thoughtformed | (no subject)

I know you are.

[She curls her fingers into the back of his clothes and shuts her eyes, smiling again where he can't see her. Forgiving him for killing Perry had been the easy part. He hadn't been able to help it.. but he's different now, and she knows that.]

I'm sorry, R, for leaving you behind.. but they would have killed you. You know that, right?

[ He's leaning his cheek on the top of her head and holding on. It's nice to have someone that close. He thinks if he listens hard enough he can hear her heart beating.]

I know.

[ That she even bothered to begin with meant the world. She didn't have to apologize to a dead guy. He can't blame her. ]

[Something tells her that she should feel awkward by now, but it's comfortable having her arms around him and she's just so, so glad that he's here. The intensity of it is enough to take her by surprise, and she exhales slowly, shifting away and resting one hand against his chest.]

You look good. [A+ conversation, Julie.] I mean, well, you know. [As good as a corpse can look?] Erm.. how are you.. y'no.. [She pulls a face and lowers her voice.] .. eating.

[ She pulls back and he drops his hands to his sides. He could've hugged her forever but that'd be completely impractical. ]

Thanks...? [ He furrows his brows and pulls his shoulders up in a shrug ] M'...not. Exactly. [ We've kind of being starving ourselves here in between spaced out hospital donations- a cold already donated organ (yuck but it works he guesses). He's been mentally debating eating a cop that's very rude for the past week. And there was that recent incident where he got curious and hungry enough to eat a cat but let's not even bring that one up ]

... Really?

[Come to think of it, she couldn't remember seeing him eat anyone after he brought her back to the airport. Maybe he had, and just hadn't told her, but she's almost sure of it. He was never gone for long enough.]

Are you.. okay? I mean.. I thought you needed.. [Maybe she's a little concerned.]

[ He might have had Perry's brains in his pocket at the airport so there was that. But besides that, no. We haven't eaten anybody since ...okay so when he got here he did eat a chunk out of a doctor or two. He didn't exactly get to finish that. ]

Hmm. Hungry be...fore but. [ Another shrug. He feels great right now, actually. ] I'm fine.

... Good.

[She hugs him again and though it's brief it's warmer this time, tight and close as she pushes her nose against his neck and chuckles. All of this is so, so very hard to believe, but the presence of someone familiar is grounding, and she's not as close to freaking out as she was before she found he was here.]

So, what does a girl have to do to get a guy to buy her a drink in this town?

[ Too brief but it's nice. He can feel her chuckle. It almost tickles. Can he get tickled? That's a weird thought. He dismisses it quickly and tilts his head at her when she pulls back. ]

Ask. [ He's reaching out and taking one of her hands and lightly giving it a tug and leading her along. This way. Julie needs a drink. He knows where to go for one of those. ]

[Julie smiles, twisting her hand in his but only so she can lace their fingers together. Her free hand comes up to grip his arm and she looks down at their feet as they walk.]

Is anyone else here? My dad?

[ R lowers his head and stares at their hands, the way she's holding on to his arm. People are nice, sure. But they're not Julie nice. ]

No.

[ He definitely would've known if Mister Grigio was somewhere about. That's the kind of guy that would announce his presence. Probably involve himself in the policing force. Established himself as an authority figure to everyone. Would've shot the only zombie on this entire island in the head by now... He's not here and that might be a good thing.

Julie's friend isn't here either. He's kept an eye out but no luck. ]

Oh, well.. I guess he'd hate it here, anyway.

[She has much the same thoughts as R does. Her father would be very quick about establishing himself in a place like this, and he wouldn't have allowed someone like R to live.

As they walk, she lets go of his arm to lightly swing their clasped hands.]

... I'm glad you're here, you know?

[ He doesn't doubt that. He'd be long dead. Er. Double dead. However dead you need to be after you've already died. That dead.

His gray eyes follow their swinging hands with a little amusement. He's seen the zombie kids do that before. The others think it's weird. He thinks it's fun. It seems so carefree. He almost thinks there should be a 'la la la' to go along with it. Or skipping. He'd probably fall on his face if they even tried to do that one though. ]

Glad you're here. [ Look at all the life here, Julie. She needed this. ]

Edited 2013-08-21 00:37 (UTC)

[She would really not like him to be that kind of dead. Even if what he is right now doesn't necessarily fall in line with what her father and many others would call 'alive', he's definitely living and that's more than she can say for most of them.

Another little laugh escapes her, and she sounds nervous but not scared, giving his hand a light squeeze. It might be more to reassure him, or herself.

After they've been walking for a few minutes she looks up at him and hums thoughtfully.]

So, R. What have you been doing here all by yourself?

[ At the squeeze, he starts wondering if he hasn't been walking fast enough for her. He's not exactly in a rush. There's zero reason to rush. He's got Julie and nothings trying to eat them (and he's just naturally slow to begin with so there's that.) It's not that far now. That being Nancing Phoney because why would Julie want coffee? He's pretty sure she meant. DRINK. So. Vampire-owned bar it was.

...No, she would've told him to pick up the pace if it was that. That's just a nice comforting gesture. He squeezes back- maybe a little too tight. Sorry. Zombie grip. He's aware and loosens it up. ]

Ummm. [ He shrugs. No. Wait. Don't shrug, shrugger. She's going to point it out. Let's work on those sentences. ] St...stuff. [ That is not much better of an answer. Come on, man. ] Watch...tv. Work. ...learn chess. Make friends. [ Really. ]

[She does point it out.] Shrugger. [But it's with a fond smile and a gentle bump of her arm against his. The pace is fine, she's in no rush - R hasn't let her get hurt yet, she has no reason to think he will now.]

You learned to play chess? Wooooow. [Julie laughs.] Maybe you can play with me. I'm not very good, though.

[ He shrugs in a apology for shrugging. Oh wait. That's not right. ]

Me..either... [ Not that that's surprising, he thinks. It's a work in progress. His weak point is that sometimes he mixes the pieces up. The horse goes in an L though. We got that one down. She's probably good at it. ]

[Well, they can be bad at it together and listen to awesome music while they attempt to play.

At least he's right about exactly what she meant when she said 'drink'. Coffee would have been acceptable, but alcohol is much better. Who says you don't know how to take a girl on a good date, R?]

I told Nora all about you.

[ Only the best of music.

Is this a date? Oh my god. He's staring at their hands again. This is actually going really well right now. Don't mess up. Here let him push this door open for her. ]

You did? [ Nora's reaction must have been along the lines of "You're insane." ]

Well, yeah...

[She ducks her head and tucks her hair behind her ear with her free hand, moving through the door with a quiet 'thanks'. Nora's reaction had been something along the lines of 'you're insane', at least at first (once she actually believed her), but unlike her father, Nora actually listened.

She'd listened, and understood, and sighed and put her chin in her hands and made fun of Julie for her 'zombie boyfriend'.

Julie hadn't ever expected to see him again.]

She wanted to know where I'd been. How I'd survived. She saw you take me, remember?

Hmm.

[ The girl hiding under a table that was never pointed out to the others despite some hunger still looming around the group while they left. She could've been dead too.

But she wasn't, so that's good. Julie had a friend to talk to. Someone that could make a string of complete sentences and properly convey human emotion on a face that's not pale as all hell.

Did she lose that good friend being here? That's a sad thought. Probably would've been better to get stuck on the safe island with Nora than stuck on the safe island with him. No super close friends you've known for god knows how long here.

Damn, now he's thinking about his friend. M would've wanted a drink. Okay. Don't get depressing. This was going so well. He makes a awkward jerky motion with his free hand to indicate she should sit down somewhere. ]

Still not much of a talker, huh.

[Though she doesn't seem to mind. She looks around the bar and appears to deem it acceptable before she heads to a seat, her fingers still tangled up with his.

Nora isn't here, and she's sad about that - Nora's had a hard life too, she might have liked it here.]

That's okay. [She likes that he listens. It makes him easy to talk to.]

S..s- Mmhm. [ He was going to apologize for it. But she said it was okay. Talking's still difficult. But he'd gladly listen to her talk for hours.

He looks at their hands then takes a seat next to the one she headed to and sat himself down without letting go. He's starting to think his hand got stuck holding it -- not that he's going to be the first one to let go. Sorry if the rigor mortis is a thing. It comes and goes. He had a loose enough grip that she could slip out of it though, right? Yeah.

Okay. We got to where the drinks are. How do you order a drink? Let's just stare at Julie. She knows this one. ]

Edited 2013-08-21 19:14 (UTC)

[As if she hears that apology coming she smiles and shakes her head, and she's not letting go of his hand because she doesn't want to, not because she can't. Definitely not because she can't, and she's not shy about it - she lets their hands rest together on top of the bar as she lifts the other and waves.

Yeah, she knows how this works.]

Hey! Can I get a beer?

[If people are looking, she doesn't care.]

You want one?

[ Oh, hey. He's seen that gesture before. The hand goes up and you get the drink. He always wondered why M did that. Makes perfect sense now. He looks over at the bartender, curiously. He wonders if it'll be the best thing she's tasted. Can't imagine they have anything good in that stadium of hers. He then puts the unblinking eyes back on her.

-Huh? Does he want one? He shrugs. ]

Augh! [There's her shoulder bumping up against his arm again.] There you go again! Stop shrugging, shrugger! [Her nose wrinkles and there's a merry little twinkle in her eyes.]

Are you getting a drink or not?