[ if it makes dean feel any better, max has been a little too caught up in her own issues to reach out either. and it feels like something she definitely should have done before she noticed he was calling her. there's a pang of guilt when she sees who it is; he's the one who's new to this place, she should have tried to make sure he was okay once she'd gotten out. but she picks up anyway, sounding a little drained and not very happy. ]
( as far as dean's concerned, she doesn't owe him anything. and he is the kind of guilt. also bad decisions. alcoholism. rage. he's the king of all that's questionable.
but, hey, she answered. maybe everything on his end will be red flags from here on out. )
Hey.
( he sits forward. )
Sorry for not reaching out sooner. I found out a friend of mine is also here. ( he was worried. it took precedent. ) Did your stomach drop when you learned Alec was in the city, too?
No, it's okay. It's not like I did, either. [ he might pick up on her guilt over that, she doesn't really have the energy to hide it right now. but he sounds like he's okay, or at least not broken over what they'd gone through. ] I'm glad you made it out.
[ he mentions having found a friend of his here, and whatever residual guilt she'd had in her voice is immediately replaced with concern. ]
You did? How long have they been here? [ his next question requires a bit of explanation. ]
Yes and no. He didn't let me know he was here at first, I found out about it through the network. [ so she was pretty pissed off at first. ]
( He doesn't know how long they were both in there, or if everybody escaped at the same time. He did try to find her once he was chained to Kirk and back in his right mind.
...He didn't. But, he tried. )
I found about it through a boss I didn't remember. Right before the sex dungeon. ( She can imagine the timing. ) Cas has been here a few months. He was locked up for not signing a contract.
[ that makes her laugh, though it's short and lacking any humor. ] He ended up being locked up for that too, during a time where I couldn't do anything about it for a week. He ended up finding somebody, but she got sent back. [ at least he has another three months to find someone else, but it's still troubling, since she's already signed with someone and can't switch to sign with him if his clock ends up running out again.
there's a beat of silence, and then: ]
Is it the same situation, is he not someone you can sign with?
[ he's not speaking specifically but she thinks she gets what he means. ]
I'm from a few months after he is. A lot can happen in a few months. [ nothing she particularly feels like getting into, but just to let him know she gets it. ] Good to hear he's got someone in the meantime, though.
[ as for him, at least he has some time to figure a partner out. ]
Are you - all right? After everything that happened after the ball?
( That's right, he hasn't actually said Cas' name. But, she seems to get it. They're in similar situations, it sounds like.
A lot can happen in a few days. Don't get him started on the overlap. )
Me? I'm fine. Alive. Not streaking through the streets. ( Not frozen to death. ) Recognized one of the statues at the market, so, they're back to normal.
( He has a job and is looking to have a second job maybe. A few hours at the garage. )
[ he should tell her, she already works there! (at this point is there a spot in duplicity where max isn't working? ]
Good. [ she sounds relieved about that on both accounts; she'd seen a few people on her way out of the dungeon but at that point everyone was kind of hard to recognize. and she hasn't really had time to look into it since then. there's a little bit of a pause, and she sounds hesitant when she continues. ]
I don't - I'm not sure what the effects were in there, if we were somehow drugged and didn't know it. That tends to happen a lot and sometimes it's hard to tell.
[ even as she broaches the topic, she's not sure if it's something she should do, if talking about what they'd done or even what had happened after they'd gotten separated would help or hurt him. ]
( sounds like the beginning to a joke, chandler bing-style. )
It didn't feel like it. I've been under something like that before. The thrall. ( Dracula-style. ) I think we were us.
( And he was under the influence after. When they were separated he doesn't remember what he did, but he did it. He supposes he doesn't know, but this is best for them both. He's not about to guilt her or himself. He doesn't regret it. Should he say that. )
It'd been a long time for me. ( Which - isn't what he means, is it. ) You... okay with it? I'm sorry if --
[ the affectation of his voice makes her laugh, quite unexpectedly. but she also feels relieved. she's also been pretty sure that she, at least, was still in her own mind when what had happened had happened, but she hasn't been sure if he was and he's still new enough to this place that she wouldn't feel great about it if he'd been affected and she wasn't. ]
I think we were, too. [ her answer to his next question is answered quickly, maybe a little too fast for his taste, but she means it. ] I'm okay, yeah. But I've been here for a while. I wanted to make sure you were.
( he really believes he wasn't, and in the hierarchy of what he's concerned with, especially with the ball, it's low. he knows how he felt and how she looked and how close they were to each other. he remembers how easily it was to unclip her bra, and slip her panties down. if he's this lucid about it after the fact, yeah, he's good. what's the saying? smile because it happened? )
What I've been up against, and lived through, that was nothing. Ask me again when teenage Sabrinas try to use me to steal a spellbook. Or, a siren tries to get me to off my brother. Not saying thrall's not a thing, here. Just that getting lost in a cave and finding a moment with a pretty friend's not so bad.
[ she's good with it if he is, and even if she's not sure if it was a great decision for either of them, considering, she doesn't regret it. for the record (not that she's stating this, since he hasn't asked), things went pretty well, considering they were trapped in an underground lair. ]
Okay. Good. [ she sounds a little lighter with that having been settled, though a little thrown off about everything he's just said. ] I mean, I don't know what you'd call what ended up leading you down there in the first place, or what removed our clothes.
( definitely one for the, as well as they were going to go, column. it's what happened after without her that he's not great with, and openly pushing down. it helps that it's all a blur. )
I don't know, horny pied piper with a side of reality bending?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Hey.
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but, hey, she answered. maybe everything on his end will be red flags from here on out. )
Hey.
( he sits forward. )
Sorry for not reaching out sooner. I found out a friend of mine is also here. ( he was worried. it took precedent. ) Did your stomach drop when you learned Alec was in the city, too?
no subject
[ he mentions having found a friend of his here, and whatever residual guilt she'd had in her voice is immediately replaced with concern. ]
You did? How long have they been here? [ his next question requires a bit of explanation. ]
Yes and no. He didn't let me know he was here at first, I found out about it through the network. [ so she was pretty pissed off at first. ]
no subject
( He doesn't know how long they were both in there, or if everybody escaped at the same time. He did try to find her once he was chained to Kirk and back in his right mind.
...He didn't. But, he tried. )
I found about it through a boss I didn't remember. Right before the sex dungeon. ( She can imagine the timing. ) Cas has been here a few months. He was locked up for not signing a contract.
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there's a beat of silence, and then: ]
Is it the same situation, is he not someone you can sign with?
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( He's quick to get that out, not that she questioned. But, she makes him think all the same. )
We're off, now. ( They're on different time frames. ) He signed when he thought he didn't have a choice. He didn't know I was here. He trusts her.
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I'm from a few months after he is. A lot can happen in a few months. [ nothing she particularly feels like getting into, but just to let him know she gets it. ] Good to hear he's got someone in the meantime, though.
[ as for him, at least he has some time to figure a partner out. ]
Are you - all right? After everything that happened after the ball?
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A lot can happen in a few days. Don't get him started on the overlap. )
Me? I'm fine. Alive. Not streaking through the streets. ( Not frozen to death. ) Recognized one of the statues at the market, so, they're back to normal.
( He has a job and is looking to have a second job maybe. A few hours at the garage. )
no subject
Good. [ she sounds relieved about that on both accounts; she'd seen a few people on her way out of the dungeon but at that point everyone was kind of hard to recognize. and she hasn't really had time to look into it since then. there's a little bit of a pause, and she sounds hesitant when she continues. ]
I don't - I'm not sure what the effects were in there, if we were somehow drugged and didn't know it. That tends to happen a lot and sometimes it's hard to tell.
[ even as she broaches the topic, she's not sure if it's something she should do, if talking about what they'd done or even what had happened after they'd gotten separated would help or hurt him. ]
no subject
It didn't feel like it. I've been under something like that before. The thrall. ( Dracula-style. ) I think we were us.
( And he was under the influence after. When they were separated he doesn't remember what he did, but he did it. He supposes he doesn't know, but this is best for them both. He's not about to guilt her or himself. He doesn't regret it. Should he say that. )
It'd been a long time for me. ( Which - isn't what he means, is it. ) You... okay with it? I'm sorry if --
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I think we were, too. [ her answer to his next question is answered quickly, maybe a little too fast for his taste, but she means it. ] I'm okay, yeah. But I've been here for a while. I wanted to make sure you were.
no subject
What I've been up against, and lived through, that was nothing. Ask me again when teenage Sabrinas try to use me to steal a spellbook. Or, a siren tries to get me to off my brother. Not saying thrall's not a thing, here. Just that getting lost in a cave and finding a moment with a pretty friend's not so bad.
no subject
Okay. Good. [ she sounds a little lighter with that having been settled, though a little thrown off about everything he's just said. ] I mean, I don't know what you'd call what ended up leading you down there in the first place, or what removed our clothes.
no subject
I don't know, horny pied piper with a side of reality bending?