losthunter | Thorn in the Garden of Life

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Thorn in the Garden of Life

Hunter paced his apartment, his phone in one hand, and a list of phone numbers in his other hand. He just got off the phone with Marcus, one of the six other people who had been given a gift by Kendra. And had learned that Marcus had been attacked by Austin.

Luckily, Marcus was able to get away, without any major side effects.

But Hunter was now worried about the others. And so he was making calls to everyone else who he had talked to, and warned them about Austin so they could stay safe.

And he knew it was time to face Austin again. But even though he felt like it was an emergency, Hunter knew that it would be better to make sure someone else came with him. He also knew exactly who he wanted to have by his side.

Jim. Austin attacked another person. I feel like I need to deal with this. Are you available to come with me?

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Hunter pauses for a moment himself, before realizing that this is not a flashback any more. And Jim is back in the real world.

"Fuck..." Hunter approaches to gently wrap his arms around Jim. "That was scary. One moment you were moving around the living room, the next you were trying to climb the wall, and then..."

He has to collect himself and just hold onto Jim. "You were out of it for at least 15 minutes. Could have been longer."

Jim doesn't quite relax in Hunter's hold, nor does he hold him back, but he doesn't push him away either. To say that he's still confused is an understatement, only just now even recognizing Hunter and where he is.

"I don't... understand... what happened?"

What the hell was all that?

"I am not sure. I was making breakfast, when I saw you entering into living room." Hunter explained. "And then I just kept following you, to make sure you wouldn't hurt yourself."

"Breakfast?" That actually surprises him, and now that he's paying attention, he can see that it's daytime. When did that happen? "I thought... maybe it was nightmares." That the potion didn't work. "I slept?"

"It has been about eight hours since you took the potion." Hunter tells him. "You seemed to be sleeping during the night. But you didn't move at all the whole night."

"I was so scared that I kept checking your pulse, whenever I was awake."

"I don't remember that." That's the most disorienting part of it all, perhaps. He doesn't remember falling asleep, only being tired and then being in the warp core again. And then it was just... one memory after another. Until now.

But apparently that was later?

His body is slow to get the idea that he's safe now, that all the horrible experiences in his past are still in his past, half expecting to be plunged back into the nightmare at any moment. But he forces himself to relax his defensive posture, struggling to act as normal as possible, for his own sanity rather than to soothe his ego or anything. "It just... wouldn't stop."

Hunter gently guides Jim to the couch, so he can sit down if he wants. He is very concerned to hear that the flashbacks kept affecting Jim.

"It doesn't sound like that potion was any help..."

Sitting down is good. And now that he has more physical sensations to help anchor him in the here and now - the couch underneath his legs, Hunter's hand on his back - he's able to calm down a little.

"It wasn't... it wasn't all eight hours. I don't think." He's genuinely uncertain how long it lasted, but it doesn't seem like it was the entire time. "You said fifteen minutes?"

Hunter definitely doesn't like seeing Jim so disoriented. "Roughly. I was more concerned about watching you, than watching the time."

Luckily for both of them, Hunter hadn't started cooking anything for breakfast yet. He has a bunch of fruit on the counter, to prepare a smoothie.

That's certainly fair, because Jim doesn't like being disoriented either. He's getting back to normal, though, a little at a time. Especially now that it doesn't seem like he's going to go straight into more flashbacks, not right away anyway.

"Maybe a little longer." It's hard for him to really put a number to how long it actually lasted, but that sounds... roughly right. He doesn't quite shudder, but he does rub his hands over his face. "I don't think I dreamed while I was actually sleeping."

Hunter frowns. "Maybe that is why you had all those flashbacks at once."

He heads back into the kitchen, to start preparing the fruit to make them both a smoothie. "I don't think you should take the second one, later tonight. I would rather deal with you waking up in the middle of the night, then you wandering around the apartment all zoned out."

"Maybe," Jim agrees uneasily. It's as good a theory as any other. And he can't help but agree with Hunter's second idea. "I would too. That was... fucking terrifying." He's not ashamed to admit that, not to Hunter. He's so far out of his depth here, and he can't help but feel like he's actually going insane, that small knot of anxiety and terror hidden away inside of him even when he's not in the grips of a flashback. He knows damn well why this is happening, and that the curse will eventually wear off, but... he still worries.

"For a moment there... I thought I lost you to your memories..." Hunter frowns. "And I don't know what I would have done..."

Jim pulls the jacket a little tighter around his shoulders, staying put on the couch until he's more positive that he isn't about to relive yet another horrible experience from his past. "If that was what the curse was supposed to be like, then thank fuck we got Bill to make these for us."

"No fucking kidding... if the curse meant for you to relive those memories over and over again..." Hunter shakes his head. He can't even think about losing Jim like that. Where he would be stuck in the past.

He starts up the blender, to mix up the smoothies, before starting up another topic for them to concentrate on.

"I am making a breakfast pizza with tomatoes, goat cheese, basil and eggs. Do you feel up to helping?"

The sound of the blender startles him at first, though not enough to spark any new flashbacks, thank goodness. He rubs his hands over his face again, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "I, uh..." He wants to say yes, sure, but he's rattled enough that he doesn't think he'd be able to pretend everything's fine either. "I gotta... freshen up first."

"Go right ahead." Hunter knows that Jim can't really take a bath or a shower since he can't remove that jacket. But he can still wash his face.

Now that he feels relatively confident in his ability to get around again, Jim retreats to the bathroom to do what he can to make himself feel more... normal.

As if that were even possible.

Still, there's a lot he can do with a washcloth without taking off any clothes, and while he doesn't feel entirely refreshed, at least he feels human again.

He's in there for several long minutes before he comes back out, a bit less distressed than he was before, though the bizarre and awful awakening has already started his day off on the wrong foot. "So... breakfast pizza, huh?"

When Jim comes out of the bathroom, Hunter has the eggs starting to cook on a frying pan. He looks up at Jim's comment, with a small smile.

"Yes."

"I thought it would be interesting to try."

If Hunter is willing to try to act like nothing's wrong, Jim can try to do the same. He needs that kind of normalcy right now, and he's sure he's not the only one.

"Sounds like it. I don't think I've ever had it before."

"It is very much like an omelet, except you don't fold the eggs over. You place all your toppings onto the cooked eggs."

Hunter nods to a couple of large cups that are placed on the counter. "Could you pour the smoothies?"

"Sure." This whole can't-use-sharp-objects-or-heat-sources thing is getting incredibly irritating, and he reminds himself that it's just one more day, give or take. Besides, it could be worse.

"What's in this, anyway?" he asks as he gets two glasses out of the cupboard.

"Blueberries, oranges and spinach. And I added a tablespoon of protein powder." It is a typical breakfast smoothie for Hunter.

Jim's usually a coffee guy, but he's also up for trying new things. "Sounds interesting."

He pours the smoothies, wishing there was something else he could do to help, instead of just being a burden on Hunter. But he doesn't voice that, because he knows Hunter will just insist that he isn't, and then they'll just start the whole cycle of guilt all over again.

So instead, he acts as casually as he can manage. "So, what's the plan for today?"

It is a weird situation right now. And Hunter can't wait for it to end. He doesn't know how to spend the rest of their day, without causing more memories to be triggered. He is slowly running out of ideas.

And he hates how they are getting stuck in that cycle of guilt too.

He raises an eyebrow at how casual Jim is pretending to be. "I have a few books that we could read."

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