#thread: finn

She was starting to feel like a babysitter for this guy and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Last time she met Finn out and he was shitfaced, Winter had put him in an Uber and called it a night but this time she couldn’t in good conscience do that. There was no telling what kind of driver he might get, not to mention she truly did want to ask the man some questions about the crap he kept saying when intoxicated. Something about feeling other people’s emotions and calling out others for said emotions. He was a total mess but her curiosity had definitely peaked.

Now he was fast asleep in the guest room that she was still trying to unpack from her recent move, the medium trying to shake him awake with the promise of aspirin and electrolyte infused water. “Come on shit head, wakey wakey. We need to talk.” She placed her offerings on the bedside table before moving to the window to open the curtains. Despite the snow all over the ground it was a bright sunny day. She hoped that with the light filtering in it would wake him up faster. 

“You were a real peach again last night. This time I let them hit you.” And Winter didn’t feel one ounce of guilt about that. If he wanted to act like a disaster then he deserved the pain the next day. She even considered taking the aspirin away. “You really are determined to piss off this whole town, aren’t you?”

Finn was well aware that alcohol was a shit way to get some sleep - something about sleep quality and whatnot, plus the mornings that followed tended to be rough. What was good about it was the lack of dreams. As well as the meds usually worked to knock him out, they loved to throw some nightmares into the mix for the fuck of it, and where was the sleep quality in that? At least when he was passed the fuck out, there was the benefit of simply not existing for a moment - until existence inevitably turned around and whacked him in the head. 

Like, literally. He was no stranger to hangover headaches but ouch. 

“Shut the fuck up, Ellie,” Finn groaned, becoming more aware of his surroundings and the suffering with every passing moment. And eventually the fact that this wasn’t his sister’s voice, nor was it a room he was familiar with. Hands scrambled for bed sheets as he moved to sit up, way too fast which was a horrible idea, everything spinning and the pain in his head going blinding for a second. The light streaming into the room didn’t help, vision blurry as he blinked at the owner of the voice and the unfiltered annoyance. “Winter?” he finally croaked out, hand reaching out on instinct and actually managing to find his glasses. “What the fuck…” 

They hadn’t… no. No way, he would have remembered that… right? Also, she was way too pissed off for that to be… well, actually… Wait, pants. He was still wearing pants which was a good sign, even as he still clutched the sheets to his bare chest like a lady in a film from the 60s. “Wait, who hit me?” Finn eventually said, now able to distinguish the pain of the headache from what was definitely a bruise forming on the side of his face. 

“Yes, Winter, the one who keeps witnessing your very quick descent into infamy. I don’t know an Ellie.” She turned, hands on her hips, to find the man clutching the fabric of the sheets to himself as if she were trying to get a peek at him. For a brief moment she wondered if he still had his pants on for him to act like that but then a realization came to her. She was almost offended by how terrifying sleeping with her seemed to be. “Oh, you wish.” Rolling her eyes, she grabbed his shirt from an armchair next to the bed and tossed it at him. “I won’t look, princess. I didn’t even see you last night, I just threw you in here and said good luck.” For good measure she turned back towards the window so he wouldn’t be uncomfortable. Even with the biting words, she didn’t want him feeling like that.

“I don’t know. It wasn’t the big guy from last time but this one was pretty big. Muscley, someone I would have actually taken home if you weren’t almost out cold on the ground.” No she wouldn’t have. She would have never touched that guy but she felt like rubbing it in just because it seemed so ludicrous to him that they could have. Winter was petty, there was no denying it.

“There’s water and aspirin on the bedside table. Take it. You’re going to need it because I want to talk to you about something.” Her arms were crossed but she brought one up to inspect her nails as she waited. She wasn’t sure how much time he needed since Winter was sure he was moving slowly. The man was a wreck. “Something about feeling emotions and all. You brought it up again last night and I’m finally curious enough to ask what you mean.”

Everything was still so fuzzy, the process of waking up someplace he had no recollection of arriving at making everything more confusing. And even though he was barely awake enough to say more than a few words, Finn was somehow still managing to piss Winter off further. “We both know you’re way out of my league, hence the confusion,” he did manage to fumble out, hoping it would at least slightly rectify the situation. Whatever the situation was. 

Even though it made the room spin, Finn used the provided opportunity to scramble from the bed, grabbing his discarded sweater from the floor and pulling it on. It smelled how he felt which was in no way helpful. “You really shouldn’t perpetuate the myth that girls only sleep with assholes,” he shot back because everything hurt and Winter’s bad mood was easily rubbing off on him. A ‘thank you’ was definitely due but she was pissy which meant so was he. Although the aspirin did seem like a peace offering, no matter how ominous that ‘something’ sounded. 

Finn didn’t have to wait long for Winter to elaborate and of course this discussion was about some shit his big, dumb mouth had been blurting out. Gulping down the water like a man shipwrecked for weeks, Finn made an attempt to stand before deciding against it. “Right. That. Don’t know what there is to discuss, sounds pretty self-explanatory,” he said dryly, tentatively touching his aching jaw and wincing. Must have been a pretty decent punch. 

Way out of his league? Well, that was enough to simmer her anger down a bit, Winter sighing softly. The people in this town needed to get more self esteem even if Finn was correct. She was out of his league. “You’re not the worst choice of partner out there, have a little more faith in yourself. It might help others like you if you actually liked you.” She couldn’t help but roll her eyes at him, still annoyed but clearly losing her edge little by little. For some reason she held a soft spot for the self deprecating people of this world. She didn’t show it in the best way, no, but she only wanted them all to realize the good things about themselves so they could appreciate them all, no matter how little those were in quantity. She wanted the same for him.

Until his next statement, anyway. “I didn’t sleep with you, now did I?” Her arms crossed over her chest, annoyed with him once more for accusing her of perpetuating such a stereotype. It wasn’t even true. After hearing his rustling around in the room, she figured it was safe to turn her head and see if he was dressed now, and thankfully he was so she turned the rest of the way to face him. “So, not perpetuating anything.” 

Her eyes narrowed in on him, not amused with his answer. Why was it so difficult to talk to people around here? “So you can feel the burning desire I have to punch you myself, right?” It was rhetorical, of course, as her curiosity for what he could do outweighed her need to go back and forth with him. Winter uncrossed her arms to take a seat on the opposite side of the bed from him as she continued. “But really…you just feel what everyone else feels? If you wanted to know what I was feeling towards you then you could dig around with your mind or? How does that work?”

It was almost a compliment, but genuine. Mission accomplished in not getting himself thrown out the window, then. A fair point, too - at least he wouldn’t try to eat someone on the first date. Chewed with his mouth closed as well. Probably put him well above a few of the picks in town. “Hey, I’m an oldest child with a dead dad, what do you want from me?” Finn shot back, hoping to discourage any further attempts at a lesson in self love. Which was easy seeing as he was running his mouth and Winter was already on edge. 

“Fine, point Winter.” Finn scooted back on the bed, leaning against the wall with a quiet groan. Counting down the minutes until that aspirin kicked in. This had to be the worst possible moment to be having this conversation but it was either that or standing up so Finn rode the wave of Winter’s annoyance at his nonanswer. Raising an eyebrow, realizing that she actually didn’t crave violence too badly at this moment, he only replied with a slightly smug shrug. 

The bed dipped under her weight and the curiosity grew. It really did seem like she believed him. Pushing back unruly hair, Finn sighed. “Yes and no. It’s not exactly an on or off thing, more like… smelling, I guess. Trust me, I would love to be able to only pry when I wanted to but no dice. It’s just… there. Constantly. Which is great because people totally have emotional regulation and it never gives me a mental breakdown.” Alright, oversharing a bit, back it up. “Aaaand I have no fucking clue how it works or why so there.”

That escalated quickly. Winter raised an eyebrow at him, surprised that he would say that so indelicately, but she couldn’t judge. She had no idea what it was like to lose a parent or how people coped. Still, she was pretty sure his dead dad wouldn’t want him to hate himself so much…right? That’s how parents were, or should be, really. “And I’m an only child with parents who apparently manipulated me my whole life. Doesn’t mean you should think so badly of yourself.” The words might have held the facade of being unsympathetic but her tone was softer this time, almost as if he didn’t annoy the shit out of her. 

Satisfied, a smirk pulled at her lips, the girl taking that as a win. He could rub her the wrong way but at the end of the day she did like somebody who could be as snarky as she was, especially when they gave her credit for comebacks. It was enough to satiate her need to ‘one up’ as her mother had once called it. 

Winter couldn’t imagine having to be in his shoes. The girl didn’t even like her own emotions, or admitting to having them anyway, and this man had to walk around and feel everyone else’s constantly? It was almost violating in a way, knowing that everything she tried to hide from others was readily available to him but at the same time he couldn’t help it, could he? She now understood why he was such a mess. On one hand, she hated this for him, but on the other she was wondering whether or not Finn could feel that sympathy she now held for him. “Wow…it must suck to be you.” It was all she could think to say, fully aware that she couldn’t handle what he had to go through every minute of every day. “No wonder you’re a dick.”

Aw, shit. Was there a way to go back to her being exasperated? Finn would much rather deal with that than the waves of pity currently worming their way into his brain. Probably his fault for prefacing all of this with a dead dad joke - fine, less of a joke, more of a snarky comment - but still. It was glaringly obvious, even with the tendrils of worry he now specifically recognized as people wanting to guard their emotions. It had been there with Milo but to be fair, he’d been high when the bomb had been dropped. If only he had some weed to offer Winter now. 

A saving grace, she didn’t offer her condolences. Instead, she had Finn barking out a laugh that immediately made his head throb. “I know, right? I was actually tolerable right up until puberty. Which applies to a lot of guys but still.” He sighed, letting his head drop back against the wall. Trying for once to focus on the horror of his hangover instead of Winter’s process of working through what this meant, a small attempt at privacy. “It’s almost hilarious how quickly people believe me here,” he pondered out loud, gazing at the ceiling. “You have no idea how many psychiatrists back home have tried to shove me somewhere into the DSM five.”

With no warning except a groan of effort, Finn pulled himself up from the bed. “I need caffeine. And then maybe food, jury’s still out on that one.” Especially now that he was standing, even though his stomach felt extremely hollow. Fuck, had Winter watched him hurl again? The fact that he’d thought for even the briefest of moments that they’d slept together seemed even more ludicrous now. 

She rolled her eyes, knowing damn well that anybody was insufferable after puberty hit. But she didn’t deem the comment worthy of correcting. Maybe his hit different. “Why? Is that when you started feeling everyone else’s moods?” It made sense, right? Puberty meant changing bodies so maybe his ability or whatever he wanted to call it manifested at that point. Winter almost thought that would have been worse though, suddenly having something that had never been there before and having to figure out how to navigate it? Yea, she knew how that felt and it wasn’t the easiest thing to go through. If that’s what he went through anyway…no need to form a kinship if that wasn’t the actual case.

A scoff filled the room, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked directly at the disheveled man currently inhabiting one of her guest rooms. Did he not know what went on around here? “I don’t think the DSM five has a place here. Let's just say, your little gift is the easiest thing I’ve had to believe in this town.” Just then, Henry walked through the closed door, the ghost looking between the two. ‘Am I interrupting something?’ She rolled her eyes again but Winter took the opportunity to explain what she meant. “For example, the shithead that just walked through the door. You know, the ghost you most likely can’t see? I see them everywhere.” 

She watched him pull himself to his feet, unimpressed, but the fact that he had the nerve to ask for anything else after their morning was almost impressive. Winter would have respected it had she not been the one who had to comply with his requests. Now she was just annoyed. Again. “I can make coffee but you’re on your own with food. I don’t really keep much in the house, mostly because I would probably burn it down if I tried to touch the stove.”

“Yeah,” Finn groaned, rubbing at his temples in a pathetic attempt to soothe the headache. “Almost made the voice cracks tolerable. Just like ‘hey, here’s some hormones and also, you’re maybe going insane’.” Winter reminded him once again that the only reason people believed him was that this was a hellscape town and if he’d been in better shape, Finn would have loved a sharing session of what atrocities she had encountered so far. Seriously, a list of places and people to avoid sounded great. Instead, he was focused on caffeine and food, barely registering her statement as he worked on patting himself down in search for his phone, responding with a distracted ‘mm-hmm’ as the search moved to the bedsheets. Bingo. 

“Wait, ghosts?” His brain finally caught up, sort of, and Finn quickly waved off the descriptions of her cooking skills. “Also, yes and thank you on the coffee even though I was totally planning on getting it somewhere else but since you offered- you can see ghosts?” Was Winter keeping up with him. Was he keeping up with himself. Clutching at his phone, Finn’s head swiveled to take in the room, as if he would suddenly see a person there that he’d just somehow missed before. “Where? Who? Are we talking like a Poltergeist deal or are they just… there?” Heaving in a deep breath because this was using up all the energy he really didn’t have, Finn resisted the urge to flop back down onto the bed. 

“That sounds rough.” Her voice was flat though, no sympathy to be shared this time around. She’d already given him that and even if Winter thought feeling everyone’s emotions at once was a fate worse than most she wasn’t someone to feel sorry for one long, especially when that someone brought on a lot of what they got themselves. “I can understand not knowing what to do with it at a young age but have you ever tried to look deeper into it? There’s gotta be some information out there pertaining to your…condition. Maybe even a way to control it? Because you can’t keep getting drunk in bars and starting fights with random strangers or you’re going to end up dead.” And for some reason that wasn’t a fun thought. Sure, he wasn’t her favorite person but she didn’t hate him either. She wouldn’t have brought him to her house if she did.

Why? Well, that she didn’t quite know herself.

There it was. Amusement took over the annoyance when her words finally hit him. She heard Henry snort as Finn started to look around the room, Winter throwing her arms up with a shrug. Oh, she was going to have fun with this. “He’s right next to you. Not a poltergeist…” A shudder ran through her at the thought of her last run in with one of those but the uncomfortable feeling passed as Henry moved closer, waving a hand in front of Finn’s face. “Did you feel the temperature drop? Did it wake you up a little more?” Her smile turned into a smirk. “That’s Henry. He says hi and sorry for your unfortunate circumstances but at least you have both of your arms…unless he takes one from you.” 

Now she was just being an ass but she hoped the entertainment she got would be worth it. Henry gave her a look and she shrugged at him to wave it off. “Alright, coffee it is. Henry will join us….well, he can’t drink it obviously but just a warning that he’ll be there in case you’re chilly.”

“Why do you think I’m here?” Finn admitted, just the tiniest bit annoyed that he was getting brutally called out on the self-destructive behavior. And argument that he never planned on starting a fight seemed fruitless at this point, so he added instead, “I sure as fuck didn’t move here for the affordable housing or career opportunities.”

For a moment, he wondered if she was just messing with him. Finn had been here long enough to not doubt that there were people that could see ghosts but whether Winter was one of them… she was definitely enjoying the look on his face enough for this to just be one, big joke. Wrapping his arms around himself as she looked at something unseen just beside him, Finn figured that if it was a lie, she was a convincing actress. “Hello… Henry.” Was it colder or just the power of suggestion? Shuffling uncertainly across the floor, very aware that he might walk through someone, Finn followed her out of the room. 

“What’s he going to do with one of my arms?” he scoffed, even though the comment only prompted him to clutch both arms closer to his person. “So he just… follows you everywhere? What if you’re, like… y’know, with someone. Or showering?” Taking a seat in her kitchen, still glancing around as if that might suddenly provide him with the sixth sense (seventh?), Finn found that the Advil finally seemed to be doing its job. 

“To start random bar fights and end up in a pretty girl’s house, of course.” She shrugged, as if that was the most obvious answer in the world and her dry humor wasn’t on full display. Winter moved towards the coffee maker, the one appliance in her kitchen that got used more than anything, and started to work on their pick me up that they desperately needed. “Do you want an espresso shot too? You might need one…” She trailed off before finishing her harsh thought of ‘to get out of my house’, not wanting to scare him away. Because as much as she wanted him out of her house there was also an opportunity here to do something that she loved to do; research. “How far have you gotten with your search? Have you discovered anything about it yet?”

The smirk pulled at her lips, deepening, but Finn couldn’t quite see it as her back was turned to him and she let a casual tone slip into her voice. “Oh, you know, ghosts always seem to want what they don’t have. He’s missing one of his. Even if he can’t exactly use your arm his jealousy might get to him so I’d hold on tight.” Henry snorted at that, his head shaking at her antics. “You should leave the poor boy alone.” She just glanced over, showing the ghost how much fun she was having with the look on her face as an answer.

His question was a fair one but it did give Winter pause. The showering thing happened every day obviously but the other part of his question couldn’t be answered. That would have to be figured out at a later time. She could feel her cheeks heating causing her to frown. It wasn’t the fact that he was asking about it but the realization that she hadn’t needed to figure that out with Henry yet that was embarrassing her. Had it been that long? “Not that it’s any of your business, but he can be about twenty feet away from me.” There was a sharpness in her voice that she hadn’t intended on mixing in but that’s what she did when she was embarrassed; she lashed out. The severity depended on how embarrassed she got. “In the house he’s been able to roam freely without being by my side constantly. He gets stronger the more time he’s around so I think that’s helping him be able to pull further away.” 

“That too,” Finn agreed in the same, flat tone, a ghost of a smile on his face. Still just a bit too hungover to enjoy sarcasm at the moment. That coffee, though, that he would enjoy. He didn’t even bother to hide the excitement on his face as Winter went to work, agreeing enthusiastically with her offer for more coffee. Six espresso shots were probably closer to what he really needed but he was already a giant bother to Winter. “Not really. Just mostly been avoiding death and doing dumb shit since I got here. Feel like I’ve basically met and seen everything except something that might help me with this.” What a surprise that his plan of ‘go there and see what happens’ wasn’t working out perfectly. 

If his brain hadn’t been filled with cotton at the moment, Finn probably would have caught on to the smirk in Winter’s voice. In this current scenario however, the fear that an invisible figure would suddenly decide to tear off his arm was very real. “Cool. Very cool,” he mumbled, following Winter’s gaze at nothing, and shivering once more. Fucking ghosts. 

For the first time during their two rather unpleasant meetings, Finn felt his body grow warm with Winter’s embarrassment, followed by immediate guilt from himself. Oops. “Totally right, shutting up now.” She had answered his question though, satiating his curiosity on whether or not ghosts were just inherently pervy. Although the idea of an arm ripping ghost growing stronger wasn’t exactly putting the empath at ease. “Please don’t revoke my coffee privileges.” 

The medium let silence linger for a moment, Finn’s question making her think about her dry spell more than she wanted to. Ultimately, she blamed the town. It was full of weirdos and murderers and who’d want to sleep with those, right? That’s what she kept telling herself because delusion was better than blaming herself and her shitty attitude. Then she wondered why it was so easy to slip into those thoughts without the other interjecting. Winter, surprised that Finn wasn’t pushing this further, looked over her shoulder at him to make sure he hadn’t fallen asleep where he sat. It felt like the only reason he wouldn’t be teasing her but no, he was sitting there just pleading for his coffee. 

And then she realized he’d probably felt how embarrassed she’d gotten and she bristled. That was going to take some getting used to.

She slid the coffee over the counter to him, deciding to give him a break on the ghost stuff since he was dropping the last topic as well. Instead, she would focus on his issue. “It’s called research, Finn. Reading, the internet, tracking down people who know about your abilities…it’s not that hard in Wicked’s Rest. I might know some people who can point us in the right direction.” Winter had used ‘us’ without even realizing it. Now she was curious too and whether she liked it or not she would be doing her own research. She might as well share her discoveries with him as she went. It was his problem after all. 

Even though the totally out of line topic had been dropped, Winter was still pensive and definitely annoyed. Not at Finn so much, he was starting to get a decent feeling for the exact kind of annoyance his presence evoked in her - no, it was an annoyance that he oddly related to. More of an… impatient restlessness that… Oh. Maybe he was way off but the chances of Winter appreciating a line of questioning about how long it had been didn’t seem high, even if Finn was on the same boat. That would definitely get his coffee privileges revoked. 

When Winter finally procured the cup of coffee, it inspired Finn’s first genuine smile this morning. Grabbing the cup did mean releasing the death grip he had across his torso but honestly, it probably wouldn’t even do much if Henry decided he was in the mood for chaos. And Finn really wanted that coffee. As he reveled in the sweet taste of caffeine, Winter started providing advice in a way that was a bit like scolding but beggars couldn’t really be choosers. “Oh, it’s called research, is it?” Didn’t mean he could shut down the hungover urge for sarcasm completely, though. 

“But uh…” Finn took another sip of coffee before continuing, wanting to make sure that the next words weren’t accidentally laced with sarcasm as well. “I’d definitely… appreciate that. Maybe I’ll even try not to be wasted next time you see me, as a thank you.” He glanced over at her, feeling immensely grateful for a moment while also completely undeserving of Winter’s help. Stupid hangover making him extra mushy. “Sorry. For, y’know… me.”

Her smirk returned when she saw Finn’s death grip unravel in favor of the coffee cup, her eyes flicking to Henry who rolled his eyes goodnaturedly. He was enjoying this just as much as her but he didn’t want to show that. No, that would be giving Winter too much credit. This would be a fun gag to keep up for a while, hopefully Finn would still believe it once he was in a better headspace. 

Another night, another drunk Finn sitting at her kitchen island as Winter grabbed the boy a glass of water. Somehow she had become his contact for these types of pickups so she shouldn’t have been surprised when she’d gotten the text to come get him and yet somehow she was. What was even more surprising was her lack of argument in the matter. She’d seen it, rolled her eyes, but reached for her keys without thinking much of it. What was happening to her?

Something was different tonight though. Finn, who was usually boisterous when drunk, yelling about people’s feelings and trying to cause self destruction, was quiet for some reason. He looked more distraught than usual and yet his mouth had barely opened on the way to her house even with Winter trying to goad him. It made for a very weird car ride lacking their usual banter. Even if he threw one or two jabs her way they were lacking the heart they usually had.

She didn’t like it one bit. She’d come to know Finn as someone who could keep up with her and offer biting retorts to her own scathing remarks and now she found herself wishing for that self loathing character of a man to scowl as she slid the glass of water towards him. Briefly, she wondered if this had anything to do with the appearance of his father, the medium looking around her kitchen to see if any other spirits had filtered in besides Henry but nobody else was there. “Alright, Phenergan, spill. What’s up your ass?” She narrowed her eyes at him, daring the boy to try and skirt around whatever this was. “You’re not….you. It’s weird.”

The combination of unbelievable exhaustion and being wired to hell was far from a fun one. It had been a wonder that he’d managed to get himself accompanied to safety, although the dropped pin and message of ‘promise i won’t throw up’ hadn’t been the most eloquent. Winter had shown up anyway, which was almost the most surprising turn of events this evening. Finn couldn’t feel her, not really. Whatever was running through Winter’s head was like mist, there was no way for him to grasp it and make sense of it now. Her staring and furrowed eyebrows gave him a pretty good hint as to the reigning emotions, though. 

His hand felt foreign as he reached for the glass of water, raising it for a single sip before abandoning it. Winter’s voice was jarring after the prolonged silence and he blinked, forcing her image into focus. “Astute,” he mumbled, sliding down on the chair, barely refraining from sliding all the way to the floor to just lay there. “I fucked up. Surprise.” He didn’t really feel like talking, it took effort and thought but not talking made him want to crawl out of his own skin. Letting out a heavy sigh, Finn let his head rest on the cool counter, at least able to avoid Winter’s questioning glare. 

“I think I’m… gay. Bi, whatever.” He let the words settle - on their own, they didn’t bring any discomfort. That wasn’t the problem, that had never been the problem, not really. Sure, maybe it was inherently expected to feel some doubt, some fear about how it would be perceived but Finn couldn’t really hide behind that. His mom wouldn’t care, he knew that without a doubt, not his siblings either and since when had he really cared about what anyone else thought, anyway? It was more so the disentangling of everything that came with the realization. Combing through 28 years of life and finding all the moments where he’d shoved emotions to the side, blaming them on being owned by someone else. “Hurt my friend,” he added, just so Winter didn’t think this was purely a crisis about something that should have been fairly trivial. 

“There he is.” Her dry tone indicated how unamused she was but Winter was actually relieved to hear the bite in his words. It meant that he wasn’t too far gone from her. Which she shouldn't have cared so much about and yet here she was, caring. Her eyes rolled softly but mostly at herself even if it looked as if she were rolling them at his words. “Did you get yourself a concussion this time? Seems like the natural course of things.” She leaned forward against the island, her arms holding up her weight while she waited for him to explain.

She wasn’t expecting what came from his mouth though. Confusion filled her, the emotion clear on her face even if he couldn’t feel it, which she was sure he could. “And this is….new information to you?” She was careful about what she said, not wanting to upset him further. This was a delicate situation for a lot of people. A bi-awakening wasn’t always easy. She glanced over to Henry again, the ghost avoiding looking at either of the people in the room until that moment. He seemed to understand her silent request and turned to leave the kitchen to venture somewhere else. Winter knew that Finn couldn’t see him but this was personal enough that she didn’t want more ears listening in.

“How did you hurt your friend?” She noticed that he wasn’t touching the glass much and she needed something to do with her hands if she was going to talk this out with him. Anyone that knew her knew that she shied away from conversations concerning feelings, mostly her own, but she was willing to go through them if they were necessary. This seemed necessary. But she’d be damned if she was solely focusing on this conversation alone so she turned and started to work on coffee for them both. “What happened, Finn?”

New information? The sound he let out was the dry husk of a laugh, too tired, too everything to imbue it with any emotion of sorts. “You could say that. Bit slow, if you haven’t noticed,” Finn mumbled, words slightly muffled against the kitchen counter. Explaining how he’d felt a lot up until this point but skillfully shoved it all under the hat of ‘empathy shit’ was too much for tonight, if he’d even be able to put it into words. The only thing currently stopping him from banging his head against the hard counter was the absolute certainty that Winter would get pissed. Knocking himself out sounded so nice right about now, though. 

She was asking questions Finn felt too empty to answer but there was no escaping it now. Either he’d give it up willingly or Winter would make him, that much he knew. At least she was moving about the room now, eyes no longer boring holes into his head. “He told me he loved me.” Second time tonight, still just as much of a dagger to the heart. Fuck. With the jittery energy of pure self-loathing, Finn found the strength to stand up and start pacing, even if he didn’t quite manage to keep his balance perfectly. 

“I panicked. Then he finally wakes up from a fucking coma, whole other story-” he waved his hand in Winter’s general direction, “and I don’t say shit. I just… bolt.” Followed by a literally mind-altering make out but Winter probably didn’t want to hear about that. With a frustrated groan, Finn found his way back to the seat, very close to missing it as he sat but somehow managing. His head found the preferred position of resting against the counter once more, making a satisfying thud as he let it drop down. The pain was much too temporary of a distraction. “I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing, Winter.”

“You’re not wrong.” She muttered under her breath, knowing now wasn’t the time for her smart ass remarks no matter how badly she wanted to shout them in his direction. Again, sensitive timing, right? But her hands stilled on the coffee cup she was working on, heart clenching just a bit when he spoke of his friend admitting to love. “Oh, god, no wonder you were drunk when I found you.” So, as it turned out, Winter couldn’t help herself. But she was trying, that had to count for something. She skipped the expresso for her own cup and instead went for a step stool so she could get into the tall cabinet above her refrigerator, coming back with a bottle of top shelf whiskey. “Do you want your coffee Irish? I think a story involving a coma calls for it.” 

It was like he was telling her some fucked up fairytale. Quickly, she poured more than a shot's worth into her own beverage. 

She took a long sip while she watched his head thud against the island counter, not really sure where to take this either. She’d never been part of a fucked up fairytale, just fucked up relationships. Something she was suddenly glad for. She could fake it with the best of them though. “Alright, so we both know you don’t think logically in any type of situation, much less a very…stressful one. It’s fairly simple.” Was it? “Do you love him? Or at least feel anything for him?”

She was holding back her snark which was really a shame. Finn had reached out to Winter because… well, because there wasn’t anyone else to call on, was there? Even if there had been, she’d been the perfect candidate either way. He yearned for someone to call him an idiot, to not try to protect his feelings in a way he most definitely did not feel deserving of. Yet here she was anyway, trying to. Fuck. “Sure,” Finn sighed - more alcohol felt neither here nor there at this point. 

The smell of coffee was nice, attempting to push away the scent of hospital and blood that somehow still felt stuck in his nose. It was enough to get Finn to raise his head, sunken eyes meeting Winter’s and stomach twisting at the look on her face. God, he just wanted her to be pissed off with him like usual but getting her there would require energy he didn’t have. It’s fairly simple. Funny, he felt like nothing would ever be simple again. And there it was again - the same question he’d gotten from the animated stranger in the bar, one he’d been able to dodge with a smaller crisis that time. Now there was nothing to hide behind. 

So he thought about Charlie. The way he’d felt hollow at the prospect of him never waking up again. About all the times he’d been the only one Finn sought comfort in, then and now. Let himself imagine the events of tonight, except with Charlie and really feel the way his body responded to the mere thought of it. “I’m gonna ruin it.” It was the only truth he felt capable of speaking at the moment. 

She set her mug down to pour whiskey into his. Getting him even more drunk wasn’t the plan. No, the plan had been to yell at him, to berate him until maybe he cried a little because this was the third time. The third damn time that he had interrupted her life with his drunken shenanigans. But maybe she was growing softer here. Maybe the events she’d been through were starting to catch up to her and the empathy was creeping in. Or maybe…just maybe, she liked the idea of having more than one friend in her life. Winter loved Mack with all of her being but she couldn’t always be there, could she? 

She was being so pathetic right now.

Setting the mug down, she slid it over to him just as she had with the glass of water. Scowling at his words. “And there he is again. This self loathing shit gets really annoying, Finn.” She took her own mug in her hands, the warmth of the coffee staying with her due to the copious amount of whiskey she had added. “Do you want my truth or do you want me to water it down like everything else tonight? Spoiler alert, my truth might be even harder to work through.”

Her bite was a relief, digging at the places he couldn’t carve at himself, a confirmation of sorts. Which, as a response, was literally what Winter was getting annoyed at him for - what a satisfying cycle. “Yeah, well…” Finn grabbed the offered cup, letting the warmth burn his palms for a moment before taking a drink, the burn moving to his throat. It definitely didn’t settle well in his stomach but lucky for Winter, there wasn’t much to return if it decided to fully revolt. 

“The truth,” Finn answered without hesitation. She didn’t have all the facts but what little she had seen of him so far hadn’t been… pretty. He figured she at least had enough to make an informed decision on just how much of a dumbass he was capable of being. And even if whatever point she wanted to make was moot, a harsh truth - insults and all - felt very much like what he deserved. Charlie hadn’t gotten a chance to call him out on his shit, which had literally been the man’s job pretty much from the day they’d met, and Finn had no doubt that he could spiral much, much further without intervention. Maybe even with intervention, only time would tell. 

She bit the inside of her cheek when he answered her without hesitation, the girl wanting to give him a second to breathe before going right into it. Winter was fully aware of how harsh she could be and how off putting it was so she sometimes liked people to be prepared. But her soft spot for him wouldn’t save him forever. “Yea, you’re probably going to mess it up. You’re most likely going to say some stupid shit or not care enough or care too much and it’s going to cause a strain in your relationship.” She let that settle in the air, the girl bringing her mug to her lips and allowing that warmth to fill her in folds while the ice she carried in that chest of hers spilled out into the open. She could chill a room faster than Henry any day.

“But that’s not unique to you, Finn. You’re not special in that regard.” She had never thought of herself as a romantic. No, Winter was a stone cold realist who could see the cracks happening  in the seemingly happiest moments of life. Even as a child she could see the foundations of her parents' relationship splintering over time but there was something that they could always do that smoothed things over. They were still happy even if they weren’t the same as when they first met. 

“Things will happen, yes, but you can’t let the fear of that keep you from trying. A relationship isn’t supposed to be easy, it’s work and there are very few things in this life that are unforgivable. I know, that’s shocking coming from me, but I have high standards. Can’t really use me as an example.” She gave him a once over, trying to get her point across in his drunken state. Soon, her features softened even as her fingers tapped impatiently against the mug in her hand.  “So, let me ask you again but in a different way: Is he worth trying for?”

This hadn’t been the truth he’d expected. It was weirdly insightful and inspirational when Finn needed scathing and preferably hurtful. Not that his irrational fears were valid but unnecessary, that everyone felt that way and just… worked through it. Winter talked about fear and there were so many things he hadn’t tried precisely because of that. So many things that he was absolutely terrified of and that in and of itself scared him, too. What if he’d never be normal, or at least functional? What if he’d lose someone else and that would fully break him? What if he’d turned into someone unlovable? Well, Charlie had proven that wrong, hadn’t he? Even though Finn wanted to go back to the hospital and shake the man until he admitted that he was wrong, that his feelings were incorrect because they didn’t fit with the empath’s perception of the world. 

Yeah, that was real healthy. 

He took a sip from the disgusting mix in his cup, wishing now that he hadn’t asked Winter for the truth. It was definitely harder to swallow then he’d thought. At least she’d tried to warn him. Finn somehow managed a smile at her ‘high standards’, meeting her gaze. Thoughts of everything and nothing flashed behind his eyes. Finn’s stomach twisted as her face went soft - it didn’t fit their dynamic but then again, neither did him not being a bitch and actually asking for advice. 

“He is. Fuck, he is,” Finn groaned, also terrified of honesty but there was no dodging it now. What if he let himself have something good and then lost it? What if he didn’t? Abandoning the cup, probably a good thing with the way his insides were twisting and turning from booze and emotion, Finn angrily rubbed at his numb face. “God, Charlie’s going to kill me for going AWOL,” he muttered behind his hands, raking back his hair with slightly more intensity than was strictly necessary. “Like ‘hey, sorry I left you at the hospital, bud - had to go have a little identity crisis, my b’,” Finn rambled on. 

“Well then, stop being a bitch and go get your man.” She thought the conversation would end there, that Finn might ask her to drive him somewhere else or run out the door like those poor suckers in a romantic comedy or something but when he kept talking and she realized who this conversation was about she nearly spit out the coffee she’d just taken a sip of. Winter’s eyes bugged a little. “This is about Charlie?” The outburst, the incredulity, she hadn’t meant for it to come through the way it had but it was Charlie for god’s sake. All of this uncertainty and stress for that man didn’t make sense to her.

But it should have, shouldn’t it? The way Charlie had talked about Finn when he told her they were friends should have been the first clue. Winter was usually more perceptive than that and she silently cursed herself for not figuring this out sooner. When she thought more on it, the two of them did seem like they would compliment each other in some weird way but she was still rolling her eyes at the fact that this whole breakdown of his was about Charlie fucking Hart.

Then the word ‘hospital’ hit her ears and the fact that Finn had mentioned a coma earlier came rushing back to her. “Wait, what the hell happened to Charlie? Why was he in a coma?” There was a hint of worry in her voice, not masked enough by the anger she was trying to portray. As much as the man annoyed her, as infuriating as she thought him to be, Winter still didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. He was like some weird alternate brother that she never wanted sent to her by the universe. 

Finn’s eyes rolled hard enough for it to hurt - sure, it was easy for her to just tell him to go and ‘get his man’ as if it didn’t terrify him to his core. He was being a little bitch, though, that part was accurate. “I’m not going to do it while I’m drunk,” he argued, even though being drunk would help. Maybe it mattered more that he’d kissed someone just a few hours ago. Oh, this was so fucked. Luckily, he’d accidentally managed to divert Winter’s attention away from any declarations of love right at this moment. Had he known she knew Charlie? Maybe, Finn wasn’t even sure he could recall his social security number at this moment if prompted. 

“Yeah?” he answered hesitantly, eyebrows furrowed. Was that so hard to believe? Granted, Finn was pretty biased seeing as he’d apparently been head over heels for the guy for much longer than he’d even realized. At least Winter didn’t seem to hate him, judging by the tendrils of worry Finn could detect among the confusion and annoyance and booze. “Oh. He… got stabbed. It was a whole thing about zombies and demons-” Finn paused, realizing that sounded insane but remembering that Winter saw dead people so he continued. “It was… pretty fucking shit. He was out for like a day and a half but he’s awake now.”

“You have no problem calling me to pick you up when you’re drunk. Let’s not pretend I’m less terrifying than telling Charlie you love him back. The man’s a marshmallow.” The murmur of her voice made it clear this was not what was front and center in her mind right now. Winter could care less whether he ran to Charlie tonight or not, right now priority number one was figuring out what happened to spur all of this in the first place. Which was probably why she hadn’t tried to filter her thoughts this time around. 

Her eyes rested on the confusion clear on his face and she fought the urge to roll them again. “You seriously can’t tell me you don’t understand why that would confuse me. You’ve met him, you’ve met me, this shouldn’t be difficult.” Now that Winter remembered he was okay, awake and confessing his love, she could pretend to hate him again. That little slip of hers couldn’t outweigh her annoyance. What if Finn had the audacity to tell him she cared? “I won’t pretend to understand your feelings for him, not my style.”

Stabbed. Fucking stabbed. God, she was getting sick of people and their knives. “Zombies and…?” She trailed off, brows lifting in surprise. Zombies she knew about but demons? Plus, there was only one zombie she knew of in town. What did that mean for Mack? Worry pooled in her gut again, the rest of the coffee in her hand being downed. She was going to have to drink the whiskey straight soon. “Did he happen to say who it was that stabbed him?” 

“You’re way less terrifying than actual feelings, don’t even try,” Finn huffed. Sure, maybe his friend was a ‘marshmallow’ most of the time but that just meant that when he actually got pissed off, it was so much worse. And right now, he had every right to be mad at Finn’s cowardice, mostly governed by the overwhelming feelings of inadequacy which he also knew Charlie fucking hated. “I don’t know, he’s a likeable guy? But then again, you hate almost everyone so guess that makes sense.” The softest of smiles tugged at his lips. Because she had tried to understand or at the very least, help. “You’re a fucking softie.”

Winter still looked worried which, fair, random stabbings were supposed to have that effect. It was more than that, though. Something specific was making her stomach sink but it was all still so muddled and Finn didn’t exactly have the strongest ground to stand on when it came to interrogating her right at this moment. “Demons, yeah. Or a singular demon, I guess. A zombie demon.” Still sounded like the plot to a D-rate horror movie. He raised an eyebrow at the follow up question, all of the pieces right there in front of him but not a chance in hell for him to actually fit them together, not tonight. “He just talked about some guy. I don’t remember if there was a name or anything, though.”

Finn wanted to ask why, wanted to question this strange line of… well, questioning. But his brain felt fuzzier than ever, the disgusting whiskey was hitting yet the coffee had done nothing to make him feel more alert. “I think… I might pass out in our kitchen real soon. I haven’t really slept for more than… well, I haven’t really slept.”

She was almost offended. She would have been if he hadn’t been so damn right. Feelings were hard, complicated little things and he had not only his own to worry about but everyone else’s too. “Sometimes I forget why you’re such a mess.” Winter couldn’t really blame this disaster of a human being, could she? If she had to feel what he felt on a daily basis she would drink herself away as well. “I love that you’re finally learning…” But her smile turned down in an instant when he cut off her words and continued, her eyes narrowing to slits. Now she was offended. How dare he say such awful things? Finn was begging to be left in the bar next time. “Say it again and you’re joining Charlie in that hospital. You can confess your undying love over bedpans and bad jello.” 

What the hell was a zombie demon? Her mind raced to Henry jumping into Mack’s body, struggling to keep her at bay so that Winter could walk away without being harmed but if demons existed then she imagined it would be much easier for them to do such a thing. Or were there actual demon zombies out there? Was that a thing? That was one that would surprise her if it was. Some ludicrous thoughts just went too far. Still, the tension left her shoulders when Finn mentioned it being a man. Mack seemed to be safe at least. Pity about Charlie. “That’s honestly terrifying. The crap we have to worry about in this town…” 

Our kitchen? Did he think he lived here now? It wouldn’t be off brand for her to take in another stray but the least he could have done was ask first. Winter puffed out a breath of air but decided not to argue since he did look like death had warmed over. She was afraid he was right and would pass out at her island and if that happened she was leaving him there for the rest of the night. Thea would make such a big deal about it. “Someone else is in your guest room but there’s another one down the hall from it. The bed’s already made. Don’t puke on it.”

Finn breathed out a laugh and shrugged - must be nice, being able to forget the giant mess that was his life, even for a little bit. “You love it,” he muttered, rubbing at his face and finding it useless in bringing back his focus. True to their dynamic, Finn had managed to properly piss off Winter before the night came to an end - there was something poetically beautiful about that. “You’re not gonna beat me up. You like me.” He was just messing with her at this point, maybe even a little bit goading her into throwing a punch because he felt like he deserved one, but was it too far from the truth? If Winter was just helping him out because of pity, she would have let one or even two rescue missions do. Maybe, for some incomprehensible reason, she actually did enjoy his company. 

Wednesday nights were by far the best nights to be out on Worm Row, that much Winter knew for sure. It mostly had to do with the dive bar down the street from her hotel with the smell of fresh chicken wings wafting from it, something that always made her hungry for a late night snack. She’d never actually gone to the Wormhole before but for some reason this was the night she couldn’t quite resist the slight rumble of her stomach as she was walking to the Elysium to settle in for the night. So, in the bar she went, the girl almost turning right around when she saw what the place actually looked like. 

It wasn’t until she actually tasted the food that her regret and slight disgust started to fade into contentment. The wings along with the shitty vodka tonic on her table were enough to keep her in place at her spot at the bar, scrolling through her phone before some kind of commotion started to break out and Winter looked up to watch as a man started yelling throughout the bar about anyone who would go near him.

Eyebrows creasing with confusion, she started biting into one of the wings as her interest started to peak. Winter wasn’t one to cause many scenes herself but she sure did enjoy it when someone else was going off their rocker. It always made for a good show. Amusement filled her, the girl continuing to snack as if she were watching in a theater full of other amused patrons even while other people were grumbling around her. It was only when he got closer that she clucked her tongue before speaking to him. “Dude, you might want to chill. I think the bartender is ready to hit you with a bat or something.”

—-

The ‘incidents’ had become few and far between once Finn had finally finished high school. Not because he’d gotten better at controlling… well, anything, but purely because he’d learned that solitude was the best prevention. It was a (mostly) solid plan, only really sidetracked when his own thoughts were doing a good enough job of driving him insane. A Wednesday night at some dive bar should have been quiet to a point of the place being almost empty. A few drinks, surrounded by other people’s wallowing, before heading back home had been the plan. 

Finn hadn’t meant to piss off the bartender but then again, he hadn’t been prepared to get filled to the brim with annoyance and anger. Self-pity and sadness was what had been expected in a bar on a weekday. So of course, his usual sarcasm had taken on a snippy tone, infected by the surrounding feelings of tension. And maybe a little bit by the fact that he’d gone through three drinks fairly quickly despite his mother’s voice insisting not to mix the medication with alcohol. 

“So it’s a problem that I’m in a bad mood when everyone in here is on the verge of murder for some reason?” he found himself saying, although shouting would have been more apt, moving to stand. It would have been more graceful if not for the damn barstool betraying him and the room doing a fun little spin. “Except for…” Bleary eyes roamed the space before landing on a believable suspect, “I’m guessing that guy. He just really wants to get laid. Sorry bud, not sensing any interest in this room.”

Hands reached for him and Finn backed away, bumping into a table. The wheels were spinning and even though it seemed likely they’d only stop once someone knocked his lights out, caring about that outcome wasn’t on the table. The girl whose dinner and drinks he’d almost knocked down was speaking and it took a moment for the words to register. Anger, and now violence, wasn’t quite as profound in this part of the bar. At least one person in here didn’t want to beat the shit out of him. “I would chill if that weren’t fucking impossible in here. No one in here has any chill, it feels like they’re all just waiting for an excuse to murder someone. Or fuck something in that guy’s case.” 

Finn pointed once more at the man he suspected was to blame for the very loud emotions of pent up energy and oops, said man was on his feet now. Since common sense wasn’t exactly about to make its presence known now, Finn scrambled to put the girl and her table between him and the approaching incel. 

—-

Winter was laughing. She couldn’t help it, really. It was so funny to her that this man seemingly picked the largest  guy he could to call out while his own stature couldn’t quite measure up. Even after he almost ruined her meal she found him very entertaining. Too bad she was the only one enjoying the show. Everyone was staring, something she couldn’t care less about, but now the large man was walking towards them with a murderous glint in his eye and suddenly her laughter died in her throat. Well, this was just great. The guy could talk the shit but he had to hide behind a girl that was 5’3 once he got in trouble for it? 

She took her time in wiping her hands clean with a napkin, a sigh escaping her as the big guy trekked across the bar. But when he was right in front of her she stood and put her hands on her hips, making sure to block his path to the drunk one behind her. “Look, it’s not like he’s wrong. You reek of desperation and nobody here is interested. Learn to take a shower and maybe the next time you're in here you’ll get lucky.” The guy grunted at her, his head leaning down so he could actually get a good look at Winter and she shrugged her shoulders. “He’s drunk and half your size. Don’t be even more pathetic. Let him be.” 

He continued to glare at her until she made a gesture trying to move him along, shooing him with her hands. Another grunt was made before he turned and walked away, hopefully out of the bar altogether, and she turned to face the one who should have had his face smashed in by now. “That was really nice. You’re such a charmer, I can’t believe you’ve managed to piss off everyone in less than twenty minutes.” 

She had no room to talk, really. Winter could do the same on most days but it seemed like he had been on a mission. “Maybe you should eat something…something greasy, soak up some of that alcohol.”

—-

The room was starting to tilt, heart pounding with the immense turmoil of emotions mixed with alcohol. Finn hadn’t meant to lash out, obviously. Did he look like someone who regularly got into fights? He was wearing glasses for fuck’s sake. Even so, this always happened. Put too much anger in a room, put too much anger into him and the stupid shit just started flowing from his mouth. It was too late to back out now - maybe letting himself get knocked out and taken to the hospital was best for everyone at the moment. Maybe Wicked’s Rest had a decent ER. 

Before the man he’d antagonized, or the woman he was currently hiding behind for that matter, could punch his lights out, it seemed a rescue mission was underway. One hand bracing against the back of a chair, Finn watched the conversation with intrigue, managing a brief focus on just the girl. Confidence. Still a bit of mirth and these were much nicer emotions to revel in. 

Miraculously, the man backed off. Finn slumped into the chair previously being used as his one point of balance, a sarcastic smile to match her tone sliding onto his face. “That’s not even close to my personal record.” Sometimes, it only took a single sentence to piss off his mom. His teachers had entered a state of being constantly pissed, always waiting for the next outburst of him shouting at one student or another. 

“You should have let me get punched. Honestly more bearable than being in here,” he sighed, words slurring slightly together. It was a bit better now, the sarcastic stranger’s mood almost managing to balance out the rest of this reeking shithole. She mentioned something about food, Finn didn’t really catch the whole thing, but it was invitation enough for him to grab one of her chicken wings. Had he eaten today? Probably not, which explained the state of him after only a few drinks. 

—-

“Are you proud of that fact?” Sure, his sarcasm matched hers but the words alone were enough to make her think he was. He’d obviously not done anything to change his ways so it could have been something he was trying for on a daily basis. She was prone to agitating some people on purpose herself so there was no judgment in her tone whatsoever, amusement still the primary emotion welling up inside of her. “Because you sound proud of that fact.” Winter took a seat next to the man, noticing that he’d slipped into her previous one, and grabbed the drink to slide it over to her new location. She had a feeling she would need it to get through the rest of the night without getting annoyed. She’d done well so far, why tempt fate?

“You’re right, I should have. It would have been a lot more entertaining, that’s for sure.” She took a sip of the alcohol before continuing. “Funny thing though, I thought you might appreciate a stranger stepping in to save your ass. My mistake.” Winter watched him reach into her basket of wings, the first tinge of actual annoyance that night briefly cutting through her calm demeanor but she pushed it aside. The medium had been the one to mention food, she should have known that he wouldn’t have a second thought about hers in his state. “If you hate it so much in here, why are you hanging around?”

Rich. It was a question she asked herself on most days when walking through town, especially when her eyes landed on the ghost that wouldn’t leave her alone, reminding her of the many things that went bump in the night around here. Luckily tonight he’d grown bored of her phone excursions and started walking around the place to people watch and she hadn’t had to worry too much about him. Still, there couldn’t be something important keeping this guy in the bar, right? Or had Winter walked into something else that would scar her for life? “This better not be some sort of eatery for zombies or something.” She mumbled the words, hoping he hadn’t caught them as her eyes cut around the bar.

—-

The question caught him off guard because obviously it wasn’t something to be proud of, knowing you were usually the person most likely to incite a riot in every room, but of course this woman had no way of seeing through the bullshit his mother would call a ‘defense mechanism’. Sounding proud was much easier than letting someone see just how shitty being the way you were made you feel. “Not proud, just saying that it’s not my best work,” Finn doubled down on the attitude, answering around a mouthful of chicken. 

As if to prove his own point, the stranger was now joining the rest of the bar in their annoyance, hers more muted but still very much present. Finn tried his best not to mind. “I am grateful, I can’t pull off a black eye for shit. Just think it would have been better for everyone if the EMTs had to deal with me.” And then, another very valid question from her, proving that she was clearly insightful and not rolling with the shit coming from the empath. 

With a sigh, Finn leaned back in the chair, the motion making the room spin again momentarily. “Because it’s still better than hanging out alone in my apartment, again.” It was an honest answer, the words laced with annoyance and he couldn’t tell whether it was his own or influenced by hers. The baring of his soul clearly wasn’t more interesting than whatever she was currently looking around for and as he caught onto a mumbled word, Finn had to agree. “Zombies?” he blurted out, leaning back in, palms stretching out over the sticky table. “You think there’s zombies in here?”

—-

”Best work would imply pride, would it not?“ She raised an eyebrow at him, suddenly wondering what he meant by his best work. What exactly did he do for something like this to gain that particular title because he'd made a huge mess of things in this bar. Winter wanted to know. ”What was your best work, exactly? Has to be something big to top almost being beaten to death in a sketchy bar...though I guess it wouldn't take much in here for someone to want to beat on someone.“ She looked around again. It wasn't the first time that she had noticed how seedy this place was but she wasn't usually sitting with someone who could cause riots, was she? Did she like danger or something or was it just attracted to her like some messed up magnet?

Abandoning the first basket of chicken wings, figuring he would want more than one, Winter motioned for the bartender to bring another for them. They were good, he seemed hungry and needed to sober up, she'd be generous for tonight. She laughed at his EMT comment, sipping on her drink before she decided to answer him. ”I wasn't here for that drama tonight. I've seen enough...injuries lately to last a lifetime.“ No more trauma for Winter, at least not tonight when she had a chance to help the situation die down. “Besides, I think you could pull off the black eye. Could probably pull off more than you think.” 

Her attention was brought back to him as he leaned back in his chair, the girl raising an eyebrow at him. ”Gee, I wonder why you're not invited out more often. Maybe if people didn't come close to calling EMT's when you're around you would have more friends?” It was a lighthearted tease, meant to try and lift his mood a little, but there was an air of truth to her words. He didn't seem like that bad of a guy when he wasn't going around and pointing out fucked up assumptions about everyone. Or stealing her chicken wings. 

Crap. He'd heard her and he was awfully attentive now. She couldn't figure out whether his question was a serious one or if he was mocking her and Winter decided to go the safe route even as her heart started to beat a bit faster. “It was a joke.” The words were matter of fact, her tone indicating that he was stupid for thinking anything else even if there was no heart to it. “Why? You're not a zombie, right?”

—-

His best work? God, there was a lot of shit to sift through if he had to go around choosing his greatest fuck up, not counting the obvious answer where he’d been completely useless and missed all the signs but no one wanted to hear about that. Finn had done enough talking about it anyway, filling up pages and pages of scribbled notes at every psychologist’s office, inevitably getting the ‘it wasn’t your fault’ package they all seemed to recycle and… wait, what had she asked again? “Anyway, I’m Finn.” A very smooth save, indeed. 

Finn wasn’t too proud to accept the donation of chicken wings, not after already probably ruining the basket for her, so he started chewing on another piece while mumbling his thanks. It didn’t really make sense why this stranger was being so nice to him but he couldn’t really muster up the effort to care at this moment. Something dark swooped across the table when she mentioned the witnessed injuries and his eyebrows creased. No further context was given because yes, normal people could generally go around without inflicting their trauma on everyone and everything. Finn wondered what the fuck that was like. 

“You’re just saying that because you still kinda want me to get punched,” Finn argued in response to what was maybe a compliment? Or an insult, he wasn’t really sure. All he could tell was that yeah, she was still just a tiny bit pissed at him, with good reason. “But you’re absolutely right.” The stripped bone of the chicken wing was pointed in her direction as he continued, “people really just can’t handle all of this, y’know?” That, and the whole ‘I know what you feel at every given moment’ part. 

His heart started to pound the moment hers did, brown eyes widening even as Winter’s mask of calm and collected settled over her features. “Not a zombie, definitely weirder than that, though but no brain eating, which I guess is a plus,” Finn rambled, attention quickly shifting somewhere else as he started to shrug off his jacket. Shit, was it getting hot in here or just the combination of his companion’s sudden worry, the booze and his new friend still trying to glare holes through his face from the other side of the bar. 

—-

“Deflecting seems to be another thing you’re not very good at. But I’ll take that as you don’t want to talk about it.” Wow, she really was feeling generous that night. Usually she’d push until the other person gave in, especially if Winter wasn’t enjoying their company that much, but she didn’t feel like fighting with him. She wanted to enjoy her drink and those fresh wings she could smell being cooked in the back. “I’m Winter.” Her usual ‘nice to meet you’ was on the tip of her tongue but at the last minute she decided to forego that part. It hadn’t been nice up until that point. 

Winter did laugh at his next comment though, not expecting it and also not expecting him to be so right. She’d been trying to be nice and give a compliment but he saw right through it. “Okay, so you caught me. You are a perceptive one, aren’t you? And one with a very punchable face.” The medium watched him as he pointed the chicken bone at her, shaking her head but still highly amused. “You’re definitely not for the weak, that’s for sure.” Giving him a pointed gaze, she continued. “Just gotta find the strong willed. They’ll keep you in check.”

Why did he look like he was also nervous now? She didn’t even notice it until he took his jacket off but his expression wasn’t helping much either. “Weirder than a zombie? I didn’t know it could get much weirder than that.” She did know that it could, she’d just never met anything that could be considered weirder while out and about. Winter had to wonder whether he was being honest with that statement or not and it struck her how she’d never had to wonder about that before. There had been plenty of times throughout her life that jokes like this had been made around Halloween and now she knew that some of those definitely weren’t joking. “So…what are you then?” She tried to keep a semblance of the teasing in her voice but now she really wanted to know if he was something different.

—-

“I swear I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Finn replied back, mostly in a joking tone of some friendly gaslighting but also because keeping track of conversation really was a bit hard. Especially once she gave her name and all of his attention shifted towards that. “Oh, holy shit. Winter, the one I’m gonna block during Christmas? I swear to god, if there are two Winters in this town then some parents need to chill the fuck out.” 

The realization was a fun one, even though it reminded Finn that he’d also accidentally been a bit of a dick to her online what with saying her job was basically trash. Oops. “If you let me finish the wings then you’re definitely entitled to a punch, I think,” he sighed, grabbing the last of the wings, thankful for the fact that they were making the bar feel a little less… spinny. Snorting a bit at the idea of someone keeping him in check when his own mother had failed, Finn simply shrugged. “Well, still waiting for some masochistic volunteers to accept the job.”

Nerves seemed to give way to curiosity, albeit with a bit of skepticism which Finn couldn’t blame her for. He’d been spouting bullshit all evening, how in the hell was Winter supposed to tell if this was anything different. “I’m human, obviously. Maybe not obviously in this town, I’m kinda starting to gather but, anyway, fuck it. I can feel emotions. Like, other people’s, not just my own. Obviously. Like the way you still kinda wanted to punch me and that guy not getting any for months, maybe even years.” His head nodded towards the bar before he finished off his wing, waiting for Winter to inevitably leave or question his sanity. 

—-

“Wait.” She was staring straight at him for a second before she let out a sudden, loud laugh. “You’re Phenergan? Why do I feel like I should have known that?” Their conversation of bullies and nerd games should have given the clue that this was the same guy but to be fair he hadn’t been this obnoxious online. At least not until he’d insulted her show. Okay, now Winter knew this was the same guy, the girl finishing off her drink to give her the strength to not start an argument about it. “Hey now, Winter isn’t as bad as some of the names you hear these days. But agreed that it’s not common. Would have been weird if there were two of us.” 

She was going to let him finish the wings anyway but the offer was enticing. Winter couldn’t hit for shit though so she knew it would only be embarrassing herself if she even attempted. “As tempting as that is, I just got a manicure and I’m not ready to ruin it just yet. Maybe I’ll give jumbo shrimp, still eyeing you over there, his shot if you really want to get hit that badly.” Speaking of masochists. “Also not one to enjoy the pain and misfortune that you apparently adore but I’ll keep my feelers out for you. There’s always one, right?”

His explanation was more than enough to catch her off guard. She wasn’t even sure if he was messing with her or not but things made more sense if she factored in that fact about him. Wings were placed in front of her but they sat forgotten as she sifted through the many thoughts now racing through her mind and what to say to those words, whether she should believe him or not. There were a lot of questions but really being able to feel others emotions wasn’t so out of the question here. In the end, Winter settled on one thing. “And you think that’s weirder than being a zombie?” Yea, it was weird but there were a lot of things in this town that topped it. The comment also left things more open for him to interpret instead of her outright saying she believed him even if she was inclined to do so.

—-

Hearing his new nickname spoken out loud drew a genuine laugh from Finn, matching Winter’s aside from his maybe being a little bit more… drunk. “You really should have. I’m very memorable,” he countered, grin now plastered on his face, his companion’s enjoyment of the revelation doubled in his own mind and soaked with alcohol. “Wait, do you want to hit me more or less now?” he added as an afterthought, the question mostly genuine. Hopefully, he managed to be slightly less obnoxious online and sober. At least, he was pretty sure he’d been sober for their conversation, it was a bit of a blur at the moment. 

Snorting at her excuse of protecting her nails, Finn gave a shrug as if to say ‘your call.’ Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t really expected her to hit him. He’d experienced the feeling of ‘I’m going to hit that jackass’ enough times to have it seared into his brain and Winter seemed to be slightly more of a pacifist. Her passing him over to the man who definitely wanted an outlet for his anger, though… “Hey, he doesn’t get a free pass, that was only for you. Even though you don’t want to ruin your life by being in my sunshine company.”

It took Winter longer than he’d thought to respond, one emotion jumping over the other in a race to come out on top. Maybe they weren’t that confusing and maybe she wasn’t taking that long but it was getting harder to focus again, those last shots of the evening most likely sneaking up on him now. “People aren’t exactly making blockbusters about me, are they?” Finn argued back, pausing for a moment as the sudden excitement of his comeback made the room swivel. 

“Sorry, just-” Finn swallowed thickly, opening his mouth to add something but snapping it shut just as quickly, shaking his head. “Nope,” he muttered as he clambered to his feet, chair tumbling to the ground in the process as Finn bolted in a very not-straight line for the exit. Thankfully, he made it outside before elegantly portraying just why alcohol was bad for you, waving his hand at people that passed by with smug emotions and laughter at the pitiful state. 

—-

She took a moment to think about his question of hitting him before shrugging a shoulder. “I don’t think my want of hitting you has lessened or worsened. It’s about the same. Question though, is this free pass good for any time or does it have to be used tonight?” Winter finished off her drink after the question, waiting patiently as she noticed his face going a little more pale than it already was. That wasn’t a good sign. There was no way for her to know how much he had drank that night but the man had been becoming a menace before she’d noticed him so she assumed quite a bit.

It was only confirmed as he got up and ran out of the bar, the girl rolling her eyes but not moving from her seat. “What’s with him? Make him cry or something?” Henry’s voice cut through the noise of the bar and she shook her head at him. “Someone can’t hold their liquor.” To anyone else the comment could have been seen as her making a judgment to herself, nothing out of the ordinary, but Henry nodded to confirm that he’d heard her even with a loud commotion starting at the other end of the bar. “You just gonna leave him out there?”