'til we're food for the worms ── .✦

yannick would love to say he's taking time off before he jumps back into work, but that's never been something he's done. has it? no, yanni's trip up north was probably the first semblance of a vacation he's taken since ariella was born. hell, it's been awhile since he's taken a full day off. though, he was trying, he really was. it's just that the hospital has been busy and he's still trying to keep the clinics running and he still wants to get the trauma medical center up and operational now that kas was officially there and staying.

too much to do, too little time is what it always boiled down to and he knew full well the mountain of work that would be left for him when he came back. but he really had been trying to get out of there quicker, and was kind of proud of himself for walking out only an hour or so past his shift. a record, considering he was technically not required to come in until next week if he wanted to. the benefit of working on people and representing 'the strong workers of afterglow' or whatever that pretentious bitch said in her public statement.

it was another surprise to see kas waiting for him when he came outside. yanni gave the other man a knowing look, noticing the lack of frostbite as he got closer. "you look like you haven't been waiting too long," yanni concludes but there's a wide smile on his features seeing kas. it always seemed to find its way to his face when he set his eyes on him. mostly because whenever they were together, it was bound to be a good time. whether at work or otherwise. "i was going to ask if i missed some sort of important date or something. but i guess i got my answer." yanni checked his watch and met kas' gaze again.

❝ what, you think i'd freeze my ass off out here for you? ❞ kas would, admittedly, but that's not the point he's trying to make. in fact, it's just about the exact damn opposite of it. he doesn't need yannick to know how long he's been here. all he needs to know is that kas hasn't been standing out in the cold long enough to be bothered by it yet. ❝ no, i just happen to know you that well, even after all these years. and before you go letting yourself getting flattered over that, i'd just like to remind you how hard it is to forget a person's pet peeves. ❞

the grin tugging at the corners of his lips is enough to clue his best friend in to the fact that he's just giving him shit. he couldn't actually mean if he tried. there's a lot of shit yanni does that drives him crazy, sure, but at the end of the day, it's not annoyance that has him committing all of his little idiosyncrasies to memory. sometimes, kas almost wishes it was.

❝ yeah, you missed an important date. it's with your fucking bed, superman, i'm just here to chauffer you and make sure you don't starve before you get there. ❞ kas arches a brow, crossing his arms over his chest as he fixes yannick with an expectant stare. ❝ oh yeah? and you got sleep penciled in anywhere in that wide open schedule by chance? i know you didn't have a single second of downtime in that damn bunker, and i know the second those eaa dickheads dug you out, you turned around and came right back to this place. when's the last time you took a solid eight hours for yourself, huh? get in the car. ❞

"Looks like you missed him at least twice now," Ari stated, pointing towards the coffee that had come from the hospital which, ironically, was where Yanni now was. "That doesn't sound very lucky." But she was appreciative of the coffee that was held up for her instead of her father. Now that was lucky. She follows him to the couch, sitting down beside him and curling her legs up beneath her. She eagerly took the warm cup into her hands, happily absorbing the heat, as she pondered his words. "Well, I don't know how much there is to tell. Hard to believe people lived down there for so long. Was the weather ever this bad when they were in there? I mean, it was pretty cold... Maybe they had other ways to keep warm that was no longer functioning?"

She takes a sip of the coffee, a light smile of appreciation sent in his direction, before continuing. "Thankfully no one was really seriously injured or anything, so it wasn't so bad. There weren't really a lot of supplies though - did you hear that group of people went out into the storm? Did they all...are they okay? Did they all...make it?" She had been worried about them in the nights that followed, staying up wondering if there could've been something more she could've done, somehow.

❝ didn't say my luck was good. ❞ he'd almost forgotten quite how literal she is, but there's a smile twitching at the corners of the doctor's lips as he takes a swig of his own coffee. no, coffee's too kind a word for whatever bitter, caffeinated swill they're pumping into the hot water in the afterglow hospital cafeteria ; if nothing else, it's potent enough that it'll keep him awake post-shift long enough to spend a little quality time with ari. given that he'd been snowed in at the hospital without either of them no more than two weeks after coming back down to the east atlantic, he hasn't had quite as much time for that as he would've hoped. he's missed her. ❝ but thanks for rubbing it in, kid. ❞

it feels so fucking good to sit after the night that he's had and kas can't help the groan that escapes him as he sinks into the cushion, closing his eyes when his head tilts to meet the back of the sofa. his smile lingers as he listens to ari, and he chuckles at her thoughts on the bunker. ❝ what, you weren't sold on the subterranean experience while you were down there? ❞ he's not surprised. perhaps it's a bit dramatic of him, but kas thinks he might've gone stir-crazy himself if he'd been down there. maybe not, though, if he'd had ari and yannick with him. he did, however, almost lose his mind without them in that goddamn hospital. ❝ i'd imagine it was probably a hell of a lot nicer in its prime―if it ever had a prime. i'm just glad you two made it out of there. ❞

kas gives a hum of acknowledgment at the question, his chin tilting in the slightest of nods. the laziest, more like. word travels fast in a place like this. he's heard a lot just from overheard patient conversations alone. ❝ yeah, and i'm real glad you and your dad weren't a part of it. nobody lost from what i understand, but a whole lot of 'em were hurt. we got a wanderer at the compound, too. think it was one of those kids from the children of mothman, looked maybe your age. broke his ankle at some point coming all the way from the community center and just kept walking on it, said he couldn't feel it from the snow. that wasn't even the craziest part. ❞ kas cracks an eye open to glance over at ari. ❝ he could glow. like, the kid actually lit up. and to think i almost forgot how weird this place could be. ❞

"okay kiddo, think what you want." shelby's hands were in the air indicating his surrender once again. he truly was not trying to argue with his baby brother that day, or hell, he'd be willing to argue about anything other than that topic anymore. and he's never once said stacey didn't deserve to be angry but at this point? in the grand scheme of things? he had a hard time giving a fuck after awhile and even more so when he's already done everything he could to rectify the situation. "i said i was sorry and i'm sorry, if you want to pick that a part an' put words in my mouth tryin' to justify your anger than go right ahead."

the last real girlfriend he had used that on him so much shelby looked it up and consequently, uses it whenever he gets the opportunity.

"yeah you would and you've spent your whole damn life tellin' me as much or smilin' as mama and daddy did, so don't act so surprised to hear it out loud now!" was it an overexaggeration? sure, but he had a good argument for it being heavily implied. hell he didn't even disagree with the statement, which is why he'd tried to be supportive in almost everything stace said he wanted to do ( with some shit giving mixed in but that was just how he got through the seriousness of life ). "even right now you're tellin' me you are workin' hard as you can to be nothin' like me, as if you haven't had years to go enlist or go to university or do anything else. i ain't stoppin' you from bein' nothin'!"

he knows if stacey really wanted to join up he could. shelby doesn't want him with the silver lining either but if he had to pick the lesser of the two evils he would. "hell you could have been fightin' with the people tryin' to take real evil out of the world if that's what you really want to do you righteous little asshole!"

❝ oh, yeah, sure you did. ❞ if stacey could roll his eyes any harder, they might just roll right on out of his head―or at least that's what their mama would say, not that she was ever on the receiving end. ❝ some apology, shel. ❛ sorry not sorry, now grow up and get over it, ❜ right? that's the point you're trying to make here? 'cause that's what i heard. ❞

stacey scoffs, shaking his head. how hard is it for his oldest brother to get it through his thick skull that all he wants to hear is that he shouldn't have done it? a little regret, maybe even just a shred of remorse? sometimes stacey thinks shelby's entirely incapable of such a thing. sorry might be in his vocabulary, but that doesn't mean he has any idea of the definition. he was an academy dropout, after all.

❝ you're right, ❞ stacey concedes, but his tone is proof enough he doesn't mean the words outright. ❝ i've had years to do it. years i've been talking about it. and you couldn't think to tell me the truth about them and about you and what you're doing until now? you had to wait until you figured it was so dire you had no choice but to get me arrested to ruin my shot? ❞

this conversation is going in circles, stacey can feel it. and as much as he thinks the both of them could argue until they're blue in the face, he knows it's only a matter of time before one of them loses their temper if they keep it up. he's not trying to do anything he wouldn't be proud of later, not here in the community center in the middle of a natural disaster. the alstead reputation is hanging on by a thread, and stacey will do all he can to keep it intact.

They could butt heads over this for ages, Sue knows, simply because of the stance his younger brother is taking. The choice of vocabulary says enough about Stacey's frame of mind right now, and while any other day, Sue would absolutely rise to the occasion to have this argument—or any argument, really—everything in his body and mind is aching now. He's due for a nice 72-hour nap, but by the state of this place, the people here, he doubts he's gonna get so much as an hour at a time.

Perhaps an hour is a week in the Devil's Elbow.

Stacey accuses him of being reckless and stupid and dangerous, and all Sue can do is shake his head—not in disagreement, really. He's heard it all before, some of it even from his little brother, but also because Sue knows there's a foundation of truth there. It's not like he doesn't think things through. He does, and that's possibly the worst part of it.

"I dunno, man, try Jack Frost or some shit, I'm all out of answers for you right now." The words, although snapped, are immediately followed by Sue hooking his hand into Stacey's shirt to pull him close, close enough to wrap his arms around him for a tight hug. There's more argument to have, Sue knows, but right now, the people he cares most about on this planet are safe and relatively sound, so for now, a quick bypass to appreciate that fact and hug his little brother seems far overdue.

"I'm really damn glad to see you, Stace," he says finally, voice down to a volume that only they can hear. It's one thing to read a name on a screen, a text confirmation of someone's safety, it's a whole other thing to actually be able to hug them and know for certain they're not missing pieces. Perhaps Stacey might've told them if he hadn't been okay. But then, perhaps not. Lately he feels like he's been orbiting away, and frankly, that terrifies Sue more than a historically bad wind chill.

Slowly, he pulls away again, squeezing his brother's shoulder. "How 'bout we make a deal? Show me where I can find some food, and I'll let you have another go at me later, when I'm actually capable of putting up a decent fight, yeah?"

if shelby is the spark that ignites stacey's temper like a flare, then sue is the steady hand to diffuse it. even when he wants to be mad―and good lord does he want to be mad right now―his older brother always seems to know how to get past his defenses and disarm him. stacey resists the embrace for all of two seconds before giving in and allowing himself to relax into it. his hands knot into sue's coat as he holds tight to him.

how could he bring himself to be anything but relieved right now? it doesn't matter what his brothers have done or how they've plucked at his nerves, he'd rather them alive than anything else.

❝ yeah, ❞ stacey mutters into his shoulder, quiet but honest. ❝ yeah, me too. ❞

he'd like to lie and say he isn't calmer when sue finally lets go, but stacey knows he can't. he takes a slow breath, absorbing his brother's words. he could find them patronizing, he could choose to be mad at them, too. but he doesn't. he knows that's not what sue's aiming for. and if he's being real honest, he's tired of being irritated. he doesn't want to be mad anymore.

"that's my name don—" the somewhat exhausted sardonic remark was cut off by both the surprise bracing after the sight of stacey coming at him quickly and then the subsequent hug. "oh! um, okay, hey big guy." poe hugged him back and tentatively patted his back. "i missed you, too." he followed up, quietly, before stacey pulled away. not a strange thing to admit but he didn't know how badly he needed that hug until he actually got it. poe would never say it out loud, but he actually had to stop himself from tearing up because he actually did miss him and, second, he had no clue how touch starved he was. as such, it took a moment for him to sit with those revelations and pack them away for later to think about.

❝ what were you doing on the compound? ❞ stacey doesn't mean for the question to sound accusatory, but it's been lingering on his mind since the moment he found out that his best friend was snowed in there. a few weeks ago, stacey might have argued that the compound was the safest place for anybody to be during a natural catastrophe of this caliber, even poe. a few weeks ago, he would've been wrong. and once stacey realized that, it was real easy to start imagining all the horrible things that could happen if poe were detained there too long.

❝ i mean, it doesn't really matter at the end of the day. you're not there anymore. that's what's importa―you saw the deathknell bear? ❞ it's immediately clear how quickly the alstead's attention is diverted. blue eyes widen almost comically and he has to stop himself from taking a step forward to―what? shake him for being so reckless? hug him again because that's not the kind of thing that anybody walks away from alive? no, he's already given in to one impulsive display of affection. stacey doesn't need to make it two in just as many minutes. ❝ i'm not saying a word. it was you, though, wasn't it? ❞ stacey doesn't have to say what. he knows poe knows. ❝ i know they're looking. they're not just looking to hand out congratulations, are they? ❞

stacey notices when poe glances around. ❝ come on, i don't know when they'll be back. we can hang in my room. i'd say we could just leave, but some of us aren't built for the snow. ❞ at least not this bad. ❝ they're fine, by the way. go figure the only one that got hurt in all of this was sullie, twisted her ankle something awful coming with sue to the community center from that bunker. she's alright, though, sul's a tough cookie. your dad okay? ❞ he waits until he's pulled his bedroom door shut to ask what he really wants to. ❝ what happened? ❞