so darling, darling stand by me (closed; mira, raleigh. dated to 5/20.)

[davin]

After spending most of the day in the hospital, Davin was released with a cast on his right hand and a few stitches in his temple, along with other various bandages. His face is bruised but Joel's potion, along with Davin's own, helped with the swelling. The prognosis on his hand is good, and for that Davin is relieved. He knows a lot of it had to do with Joel's potion. It helped repair the bones and get them all in the right place by the time he went in for x-rays, so he didn't even have to have surgery on it. His own potion will help speed along the healing process, but for now he's stuck with this cast and the sobering realization of how much it sucks to not be able to use your dominant hand.

James brought him home and Davin got him to help make a batch of hot cocoa, because nothing, not even being under blankets in the hospital, made him feel warm. It wasn't until he had cocoa in his belly and James' arms around him in bed that he was finally able to relax and sink into that warmth, allowing himself to really sleep for the first time in days.

Now, an entire day has passed since he and Spencer were saved from that warehouse, and Davin is already feeling a little better. He moves to the couch with a new batch of cocoa, burrowing under a pile of blankets even though it's perfectly pleasant outside. He just can't seem to chase that chill away, not unless James' arms are around him.

Davin assures James that it's okay for him to go down to the station for awhile, and tells him that he has friends coming over to look after him. He leaves with a kiss and a promise to bring back some food, and Davin watches him go with a soft smile.

He hasn't seen Mira or Raleigh since he was taken, and he's missed them terribly. He spoke to them both briefly on the phone, and now they're on their way over. The door is locked up tight until Joel can come teach him how to set up wards, but Mira has a key and instructions to let herself in. Davin curls up in his nest of blankets and carefully moves until he finds a position that isn't too hard on his cracked ribs.

His friends will be here soon, and then James will come back. It's okay; he's safe. Davin takes a breath and closes his eyes, drifting off into a light sleep while he waits.

Comments

[astra_inclinant]

Mira hasn't stopped worrying, imagining things in greater and more grotesque detail, since she heard Davin and Spencer had been kidnapped - especially when she and Raleigh weren't able to find anything. She's spent the last couple of days feeling increasingly useless. Etta's heard about it, her boss, even that new kid Gabe who's crashing with them has had to deal with her pacing and occasionally bursting out with frustration that the police aren't doing more ("He's dating a detective!").

She'd have been at the hospital in a heartbeat but between police and protective nurses, and work, she was scolded away from too much contact.

But as soon as they're invited over? She's there. With food she baked for freezing and microwaving, because who the fuck wants to bake when they're recovering?

She should feel great to have them back, and she does, but her hands are shaking a little as she opens the door, still imagining the extent of injuries or what she can't see. All the terror she's forced down with sternness and anger for three days. She has to keep herself from throwing herself at Davin on the couch. Instead she tiptoes to the kitchen, puts the food up stalwartly, and crawls onto the couch next to him, trying not to disturb him. Or to start crying.

[callmeemily]

She can't really do hospitals. Raleigh's tried before, she's done them when she's had to, but they make her skin crawl, make her climb the walls with just how antsy they make her. It's half her leg, half the mess that'd happened with the Siren here, and that's why she ends up here instead of visiting him in the hospital-- she hopes he doesn't mind.

Obviously, she's taken a page from Mira's book because she's brought food for him, and when she hears Mira's voice saying it's open when she announces herself-- it's a comfort, too, because they'd spent a lot of this whole thing together, being terrified and upset.

"Hey," she says weakly, shutting the door behind her. She puts the food in the fridge first before she comes back, and it's just sort of what happens, the way she hovers in the doorway, in a similar state to Mira; she doesn't want to disturb him, but she also is fighting back tears, because that's what she's been doing for days. Thank god he's alright. Not alright. Alive. Thank god he's alive.

[davin]

Davin hears voices and feels pressure against his leg, and he's suddenly incredibly awake. He tenses and shoots into a sitting position, scrambling backwards. For a moment he's back in that warehouse, splashing through cold water, but he takes a breath and everything becomes clear. He's on a soft, warm, dry couch, and he's okay. He's safe.

A soft whimper of pain escapes him when he presses him back into the corner of the sofa, thanks to the sudden jarring of his ribs, and he opens his eyes to see Mira and Raleigh looking at him in concern. His heart is racing and he takes a deep breath, resting his cast against his chest as he gives them a small, embarrassed smile.

"Sorry, I just--" He swallows hard and shakes his head. There's no need to explain, and he doesn't think he could find the words even if he wanted to. "I'm a little jumpy, I s'pose."

He shakes his head and smiles up at them, feeling relief at seeing them again. "It's good t'see the both of ya, it really is."

[astra_inclinant]

Davin jumps up, scrambling backward, and Mira feels a shoot of guilt and fear for her friend stab through her. "Hey, hey," she says, quiet and tentative if she's talking to a wounded animal, hands out; she shoots a worried look up at Raleigh. "It's just us, you're okay, it's Mira and Raleigh. You're home."

What did they do to him? She kind of wants to kill somebody right now, do something, do anything.

"Yeah, well, you're forgiven this time," she says, with a roll of her eyes that's more flippant than she feels. "Are you seriously apologizing?"

"It's really, really good to see you," she adds more quietly.

[callmeemily]

Raleigh'd just been hovering by the kitchen doorway, waiting to kind of see - well. How he'd react, really. She's been through this enough by herself and with her friends that she tends to wait first and actually talk later, and when he spooks she just-- she knows, and she hates that her eyes get shiny because she knows what it's like to react that way.

God. She's got to take a page out of Mira's book, and she knows she can't treat him like glass, even though she needs to be careful about not hurting him. "Hey, just an FYI," she says as she comes into the living room and perches at the other end of the sofa, trying to give him quite a bit of room, "But you're pretty much set on food for the rest of your life. Hope you don't mind not having to cook." She smiled as she said it, but she's still figuring out what's the best way to interact with him, just so that she doesn't make it worse.

[davin]

They're both looking at him a little like he's made of spun sugar, and he kind of hates that. He doesn't feel weak for what he went through, and he doesn't want to be treated as such. They're just trying to make him comfortable, and he appreciates that, but he doesn't want things to change.

"I never mind not havin' t'cook, so I 'ppreciate it." He chuckles sleepily and sits up, leaning in to wrap his good arm around Mira's shoulders to pull her in, squeezing her arm and rocking her back and forth a bit. "C'mon, I'm not gonna break. Just watch my ribs an' I'll be okay. I'm here, alright? I'm gonna be fine."

He looks at Raleigh over Mira's shoulder and lifts the hand with the cast on it, wiggling his bruised fingers to gesture her over. He knows how worried they were, and he was told how they went out on their own to look for them. They've made him feel loved, and he's just so glad that they're here.

[astra_inclinant]

Mira lets herself be tugged in. "I know," she admits, "but you practically carried me up the stairs when I wasn't sleeping, so I think I'm allowed a few minutes of sniffles over you being actually kidnapped." She leans into the hug, careful not to put too much weight on his ribs.

"Raleigh's not lying about the food," she adds after a second. "I don't know what all she made, but it's on top of a couple casseroles." She laughs, embarrassed at how trite that seems. Not much they could do after they attempted the badass method to no result.

[callmeemily]

Raleigh settles herself on the couch, closer to him, and she nods. "I know you're not going to break," she says with a shake of her head. "Didn't think you were." She smiles at him, shifting so that she's curled up on the couch. "But yeah - there's ice cream and a couple of pot pies and maaaaaybe there's a chocolate potato cake in there." She raises her brows, looking over at Davin. "You should be set for a while, unless you have a huge party or something." That's pretty much off the table right now, but that doesn't mean she can't make the joke.

[davin]

"Well, with how starvin' I've been, plus the strappin' officer that's been hangin' around, I'm sure it won't go to waste." He doesn't tell them that sometimes James has to ask him to eat something, even though Davin doesn't really want to. He goes through periods of having no appetite at all, and then eating everything in sight. Depends on his mood. "I really do appreciate it. Thanks."

They settled on either side of him and Davin slumps back against the sofa, resting his head against the back of it and smiling at them. "So, ya totally missed me, huh?"

He's trying to make a joke, but his voice cracks a little and he swallows hard, blinking a few times. He missed them so much, and it almost feels a little surreal to be right back here with them after everything. But that's what Davin wants. He just wants things to go back to normal.

He doesn't know if they can, but that's what he wants.

[astra_inclinant]

"No thanks needed," Mira says automatically, waving a hand. "I didn't have much other way to be useful, so..."

"Nah, we just got in that quality girl time we'd been missing out on and talked shit about you," she jokes, but her joke is basically as effective as Davin's. She'd been horribly, desperately scared that he'd die in a thousand gruesome ways, or never be found, or come back with no memory, or -- like, a lot of things, okay -- and just being able to sit on his couch
and make dumb jokes is relieving. "Yeah." She tucks her head in against his shoulder, willing herself to be less fragile. "Can you maybe not with the kidnapping in future? I think that sounds good."

[callmeemily]

"'Course I missed you," Raleigh said as she leaned her head back on his shoulder, not quite curled up against his side because of his afformentioned ribs, but she's pretty close. "Mira and Oscar and I pretty much missed you a ton." She smiles, and she's trying to do the same thing-- try and be normal.

"I mean, you've got the comfiest couch, and who else will we watch Netflix with?" She's teasing him a little, and she's trying not to talk about the kidnapping, about what happened unless he wants to.

[davin]

They're both leaning against him, heads on his shoulders, and it's a comforting weight. Being bracketed by them makes him feel safe and loved, and he wrap his arms around their shoulders. His cast rests against Mira's chest and he curls his fingers around Raleigh's arm, giving her a little squeeze. "It's good t'be back with my harem, I have t'say."

He's laughing at the joke, but there's obvious emotion in his voice. He kisses the top of Raleigh's head, and then Mira's, resting his cheek against her thick hair. "No more kidnappings, only Netflix. Got it."