i'll tell you now, i didn't even mean it — open

[heckofashot]

Who: Maccready & You!
What: A chance for people to follow up with Maccready following the shooting of Bigby & Kieren.
When: Mid to late May.
Where: Around Milton.

Content Warnings: Discussions of gunshot wounds, lingering effects of Glimmerfog. Anything else in headers.

Comments

[pythianwoman]

Zoey keeps a comfortable distance between them as she drops her hands and tucks them in her pockets. Trying her best to appear steadier than she is. Not that how pale and flushed she looks isn’t giving away just how awful she feels. It’s not important. And she’s always been better at focusing on other people’s problems than her own. She prefers to shove HER illness under the rug.

She arches an eyebrow at him as he tells her he’s fine. That’s not entirely true, and she doesn’t even need her seer gifts to know that. Not with how strained it was.

“And no, it’s not an issue at all. I did mean it, though. As weird as it might seem, coming from a random fucking stranger. I wanted to see how you were doing, because I know how awful it is, to do something to someone when you’re not in your right mind.” She tips her head in the direction of where she’s staying. He's right, she does live nearby. “I live a couple houses away. Do you drink coffee? Tea?”

Or something stronger, honestly.

[heckofashot]

The convenient thing, is that pale and flushed comes with the weather — Maccready barely bats an eye at her appearance, to him, nothing looks out of the ordinary. He doesn't miss the way her brow arches at his answer, though. Of course, he'd been kind of hoping she'd buy it, but his experiences have usually told him most people don't — they're just too polite to call others on it.

A theory that goes on to be proven once again when she doesn't, instead choosing to insist that he's not being a bother. Her way with words has him snorting a little, the barest trace of humour, short-lived as it is, slipping away for something closer to curiosity as she expresses that she understands what it is he's gone through. Frankly, he wouldn't wish it on his enemies, it's a pity, then, that she knows.

"That's kind, but—" he starts, words trailing off lamely, the intent to turn her down all but dying on his tongue alongside his voice. Maybe it wouldn't be such a terrible idea, if he could at least garner how she apparently managed with her own bout of being in the wrong mind, as it were. The draw of a warm drink isn't too bad, either. He gestures ahead with a hand before stuffing it in his own pocket. "Lead the way, then."

[pythianwoman]

Zoey expects him to decline; she wouldn’t blame him. He’s going through a lot, and being around company probably isn’t something he’d be in the mood for. But he doesn’t. He almost does, the words are right on his tongue, but then he trails off, he changes his mind and tells her to lead the way. She’s startled and pleased in turn, giving him a little grin before she turns and starts moving towards her home.

It doesn’t take them long to reach it, because she really doesn’t live very far from Bigby at all, and she unlocks the front door and holds it open for him. “Welcome to my humble abode,” she says with a soft little laugh.

[heckofashot]

He's used to being on his own, is the crux of it. Used to it and in ways more comfortable with it, but he also knows that it's not necessarily the absolute best position to be in. Understanding or no, driving wedges between himself and the other people here would do him no favours in the long run, and he's approaching most people here as potential allies for when shit eventually goes sideways.

So, he follows her, spares a short glance towards the direction in which Bigby is currently no doubt resting, and continues on after her quietly. At the door, he ducks his head in a small acknowledgement and steps in, making sure to knock the snow off of his boots before he does. The comment earns her a small, if stilted, laugh in return.

"Hey, long as you've got four walls and a roof..." It's such a nothing remark, but it speaks to how even now he's still kind of in awe at the relative comfort of this place.