The Halcyon

A hotel. Caleb hadn’t known exactly where they were headed, but there was a sense of gratitude that washed over him it was a place that may afford them some comfortable beds, and something that was becoming increasingly more concerning to him, a bit of privacy. People were irking him in ways he never remembered being irked before and he wasn’t quite sure how to deal with that. He knew and understood that everyone in the group was fighting for their own survival, their own understanding of the situation at hand, but Caleb’s patience was running thinner more quickly these days. 

With everyone except for Gaia, who stood behind him in one of the hotel rooms he’d claimed without hesitation. He’d never stayed here, had been by it and knew about it well enough, but had never actually stepped foot into the hotel. The room was too clean, too pristine with a thin layer of dust over everything. It didn’t fit with the rest of the world, like it was frozen in time the day before all of this all had happened. 

Leaning towards the fridge, he pulled the door open, frowning in only slight disappointment to find it empty. “Bed’ll have to do,” he said over his shoulder to Gaia. “Not even a damn water.” 

@gaiaarrow

The tiredness that it felt like she’d been fighting for weeks was finally catching up to her, barely enough energy left after so many poor nights sleep to keep her smile at the ready for anyone who might need it. So the fact that they were finally in a place where they could get what she hoped would be a restful night was one welcome to her. The quiet and privacy of the room that Caleb had readily claimed didn’t go amiss either when it felt like it had been an age since they’d been properly alone together.

It was little things like that which she missed the most. The nights that she hadn’t been worked spent curled up on the couch or the lunches that they used to snatch together in between conflicting scheduled. All of that seemed worlds away now but simply being in the same room as him made it feel a little closer. 

Her footsteps are soft on the carpet, such a change from pavement, as she comes up behind him to place a hand on his back as he looks in the fridge. “I’ll take the bed over the water right now.” Her smile is soft but still present as she takes a step closer to him. “We can always go out and find some more supplies later.” 

Her smile is wry but Sai can tell it’s normally sweet and as honest as they come, and it eases some of the tension he hadn’t realized he’d been holding in his shoulders. That she’s unharmed makes him feel even better, making his own smile a bit easier too.

“Nah, I’m good too, thanks. Just glad to be out of those tunnels.”

His eyes darken with the memory of his days trekking alone through the dark and the damp, wondering if he truly had begun to go mad. Talking to Lanni and Malie had helped him keep himself together for sure, but he’s more than thankful to be finished with the experience.

He looks around at the desolate town they’ve come to and seeing no one but the two of them. He frowns.

“Are you… you’re from here, right? You didn’t walk from New York to here by yourself, did you?”

The man’s shoulders seem to relax slightly and while before her home getting destroyed she might have taken some offence at the tension that had been in them, she couldn’t blame him for it now when it was only natural to feel some suspicion toward everyone you met.

“I know the feeling. A little too dark for a little too long.”

The tunnel wasn’t a place she was in a rush to revisit, even if it were just in her memories. Darkness had never really bothered her but there was something about the gloominess and absence of any true light that almost made her want to shiver.

Shaking her head slightly, Gaia gives her answer. “I did walk, just not by myself. My boyfriend and a group of others survivors all made the journey here.”

“I guess we were hoping it’d lead us some place better.”

Graves was never the sort to look for a silver lining – he’d stare directly into dark clouds, swirling storms and find beauty in the darkest corners. Perhaps appreciating the storm was technically finding a silver lining but he never thought of it like that. Even when he earlier emerged from the tunnels to see that New York City wasn’t the only part of the world destroyed he didn’t go seeking some positive. No, it found him quite easily. There was a certain lawlessness to life right now. Despite the loss of custody, he was now sole guardian of his daughter. That was all he needed.

Delilah was his silver lining. He’d slipped some socks on her hands before letting her crawl ahead of him. She looked silly but it’d keep her hands relatively clean and meant his back could catch a break from carrying the toddler everywhere.  As he walks, not looking for conversation at the moment, he has to stop because of who it is. She turns round with a Colgate smile, chipper words he’s sure will quickly falter. He hadn’t made the best first impression, after all. He crouches down without thinking, scooping Delilah up into his arms. “It’s the little things we forget to appreciate, like space and light, hm?”

The man who speaks in return to her is the same one who had set her so on edge before the attack on the station, although now it seemed as though he actually might have known something they all didn’t. Gaia can’t be certain how, if he did at all, other than she’s reasonably sure that magic had nothing to do with it. She could control the elements but she’d never been able to catch a glimpse of the future as much as it would be tempting just to see if it would put her mind at ease. Logically, she knows she’s probably better off in the dark if every city is going to look like New York or here.

Still, no matter their first interaction he seems to be trying to make amends for their first encounter which is enough for her to smile back at him. “And the first things we miss.” Then it’s once again the little girl in his arms that gets her attention, smile growing broader as she moves closer towards the pair. “Well hey there Delilah.” Laughing softly she reaches out a hand slowly for the girl to take if she wants it. Lifting her eyes to the baby’s father, she’s keen to know how everything that’s been going on has affected her. “How’s she been?”

If there were doubts over whether the trail of power was genetic or not when it came to the one beside her, a question that was rare in itself due to the commonality of familial ties when it came to witchcraft, there was little left of them when the answer came to light. The mention of ‘parents’ even made it appear as though it were a unified effort, far different from her own experiences and some others she’d once crossed paths with where it was perfectly clear that the opposite had been true. The troubling factors here were the clues given, and later confirmations, of where she might stand on its uses – the hesitation present when she thought to offer an answer at all a definite sign of her placement. “… It might. There’s little reason to doubt it for now, anyway.” In either instance, there wasn’t much to be done about it and there was every chance she was right; very little had been given to prove otherwise in the moment after all and she’d seen the possibilities in others with her own eyes. It left her more hopeful than she otherwise would have been. “Were your parents elemental as well?”

Gaia can’t be sure whether it’s doubt in her abilities or an experience with someone who hasn’t used their magic in a while that prompts Helaine’s hesitant response but it bothers her that perhaps she might have wasted her gift. “I’ve been meaning to try but I haven’t needed to yet really.” There’d always been Caleb or someone else there to look out for her when she hadn’t been capable enough herself. Her powers hadn’t seemed all the necessary when she was still trying to find the way to explain to her boyfriend that she’d kept them from him all this time. It might have been selfish of her when they could have been useful to the group at some point but the same fear of losing him kept her mouth from uttering the spells she used to know so well. “My mom preferred white magic and my dad alchemy but I spent a lot of time with my grandma and so I guess I take after her in that respect. Seems to have skipped a generation.”

Slight as it is, the shift in tone is easier to latch onto when one regarded the manner from seconds prior. And perhaps it does her well to follow the example in kind, the noted heaviness of their journey less pronounced and simpler to brush off when it was all finally over with and their concerns shift elsewhere. “Mm, there’s a weird sort of relief in it. I suppose I’ll give you that.“ She often found that was more common in unfamiliar or undesirable situations as a whole, regardless of what side of her that face typically lied. “It is. Best not to let it fall to waste, right?” It was in this instance Helaine let her mind briefly touch on another matter, the subject of proper use of anything, resources included, keeping her attention. “How practiced are you in the use of elements, by the way? You mentioned it before.” If nothing else, it gave them a commonality to speak on and she’d recently rediscovered how pleasant that might be.

“Exactly.” The agreement is something of a surprise given how their previous conversation seemed to be made of nothing but differing views and opposing stances but now Gaia welcomes it and it makes her smile all the more genuine. As awful as a situation they were in, it did bring people together in a way nothing else ever could. It’s the next question that causes her to falter, guilt over her neglect of her natural skills clogging her throat for a second when she knows they could be useful now. “I used to be good, my parents taught me well.” And she had possessed skill far beyond just a natural knack but now she wasn’t so sure what would happen if she were to try to summon those same powers again after years of prioritizing a more ‘normal’ life over them. “It’s been years but I think it’ll come back to me.” She can’t say how the other woman will take such an admission when she’s obviously so practiced herself but maybe now it was time to dust off her own powers and do something useful.

Hearing a response to his question jars him – Sai blinks a few times, looking around for Malie or Lanni before it occurs to him that the voice he’d heard hadn’t belonged to either of them. His eyes light on the speaker: small in height and build, young, pretty. But obviously she’s been through the ringer like he has. Like everyone has.

“Yeah, I guess you’ve got a point there,” he concedes with a nod. “It’ll probably take some time to get used to that.”

A second quick lookover tells him she’s not obviously hurt, but despite the fact that he’s not practicing now, he had taken the Hippocratic Oath. That means something to him.

“Hey, uh. I’m Sai. I’m a doctor. Are you okay?”

His words are easy enough to latch onto, a familiar enough feeling that it gives the two of them enough common ground that she feels a certain affinity for the man before her. They might be as different as they came in terms of appearance but they’d all been through the same thing and that’s all it takes for her shoulders to drop slightly as some tension goes out of them and a wry smile rests on her lips to be followed by dry words. “Tell me about it.”

The concern from the man is truly touching in times like these, even though it could be explained by his profession. It still means a lot to her that he’d even ask.

“Gaia, not a doctor but it’s nice to meet you Sai. I’m doing just fine, thank you.”

Now it’s her turn to let concern play on her features as she takes in all of his considerable size. “Are you?”

Sai’s gotten into the habit of talking to Lanni and Malie since the world ended, and he’s doing the same now. As he wanders around the abandoned shell of what was Secaucus Junction and the surrounding town, he huffs in morbid amusement. He’s not expecting anyone to answer back when he sighs to himself, smirking a bit at his foolish optimism.

“I guess it was too much to hope that things would go back to normal once I got here, huh?”

The last thing she’d expected to hear as she stepped away from the group for a second to clear her head is an unfamiliar voice. At this point she’d thought that they’d been the only people left, the abandoned buildings and ransacked shops seeming to prove that. So when the voice breaks through her thoughts, Gaia whirls around to take a look at who’s speaking. Despite his size, she makes the somewhat naive assumption that he probably doesn’t mean her any harm- even if she does keep the distance between them for an extra few seconds of security.

Sam smirks at her answer. Polite beyond what you would normally find with a New Yorker. A sweet girl and he was glad to have her in the group. He honestly didn’t mind either name, but he offers her, “Sam, then,” just to give her some peace of mind. What he was more used to was Grey, or Officer Grey more recently. Marines and the Force usually went by last names and he didn’t surround himself by enough people outside of those to have a preferential name to be called. The thought was a sad one and he didn’t let it stick for long. It was a good thing in the long run, he thought. It made him more prepared for a situation like this and if there was some sort of guiding hand in the fate of how he lived his life, he didn’t put too much thought into that either. “I’m good,” he tells her, maybe not an answer that should have been believable, but it was an honest one. “Different war, same drill,” he smirks over at her. 

His answer makes her smile, not for a second disbelieving him when he seems so put together. Understandably given what she knew of his past. It’s almost enviable, the way he almost seems at ease in the situation they’ve found themselves in and she can’t help but quip about it good naturedly. “At least one of us is good. The best I’ve got right now is fine.” Laughing slightly to take any serious edge off the words, it’s hard not to let it die down once he compares what they’re facing to a war. While it’s a comparison that makes sense when they were fighting for their lives, Gaia can’t claim that it’s a parallel that she’s comfortable with. Never before had she considered herself equipped for battle and yet that seem to be where she’d found herself. Maybe with someone like Samson with them she’d be able to bring herself to make some peace with the idea sooner rather than later.  “Well I’ve never been much of a fighter myself but I’m glad we’ve got you with us, Sam.”

It was easy enough to tell the differences permitted when one took to considering their last encounter versus now. Particularly in the regards to the woman across from her. There was the ever so slight deviation in her behavior that gave way to the idea that this world had made her less than she once was – less optimistic, less bright. It’s portrayed in her words more than her expression, as though she’s trying that much harder to maintain that cheerful certainty from so much earlier in their days. And it’s not a change she can blame her or anyone else for, more so when one took in the view available to them now after traveling so far. The bleak decimation of it all. “If you say so, dove.” The lack of belief regarding how ‘nice’ or not it is to cross paths again, emphasized further by a quick curve at her lips, is nothing against the other specifically though she does still have a hard time believing anyone might consider her company overly pleasant. “… As well as expected. All things considered.”

“I do.” The words are nothing but playful, recognising that the woman wasn’t meaning the words as a personal slight against her. It’s perhaps out of place, such a flippant comment but it gives her opportunity for a more genuine smile and that’s something she isn’t about to pass up. “Any familiar face is a welcome one.” It’s an explanation that she doubts is needed or one that the other woman needs to hear but it’s one she gives nonetheless, meaning the words wholeheartedly. After hearing how Helaine is her smile turns a little wryer, knowing all too well what those words meant when she was feeling them herself. It didn’t matter how much she tried to look for the bright side, the world kept getting dimmer and that silver lining she’d always managed to find was escaping her. “Well, we’re still here and that’s something.”

There’s a decided lack of surprise in Helaine’s features when they finally crossed into some semblance of light, the atmosphere they fall into so reminiscent of the city they so readily departed with the vague hope of something structured and civilized to welcome them that the journey hardly seemed worth it at all. Her attentions are less focused on the sights and silence, however, remarkably drawn away from the immediate surroundings to the sound of an oddly cheered voice that made her more subdued return appear lacking. “Tell me about it.”And perhaps it was in the mirroring of sentiments rarely shared that she thought to speak on it at all, and speak in such a way that it seemed much more forgiving than their first encounter. This was naturally in spite of the twinge of annoyance and tiredness that was obviously directed more towards their past journey than the woman sitting beside her, something she assumed was easy enough to differentiate. “.. How are you, otherwise?”

She’s surprised at the answer she gets but then again they’ve all been through the same situation. All spent days walking in the near darkness with nothing to do but keep putting one foot in front of the other. Still, there’s a soft smile given in return to the question that’s asked of her.  “About as good as I can be.” Her smile might not be as bright as the last time that they met but she’s still ever bit as determined to keep it in place. This time it has nothing to do with defiance at the woman in front of her and everything to do with her need to at least act like she was still ok in some hope that if she pretended long enough it would begin to come true. “How about you? It’s nice to see you again.” No matter how their last meeting had gone, her words were genuine- pleased to see someone else familiar was still with them.

“A little bit longer, then we’ll take a small break. We’ll bed down for the night eventually if we’re not out shortly after that.” He doubted they would be. Judging by how far it felt they’d gone and how far he knew the tunnels to be, they’d have to sleep at least once, maybe twice. Once they reached the other side, there was no guarantee they’d be able to rest right away either and it was something he’d have to keep in mind. A small smile crossed his lips when she seemed surprised that he knew her name. Even if he hadn’t introduced himself forthright, he’d taken it upon himself to know who he was traveling with. At least by name. It was a responsibility he shouldered graciously. “Samson Grey,” he nodded in formal greeting. “Sam, if you’d rather.” 

It was an odd situation to be in: to want to be out the tunnel as quickly as possible but equally there was a fear over what they’d find when they finally found the light again that meant she was happy for them to dawdle a bit. “It might not be The Ritz-Carlton but I’m sure we’ll all be grateful for it anyway.” There’s a teasing tone in her voice, an attempt at a joke that she hopes doesn’t fall too flat when it’s only well intentioned. He gives his name and had her thoughts been more focused she might have been able to work it out from things she’d heard here and there from other members of their group. The man seemed just as capable as everyone made him sound and even knowing that she’d always have Caleb looking out for her it was a relief to know that there was someone like Samson in the group. “Well, I’d rather go with whatever you’d rather but it’s nice to meet you, Sam.” There’s a little pause as she remembers her earlier rudeness and is quick to try to rectify it. “How’re you doing?”

Sam nods at the sentiment. It’s one he shares, though one he doesn’t think he’ll be able to commit to. The group is big and while some of them would be able and willing to keep going for hours on end, he’s trying to pace them to their weakest links. No judgment, just practicality in the thoughts. The last thing he needed was someone falling behind because they couldn’t keep up and getting lost in these tunnels while the rest of the group moved on ahead unnoticing of their departure. “We might actually stop to rest here soon,” he told her in response, offering a small smile of sympathy at his own words. A break meant that sooner was a little further away than she wanted it. And while Sam was certain the tunnels would get them out of New York, he wasn’t certain what waited for them on the other side. Even now the air in the tunnels was getting stuffy, harder to breathe with the lack of clean air filtering in. He hoped to feel and breath fresh air soon, a sign that the other side was even open. “Gaia, right?” 

“I’m sure we could all use a rest, even if we don’t realise it.” The smile she gives him in return is an understanding one, knowing that not everyone in the group would be able to or want to keep going until they were out. There’s such a huge variety of people in the group Gaia know better than to get impatient at the pace that has been set when one day soon it could be here holding them all. She wouldn’t wish getting separated from the group on anyone when it was probably more of a death sentence than freedom. It’s her name that startles her slightly, not expecting to hear it from someone she hadn’t properly met yet even if their face was familiar. “Right, Gaia Arrow.” Her smile turns slightly sheepish as she has to confess that she doesn’t have the same knowledge of him. “I’m sorry, I’ve been sort of spaced out by all this I don’t think I’ve ever gotten your name.”

“I’m… I’ll be okay.” She can’t say whether that’s true - she can’t be sure if ‘okay’ is attainable, or if she’d even recognize what it felt like - but it feels a lot closer to the truth than saying everything is alright right now. But then, she’s used to living in these half-truths. The aversions, sharing enough to shift the attention away from herself without giving too much away. Especially with Gaia, who’d been such a constant presence in her life the past few years. She chews at the inside of her cheek in thought. Her mind, which was once so familiar to her, is starting to become something unrecognizable, grief and numbness giving way to thoughts and needs and worries she thought she suppressed long ago. 

“I just, um…” What does she usually do with her hands? For a moment, she wishes she hadn’t taken her backpack off, only because of how badly she wants to wrap her hands around the straps just to give them something to do. She settles for shoving them into the pockets of her jeans instead, her shoulders shifting and raising protectively. She doesn’t even know what it is she’s hoping to get out of this conversation. She only knows that she wants something, and that Gaia, with all her warmth and kindness, might be able to help her. “I wanted to… I guess I never really thanked you. For all the tips and stuff, y’know, that was… that was real cool of you.”

The blonde’s answer is as hesitant as hers and she knows that they’re probably both experiencing the same doubts over whether the world will every allow them to be truly fine again. There might be glimpses of moments where she even feels good, flashes of happiness when she’s with Caleb or giggling with Darcy, maybe even just seeing a smile on someone else’s face. But there’s always a reminder that the world that they’d lived in, that she’d felt safe in, had been forever changed. While Gaia could no longer find comfort in their world, it was still to be found in people and she was determined to give it to someone else wherever she could. “Well if you ever need anything to be more ok I still owe you for these clothes.”

As Violet fidgets with her hands, she finds herself reaching out for them ever so slightly only for the other woman to place them into her pockets, making her shoulders rise defensively. It’s something that she had hoped that she might have gotten past, the need for nerves around her maybe having left but it was also something she couldn’t blame her for when everything was so uncertain. The thanks causes her to smile, though she doesn’t find it something she ever needed. “You don’t have to thank me for trying to be kind, Violet. You’re welcome but you’ve already paid me back.”

It wasn’t the ideal way to go, Sam knew that. But it had wound up being their only option. The only way out of New York that was devoid of monsters or recent signs of them. It could mean they’d been corralled into a trap, but Sam was hoping they’d get some good luck for once and find their way to the other side. Being trapped down here in the dark wasn’t something he was looking forward to. A flashlight strapped to the shoulder of his SWAT vest and another waiting in his pocket to be held alongside his rifle were the only lights he could offer the group, leading the way up front while trying to keep his eyes peeled for anything they may come across. There was growing tension and stress in him, that his light may shine over something he’d have to shoot at any moment. It meant he was hyper focused, hyper vigilant and the adrenaline was going to be at an ultimate high by the time this was all over. “Doing okay?” he broke the silence to the person who’d come up beside him. 

The dark hadn’t been something she’d ever really feared before but then with her whole life spent in cities total darkness had always been hard to come by. Now, she was undeniable on edge but that fear had more to do with what could be lurking in the darkness than the lack of light. Any number of monsters could be cloaked in the blackness that surrounded them and she had to force herself to focus on putting one foot in front of the other rather than closing the few steps between her and Caleb to cling to his hand. She didn’t have a torch of her own but the light of those that did was something she was grateful for. There had been a temptation to use her magic when the elements had once come so easily to her but there was a worry that it would turn into a blaze she’d lose control over. Before she can beat herself up too much for having stopped practising her magic, a voice is breaking her out of her thoughts. “Fine, thank you.” She doubts that the man will believe her but she sends a grateful smile his way nonetheless. “Though I wouldn’t mind being out of these sooner rather than later.”