[closed] You left a bloodstain on the floor

[bechdelpls]

who: Sarah, Caleb, and Chase
what: OVERJOYED REUNIONS
when: Shortly after the animal roundup
where: Communal Floor Number 2
warnings: UHHH none yet but there's a teenage sociopath and magic involved so things could get adventurous!!



Sarah sits down on her assigned bed, pulling the cuffs of her sweater over her hands. Displaced. That word feels like a failure, somehow. It's the reason they took her. It's her own fault. She's glad the place is empty, at least for the moment. She's barely been here half a day, and she's already overwhelmed. She was overwhelmed the moment she staggered into the grip of the perimeter guard, if she's being honest, but in the moment at least she could distract herself with learning about where she'd found herself. She could pretend this was normal and wait to cry until she was by herself.

Except now that she's by herself, she can't seem to manage it. She just feels strange and numb. One stupid thought keeps circling in her head, and it's that her parents would be proud that their daughter got a full ride scholarship to college. Except it's a college in another universe, on a moon. She doesn't even know what kind of scholastic achievements the place has. Or how she would compare those scholastic achievements to anything she's familiar with. It's not like there are a lot of moon school options, or at least it doesn't seem like there are.

"Oh my God," Sarah says, and kicks her boots off to draw her legs up onto the bed, flop over, and press her face into her pillow.

That's about when she hears a noise in the hall. Specifically, people arguing in the hall, and coming closer. She groans into the pillow and slowly sits up, wiping her face.

--Is that a dog barking? Are there dogs on the moon?

Comments

[bastardofipswich]

Wow, Sarah. You'd hit a guy holding a puppy? And people think Chase is an out of control maniac. Though, he's gotta hand it to her: it's a ballsy move, and it kind of makes him respect Sarah a little more. So she's not just a pretty Barbie doll for Caleb to kiss! She's got a spine and everything!

Still, that spine's not gonna do her much good when, with a careless flick of his wrist, he swats Sarah down with some magic. It's like she's nothing to him, too insignificant to bother with anything else. Casual indifference, rather than the sadism he visited on Pogue and Caleb. Chase laughs with an explosive sort of giddiness, at least until his dog yips and squirms and he has to set the damn thing down so it can scamper over to Sarah and lick at her face.

Wow, Cujo. You freaking traitor.

"Okay, come on--" he manages between his laughter, starting to take a step towards Sarah. "--you gotta admit you saw that coming."

[wiccecraft]

The moment Caleb actively processes that Sarah is there and real and in the room with them she's already on her way towards throwing a punch at Chase and Caleb? Could not be prouder of her. Granted, he's also horrified that she's trapped here, with them, and that his first chance to greet her didn't involve kisses but instead involved him arguing with this asshole, but before he can do anything about that Chase has knocked her down and is moving towards her and Caleb is not here for it.

Instead he grabs Chase by the back of his jacket and hauls him off his feet, using all his Power-powered strength to practically throw him across the room. Mostly he just wants to get him the hell away from her. "Our truce extends to Sarah or I will kick your ass into next week!"

Cujo is distressed by this and Nile has also made her way to Sarah in order to sniff the girl's chin delicately before sitting down directly in front of Sarah's chest just as Caleb reaches her to give her a hand up. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

[bechdelpls]

Stars in her eyes.

No, literally, when she hits the ground her head hits the floor, setting off white starbursts across her vision. When she's able to see again, what she sees first is the dog's face as he licks her. She splutters, but then Cujo--Cujo, really?--is moving back and there's a cat and also Caleb, offering her a hand up. She takes it, wobbling a little as she stands.

She tried to punch Chase. Holy crap, she tried to punch Chase, and he knocked her back as easy as breathing. Her lungs ache. Her head is throbbing. One gesture. What could he have done if he really wanted to hurt her? What kind of magic can he do that isn't fixing windshields and forcing her to sleep? When she sees where Chase ended up, she's tensed and ready for the other witch to hit Caleb back with something else, something worse.

She slides her hand into Caleb's, gripping it hard. If Chase is going to come after him, she's not going to let him get attacked alone. (What can she possibly do, how can she possibly help?)

Quietly, she says, "You don't have anything to be sorry for."

[bastardofipswich]

Who knew that a truce could make Chase get so complacent so quickly? Which is to say: it actually does throw him for a loop when he feels Caleb's hand grab his jacket and then he's crashing across the room in an instant. Fucking... Ow. Rolling onto his back, he can't help but laugh, which seems to be Chase's usual response to getting hit or tossed around.

At least his unfaithful mutt has trotted back over to him, like he's playing fetch and Chase is the ball. Good boy, Cujo.

Chase sits up, stretching his arms before reaching out to scratch Cujo's ears. He shoots Sarah a wink, smug and completely without even a shred of remorse. "Message received, lover boy."

It's easy enough to promise. The thing is: Chase doesn't give a shit about Sarah. It really wasn't anything personal, targeting her the way he had. She was a means to an end to him, significant only because Caleb was so attached to her. Hell, he would've been happy to be her friend, if things had unfolded differently. If he'd any interest in friendship at all...

"You gonna extend the same terms to her?"

[wiccecraft]

"You deserve to get hit in the face! You tried to kill her and didn't even have the guts to do it while she was awake." Jesus, he hates this boy and now Caleb wants to smack him, just once, but he knows Chase will just laugh because Caleb is down to his level and he'll feel stupid and hung up about it.

He's hung up on a lot of things in regards to Chase, and he knows it, but there's no one to talk to about it really, and he's not sure what the hell he would say.

Sarah, at least, seems to be okay. At least there's no obvious bleeding or bone breaks, so he squeezes her hand in solidarity before kissing her temple. "Are you okay?"

[bechdelpls]

Sarah closes her eyes at the kiss, relaxing perceptibly. It's right. It's so normal. Just a little gesture of affection, but after the day she's had it means so much. She pulls her hand out of his, but only so she can slide her arm around his waist and lean against him.

Caleb is real. He's here, he's solid. She's not alone in this, which sucks, but it's also such a selfish relief.

"I'm fine. He's done worse."

[bastardofipswich]

Suddenly, this is a lot less funny, because if Caleb's going to expect him to just roll over for Sarah every time she decides she wants to hit him, he's going to fling the both of them right out the window. As far as Chase is concerned, this is his chance at a life that's a hell of a lot more promising than the one he left behind in Ipswich. He's got no reason to stick with the two of them, and he's not going to let them drag him back down because they can't get over a little bit of attempted murder.

It's not like he succeeded, after all.

Chase gets up, dusting himself off, and shoots the lovebirds an ugly glare. "Well, isn't this a touching reunion," he spits out, all venom in his voice now. Might as well leave them to it. The dog stays behind in the communal room-- he's confident they wouldn't do anything stupid to Cujo-- as Chase storms out.

[wiccecraft]

DId Chase really just leave his dog to go pout about...something? Not having a significant other? What?

Caleb frowns at his retreating back and then glances at Sarah, and then at the dog. And then at the cat, who immediately attempts to ride the dog like a tiny pony, causing Cujo to erupt into a series of whines and barks. Caleb puts a stop to that by clicking his tongue at the cat, who instead jumps down and tries to wind herself between his and Sarah's feet.

"I'm sorry," he says, because he is and because Chase should be but isn't. He's sorry that she's trapped here instead of back home, sorry that he dragged her into this however unwittingly. He has to admit though, some small part of him is glad she's here. Glad he isn't completely alone (though with Chase around, is he really?).

[bechdelpls]

"You don't have to be sorry." She half-turns so she can hug him properly and rest her cheek against his chest. "I wonder if these people even thought about who they were putting in a room together. Like--I don't know, I guess there's no way they could have checked something like this."

She lets go of Caleb, mostly so she can pay proper attention to Cujo. "Hello, cutie. Who's a good boy? Who's a much much better boy than Chase?"