firstofitskind | MHA #6, Thursday Morning

MHA #6, Thursday Morning

After whatever the hell had happened on the beach, Liam returned to the apartment feeling incredibly unsettled. He didn't understand what had happened or why, just that there was something going on with bad memories, and, well. Nightmares were honestly a pretty regular occurrence in the Price-Kincaid household, between the two of them.

Honestly, he'd even entertained the idea of just trying not to fall asleep at all. Except that hadn't worked, because even part-aliens who only needed a few hours of sleep a night still needed some sleep.

"You're right, Major. I do enjoy my job." Being held down by the energy field, twisting to see Sandoval's mocking expression before he pressed the button that sent bolts of electricity coursing through his body.

Staying still, so very still, as the needle approached the underside of his jaw. Listening to Zo'or as he spoke to Sandoval as if Liam himself were not even there. "Major Kincaid has been resourceful in the past, but he has also demonstrated discontent with me. I want him searching, but I want him on your tether." And then nothing but blackness as the CVI started to replicate within his brain.

Wrenching, tearing pain, pain so bad he could barely think. Hands holding him down as he screamed and fought to no avail. Another hand jamming a needle into his abdomen, extracting... something. He tried to remember why this mattered but all he could think about was how much it hurt.

Liam woke with a gasp, twisting away from the form cuddled close to his own, not really registering that it was Verity and not just another nightmare construct. He kicked at the blankets, desperate to get whatever was holding him down off, now now now.

[ooc: for the wife and SP!]

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Sounded like she'd fit right in with the rest of the island.

"Sounds like we have a prime candidate for this summer's fuckery," Verity sighed.

Honestly, island, you couldn't have scheduled this while she was still a squirrel?

“On the bright side, we’ve got a mayor who actually gives a shit now, which will help with figuring out how to un-fuck things,” Liam pointed out.

"We do?" Verity asked. "That's a hell of a change. How did that happen?"

"Do you remember much from when you were squirrel-y?" Liam asked.

Slight conversational detour, but honestly, Liam was kind of okay with that right now.

"Verrrry little," Verity said. "I remember you took away my rum while I was drinking with the squirrels, which was rude."

“It was for your own good!” Liam said, for not the first time. “But there was this week where things went... kind of weird? Remember how I said an ‘opportunity came up’ to renovate the apartment?”

She’d probably noticed by now that while another room had been added, the actual apartment footprint hadn’t changed; nor had any of the existing rooms gotten smaller to make space for the new one. That was... generally not how renovating was supposed to work.

"Yes, I did notice the spare room that appeared even with our apartment remaining the same size," Verity drawled.

In his defense, he’d pointed it out the day she’d turned back, too. They’d just promptly been distracted by welcome-back sex and then he hadn’t really gotten into explaining how weird that whole week had been.

“A whole bunch of anthropomorphic animals just kinda showed up and declared they lived here now? I was waiting for the other shoe to drop for a couple days but,” he shrugged. “Turns out they really were harmless. Town Hall was taken over by a talking raccoon named Tom Nook,” yes that was a real sentence he’d just said in all seriousness, let that sink in, Verity. “Anyway. Their presence pissed Tamsin off enough that she took off, and then not too long after that, Jesse showed up.”

"...And was voted mayor by popular acclaim?"

Honestly, that whole 'talking animal' thing was still less awful than the 'turning into toys,' so Verity wasn't even going to question it.

"Sure," Liam said. "Just like how I was voted Sheriff."

Actually, Jesse had gotten her job in a manner pretty much identical to how Liam had gotten his: shown up and was informed by someone else that this was their job now.

"This island, I swear to god," Verity sighed, shaking her head.

But anyway, back to the matter at hand. "Okay, so then what?"

"The mayor's assistant handed her a binder and told her it was her problem now," Liam shrugged. "And she's been proactively trying to learn about past issues the island has had ever since."

"Okay, so that is a step up," Verity said, nodding. "But I meant what happened after the beach?"

Forgive him, Verity, he was still feeling a little scattered.

"I saw one of Yasha's memories," he didn't want to say of what, already feeling like he'd invaded her privacy by experiencing it at all, let alone talking about it. "She saw- my mother- the cave."

Verity knew enough about the circumstances surrounding Beckett's death to understand what he was trying to say, disjointed sentence fragments and all.

Verity pulled up the sheet over his shoulders and then hugged him, careful to keep her skin from touching his. "Did you relive it when she did?"

On the bright side, if there were any night mares currently in the room, the feelings that little gesture brought forth would surely have banished them. God, he loved her so much, she was so good at knowing when he needed the comfort of physical contact while also being aware of what skin-on-skin contact might do. Especially now, where something he was prone to naturally seemed to be happening on a much wider scale, so that precaution was just as much for her benefit as his.

He nodded, swallowing past the lump in his throat.

Of course she was. She loved him. Simple as that.

"I'm sorry," she said, keeping up the continued sheet-cuddling. "Bitch of a day to wear long sleeves and gloves. Might wanna come up with an excuse if someone asks."

“You know, no one ever has?” Liam said somewhat wonderingly. “Kinda nice, honestly.”

"I do appreciate how willing everyone is to stay out of everyone else's business," Verity murmured.

Of course, Liam would later find out that gloves and long sleeves made no difference, to his chagrin.

"Except when it's forced on them." So far, at least he'd had the good luck to have it only happen with people he trusted. And Yasha, who, okay, he didn't know super well, but she was Beau's friend and someone he'd already risked his life for, so she was kind of included in that group anyway.

"And then we generally have the decency to pretend like that didn't happen," Verity said. "What can I do for you right now?"

“Wasn’t I asking you that a few minutes ago?” Liam asked, frown creasing his features.

"You're the one in distress currently," Verity reminded him. "You get precedence."

Liam made a bit of a face. “I’d like to not be ‘in distress’ so damn much, honestly,” he admitted.

Though really, it had been months, even the post-therapy-session related crash had been pretty mild lately.

"I mean, tell that to the island," Verity said, gesturing around. "That's not a you-problem."

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