[When Julie replies, which isn't right away, she just sounds tired in the kind of way that only a person who hasn't slept properly for over a week can sound.]
Oh, hey... [She didn't forget about you, Delmar, there's just been a lot going on.] Um, what's up?
[He is meant to be at the bunker. Helping. He's supposed to be helping. But after finding Michael and Harlan's bodies he just wanted to curl up into a ball far away from everything.]
[She has no weapons, and the Null turn on her whenever they see her, but she feels so numb to it that she can't bring herself to care. If she gets killed out there...
[This time, she doesn't knock on the door. She pushes it open and goes right in, closing it wearily behind her and leaning against it.
The days since the Null first invaded haven't treated her well - she looks exhausted, bruises and scrapes on her face and hands, and blood on her clothes.]
[What is he doing here? How did he get here? She doesn't need to ask to know he's still having difficulty with seeing anything, and her voice sounds harder than she means it to as she asks--]
[She does take his hands, dropping down to her knees in front of him, but she still sounds angry as she squeezes her fingers firmly around his.]
I saw some one die out there three days ago. He-- He was blind, he didn't even see anything coming, and he was all alone. This isn't okay. You shouldn't be left by yourself!
[He closes his fingers around her hands and then pulls them close against his chest, over where his heart is beating. He continues to shake his head softly]
T-that is not Hayden's responsibility. He is only a little boy, J-julie. And he has stayed w-with me almost every moment. He has been so diligent. And awfully brave. And so v-very very good.
[Delmar inhales shakily]
All of you are too young to h-have to go through any of this.
[Delmar's heart stops when she pulls away, throat tightening at her upset with him. Now with nothing to hold, his hands wring unhappily with one another]
.....no.
[He whispers, curling in on himself a little[
I...I didn't....
[He had just wanted to go home. Home has always been his only refuge against the world]
[Julie's life has been a war zone, but never anything like this. They never had hordes of the Dead invading, never had to fight them on their own turf. She never lost sleep in her own bed wondering if she might fall asleep and wake up to her last breaths.]
[He doesn't answer right away, instead gazing red-eyed down in the direction of his feet as one hand rubs uneasily at one of his forearms. A tick of anxiety.
Delmar doesn't know what to say. He doesn't have the mental acuity or emotional intelligence for this, to grapple with the loss of two of the only people who have ever cared about him, to defend the actions of another, and to pay due appreciation to the fears and hurts of yet another. And all he knows is in one fell swoop he's managing to do all of these things horribly wrong.]
I'm sorry
[He whispers it, not moving from where he now rigidly sits on the edge of the couch. Spine stock straight and head dropped forward so his chin almost rests against his chest]
[She doesn't say anything, at first. Julie stares at the wall without seeing it and fights against the hot twist of guilt in her gut that's telling her she shouldn't be shouting at him, that he's doing his best, that this isn't something he needs on top of everything else and isn't she only here because two people he cares about have died?
It wells up in the back of her throat as something unpleasant and almost solid, like a wash of copper on her tongue. She closes her eyes and pulls in a deep breath, letting it out shakily. Then, she looks at him, and she feels the corners of her mouth pull down without her consent. It's not fair. None of this is fair.
Her weight drops abruptly down on the couch beside him and her arms go tight around his shoulders as she presses her forehead into his arm. Her fingers curl into the fabric of his clothes, and she sniffs once.]
[Instinctively he tenses when he hears the approach of her footsteps and when her small form falls in beside his. But when he feels how tightly she holds to him and the way she's attached herself to his side he crumples. His tears spill over and he turns to hide his face against her hair, a hand coming up to grip desperately at her thin forearm]
I'm sorry I shouted. [She mumbles, muffled, into his sleeve. There's a tense feeling in her throat, like she should be crying, but she can't make it happen anymore.]
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redwinekindofgirl) wrote2017-10-17 07:58 pm
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Oh, hey... [She didn't forget about you, Delmar, there's just been a lot going on.] Um, what's up?
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[It ends up just getting blurted out sniffily like he can't keep it in anymore]
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... Your friends?
[A small sniff follows. The names aren't familiar.]
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[His very first friends in the cave. The first to reach out to him, to protect him, to make him feel like he wasn't just stupid or silly.]
They died in the battle...at the temple...
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[There's another long pause, and while she tries to inject any kind of emotion into her voice, it sounds like a struggle.]
I'm-- I'm really sorry, um... Do you want some company?
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...please.
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[Gives her something to take her mind off things, too.]
Where are you right now?
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[He is meant to be at the bunker. Helping. He's supposed to be helping. But after finding Michael and Harlan's bodies he just wanted to curl up into a ball far away from everything.]
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[She has no weapons, and the Null turn on her whenever they see her, but she feels so numb to it that she can't bring herself to care. If she gets killed out there...
Julie stops herself short of 'so what'.]
Don't go anywhere, I'm coming.
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[This time, she doesn't knock on the door. She pushes it open and goes right in, closing it wearily behind her and leaning against it.
The days since the Null first invaded haven't treated her well - she looks exhausted, bruises and scrapes on her face and hands, and blood on her clothes.]
... Delmar?
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I'm r-right here, Julie.
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[What is he doing here? How did he get here? She doesn't need to ask to know he's still having difficulty with seeing anything, and her voice sounds harder than she means it to as she asks--]
Did you walk here by yourself?
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No. Hayden helped me get here.
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[She looks around. She'll be having words with this 'Hayden'...]
What the hell?
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P-please don't be angry with Hayden. Harlan and Michael w-were very dear to him too. And to see them that way...i...
[He bites his lower lip as it trembles]
Please don't be upset with him.
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[She does take his hands, dropping down to her knees in front of him, but she still sounds angry as she squeezes her fingers firmly around his.]
I saw some one die out there three days ago. He-- He was blind, he didn't even see anything coming, and he was all alone. This isn't okay. You shouldn't be left by yourself!
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T-that is not Hayden's responsibility. He is only a little boy, J-julie. And he has stayed w-with me almost every moment. He has been so diligent. And awfully brave. And so v-very very good.
[Delmar inhales shakily]
All of you are too young to h-have to go through any of this.
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[She tugs her hands free and gets up, pushing her fingers through her hair to step away and gaze blankly at the painted wall.]
It's irresponsible. You could be killed. He could be killed. Did you even think--?
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.....no.
[He whispers, curling in on himself a little[
I...I didn't....
[He had just wanted to go home. Home has always been his only refuge against the world]
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[Julie's life has been a war zone, but never anything like this. They never had hordes of the Dead invading, never had to fight them on their own turf. She never lost sleep in her own bed wondering if she might fall asleep and wake up to her last breaths.]
... I don't want to lose you to these things.
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Delmar doesn't know what to say. He doesn't have the mental acuity or emotional intelligence for this, to grapple with the loss of two of the only people who have ever cared about him, to defend the actions of another, and to pay due appreciation to the fears and hurts of yet another. And all he knows is in one fell swoop he's managing to do all of these things horribly wrong.]
I'm sorry
[He whispers it, not moving from where he now rigidly sits on the edge of the couch. Spine stock straight and head dropped forward so his chin almost rests against his chest]
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It wells up in the back of her throat as something unpleasant and almost solid, like a wash of copper on her tongue. She closes her eyes and pulls in a deep breath, letting it out shakily. Then, she looks at him, and she feels the corners of her mouth pull down without her consent. It's not fair. None of this is fair.
Her weight drops abruptly down on the couch beside him and her arms go tight around his shoulders as she presses her forehead into his arm. Her fingers curl into the fabric of his clothes, and she sniffs once.]
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You didn't deserve it, I'm just... so scared.
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