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box | 6/3 aka the raven reunion clusterfuck | gansey, ronan, adam, noah
[gansey practically leaps off the train when they can finally disembark, his heart pounding with excitement and fear. of course, just about everyone else is doing the exact same thing, which goes a way to thwart his ability to find his friends. other people who are obviously familiar with each other mill around the cars, so gansey finally moves a bit away from them, and then goes about things the very old fashioned way.
shouting.
at least that distinctive tone of his carries.]
Ronan! Parrish! Noah! Over here!
shouting.
at least that distinctive tone of his carries.]
Ronan! Parrish! Noah! Over here!
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He left his sweater on it. For the first time in seven years his white button-down shirt is visible, the tie loosened, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, hair forcibly mussed just for a change from being pushed back from his face.
His face.
He doesn't have a smudge. There's a faint bruise from falling off a bunk earlier, of course right in the same spot the smudge was, and it's the ugly yellow-green-purple of healing.]
Gansey!
[Noah runs towards Gansey as soon as he spots him. Then trips, falls, scrambles back up onto his feet and continues and hey look he is not slowing down-
A very real, very solid, Noah kind of runs straight into Gansey to embrace his friend. Thank goodness Noah was never particularly 'built' even in life. He will however not be letting go of Gansey any time soon.]
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noah isn't cold, at least not like how noah has always been cold. how strange. gansey wraps his arms around noah's shoulders and pats his hair in a way that somehow doesn't feel condescending.]
Noah. Hey.
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He sniff, very loudly, pressing his face against Gansey's shoulder and holding on to him tight, shoulders shaking.]
You're here, you're really here, I'm not alone, oh thank god I'm not alone.
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[he says it like there was no room for doubt, but it's okay that noah doubted. this whole thing is madness, after all. gansey still smells of mint, as he's been carefully rationing the leaves he always keeps in his pocket, and he's warm and solid and as reassuring as he usually looks. his hand on noah's head is a little sweaty with relief, which means it just barely tugs sometimes as he cards fingers through noah's hair. like a child, really, but he remembers watching noah do it to blue all the time.]
Remember to breathe, Noah.
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He doesn't see Ronan - he'd be too distinct to miss - and it takes him a moment to reconcile the Noah he knows with the one he sees. It's also more difficult because Noah and Gansey are rather, well, wrapped around one another. Not that Adam blames them.
Noah's real. This is weird. But Noah's here, and that's more important. He speeds up his stride, carrying him to them.]
Gansey. Noah.
[He doesn't even try to keep the relief from his voice.]
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He only looks up when he hears Adam's voice, detaching an arm from around Gansey to hold out for Adam, to try and pull Adam into the hug too if he is foolish enough to step close enough.]
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Hugging Adam isn't that great. He doesn't have a lot of practice, so he's too stiff and cautious, always holding himself back just a little. But he tries, slipping an arm around Noah and reaching out with his other hand to clasp Gansey's shoulder. They're here, they're together, and they just need Ronan and then everything will be - well. Not okay. But better.]
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[Ronan's presence is introduced by his usual biting wit and a matching screech from Chainsaw, perched on his shoulder. As soon as she's sure that they're safe and there's no immediate danger, she spreads her wings, knocking her feathers against the back of his head and taking flight. Two days in a cramped train car doesn't really give birds a lot of time to stretch and so she takes advantage of the space they have now, while Ronan moves toward the group, stopping just short of where they're all embracing.
He shoves his hands in his pockets and raises a skeptical eyebrow at their antics, but there's a note of relief in his features, even so. They're all safe and here on the same train. Regardless of where they are now, that's the most important thing.
There's a pause as he glances over them all, noting the strange presence of Noah, which is perhaps the strangest thing of all this.]
You are alive. Shit man, you really weren't kidding.
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I'm glad you're okay. Watch out, Noah is a little clingy.
[like he blames him, or has tons of room to judge right at this second, when his knees feel rubbery with relief at seeing them all together again.]
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Even with the biting sarcasm, Ronan's presence makes the world a bit more bright and easier to manage as well, even if Noah huffs at his last comment, attempting to look indignant.]
Like I'd joke about that!
[There is a brief pause after that while Noah considers himself hugging Adam after Gansey has detached Noah from his person while Gansey hugs Ronan. Then he is dragging Adam with him to close the distance between the two groups for one raven boy group hug.
He just had to deal with being alive and sleeping and needing to drink water and shit okay he thinks it's okay to be a bit clingy to his friends for a little while.]
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He's crowded against Gansey and Ronan, and it's overwhelming and he's going to step away in about .5 seconds, but for now he just reaches out and takes hold of Ronan's upper arm, to be sure he's real. He smiles at Ronan, and at Gansey, and he lets Noah hug him and pull him into the group for just a tiny bit longer.]
You're late, Lynch. Not full of arrows, though. Good.
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-had to make sure Chainsaw got out okay, [he finally mumbles against Noah's shoulder in response to Adam,] bow-and-arrow psycho might have tried something.
[But it's fine and she's soaring happily over them, and Ronan just lets out a sigh, easing a fraction of the tension that he has in his shoulders before pulling sharply back out of the hug.]
Alright, alright, enough. [They're still close enough together and blocking enough of the view between them that Ronan feels relatively safe in tugging a cylindrical object out from under his shirt and shoving it toward Gansey. Adam had told him not to in case someone was looking for him, but an epipen is small enough that he'd felt pretty safe in taking it in hopes that he'd be able to get it to Gansey. A knife might have been a smarter option, what with Katniss as freaked as she is, but he'd only been able to sleep once since their arrival and he's still a little too shaken to think things entirely through.]
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Fine, fine. I think we've embarrassed you sufficiently.
[gansey's smiling, small and relieved, but then ronan pulls out the epipen. his eyes and grin widen simultaneously, and when he reaches out to take it he gives ronan's hand the briefest squeeze. it makes something in his chest ache that ronan took the risk of dreaming it up for him.]
Thanks, Ronan.
[no one knows better than gansey how utterly unsavable he'd be if he was stung out in the middle of...wherever they are. it's something he'd only told blue, really. that doesn't make the gift worth any less. he slips the epipen into his pocket and goes back to listlessly patting noah's hair.]
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I don't know, he could be embarrassed more.
[He genuinely does not mind the Gansey security blanket, letting go of Adam and returning to clinging to Gansey.
He was very physically affectionate regarding people he flirted with, but ... Noah honestly can't remember if he ever was outside of that, when he was alive. After he died it was obviously a bad idea. Too cold. Too dead. Draw away. Whether or not he wanted it before didn't chance how much it was missed when it was no longer a possibility. Blue was wonderful that way, she never minded he was cold, even before she knew why. Surrounded by mothers who give out physical affection like it was going out of style, she never had a problem with him petting her hair, with hugging him, leaning against him. Now that he doesn't feel like something between a corpse and a winter wind, he feels completely starved for human contact.
So yes, Gansey, the others have no idea how much they owe you for falling on that sword. Noah rests his chin on Gansey's shoulder, looking around curiously. He has his friends. He would like Blue here too but he is not alone and that is most important.]
...What do we do now?
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The hug wasn't bad, but it was too much for Adam, and he can think more clearly now that Noah's not hanging off him. He pulls himself up straight, answers Noah's question.]
Find supplies. There's no food in those cars, I'm sure we're all hungry. After that... I'm not sure. I'm trying to figure out what we can do, but our options are limited.
[Think of a way out of this, Ronan had asked, but what can they do if there's no way out?]
We'll have to split up and get back on the trains when they leave. It doesn't seem like we have a choice.
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Adam had told him to lay low, but he doesn't want to cower back when he could be making their survival easier.]
Supplies first. Before we get back on, leave me a list of shit you guys think might be necessary- important things. I'll have them by next time.
[There's a pause, and Ronan glances back toward the cars for a moment, uneasy. He'd told Adam that his car was devoid of any significant furniture he could use to hide his spoils, but saying that now feels- cowardly, maybe. If they need things, he'll make sure they get them, end of story.]
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We don't know where the lines are here, if we're even near one--unless you do, Parrish, in which case feel free to correct me--and being subtle wouldn't hurt. Let's see what we can find before we start draining our resources.
Like Adam said, food first, and then anything that'd be useful camping--matches, utility knives, rope, et cetera. If you grab canned food, don't forget something to open it with. Let's try to find something for Ronan to sleep on. Does anyone else not have a bed?
[gansey starts out slow, but gradually gains steam as he slips into his leader-y spot. by the end it almost sounds like he has a plan.]
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Cabeswater is still with Adam. Noah can feel it this close to him, feel that that's what the feeling of it was earlier. Beyond that...
He's never been on another ley line. Would he even know if it was there if it wasn't 'his'?]
My train car has some beds. Not enough but some... and showers and bathrooms.
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[He remembers what Cabeswater had shown him once, a network of ley lines everywhere. But though Adam thinks he can feel them in the back of his mind, he doesn't have the time to scry for them, not really. Not when the train they're on will be far away from anything he finds before he can do anything about it.
But Cabeswater is there in his head. It's a comforting presence, probably the only thing that's kept him from being utterly terrified.]
Ronan can take what he needs. But we should be subtle.
[This last part is mostly for Noah, since he's talked to both Gansey and Ronan already. But it does well to repeat it.]
We don't know why we're here. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with ley lines, Cabeswater, the Greywaren, or Glendower, but we still ought to keep things to ourselves. Just in case.
[Adam knows that Ronan doesn't lie, and that Gansey has never really had a problem announcing his love affair with a dead Welsh king to the world. And of course, Noah can't entirely control his ghostly abilities - and Adam can't always control how Cabeswater affects him. But they can try, at least. Just in case.]
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Except Gansey, maybe. But even then, Ronan can't be sure that he won't go off and start talking about his King to the first person in the car to listen. They've been trapped with those strangers for two days already, and even Gansey must be running out of small talk.
He frowns.]
I'd rather have a weapon than a bed. There's cats in my car too. [Ronan punctuates this with a glance toward the sky, where Chainsaw is still happily flying above them.] But yeah, whatever.
[There's a pause, and Ronan regards Noah curiously, as if still assessing the real-ness of him.
Without much warning, he reaches out and gives the other boy a firm shove. Not to cause pain, not enough force to knock him down, but just simply seeing how solid he is. He looks solid. Too solid. It's disconcerting.]
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he doesn't say any of this, of course, because it's hardly important right now.]
How bad is arrow girl going to freak out if you show up with a weapon? Because you might prefer it, but I'd prefer you not getting hurt while we don't have any access to medical facilities. That goes for everyone. Once we get back on the train, we can't watch each other's backs anymore.
[this is a gansey they should all recognize, the one who would rather plan than risk.
noah's solidity is proven by the fact that the shove rocks him back into gansey, who sways and looks at ronan like he understands. noah being so real and also holding onto him like a lost child leaves gansey feeling particularly odd. they aren't both meant to be alive at the same time, but here they are.]
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Noah squeaks when he is shoved into Gansey, gentle as it may be. And then he attempts to shove Ronan back, with predictable results.]
Do we know how long until we stop again?
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Impossible to say until it's happened a few more times. It was only a couple of days, this time, but for all we know it could be weeks until we stop again.
[And he doesn't like that thought at all. Adam may often think of himself as alone, but - this is different. This is something else.]
We should get whatever we can now, and assume we won't be stopping again for awhile, just in case.
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Then what are we fucking around here for? Let's go.
[Ronan turns away and shoves his hands in his pockets, bumping his shoulder up against Adam as he starts to move off for the odd campsites. It's a silent gesture, a request to follow him, to talk when they get a moment alone.
Could be nothing, and he doesn't want to alarm Gansey or Noah if it is, but Adam is connected to Cabeswater and Ronan dreams about it, so the sooner they can both figure out what it's doing, the better. The sooner they can talk about it, the easier it will be to present it to the other two.]
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Noah and I will go look through this place, you and Adam check out that one.
[he doesn't even try to detach noah before heading off in the direction he'd pointed.]
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Let's meet right back here when we're done.
[Because if they're rushed back onto the trains and he's not able to see them again first, well, that's just asking for even more things to be worried about. Plus, they'll need to go through their supplies.
Then he turns and follows Ronan, speeding his steps to catch up.]
What's on your mind, Lynch?
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He glances toward Adam at the question, hands still idly in his pockets as they make their way toward one of the houses.]
You can still feel it, right? Cabeswater. [Ronan shrugs, kicking at a tuft of grass and uprooting it from the ground.] I was there the other night.
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[He shrugs. It's hard to explain, mostly because Adam really has no idea how it works, but Cabeswater still feels as close as it ever did. It's a physical place that's far away, but it's also inside his head. No matter how far Adam goes, it's still right there with him. It's part of him, and he belongs to it.
There's really no way to explain that without sounding insane.]
I figured you must be able to still reach it, too, if you could make that epipen. Did it... talk to you?
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[Chainsaw presses the crest of her head against his cheek. Ronan's thin mouth twists into a frown- one more contemplative than it the warning it usually is when he looks like that. He's gotten the hang of dreaming for the most part, but the truth of it, how it works is still foreign enough for him to be set on edge when something is wrong with it.
He takes his hands out of his pockets and tugs at his leather bracelets, unable to stop moving, even when he's already moving.]
Look, it's- faded. Not quite like it was when K drained it, but like it's like... [he searches for the words, not sure how to explain it.] -like I got a bad signal. Solid enough when I could focus on it, but not quite all aligned. I had to really concentrate to get that thing for Gansey.
[A pause. Ronan has never talked much about exactly what happens in his dreams, he's never told Adam or the others about the orphan-looking girl, so telling Adam that she wasn't there won't mean much to him. She's not always there, even when he's at home. It might not mean anything, but he can't help but wonder if it does. Ronan isn't exactly worried about this development- he can still take things, Cabeswater is still there- but he's cautious, and curious to know if it has something to do with being abducted onto what is apparently a murder train.]
Do you get that too? Or is it just like it always is for you?
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It's farther away. Maybe that's why it's faded for you. You've never tried to dream outside of Henrietta, right?
[It's the most obvious explanation. Adam's not sure it's the right explanation, but without anything else to go on, it's the best guess they have. Ronan interacts with Cabeswater differently than Adam, he always has. It makes sense that this would be different, too.]
It's the same as it always is for me, but Cabeswater is - a part of me now.
[It's odd talking about it. He knows it's often odd for the others to think about, too.]
It's right there in the back of my mind.
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[That's not it- at least, he doesn't think it is. It doesn't feel right to him, but what does he know? Ronan has only dreamed once since coming here. Maybe it's a one-time thing, maybe they are just too far away. He won't know until he investigates a little further, and he can't do that while they're out here scavenging.
He looks back toward where the other two boys are, considering things. There's no point in alarming everyone if nothing is wrong, so he doesn't push the issue further.]
C'mon, I think it's a bad idea to leave those two alone for too long.
[Which is true, especially when they don't know so many other people on the train. There's no guarantee that someone won't try to shoot someone else over a can of food or something, right? Everything is fucking crazy. They were supposedly splitting up, but fuck that- Ronan doesn't really think there's much in the place that they're supposed to be checking out anyway.]
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Nothing worth taking? We've found some food, so let's pillage while the pillaging is good.
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Food first, then everything else, I'd say. Maybe we can find some mint for you, Gansey.
[Adam doesn't really need anything in particular - he's used to not having stuff, so anything beyond the basics isn't something he sees as necessary. Still, better to make sure they're stocked up. Who knows when they'll get another chance.]
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They're coming out with food. We should look there first.
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[and gansey is pretty sure that he, personally, has a lot of packing to do so that his beloved idiot friends don't end up abandoning hygiene entirely by the time they see each other again.]
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Noah does not remain ENTIRELY attached to Gansey, sometimes he only holds on to Gansey's shirt and is otherwise on his own. Every now and again he bravely lets go entirely and drifts close by like an adoring satellite.
The role of Blue will be played by Richard C Gansey III this evening.Noah has forgotten what is necessary for food anyway. Considering Gansey and Ronan live off of pizza and gelato half the time can you blame him? He picks up a can of something as soon as they get in the door. A dropped can of fruit cocktail, it looks like. His brow furrows, worried.]
They wouldn't leave us behind, would they?