurt us."

He gets what she means when she says she's sub-normal, because it's obvious she has some sort of disability, but he honestly doesn't think she's sub-anything. But he also doesn't know the etiquette around saying that sort of thing, so he doesn't comment on it. Not for now, not when he still barely knows her.

Pushing away from the counter with the palm of one hand, he turns and pours them each another cup of coffee, ferrets out more donuts onto their plates, then puts them down and slides back onto the bed beside her, still comfortably close.

"It sounds wild, living in a place like that. How did you stay safe?"

"Living in the suburbs instead of Hightower proper helps some, but I still need to carry an insurance policy for things like that. I work as the personal assistant to a tech CEO and try to keep my head down and not draw the attention of anyone important, basically."

Though said tech CEO being a supervillain was better protection than most people had. That hadn't been a deliberate choice, though. She'd been working for Belcora for years before realizing his absences from the office slotted neatly into the times The Dastard was active.

"Tell me about your pack?"

"Sounds like you're a tough cookie, to me." he says, giving her shoulder a gentle nudge with his own, head turned and tilted just slightly to look over at her.

"Oh, my pack. They're kind of a group of misfits. There's about 14 of them, give or take, because some people come just to learn to control the wolf and then go again. Some people stay for a while then leave. Some people stay forever. Noah's been with me since I was 18 years old, he's like my brother. There's Jasha, who came to us from Russia, he's the strongest person I've ever met. There's Step, they're kind of rambunctious, they've been a wolf for a while, but might as well be a cub. Then there's the actual cub, Soul, who's honestly just the sweetest girl."

His expression is soft as he talks about them, with obvious affection, "We all live in the old house I grew up in, it's on a farm in the middle of nowhere in BC, in Canada. Near a small town. Sounds a bit like it's almost as different as possible from how you live."

"Jasha's the one who Winter reminds you of, then? They all sound amazing. It must be hard, being this far away from all of them, and not knowing how long you'll be apart."

She dips her donut in her coffee and munches on it. "I don't have anything like that. I was a loner before I got here. I mean, I had friends and colleagues, but nothing that tight-knit."

"Yeah, Jasha's the one who reminds me of Winter a little. Less in person than just in background, from what I know, but Jasha's the one I learned my bit of Russian from and most of my hand-to-hand fighting. He's a good guy, just a little, uh, brusque."

For a moment, he's quiet, obviously missing Jasha in particular after having talked about him, but then he continues.

"Yeah, I miss them. And I worry about them, too, without me there to look after them. They get anxious sometimes even if I'm just not on my best game, it's how packs are. I can't imagine what they're dealing with without me there."

A little headshake, and a laugh, but the tired and slightly sad kind, "Enough about that, and me. What made you such a loner?"

"Workaholic, I suppose. Or maybe it's that I live in a capitalist hellscape and I'm constantly on a treadmill, between student loan debts and medical bills. I'm so tired after work I just don't tend to have the energy to meet up with anyone."

She shrugs--there's not really any self-pity in her tone of voice, she's just laying out the facts of her situation.

"Here's a little different. I've got roommates, and they're like herding cats. And ADI seems to care a little more about work-life balance, with how much trauma we're all put through. They don't actually seem to want to burn us out completely."

When she mentions the bit about medical bills, he winces, "Right, I keep forgetting how much you have to pay in the States for medical bills. Do they at least cover it at ADI?"

Shifting a little on the bed, he stretches an arm above his head, on the opposite side from her, recrossing his ankles the other direction, stretching out his toes a little bit.

"You're right, they do seem to take care of most other stuff here."

"ADI has their own medical department. It wouldn't do to send people to normal hospitals for things like 'infected with purple mold that makes people want to be liked' or 'bashed over the head by colleague while stalking them under supernatural influence'. So I'm covered here by that."

She watches him stretch as she finishes the coffee.

"If it weren't for all the supernatural bullshit--not you, I mean the local strain--this place would be pretty okay. But the hits just keep coming."

"Well, that's something. Was there really purple mold that makes people want to be liked? That sounds like a trip."

For a few moments he's quiet, then tilts his head to the side a little, resting it lightly against hers as he looks at the opposite wall.

"Can I ask what it is that makes you need the cane and the medical bills? No pressure, a 'no' is completely fine."

"It's not a secret. I've got hypermobile Ehler-Danlos syndrome. Basically, my body doesn't produce connective tissue like collagen correctly. The most obvious result of this is in the joints--I dislocate them really easily."

While she's not going to demonstrate dislocation, she will show off her hypermobility. She holds up her left hand and bends her thumb back much further than a normal person's would go.

"My ankles and knees are real bad, which is why I walk with the cane. Shoulders, too. But the lack of collagen also affects my gut and other things too. I'm actually just coming back from some time in medical because of the stomach problems, so I missed most of the purple mold issue firsthand. Tim and Malcolm told me about it. Anyway, it's a chronic thing, I've been dealing with it since I was young."

All of this may also give context to her network username: looselystrung, like a puppet that's poorly made.

Edited 2022-01-17 06:02 (UTC)

"Well, that sounds painful." he says, brows raising a little, watching as she bends her thumb backward like that, until it almost looks like it's going to break off. It seems like it's too far, even to avoid just a dislocation.

It's hard, to know exactly what to say to someone who's had to deal with a nightmare like that ever since she was so young. Lifting his other arm, he drapes it lightly around her shoulders and exhales a little sigh.

"Sorry you've had to deal with that."

A short pause, and then he continues, voice conversational, "So are Tim and Malcolm your roommates? The ones you say are like herding cats?"

She leans into that gentle one-armed hug a bit, smiling. There's something nice about being able to relax and talk to someone for a bit. Someone new, who doesn't know everything.

"Yeah. Tim's a teenager from a world similar to mine. He's skittish, paranoid and doesn't know how to express his feelings. Malcolm--I don't know much about his world, but he works as a forensic psychologist and has a lot of quirks. I've been with them both for six months, now. We're all a little fucked up, but we balance out to at least one sane adult at any given time."

It's nice for him too, to have some physical contact. In his pack, they're all really physically affectionate, they like touching and hugging and at night they all sleep in the same room together, cuddling whoever happens to be nearby. Since he's been here, the amount of touch he's been experiencing has dropped dramatically, and sleeping alone has been hard. It's nice to have this contact with another warm body.

"Hah, that reminds me of the pack. We're all a little fucked up too, even me, believe it or not."

It's said with a hint of humour, because as far as he's concerned, he probably does come across a little fucked up.

"It sounds like a nice little unit, though. Is that what you meant about being a loner until you came here?"

"Yeah, that's what I meant. I have a few other friends among ADI; Jaeger's pretty alright. Gil's from the same world as Malcolm and pretty much a father figure to him, so he kind of adopted me and Tim as well. Aelwyn's...a high school queen bee, but definitely one of the most on-the-ball with what's going on here. And Winter, uh. I think wherever he came from, he may have been programmed. He doesn't consider himself a person. But I'm damned sure he cares."

She looks wistful for a moment. "I've also had some people I called friends disappear, here. It's a thing that happens sometimes, and you can't be sure if something got them, or if they made it back home somehow. It's just, you really need to enjoy your time with people here while you've got it. It might not last."

He takes note of the friends she mentions, mostly as people to check out or to talk to if he ever sees them around. Ches knows enough about Meredith at this point to trust her judgement - she reminds him just a little of Payton, and he's sure that comparison helps with his positive opinion of her.

"Well, for what it's worth, I'm really enjoying the time I'm spending with you so far."

It's genuine, and he pulls away just enough to give her a warm smile when he says it.

"Likewise. Though I can't help but wonder if all this way a ploy to get me in your bed."

That is pure tease, rather than serious accusation, and she gently pokes at his side to punctuate it (and to see how ticklish he is).

Chester laughs and crumples to the side a little when she pokes him in the side, his hand coming down to push at her hand, making sure not to push too hard considering what he knows about her.

"Hah. I'm an innocent, never even thought about it."

The sarcasm is palpable, and then he continues.

"But now that you mention it, how's that going?"

"It's worked so far. What's your endgame, though--are you just looking for a little fun, or...?"

Meredith's luck with dating within ADI had been hit or miss. Her luck with getting laid was, arguably worse. She wasn't against the idea of another attempt at either.

She just wants to know the scope up front.

Ches is almost a little surprised when she tells him it's worked so far and asks him what he's looking for. It takes him a moment to think about it, but then he exhales an almost-but-not-quite laugh.

"I think right now just a little fun."

After another moment of thought, though, he adds, "But I've really enjoyed your company so, subject to change?"

She moves her plate and empty coffee cup over to the side, out of the way, and grins at him. "You know, that sounds perfect."

And then she leans in to brush her lips against his.

Something in him unwinds a little when she says that sounds perfect, puts her things aside. This is nice, he knows what he's doing with this, it's the same no matter where you are or what else you're doing. Touch and kisses and cuddling and more with a person whose company you enjoy is just...good.

When she kisses him, he parts his lips a little and tilts his head, kissing back, one hand coming up so his fingers can ghost across her cheekbone, thumb near the corner of her mouth.

Meredith has been so busy watching her boys fumble with their respective crushes that she hasn't taken time for herself. She wasn't really looking for anything, not after Chris disappeared in...was it September? August? Time passed here both too fast and too slow.

But this moment in time is hers, an indulgence. A chance to forget everything that's gone on and just ride the flow.

Her eyes meet his as he strokes her cheek, and she relaxes into a warm smile.

After that first soft, open-mouthed kiss, he pulls back just slightly, lips still almost touching hers, and meets her eyes. He likes that, the way she looks at him right in the eyes, and the way her expression goes softer and warmer when he touches her cheek.

Meredith is very, very pretty, and as far as he's concerned, this is a privilege.

Leaning in again, he tilts his head a bit more and fits their mouths together, his hand moving from her cheek to her jaw, tracing the shape of it before trailing down the line of her neck.

closed; and i grew a hairy skull

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CW: medical discussion, detailed explanation of EDS. Image linked is hand, not gory.

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