#chatzy: remmy mcallister

[humanmoodring-retired]

Let Sleeping Ghosts Lie || Nadia? & Remmy

Timing: Last Night

Parties: @humanmoodring & @whatsin-yourhead

Summary: Nadia falls from heaven. Luckily, Remmy’s there to save her.

It should be said that it had been a long time since Nadia robbed someone’s home. She usually stuck with pickpocketing or even conning people out of their money. If she was gonna rob a place, it was usually a bank, or maybe even a store. But here she was, two stories up in an apartment complex downtown, searching through drawers and emptying out cabinets. She was only here because the dumb fucks had left their window open when she walked by, loudly talking about their date night and how much fun it was going to be at the carnival. Well, fuck that, and fuck them for being dumb. Nadia was nothing if not athletic, though she’d lost a bit of her upper body strength during her time away.

Nadia’d stashed several pieces of jewelry, one designer purse, and a handful of antiques (including a set of photographs that she’d keep as a souvenir) in her bag by the time she heard the front door open. Her head shot up, banging loudly against the top of the bathroom cabinet, and she cursed her bad luck. Well, shit. Looked like she was going out the window as the sound of voices grew closer. She opened the window (hopefully, this experience would teach these assholes to lock their stuff) and swung her body out, expecting a ledge to land on. No such luck. As she realized she was falling two fucking floors down, Nadia allowed herself to go limp. She landed on a dumpster and rolled off, the left side of her lower body in major pain. She groaned as she attempted to sit up, checking her bag to make sure nothing inside had gotten damaged in the fall. Fuck, she could really use some of those phoenix tears at the moment.

Remmy had tried to leave the house several times that day. Every time, though, they’d get to the end of the driveway before turning back. They weren’t sure what was wrong, they’d gone out several times before, but something kept causing their chest to constrict and their legs feel like jelly. It had taken hours and by now the sun was down and they were standing at the edge of the driveway staring into the dark road. Why was this so hard? Why today? They’d felt fine yesterday. And then they’d woken up in a sweat after trying to meditate and now they couldn’t make themself go out and do something normal. They’d screwed their eyes shut and walked forward as much as they could until the fear gripped them again and they forced their eyes open, only to find themself at the end of the block. A loud THUMP! Sounded to their right and Remmy yelped, slapping their hands over their mouth at the noise they’d made.

Upon closer inspection, they saw someone laying next to a dumpster, and they looked hurt. Pretty badly. “H-hey!” Remmy called, glancing around anxiously before heading down the alley. “A-are you okay? Wh-what happened?” they asked as they approached. Normally, they wouldn’t hesitate to run up and help someone, but things had changed since they’d gotten out. Kindness was not something they’d taken lightly before, but it felt almost constricting now. “Do you need help?”

“Fell,” Nadia managed to groan out as the stranger in front of them asked what happened. Like she was gonna fucking explain that she’d been robbing someone and fell out of the motherfucking window. Not gonna happen. “S’all good.” Oh, great. She was slurring her words and not on purpose. Did she hit her head? She leaned against her left arm and, nope, that hurt. That hurt really fucking bad. “S’not all good,” she said. Fuck, she was an idiot. Why didn’t she just check to make sure there was actually a ledge before she jumped out the window? She was too fucking concerned with making her first robbery since she’d gotten her life back a good one, and not concerned enough about proper planning. Well, she couldn’t make that mistake again. She looked up to the stranger, a rather adrogynous person who looked concerned even through Nadia’s blurry eyes. She couldn’t feel them. At all. She slumped back down a bit. “My backpack alright?”

“You fell?” Remmy gaped, coming a little closer, tentatively reaching out to try and help when the woman shuddered against the dumpster. “Like…” they looked up, then back down at her, “from that window?” Exasperated, Remmy scrambled for a moment, picking up the bag that had fallen next to her and holding it out. “Seems fine, but that-- you look really hurt. You need to go to a hospital,” they said worriedly. Unless...If she’d fallen out a window and survived, she probably wasn’t all human. Remmy’s body stiffened and they felt a shiver run through them. What if she was a hunter? They set the bag next to her, pulling their arms into their sides for a moment. “Uh, unless y-you can’t. For um...some reason.” Yes, that was a good way to test the waters. This would be fine.

“From heaven, actually,” Nadia said with a pained smirk. This was a bad time for a joke, probably, but she didn’t give a shit. “Long fall. Might’ve fucked up my hip, and my leg. Probably my wrist, too.” Maybe even her ribs. She landed hard and was still too tensed up when she hit. She used her right arm when she tried to get up again. She gritted her teeth, though a pained sound still managed to work its way out, as she pulled herself to her feet. Well, foot. She couldn’t put any weight on her left leg. She leaned heavily against the dumpster. Walking to her bike was going to be a bitch, and driving home was going to be absolute hell. She should’ve packed a vial of tears with her. “No hospitals,” she managed to say. She couldn’t risk someone figuring out who she was. If they didn’t catch her as a criminal, someone would be wondering what the hell sweet little Nadia was doing in the hospital, and someone would check her over, and she’d get some fucked up detail wrong, and, “Can’t do hospitals, I’m afraid.” She grimaced, attempted to turn it into a smile. “Insurance is a bitch.” Fuck, she wished she could get a read off this person. She was getting zilch, and it sucked. She relied on empathy a little too much, apparently, and it was gonna bite her in the ass.

She was joking, so that meant it couldn't’ be too bad, right? Remmy still felt like their skin was vibrating, and she was clearly in pain, despite trying to hide the pained wheeze that came out when she stood again. “O-okay, yeah,” they said quietly, “N-no hospitals.” Insurance, right. Wasn’t that the excuse Remmy had given once before? They finally came over to her, feeling slightly more at ease the more they talked. “C-can I help you get somewhere?” they asked, holding a hand out to see if she’d take it. “Even if you can’t go to a hospital, you should at least get somewhere you can rest. I know I don’t look it, but I’m pretty strong, if you um...need help,” they offered, trying to give a reassuring smile. They stole another quick glance around before focusing back on her, worry wrought across their face.

Shouldering on her backpack, which was painful, Nadia cracked her neck, which was almost just as bad, and looked down to where she’d parked her Harley. “Thanks,” she said, a little surprised but also pleased this timid person was going along with her desire for no hospitals. Which, if she couldn’t feel them at all, they were likely the type that didn’t do hospitals, either. Ugh. The living dead. She knew her host would probably like them, like the respite from emotions that they offered, but Nadia wasn’t too crazy about them. Never had been, not since she’d died the first time around. “Bike’s over that way.” She motioned for them, but, honestly, she couldn’t fucking ride. Not like this. “’ve got medical shit at my apartment.” If she could just make it back, she’d be set. Really, she could stomach this. She didn’t think she broke anything major. She landed on her hip pretty rough, but other than that… “Might even sleep it off. Maybe. After the tears, definitely. “

Remmy flinched slightly as the woman picked up her pack. Her pain was almost palpable to them, watching her move stiffly and try and wave it off. Falling out of a building wasn’t something just anyone could glance off, but she didn’t seem to be suffering too much. Still, she was wounded and Remmy couldn’t just leave her. They looked in the direction she pointed. “Oh, um-- I...I don’t know how to drive…” they muttered, realizing how stupid that sounded out loud. They really needed to get Morgan to teach them. “What if I brought you back to my place? It’s um-- close by. I can at least patch you up, call you a-- an uber or something,” they suggested, worried that she would reject their help now, knowing that they couldn’t really actually help. Not in the way she needed. “Tears?” they asked, blinking. “Is that like...a medication?”

Despite the fact that Nadia’s empath abilities were bullshit in a situation like this, this particular member of the undead was fairly simple to read. The way they flinched and responded to her pain. It could be useful. They seemed polite and timid and a little unsure about everything, and Nadia could work with that, if she needed to. At the very least, it could get her a ticket home. There were sounds coming from the apartment above as the occupants seemed to realize that a few things were probably not quite right in their apartment, and Nadia knew that she needed to get out of there right fucking now. At the very least, she wanted to be gone before the fucking cops showed up. “That’d work. Yeah, that’d work.” If they could save her hide, she’d owe them, that was for sure. “Tears?” Huh, she didn’t even realize she’d said that out loud. “Sorta. Best shit someone like me can get a hold of.”

“Oh, okay! Cool. I mean-- not that your situation is cool, but uh-- yeah, cool. I can-- yeah,” Remmy stuttered, moving to help support the side of her that she was avoiding standing on. They moved slowly enough along the path and out of the alley way, but Remmy felt as if the woman wanted to somehow move faster than the pace they were doing, despite her injuries. Remmy didn’t want to hurt her further, though, so they kept a steady pace. “I’m um-- I’m Remmy, by the way. Figured I should uh, let you know who I am so it’s not like...some stranger taking you to their house.” Or, the house they were staying at. Lydia wasn’t home as often as usual these nights, but that was okay. They hefted the other woman up a bit. It would be faster if they could just carry her, but that seemed a little odd to offer. “Are you doing okay? How-- how did you fall there, anyway?”

“Super cool,” Nadia teased a bit, though she kept a smile on her face. Or tried to. After the stranger, Remmy, started helping her, she kind of blacked out a bit when they started moving. She had to lean on them more than she would have liked, but, fuck it, she couldn’t put weight on her leg. It hurt too much. “Nice to meet you, Remmy.” She said, though it wasn’t particularly nice at all. Maybe, if they’d met under better circumstances, things would be different. She’d probably steal their wallet, but still. Different. “‘M Nadia.” It did occur to her that she was trusting someone that was likely an undead fiend with her safety, but, damn, they just seemed so nice. “S’long as you don’t eat my brains or drink my blood or whatever, you can take me wherever the fuck you’d like.” Fuck, she felt too heavy. “Fan-fucking-tastic,” she said breezily. “But, uh, window. Thought there was a ledge. Wasn’t. Fell.”

Okay, this wasn’t going well. Nadia looked like she was about to pass out and they weren’t close to Lydia’s yet. Remmy stopped a moment, then shifted, before hoisting her up onto their back and lifting her off the ground. “Better?” they asked before continuing their pace, a little quicker now, wanting to get somewhere she could lay down and they could assess the damage properly. The collar shifted around their neck slightly and Remmy froze for a moment before shaking it off. “Shit, that’s--” bad? What were they supposed to say? Remmy ruffled their brow a little. “I’m sorry, that sounds really painful. Why were you leaning out the window? That’s dangerous.” The mention of brain eating and blood made them go quiet for a moment. So she did know about those things. They looked out of the corner of their eye back to Nadia before glazing forward again. “I won’t do any of that,” they said quietly, “I know we just met, but you can trust me.” Lydia’s house came into view finally and Remmy turned up the drive. They hoped Lydia didn’t mind a wounded girl in their room.

Even though she hated feeling weak, Remmy really was helping Nadia as she kind of slumped forward a bit. “Better,” she murmured because, yeah, it fucking was. She catalogued the device around Remmy’s neck in the back of her mind, but, having never come across anything like it, decided to save thinking about it for later. “I was climbing out of it. Big into that parkour shit. Miscalculated.” It could have been a lot worse. She could have been on a higher floor. She could have broken both of the legs in the impact. Definitely could have been worse. “Don’t sweat it,” Nadia said, leaning a bit more solidly against them. She didn’t tell them she trusted them. She didn’t trust anyone, not even her own body (especially not her own body). “Couldn’t feel you. Figured something was up.” Damn undead and their inability to be read. She hated it. Was it the lack in pulse that made them hard to read? Had to be. She could read a whole slew of supernatural creatures, but not vamps or zombies or even ghosts. She didn’t mind the last one. She knew what she’d be picking up: jealousy that she had a body and they didn’t. “You a brain or blood person?”

“Couldn’t feel me?” Remmy asked as they moved up the driveway to the front door. Nadia’s weight was negligible to them, even with their strength not up to par. “What...what do you mean?” Was it a lack of physical feeling, like Remmy? Was Nadia undead, too? But that wouldn’t make sense with how hurt she seemed to be. Remmy could’ve fallen out the window and immediately stood up without so much as a scratch. So...human-ish, still, it seemed. “I’m um-- a brain person,” they muttered, still feeling that pang of shame as they said it. When would they be able to move past that? When would it no longer hurt? They opened the front door and shimmied inside, shutting it with their foot, before heading to their room. The house was quiet tonight, and Remmy focused on the fact that Nadia needed their help instead of the illusion that the walls were closing in and the doors had bars on them. They set her down on their bed before heading off to grab the first aid kit and coming back in. “You’re not like...worried?” they asked, holding out the first aid kit. “Most people get pretty um-- squirmy when I tell them I’m a zombie.”

“Like, emotions. Couldn’t feel those,” Nadia told Remmy’s shoulder. “Know you’ve got ‘em, just can’t feel ‘em.” She wondered if the little zombie knew what an empath was. If they didn’t, she wouldn’t be surprised. Her own fucking host hadn’t known what an empath was until recently. Meanwhile, Nadia’d been kicking it with empaths since before she was one; they were so fucking nice to have around, even if they’d been wary of her. She wasn’t going to tell Remmy that she didn’t like zombies. After all, they probably couldn’t help it, and they definitely didn’t seem to revel in the fact that they were one. Instead, she laughed a bit when they came back through the door. “Got a bit of experience with dead people. You’ve just managed to keep your body, which is pretty,” rude, “cool.” She moved her left hand and rotated the wrist, hissing a bit when the movement stung a little. “‘Sides,I can’t do shit to get away. You seem nice. I’m not much of a worrier.” If Remmy was going to hurt her, then they were going to hurt her, and she’d just have to find a new body. Preferable one that she hadn’t broken up a bit.

“Emotions?” Remmy blinked. “You can feel people’s emotions?” That was...neat? Interesting? Remmy had never even thought of that being possible, but seeing people transform into bears and seals and throw fire taught them to stop questioning things. “That’s cool, too. Probably comes in handy, huh?” They backed away a little and stood awkwardly for a moment, watching her wince in pain as she tested her limbs again. Remmy winced in turn, they couldn’t help it-- they hated watching people in pain. “Well, I mean...I wasn’t trying to. Keep it. Or, um-- stay alive. It just...happened, I guess.” They finally decided to back up against the wall and slide to a sit. “I’m not gonna hurt you, though.” They never wanted to hurt someone ever again. “Maybe you should worry a tad more, then maybe you wouldn’t fall out of windows,” they tried to tease lightly, looking up at her.

“I’m what the cool kids call an empath,” Nadia said, “of the supernatural persuasion. Can’t complain. It’s useful as hell.” When it worked. When it didn’t, she had to fall back on older tricks to reading people. She was lucky Remmy was so open and easy to read. Other people of the undead variety tried a bit harder to keep their emotions hidden. Remmy didn’t seem to share that sentiment. They seemed genuinely pained at watching her pain. For a moment, she wondered if they’d been an empath in life and just hadn’t known it. Empathy pains were always a bitch. “No shame in it. I’m pretty fucking grateful you’re alive.” She glanced at where they’d left the first aid kit. She’d probably need to start binding shit so it didn’t jostle as much. “Would’ve had to crawl my ass to East End. What a bitch.” She hoped there were some pain pills in there, too. “Sometimes you’ve gotta fall out of a window or two. Happens.” She gave them a grin.

Nadia was taking this whole thing pretty well, even going so far as to share with Remmy what she was. They glanced up and saw her struggling for a moment. “Oh, here,” they said, scooting up to her and taking the binding up, “lemme help.” They weren’t the best medic, but Darius had shown them quite a bit back in the military whenever he could. “Where does it hurt most?” When they looked up at her again, they found themself staring just a little too long. Nadia was a very good looking woman, even with the scrapes and bruised limbs. Clearing their throat, Remmy looked down. Now wasn’t the time to think about that. “Well, um-- thanks. I’m glad I could be here to help you out. Though, not sure I’ll be around for the second time you fall out a window so maybe like...be a little more careful?” they said, giving a short grin, finding themself getting more and more flustered, fumbling to pull the binding apart.

“Thanks,” Nadia murmured. She laughed a bit, “Where doesn’t it hurt? I think I fucked up the entirety of the left side of my body.” She rolled her shoulders, which was probably a mistake, but she felt something pop, so that was probably a good sign. Probably. “Definitely maybe broke my foot. It’s not taking weight. Ribs might be bruised. Wrist hurts. If you’ve got pain pills, I can maybe sleep it off.” She looked at Remmy, took the way their gaze lingered a bit. She cocked her head to the side, slightly. She could work with this. “Not planning on falling out of any more windows, babe, but you’re certainly the one I’d want around.” She started struggling with her shirt a bit, intending to check out her ribs a little better. “Little help, please?” She caught their eyes and did her best not to appear overly flirtatious. This probably wasn’t the time or place, unfortunately, especially since they were pretty hot.

“Shit…” Remmy muttered, “I’m sorry. I wish I could-- I dunno...make it not hurt.” Like with some magical cure. Maybe Nell knew something to help, they could text her tomorrow and ask. Or if they could get her back to her place, whatever it was Nadia said tears were, maybe those could fix it. “Oh, yeah-- pain pills.” They turned and rummaged through their bag. Back when they’d still been stupid enough to take human medicine, the doctors had given them some high strength pain pills for the supposed aches they would get. Remmy had never needed to take them, seeing as they couldn’t feel pain. “Here. They’re the good kind.” They took out a few and held them out to Naida, then grabbed the water glass and held it to her. Fumbled it a little more, cheeks immediately flushing. “Oh, uh-- I’m-- I mean--” swallowed hard. She was taking her shirt off now. Remmy needed to focus. “Yeah. Yup. I can-- yep.” They set the stuff aside and stood, grabbing her shirt gently and tugging it up over her head. The large bruise on her left side was telling. “Shit…” Remmy muttered again. “Do you-- do you heal fast?”

“What’s a little pain?” Nadia asked, shrugging a bit. She kind of liked it, sometimes, when it wasn’t eating away at her brain and making it hard to think. Pain was grounding; it made her feel real, connected, like she was a person. After spending so long as nothing, anything felt good as long as it was something. When Remmy handed her the pills, she swallowed them dry before chasing them with the water. “Fuck,” she said, roughly. That felt nice. She hadn’t even realized she was thirsty, she’d been so caught up in making sure her stuff and her body were alright. She let them help her with her shirt. Her right hand immediately went to her side, poking at the bruise that encompassed it. It seemed like she’d gotten the bottom of her ribs and then just a bunch of bruised flesh. Maybe nothing was bleeding in there. That’d suck. “I heal at a very sad, human pace.” Unfortunately. Sometimes, she wished she’d picked a stronger body, but Nadia’s had it’s benefits. Like, for instance, making a cute zombie stutter. She gave a lazy thumbs up. “Pain pills are great, though.”

Remmy let out a short breath, setting Nadia’s shirt next to her and backing up a little bit. Nadia was prodding her side and Remmy dropped their gaze. They didn’t want to stare and have her get the wrong idea. They clasped their hands behind their back. “Oh, um, good!” they said, nodding, “that you uh-- that they’re good.” They shrugged. “I can’t really um-- feel pain anymore--” unless it was a giant, stone monster ripping them in half-- “so you can keep ‘em.” They moved a little and shuffled to sit on the end of the bed, a little ways from Naida, but not too close. The only shirtless girls they’d ever had in their bed were Julie and Luce, and this was nothing like that. They hoped Lydia wouldn’t ask questions, because they weren’t sure how to answer them. “You can uh-- if you wanna lay down you can. Does it--” they looked down at her side again, somehow curious, “does it hurt?”

“That sucks,” Nadia said, a bit more serious than she usually was. “The pain thing.” She knew how much it sucked, to not feel anything. Pain was unpleasant, but the feeling of being untethered to the world, that was much, much worse. She’d definitely think about keeping those pills, though. She’d use the phoenix tears for major problems, like this one, but pills could be helpful in smaller situations if she didn’t feel like powering through them. And this was good shit. She was already beginning to feel it. She leaned back a bit, body propped up with her right arms. She was comfortable enough, but she wanted to keep an eye on Remmy. Not that she thought they’d hurt her; she wouldn’t even half to be an empath to know that was probably the last thing on their mind. Unless they were just a fucking phenomenal actor. But no one was that good, not even her. There were no breaks, no discrepancies in Remmy’s facial expressions to give them away. They seemed utterly sincere. It was naive, really, but in a cute way. “Like a motherfucker,” she said. “Hurts, and it’s uncomfortably hot but not like the rest of me.” She gave them a flirty grin. If she wasn’t so worried about scaring them, she’d ask for a hand in cooling off. Zombie fingers had to be even better than an ice pack.

“Yeah, well, I can’t feel much of anything, so…” Remmy shrugged again, leaning forward slightly, hands pressed into their lap. “Guess it’s a win-lose there. I can like-- sort of feel. Like really intense things, though. So it’s not uh-- all bad.” It was still a hard thing to explain, seeing as it was still something Remmy didn’t understand well themself. They just knew that they could feel the pain of being torn in town and that they could also feel the soothing warmth of Luce’s hands. But Luce was-- they shook the thoughts away. Nadia seemed like she was relaxing a little more now and that made Remmy untense slightly. They didn’t know fully how to help her, but they wished they could just reach out and take it away. But they didn’t have that power. They had no power for anything, really. “Oh! I-- I can go get you an ice pack! I’ll--” they jumped up from the bed, somehow grateful for the excuse to leave. Not that they didn’t want to be here or helping Nadia, but their stomach was twisting a little. Why? They had no idea. “--I’ll go grab one.” And they scrambled out. They found a nice ice pack in the fridge and a towel, pausing for a moment to gather themself before going back in. They wrapped the ice in the towel and sat back down, holding out the pack before remembering Nadia only had one functioning arm. “Here…” they mumbled, pressing it gently to her side, trying very hard to not look at her. “B-better?”

For better or worst, Nadia knew exactly what the little zombie was talking about. Being a ghost, being dead, was all about intense emotions followed by long periods of feeling like blah. It might not be the same as a zombie’s inability to feel things physically, but it was certainly close enough. “That’s not so bad, then,” she said, though it still seemed to be, indeed, pretty fucking bad. She watched them rush out of the room and tried not to laugh too hard. It would’ve hurt, even if the pain killers were dulling everything at the moment. When they came back, she watched them fumble with what to do for a second before they placed the icepack against her side. She relaxed a bit more, allowing herself to fully lay down on the bed. Why a zombie had a bed, she didn’t really know, but she sure as hell wasn’t complaining. “Much,” she murmured. Her eyes began to close, fluttering open briefly to look at Remmy before closing again. She felt… safe might not be the right word. She’d never used it before. But she knew she wasn’t in danger, and she wasn’t worried about her host trying to take back control, so, really, this was the best she felt in a long time. “Much better.” She wasn’t falling asleep, just resting her eyes. That’s what she told herself as the painkillers kicked in.

���Yeah,” they replied, “not so bad…” Nadia seemed to be relaxing now, and Remmy let out a breath of relief. It wasn’t every day you saw someone falling out of a window, let alone two stories, let alone not immediately calling the emergency room. But in White Crest, maybe that was just something Remmy would have to get used to. They were still confused as to why she’d been jumping out a window in the first place, but it wasn’t really their place to ask, was it? Remmy had strange things they needed to do that they’d hate if people asked them about, like eating brains and regrowing limbs. So they let it lie for now, even as their eye fell on the bag Nadia had clung so desperately to. When they looked back, her eyes were closed and her breathing was steady. Remmy should’ve figured she’d pass out soon, those pills were pretty high strength. They shifted slightly to let the ice pack rest on her before picking up her bad arm gently and wrapping the binding around it to hold it steady until the morning. They moved her around to lay better on the bed, opting to not try and tussle with blankets and let her sleep as was. Scratching the back of their head, they looked around, unsure of what to do next, before deciding it was best to just let her rest. Flicked the lights off and headed out into the living room, settling in, feeling the soft warm of relief in their chest. They hadn’t felt this good about something in a long while, and though they were still worried over her injuries, knowing they’d done something to help felt...nice. Yeah, they could really get used to this.

#chatzy: remmy mcallister #//this was so much fun #not!nadia #let sleeping ghosts lie

[divineluce]

Supply and Demand || Remmy & Luce

Location: White Crest Hospital

Time: July 7th, 2020

Tagging: @whatsin-yourhead & @divineluce

Description: While stopping by to drop off a card for Blanche, Luce runs into Remmy. There are no feelings in Ba Sing Se.

Warnings: NSFW (implied sex, kissing)

“Yep, adopted sister. I was in here a couple weeks ago, she’s in here now-- family, what can ya do?” Luce said as she barreled past the front desk and began to head down the hallway towards Blanche’s room. She’d been here less than twenty-four hours before, having joined part of the rescue crew in Blanche’s room. The small group had hunkered down in the corner of her room for hours, watching over her. Luce had been one of the first to leave. She had been weary, filthy, smelling of chemical smoke and black blood-- all she’d wanted was a shower and her bed. Now that was taken care of, she was determined to stay by Blanche’s side. Luce had told her, she’d warned her against coming along. But, she was stubborn and far too brave for her own good. That said, Luce couldn’t begrudge her that. She wanted to make sure her best friends were safe. Slipping inside Blanche’s room, Luce glanced at the hospital bed and saw that the other girl was fast asleep. Looking around, her eyes fell on Remmy, still sitting where they’d been when she’d left last night. “I was just coming by to see if she was awake. I can head out though, if you just want to spend time with her alone.” She said, prepared to walk back out the door.

It was times like these that Remmy missed being able to sleep the most. Sitting around watching someone they cared about suffer was painful. But every time they closed their eyes, a fear swallowed them. What if they opened their eyes and they were back in that cage? What if everything had just been a dream? And so they’d sat, awake at all hours, in the hospital room. They’d taken a few breaks to wash up, change their clothes, and eat, but mostly they’d stayed near the room or in it. They were just about to start answering old messages on their phone (and apparently needing to apologize to quite a few for the person who had imitated them online), when the door opened and Luce walked in. Remmy felt their muscles relax, not realizing they’d been on alert, but that’s just the way they always were now, wasn’t it? They’d felt like this since that stupid collar was first put on them. It was just what they were used to now. “Oh, n-no, that’s fine,” they said, shaking their head, “you can stay. She’s been asleep for a bit now.”

Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, Luce weighed her options. She didn’t particularly want to be stuck in a room with Blanche and Remmy right now. For one thing, she wasn’t sure how much of what had been said to her over messages last week had been them, how much had been the person impersonating them. For another, she knew how much Blanche meant to them. “I don’t want to bother you guys.” She said with a shrug before holding out the small envelope that she’d brought along with her. “It’s a card. Figured Blanche might like having something nice to look at when she woke up.” Luce said. It was the least she could do to pay back the young woman who had done so much to her family. The card was one of her own design, featuring a mountainside scene, rays of sun, and some wildflowers in the foreground. Luce glanced at Blanche’s form in the bed and shook her head. “I can come back, I don’t want to take up space. I’m sure Nell will want to be around when she wakes up.”

Luce didn’t react the way Remmy had hoped. She’d been out of it in the car and when they’d all been in the waiting room together, and then she’d gone home pretty quickly. Remmy hadn’t had a chance to explain to her that the messages hadn’t been them the past week or so, and now she was already trying to leave again. “Actually, I think I should probably take a little break, too,” they said, standing up, “I was thinking of taking a walk if you um...wanna join me?” they asked, looking at her with an expression that nearly begged her to say yes. They hadn’t seen her since that time in the kitchen and there was so much they wanted to say, wanted to do. They almost felt their arms itching to close around her.

Eyes widening slightly at their words, Luce shrugged. Sure. Sure, Remmy was their own person. If they were taking a break, sure. That was fine. But, the way they were looking at her… there was a desperation in their eyes. And after all they’d been through, after the pain that they’d suffered from-- her eyes flicked to the collar still around their neck-- she didn’t feel right saying no to them. “Yeah. Yeah, sounds good to me.” She said, before heading for the door, keeping herself a couple steps ahead of Remmy. Her heart was pounding but that was probably just a side effect of the phoenix tears, or maybe some lingering thing after her heart attack during the resurrection? Whatever it was, it was fucking annoying. Why was she reacting like this? Why was she acting like this? It was just Remmy. As they exited into the hallways, Luce stuck her hands into the pockets of her shorts, just following Remmy’s lead. “How are you holding up?”

Remmy couldn’t help but smile when Luce agreed. It was surprising how much they’d missed her. They didn’t mind it, but they hadn’t truly realized the ache until they saw her. They’d let themselves get numb inside the cages because there was no other way to get through it. They could still even feel the blood on their hands, sometimes, when their mind would slip and wander and they’d see the cage doors or the arena lights and their body would tense. But they weren’t there anymore. They were safe. And being around people made them feel safer. They looked over at Luce, and felt that ache increase a little more. Her question rang in their head, and they found that they had no desire to answer it. They were doing terrible and it was pretty obvious. So was Nell. They’d been kidnapped and starved and tortured and made to fight against their will-- they were doing horrible. But they didn’t want to talk about it, not even a little bit. Instead, they reached out and took Luce’s hand and tugged her back to them, doing something they’d wanted to since they’d seen Luce looking so pale in her kitchen-- kissing her. One hand wrapping around her neck to pull her closer, a bit rough and hasty in their desperation to feel her again.

When they had been hooking up, Luce could count the times when Remmy had been the one to initiate things on one hand. They’d always tried to make some kind of small talk, beat around the bush, while Luce had only been interested in one thing. So, when they ignored her question and took her by the hand, pulling her into a hard kiss? It caught her off guard. But, not in a bad way. Their hand against her neck felt cool, soothing, even as they pulled her into them with a roughness they seldom used. Luce let them pull her in tight, her hands immediately gripping them with equal fervor. Slightly out of breath, she pulled away for a moment before kissing them with renewed vigor. This was good. This was better than good, it was normal and safe and easy. Just what she wanted. Running a hand through their tangles of their hair, she gripped at them tightly, keeping their body pressed against hers.

Luce’s skin felt warm again, a direct contrast to Remmy’s cool touch. Last time they’d touched her she’d been cold, having just had a heart attack. Having just spent her entire pool of magic to bring back her sister. But they didn’t want to think about that right now. They didn’t want to think about anything. Their mind hadn’t shut off since the first time their face had hit the hard, cold floor of the cell and they were tired of thinking. They’d missed the physical contact of others. And not just in this way, though this was very nice. They craved it. Craved her. Hands finding her back and pulling her closer, kissing her harder, more desperate, as if they could let her know all the things they needed to say sorry for with it. As if they could let her know how much they’d missed her touch with just this one, simple action. As if in the quiet halls of the hospital, they wouldn’t need words. But after a long moment, Remmy pulled away, face flushed, warm with Luce’s body heat. “S-sorry,” they mumbled, “I just...wanted to do that for a while now.”

The feeling of their hands grasping at her, pulling her in even tighter reassured Luce, something she hadn’t even realized she was looking for. But, the fact that Remmy was here, holding her tightly, their lips familiar against her own, it filled her with a sense of relief. Because they were alive. They were safe. And because-- Remmy pulled away, leaving Luce staring at them with an unreadable expression. “Stop apologizing. I clearly didn’t mind.” Just as she was about to grip them once more, pull them in for another deep kiss, she registered their words. “For a while, hm? We’ll just have to fix that.” She said with a raised eyebrow. Luce cast a look around the hallway-- this part of the hospital was surprisingly empty right now. Whatever, she wasn’t going to question that. Grabbing hold of their wrist, Luce hurried down the hall, tugging Remmy along after her. Now where was that door..?

It was perhaps a small relief to hear Luce say that, but a relief all the same. Remmy wasn’t sure she would have missed them as much as they did her. After their last talk, it almost seemed as if Luce didn’t really think of them as much more than someone to fuck, but she’d come to the Ring for them. Well, and Nell, but their point stood. And she was here now, right? She hadn’t walked away. In fact, she was taking their hand and leading them off somewhere down the hall. Remmy glanced behind them, back to Blanche’s door, as if to make sure everything was okay, before looking back forward to Luce. “Where are we going?” they asked, blinking in slight confusion. They didn’t want to be walking around, even if that’s what they’d suggested just two minutes ago-- they wanted to be kissing her. Holding her, touching her. And forgetting about the week they’d spent laying on a damp, bloody floor.

Glancing at the little wall placards by the doors, Luce frowned as she continued down the hall. “There it is.” She said, more to herself than to Remmy and pulled open a door. She’d only known that this particular door would be open because of her own stay in the hospital-- over the sound of Nell muttering into her phone, she’d heard one of the cleaning staff complain about how one of the supply closet’s lock never worked properly. As she tested the doorknob, Luce grinned as it opened easily. Pulling Remmy in behind her, Luce wasted no time pressing them up against the door and capturing their lips in a rough, intense kiss.

“There what-- Oh.” Remmy blinked in surprise as Luce yanked open a supply closet door and pulled them in. Their mind, for a moment, fought between the fact that this was probably a bad idea and the fact that kissing Luce felt so good after everything they’d been through. Their back pressed against the door as she pressed into them and they kissed her back for a moment, before the buzzing in their arms overwhelmed them enough to pull slightly away. “What if someone needs to get in here?” they asked, but despite the concern in their words, their eyes, their hands moving along Luce’s body, told a different story. Already tugging at her shirt, finding her lips again, soft and gentle as they turned her around to press against the door. “Isn’t this like...a closet?”

“Then I’ll melt the doorknob.” Luce muttered as she kissed their neck, her fingers pulling at their hair once more as she kept them pinned against the door. Besides, with their zombie strength, Luce highly doubted anyone would be getting through there if Remmy didn’t want them to. She let them pull her shirt over her head and tossed it onto one of the shelves, let them maneuver her so it was her back against the wall. Door. Whatever, same thing. Glancing around at the darkened room around them, Luce nodded, a grin playing on her lips. “Yup. Look at us, back in the closet. But, this is,” She ran her hands up their back, dragging her fingertips against their skin, “Much better.”

“Is that really a--” Remmy said between kisses, “--good idea?” Did they care? Well, yes, sort of. Melting a doorknob was a bad solution to being walked in on while fucking in a closet, but did they care in this moment? Not really. Their skin almost burned with how much they wanted to be with Luce, with how much they’d missed the feel of her warm skin. Remmy was no fool, they understood what it meant, but right now wasn’t the time to process that feeling. Not when Luce was taking her shirt off and Remmy was already reaching down to pull their own off, warm fingers dragging along their skin. “Okay, yeah,” they said, nodding as they leaned into her bare skin, hands planted against the door, “this is definitely better.” Besides, no one was opening this door as long as Remmy could help it. As long as they didn’t think about the fact that they were once again in a small, enclosed space.

“Do you think I give a fuck if it’s a good idea or not?” Luce murmured, unclipping her bra with a quick motion. She wanted to feel Remmy against her, all of them, she didn’t really care what the consequences were. People fucked all the time in hospitals, that’s what shitty reruns of Grey’s Anatomy told her at least. As their shirt came off, Luce leaned forward once more, kissing them as hard and as desperately as before. She wanted to feel them. Wanted to know that they were here, with her, right now. And she wanted to keep them in this moment. She could still see that collar pressed around their neck and, now that she knew what it could do… it made her anxious. She couldn’t imagine how Remmy felt about it. But, that’s what this was all about. Forgetting about all the shit they’d been through. Biting their lip hard, Luce shot them a smug grin. “You wanna show me how much better?”

“Alright,” Remmy mumbled against her, “good point.” If there was one thing Remmy had come to learn about Luce was that she really didn’t care what other people thought. It was a quality Remmy had wished they’d had almost their entire life. Always monitoring themself to make sure they didn’t hurt or upset or anger anyone. They really admired it in Luce, too. There were, actually, a lot of things about her that they admired, but right now, they were going to focus on admiring her bare body instead. A smirk grew on their face and they hoped she could still see it in the dim light of the closet. “I do,” they said, “I really, really do.”

When they stepped out of the closet a while later, Remmy smoothed their hands down their shirt and tried their best to untangle their hair. They’d need another haircut soon, but they were kind of starting to like the longer length. After Jax had made them shave their head, there seemed to be a small sense of freedom in the length that came after. They turned to look back at Luce as she quietly closed the door. “Hungry?” they asked, raising a brow. “Or we could go for that walk I originally suggested.”

Fixing her lipstick, Luce rolled her eyes as she followed Remmy out of the closet and wiped off a small impression of her lips from their cheek. “You missed a spot.” She teased as she glanced around. No one was the wiser to what had happened, which was just how she wanted it. It was just a hook-up. A “congrats, you didn’t die, let’s celebrate that” fuck. Which wasn’t one that she’d had before but, honestly, she didn’t mind it. As she walked down the hallway, intending to head back out, Luce was startled by their question. “I’m good on a walk. I already got the heart rate going for today.” She declined the invitation with a shake of her head. Food on the other hand… But, she didn’t want them to get the wrong idea about things between them. “I’m good. Besides, I don’t want to keep you from Blanche any longer.”

Remmy frowned a little. While what had just happened had them buzzing, they were kind of hoping Luce wasn’t going to just ditch. Maybe she was just tired again. She’d been through quite a bit in the past few weeks, and even after having a heart attack she’d come to help rescue them. “Oh, yeah, okay…” But something else tugged at them, a thought they didn’t like having. They didn’t want to be alone. Sure, they’d been alone in the room before, but the thought of going back there alone now, made their hands shake a little. “Um, can-- can you stay with me?” they asked, feeling suddenly raw and vulnerable. “Just...just for a bit. Till Blanche wakes up? We don’t have to...do anything. I just don’t want…” they glanced around, then back to her, the empty hallway filling in around them, “to be, you know-- alone.”

Hearing the way Remmy’s tone changed, the way their hands seemed to tremble, Luce swallowed. She didn’t care. And they shouldn’t care either. This was just a hookup. Just a random fuck that happened more out of convenience than anything else. It didn’t matter. “I should go.” She shook her head, folded her arms across her chest as she spoke. The strange discomfort from before, which had vanished when she’d felt their body press against hers, had returned with renewed vigor. And all she could think to do was run away, to get out of here. And hopefully then the strange feeling that lingered in her chest would leave. “I’m sure Nell will be over here soon. She can keep you company while you wait for Blanche.”

Remmy had faced rejection before, but somehow this felt way worse. They felt like their heart was sinking into the pit of their stomach and they couldn’t help the quick glance of shock that went through them, before reigning it in and looking down. “O-oh, yeah, that’s-- that’s fair,” they muttered, taking a step back. They suddenly felt like their face was on fire and they wanted to melt into the wall or maybe even sink through the floor. “Right, okay. Um...that’s fine.” They backed away a little. “You should probably get some more rest, anyway. After everything.” What else was there to say? Remmy rubbed the back of their head. “And, um-- I know you probably just came to help Nell, but-- thanks. For coming. For-- helping us.”

As Remmy took back and the space grew between them, the feeling in her chest grew as well. Luce glanced down the hall-- she wasn’t having some weird heart thing again was she? If she was, at least being in the hospital would help. Would make it easy for her to get help. “Yeah. Rest.” She repeated with a nod of her head. She’d done… big fucking magic yesterday. Magic she didn’t even fully understand. Why had it appeared yesterday? Why then and not before, when she’d been practicing in her cabin, working so hard to hone her flames into something more? At their words, she resisted the urge to say that she’d gone in there for them too. They didn’t need to know. “I did what I needed to do to keep my family safe.” She said with a shrug before walking down the hallway. The entire time she walked away from them, the strange ache in her chest persisted. As Luce was about to head out the door, she paused, glancing down the hallway at Remmy. “There’s a carnival in town. Why don’t we celebrate you being free from that shitshow sometime? Text me.” She said before pushing open the door and slipping out into the lobby. Christ. Why had she said that? Why had she done that? She didn’t like carnivals, didn’t give a shit about the games or the stupid attractions. Remmy had just looked so… worn out. She was just trying to help them celebrate, maybe take them back to her cabin after. That was all. That’s all this was.

Something was changing inside of Remmy and they weren’t sure what to do about it. They couldn’t hide their disappointment as Luce admitted that she was just there for Nell. They weren’t sure why they were assuming she’d have done any different-- she’d made it pretty clear to them last time they’d met up that she only thought of them as someone to sleep with. And...they had told themself they were okay with that. And they’d tried really hard to be okay with that. But something had changed and Remmy couldn’t go back anymore. And when Luce turned back, they couldn’t help the leap that their heart did into their throat, stealing their words. A smile grew on their face, from ear to ear, as they watched her leave. Carnival. Yeah, they could do that. They could definitely do that. Besides, they’d all earned some time off, right? Some time to relax. And even though Luce had walked away, Remmy could still taste her on their lips and feel her in their grip. They turned to head back to Blanche’s room, a warm feeling swirling in their stomach. A feeling they hadn’t felt in a really long time, and after the month they’d had, damn was it nice.

#p: sad #p: remmy mcallister #chatzy #wickedswriting #//my chatzy tagging system may call this sad but its really not

[humanmoodring-retired]

A Spoonful of Poison Makes the Brains Go Down || Nadia? and Remmy

TIMING: Current  LOCATION: Remmy and Lydia’s House PARTIES: @humanmoodring and @whatsin-yourhead SUMMARY: Before heading to Pat’s Place, Nadia needs to make sure that Remmy eats. Drug Manipulation TW

Tommy’s instructions had been pretty clear: Nadia was to poison one Remmington McAllister for blowing up a The Ring, which was apparently the monster fighting ring that Kaden had mentioned. Small fucking town. Now, as cute as she thought Remmy was, Nadia had no trouble at all poisoning them for the amount of money she was getting paid. There’d always be cute zombies out there. Maybe more than there should be, really. She walked up to the house, remembering it vividly from her stay there when she’d fallen out the window, and knocked on the door, the vial of infector mortis in her button up pocket.

Tonight was going to be good, Remmy had decided. No moping, no bad thoughts-- just them and Nadia and a room full of people. And fun. They could do this. It’d been a few weeks since the Ring had blown up, and nothing had happened. They were going to be fine. And it was time to get back to normal life. Or, as normal a life as they could have, being a zombie. When the knock on the door came, Remmy gave one last glance into the mirror-- they’d opted to go for a more casual look, but still nice. A good button up, a cardigan, some nice jeans. They’d even done up their hair. They pulled the door open to greet Nadia, smiling. “Hey! You made it!”

“I’d hope so. After all, this was my idea, cutie,” Nadia teased, looking forward to Remmy’s reaction. Teasing them was too damn fun, and it was a shame she wouldn’t be able to do it any more after all this, but this wasn’t on Nadia. She wasn’t the person that wanted Remmy dead. All she was doing was being the messenger. “So, they don’t open for a bit, and I can’t imagine you’re gonna like the taste of the fine Americana food they’re going to have, so if you want to grab something before we go, and then maybe we can go on a walk or a ride or something.” She glanced back at where her motorcycle was parked near the street. “Do you like motorcycles?”

Remmy would have blushed had they could’ve and they gave a sheepish smile, choking on their words for a moment. “It’s, I mean, like-- yeah. Of course! Yeah,” they stuttered, before stepping aside and motioning for her to come in. “Oh, uh, yeah! Yeah. A snack, I should-- definitely. Eat first, yeah. Uh, do you want a drink? I can get you something,” they offered, heading into the kitchen. They’d told Lydia about their date tonight and she’d let them have the house for the evening. “Motorcycles? Can’t um-- can’t say I’ve ever ridden on one, actually. They had weird little like...scooters that we got to ride around on at base camp, but that’s definitely not the same thing.”

Laughing, Nadia followed them into the house, at ease in the space and with the company. For all their undead might, Remmy, she was sure, was harmless. “Yeah, I’ll take a water, if that’s alright. Don’t want to get too boozy and then have to drive. Ever ridden a bike tipsy? Not fun, and even less so when you add a few hundred pounds and make it motorized.” Her first body, may it rot in peace, had survived only one drunk motorcycle accident before Nadia had said never again. She hadn’t made that mistake in this one. This one was far too important. She watched Remmy piddle around the kitchen. “Base camp? Like, military?”

Once in the kitchen, Remmy pulled down two glasses and filled them with water, setting one on the counter for Nadia before heading to the fridge to pull out their container of brain. Lydia always made sure there was a fresh one for them in the house, and they’d already diced this one up and spruced it to look a little less...brainy. They set it on the counter and looked up at Nadia. “I have, actually. Back in high school. We actually made games out of drink bike riding. There uh-- wasn’t a lot to do for fun in the small town I grew up in.” They propped the container open and scooped out a few pieces, before reaching across the counter for a treat and handing it to Moose. “Oh, uh, yeah. Military. I served for a while. Was recently discharged, though, for uh...medical reason.” Gave Nadia a shallow smile, hoping to breeze past the topic. “What kind of motorcycle do you have?”

Everything had to be calculated, Nadia decided as she watched Remmy pull the container of brains out of the fridge. She didn’t trust just poisoning the water, didn’t know if infector mortis had a particular flavor. She wasn’t a poisoner; she was a thief, a con artist, occasionally a demolitions expert, but she didn’t really poison people. Whatever. “That sounds like teenage shenanigans anywhere, not just a small town.” She brushed her hand against the pocket, maneuvered the vial out, and reached to scratch her shoulder, the tiny vial hidden in her palm. “I grew up in a city, and, uh, we still pulled that shit pretty often.” The second Remmy turned to give the dog a treat, Nadia reached to grab her water and poured the contents of the vial in the brain mixture. But… not all of it. A part of her head told her hand that there was plenty of the poison in the food even with the vial not completely emptied, and she decided to go with it. “Ah, cool.” Didn’t seem like something to talk about, then. She leaned back, glass in hand, and took a sip of water. She should’ve asked for alcohol, since she wouldn’t be drinking at Pat’s, but she perked up at the mention of her bike. “It’s a Harley. Street Bob, so a bit sleeker than some models. Wicked cool, wicked fast.” She grinned. “And I’m a great driver, so it’s a guaranteed good time.”

“I guess that’s true,” Remmy noted, trying to think back to the other shitty things they did as a teenager and finding themself unexcited about the memories. They stopped the thoughts and turned to look Nadia again, none the wiser as they plucked up a piece of brain with a fork to eat. “Guess all teenagers are just the same, really,” they said idly, before giving Nadia a smile. She seemed excited to talk about her motorcycle, and while Remmy didn’t care for them either way, it was always nice watching people get excited about something. They liked it when they could let people do that. “Well, I really don’t know much about them, but that sounds super cool. I do know Harley’s are like super popular motorcycles. They’re the really loud ones, right?” they asked, trying to make sure their interest seemed genuine-- because it was. “And hey, well-- it sounds like a lot of fun. Why not try it, right?”

“I like to think so. What’s that song? Nadia thought on it a moment as she made sure Remmy was eating. “Teenagers scare the living shit out of me, or something? I think that’s universal.” She wondered how long it would take for the poison to start reacting. Not for a while, maybe, hopefully. Probably once they got to the restaurant. It’d look suspicious, otherwise. “It can get pretty loud, yeah. I thought about getting something like a Ducati or Kawasaki, something quieter, but I’m a sucker for the classics.” She grinned, pleased with the way Remmy reacted to things. She thoroughly enjoyed their interactions. “I like your enthusiasm. Everything’s worth trying once, you know?”

Remmy chuckled, taking another few bites before closing up the container and setting it back in the fridge. “I dunno,” they said, looking back over at her, “I think they’re a lot less scary when you remember they’re just kids trying to explore the way they fit in with the world. It’s hard being so young and having all those conflicting responsibilities.” They used the water to wash down the rest of their snack before turning back to Nadia. “I don’t...know what either of those are, but I’ll trust your word that they’re quieter. Classics are classics for a reason, though, right? Cause they’re good and long lasting. Like classic rock, or old movies.” They pointed at her drink. “All done?”

“Astute observations,” Nadia said with a smile. She was always a bit surprised by how optimistic and open this zombie could be. Usually zombies and vampires seemed pretty broody and narcissistic, only worried about their souls and how they weren’t even alive. They didn’t care to see the fucking brightside to anything. At least they had their own bodies and didn’t have to go out searching for a new one. It always riled her up, but this one? She liked this one. She was kind of sad to see this one go. “I mean, anything that goes that fast is gonna be loud, but quieter is a subjective term. But, exactly. Classics are where it’s at. I love old shit like old cars and bikes and movies, especially westerns.” Fuck, she could talk about this all day, but they needed to get moving. She finished her drink. “All done. Let’s get this party started, huh, cutie?”

#chatzy: remmy mcallister #a spoonful of poison makes the brains go down #drug manipulation tw