#quistley

“ misty, hey! ”

there's no need to be subtle in trying to get misty's attention right now — if there's anything they have out here it's space. but privacy is unsurprisingly hard to come by, and jackie could use anything but some prying eyes and curious ears right now.

she slides next to misty onto the roughly worked bench on the side of the cabin. jackie wouldn't necessarily pick misty out of a lineup of people to hang out with, but weirdly, she's the only person jackie would call trustworthy in this specific matter. she probably can't trust shauna, like, ever again, and the other girls would probably make her feel like an idiot for being paranoid about this kind of stuff. misty will probably not even think her weird for asking.

“ do you have a sec? i have this tiny bump on my back and i can't really reach it with my hand and the mirror is too high up for me to check and i don't know if it's, like, a new mole or, i don't know, a bug bite or whatever. could you have a look? ”

if she doesn't make a big deal about it, it's not weird. just a quick check-up she can't do by herself. it's probably nothing, but who knows what kind of nasty insects live out here, and her mom would always tell her to check for growing moles because that could be a sign of other health issues, so you never know.

" what, you don't believe this place could actually be a good thing? " nat's counterargument felt flat the moment she let it slide across the sun - speckled communal kitchen; like something that hadn't quite come from her, and yet felt conversely more honest — more vulnerable — than anything she'd felt in years. anything she'd let herself feel.

for the first time since she'd been bundled into the back of one of lottie's mini vans, it was almost like she'd started to see the appeal of this place. the tranquility. the absence of the dingy motel room and the gun she'd come so close to putting in her mouth; the lack of access to stolen vodka and persisting darkness, and bender - induced dreams that only ever seemed to bring her back to travis. the brutal reality, too, of being plucked from the circling drain of her own demise.

not that misty fucking quigley would understand.

@quistley: i won't tell if you won't tell.

Lawrence closed his eyes as a world-weary sigh soundlessly racked through him. Yes, he had technically signed off on a PRN order; however, 'repeat dosage as needed' had been taken a touch more liberally than he'd intended. Nothing catastrophic. Just a higher dosage of a mild sedative than had been necessary. The patient was out cold — temporarily, mind you — instead of merely calmed.

"Well — the floor'll be quiet for a while at least." Lawrence mused in lieu of outright agreeing. No one wanted the paperwork and they could both easily get in hot water for the slip. And the patient in question was a miserable person; disruptive and verbally abusive toward the staff. "Monitor him closely and let's not do that again, shall we?"

send 👑 if you like my writing! Bonus points if you tell me why!

@quistley: you must be exhausted, i know i am. (misty as one of his most irritating nurses? perhaps?)

Lawrence had stepped into the staff respite area to take a moment to rally between meeting with patients only to hear Misty's declaration. Had she followed him like some sort of duckling?

Something about the constant cheeriness in her voice whenever Misty spoke made Lawrence doubt very much that she was actually capable of exhaustion and not inexplicably somehow preternaturally above the need for rest. But it had been an challenging stretch of hours at hospital. Too high a workload, too short-staffed — nothing new. But all of that mixed with the emotional labor required of him had made the few short hours of sleep he was running on feel all the sharper. But he had signed up for this life and so he tried to keep his complaining to minimum.

"'Exhausted' implies the possibility of rest at some point," Lawrence muttered dryly, adjusting the knot of his tie with one hand before glancing sidelong at her.

He gave her a perfunctory smile and joked like he wasn't bone-tired chronically, "I'm afraid that's a luxury I gave up many years ago."

teeth gnash , flicker of pure rage flattens doe eyes into hard obsidian at misty's refusal . ' get the fuck away from me , misty ! ' voice is still hoarse from where mari's fingers had closed around her throat , although the breath strangled out has long since been recovered . eyes dart around , half expecting another ambush : fingers close around the hilt of her knife , itching for a reason , but no move is made . she's on the defensive , despite the hunt being over .

' were you in on it ? that coward's fucking ambush ? ' she demands . she already knows the answer ---- of course she was . misty would be in on anything if it meant she got a crumb of fucking attention . ' it doesn't matter . it's over . natalie's dead . ' they hadn't hauled her body out of the spike pit yet , but it's only a matter of time . ' you can have her heart , if it makes you feel any better . ' she's already picturing her trophy , bleached blonde lock of hair pinned to her cloak . the thought doesn't bring the comfort she thought it would ---- her stomach turns , but her scowl betrays nothing .

even her high temperature couldn't scorch the snarkiness from max's soul : through the fever sweat & the fine layer of grime that seems to have settled over everyone trapped inside the cabin , her vague amusement is plain to see . ' the long game , right . '