Has Cat; Will Shamble [Closed]

[lovesthecure]

When: November 30th.
Where: Home
Rating: PG-13
Characters: R and Julie
Summary: R (R!) tries to talk to Julie. There is also a cat.


R was holding a cat. Paintbrush. He had been working on saying her name, but it wasn't going so well yet - in his mind. He really was getting better. But he didn't want to stumble over the name, so he was merely holding the confused kitten out. Toward Julie.

Julie. Who had been silent for so long since coming home. Who hadn't wanted to talk about what she had seen, or been through. Julie, who had left and come back - he still didn't know how. The same way he had come, no doubt. 


Mpw hew as trying to get her to talk. WIthout talking. By holding a cat out.\

"Julie..." he added after a moment, to at least catch his attention. Look. Look at the cat. It's cute. Look at the cuteness and melt. So that he can talk to you. It's a bad plan, perhaps - but it's the best one he's been able to come to since Julie left and returned...

Comments

[grigio]

Some day, Julie will tell R that him holding Paintbrush is probably one of the sweetest things she's ever seen.

Not just yet, though. At the moment, Julie's busy with a sketch.

Boneys. She's been drawing a lot of them lately, so there's a clue as to what exactly went on back home.

Her gold eyes look up at a confused mew and when she spots R and Paintbrush, she smiles despite the fact that it almost makes her feel bad for her silence.

No, scratch Almost. It made her feel bad. She spent so much time encouraging him to talk, and then suddenly she was silent. She felt like a hypocrite.

She closes her sketchpad, setting it on the floor before standing and walking over.

She knows what he's doing and she appreciates it. Paintbrush is taken carefully and set on the arm of the sofa and Julie wraps her arms around R.

It's a hug. A big one. One she may not end any time soon.

"I'm sorry." For being quiet. For being what she considers rude. For being a pain in the ass in her own silent way.

[lovesthecure]

"talk." It's one word. More a plea than a demand. But she's Julie, Owner of the melodious voice. With the twisting rhytems that come with living words, the soft cadences of perfection... he doesn't like it when she doesn't talk. He can't read her eyes the way he can her voice. He doesn't know how.

He just hopes she likes this. That this is working. That he didn't just make her more upset. Are you an idiot, R? Why did you make her feel guilty? That wasn't what you wanted at all....


"Please...."

[grigio]

She remains quiet,, a slow inhale and an exhale the only sign that she's even remotely here. She's having a hard time not remembering home and the kitten in her arms doesn't really do much to hold her attention.

It's R's 'please' that gets her attention. She looks over at him, surprise and pride on her face.

"Wow. I've never heard you say 'please' that clearly before. Good job." As flat as her tone is, she means it. It's in the smile on her face. She settles on the floor, Paintbrush pouncing away from her to chase her shoelaces.

"Talk, huh? About home?"

She...can try?

"We fix things, R. You and I. We...I don't know how...but we fix things. You get better. The Boneys die."

But she looks tired. Weighed down.

And here's what's upsetting her.

"My dad dies."

If he still has the occasional message from Perry, maybe Perry told him that Julie's relationship with her dad wasn't that great to begin with? That the General was emotionally distant at best and it hurt Julie the most.

[lovesthecure]

It's nothing he doesn't already know. It was written all over... everything he'd gotten, really. PErry and her dad. Two peas in separate pods that liked to shake fists from across the culinary table every once in a while. But parents...

He couldn't remember his own. Just maybe a distant memory of warmth. The bare idea of what parenthood should be. Enough to tell him that this is bad.

"He was..." Mean? Anti-zombie? Not good enough for her? Someone who loved her? R assumes he didn't come back, or it would be mentioned.

"Sorry."

[grigio]

Julie finally steps back from R, hand running through her hair. This was a lot to tell him. He'd experience it in his own time, and she knew telling him what was coming wouldn't change anything back home. He wouldn't remember when he left.

She just needed to hear it to process it better. Let it out so it doesn't eat her from the inside.

She just keeps it simple.

"Boneys got him. They come for you in Citi Stadium because they don't like that you're changing. It scares them. It shakes up their authority. It starts a change in the other Zombies and the Boneys come after us for it." For now, she'll leave off the part where R dressed in human drag and broke into Citi Stadium to find her and warn her.

"We run. End up on top of Citi Stadium. Dad doesn't believe you're changing so he tries to shoot you. We...you and I kiss and it's a huge catalyst that brings you back." And changes her eyes.

"Dad thinks I'd been infected and goes after me. He slips...catches himself on the edge of the roof and a Boney climbs up and bites him."

Does Julie have to go into detail about how rapidly people deteriorate once they're bitten by one of those things?

[lovesthecure]

"They... turned him?" Would he allow himself to be turned like that? Could it be possible? He didn't think Julie's dad would let himself be a zombie. A corpse. And Julie had said... Dead.


Wait.

"He... shot... you?" What? How gone did he have to be, to shoot at his daughter like that? HOw much did he hate humans?

[grigio]

"He missed. One of his friends, Rosso? He stops my dad."

This is exhausting to talk about, R. And she can guess what he's thinking.

"This was before the Boney got him."

[lovesthecure]

He continues staring at her. He wondered if she'll continue. Or if she's done. She hasn't told him yet what happens...