theresalwayshope | 29} it's dark in my imagination

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29} it's dark in my imagination

[VIDEO;public]

[The feed clicks on to show Allison in Duke's cabin, which is evidenced by the fact that she's in his kitchenette, Duchess is on the counter in front of her, happily curled up on her pink bandanna nibbling on some hay mixed with chunks of chopped up strawberry.

Distantly, the sound of a dog whining can be heard, prompting Allison to admonish said concerned puppy "mom" off camera.]

In a minute, Brownie Bear.

[Turning back to the camera, Allison manages a vaguely neutral expression...but she can't hide her upset completely.]

I came to see him--so Duchess could see Brownie--

[She stops herself. She shuts her eyes, takes a deep, shaky breath...and her features crumple for a split second before she composes herself again and opens her eyes.]

Duke Crocker's in a coma. I'll be taking care of his dog, and staying in his cabin until he wakes up. He's okay...he was in his cabin, I got him to bed no problem. [Thank you, werewolf strength.]

Anyway...visitors are welcome, but you all know how I feel about the whole 'drawing on the comatose' thing: don't.

[Pack Filter]

I'm okay...ish. I'll be staying on Deck Seven until Duke wakes up. Brownie's comfortable here, Duchess likes it here...

[And she can take care of him. Protect him...the need is more intense than it was the last time, now that the wolf in her is ever vigilant.]

Just want to make sure you all know where I'll be.

[PRIVATE;Tig]

I'll be walking Brownie every day...want to walk her and Bonnie together?

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[Selfishly, Lydia is glad it wasn't one of them who's in a coma again. She can tell Allison is upset, but she seems to be handling it okay. Which is good because Lydia doesn't feel like she can be much help to anyone with how she's been lately. Doesn't mean she won't offer.]

Let me know if there's anything I can do?

You could...come to Duke's cabin, let me cook you a fantastic meal, and share his goodies if you want? I can get away with carte blanche...kind of the beauty of being pseudo-adopted by a smuggler with good booze, better food, and a stash of weed.

[Not that she uses any of it (NO VODKA EVER AGAIN), but it's there. Especially for Lydia, if she needs a safe place, or needs to cut loose a little...or just needs to relax.

Allison's not okay, she's never okay when her people, her pack, are lost to these awful comas...but Lydia is Not Okay, and she's been that way for a while now.

The only thing that hurts worse than Duke being comatose again is knowing that Lydia is Not Okay. Allison has to at least try to help.]

[Lydia smiles a little at the offer, then shakes her head. The last thing she wants is to drink and be out of control in any way. It's impossible to control her powers when she does have control, let alone when she doesn't. And she doesn't smoke, anyway.]

I still have a couple of hours at the art room. But I could take you up on the food-- and only the food -- if you really feel like cooking after that? [Having some girl time and pets around sounds nice. Even if she doesn't think it'd be wise to bring Prada along.]

Only food, then. And yes, I will be...shut up and come let me take care of you for a while, idiot.

[The fondness is thick in her tone as she smiles with a little nod...and as if reading Lydia's mind...]

Be sure to bring Prada, too. Brownie's pretty mellow, and seems to think everyone smaller than her is a puppy. Her puppy, and will be coddled. Worst case scenario, I can put her and Duchess in Duke's room. If he happens to wake up, he won't have a problem being covered in napping animals.

[She smiles a little at Allison. Not many people would call her an idiot and get away with it. Maybe all of three people would be able to do it and live. Allison is definitely one of them.]

I'm fairly sure Prada will go all alpha on her and demand she is his puppy instead. [And that means yes, she'll come.]

But is Isaac coming to spend the night with you? [Meaning, she has to go back and keep an eye on Stiles. Just in case.]

[She knows what that means, Lydia. Allison just smiles and rolls her eyes at Lydia's discreet question, shaking her head a little.]

More likely than not, but I'm okay if you need to spend some time with Stiles. He's the priority.

[And her tone brooks no argument for that last part.]

Here, Allison - would you like someone to come an' stay with you?

...yeah, I think so. On one condition.

[She pauses, then smiles softly.]

You bring little Johnny along so Brownie can play with him and Duchess. She'll take very good care of him, I promise. She thinks the rabbits are her puppies.

S'fair agreement, though Johnny's a big lad now. Fully grown an' far too hairy.

S'adorable, your dog.

God, I know...so's Duchess. I told her she wasn't allowed to grow up, but she didn't listen to me. She still thinks she's tiny and entitled to everything she wants, though. She's a brat, but she's my brat.

I'll tell Duke you love his dog, once he wakes up. [Her smile wanes a little at that, but she perks up pretty quickly as she focuses on the brat in question, still nibbling away right in front of her. She lets a hand drift to stroke Duchess's back, and almost immediately the happy chittering starts and stops as needed while she eats.]

That's fuckin' adorable, Allison. It really is.

Heh. I'd like that quite a bit. Hello, Duchess. Hello darling.

This little booger specializes in adorable. [She bends to kiss Duchess's furry back with a much broader smile, cooing at the rabbit.] Don't you, Princess Prissypants?

[Duchess promptly abandons her hay to lumber around so she can sniff at Allison's face, then lick her chin, making Allison laugh.]

Ugh, hay breath!

[When she hears her name over the feed, Duchess's head swivels around, nose twitching. A moment later, she hops over--OH HELLO THERE EXTREME CLOSE UP OF TWITCHING BUNNY NOSE AND ONE DARK EYE SURROUNDED BY A PATCH OF GREY FUR.]

[Mason laughs suddenly, deeply amused and entranced]

What the fuck's hay breath? Hay don't smell like anything.

Duchess, love, you're too close.

It makes her breath smell kind of like dirt. I don't know, her breath is less rank when she's been chewing on her toys. At least they smell like wood. [She taps her nose as a means of explaining her enhanced sense of smell.] It's a werewolf thing.

[Meanwhile, Duchess's ears twitch at hearing her name, and she promptly gets closer--wait--yep, have a bunny tongue as she licks the camera. You are getting cyber bunny kisses, Mason.]

Oh, darling Duchess. Look at you, angel, you know your name! That's rare, innit? For a rabbit to know her name?

I don't...actually know? [She giggles and tries to pull Duchess a little bit away from the comm, but she wriggles free and goes back to snuffling and sniffing at it--EXTREME BUNNY NOSE CLOSE UPS WITH ALLISON VOICETRACK.]

She always at least looks at me when I call her. Might not always come over, but she's a little diva so maybe it's just the 'tude.

[Mason giggles, not at all perturbed by this sight..or, not-sight, as it were]

Is she, now? Darling little girl. Oh, I want to hold her. I do.

I'm right down the hall. You want me to bring anything when I come by? I could grab my laptop and some DVDs if you wanna watch movies.

Trust me, I have plenty of food here. Duke stocks the good stuff...but the laptop and movies sound perfect. It would make me feel a lot better to have you here.

[All of you. The whole pack, in one place...even in one pile, sprawled on the bed in Duke's spare room watching movies on the laptop...it sharpens the ache Duke's coma brings, she wants it so bad.]

Then consider it done.

[He won't even try to make her sit through Star Wars. For now. He grabs a handful of movies, his laptop, and heads down the hall to Duke's, knocking on the door.]

[When she opens the door, the first person to greet Stiles is Brownie, who wags her tail and eagerly tries to slither out so she can circle him and look for a place to shove her head into for pets. She's stopped by Allison grabbing her collar with a quiet laugh.]

Sorry...if you have a pulse, you're Brownie's best friend. [Prodding Brownie back inside with a murmured command to go check on Duchess, Allison promptly moves to take something from Stiles to lighten his load...and free up an arm so she can go in for a quick hug.]

Hi.

[He's carrying a variety of DVDs -- everything from Resident Evil -- which he figures she might like since Alice is a badass and so is Allison -- to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo -- to a copy of Lilo and Stitch. He'll let her pick what she's in the mood to watch. He smiles when she takes the laptop from him and he hugs her back, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.]

It's fine. I'm apparently a canine person. [He winks at her playfully and closes the door behind him.]

[Bad joke, Stiles. Allison groans at him, and though she goes to kiss his cheek, animal instinct has her pressing her nose against his jaw instead, a quiet play growl trilling in the back of her throat.]

You're a cornball is what you are.

[Withdrawing, she leads him further into Duke's cabin, which is the cabin of his boat from back home. It's modest, but there's plenty of room to get comfortable. Allison sets the DVD's on a nearby table before venturing into the kitchenette. Sprawled on the floor in front of a bench built into one corner, Brownie is washing Duchess, who is also on the floor and chewing contentedly on a chew toy she got for Christmas: a braided ring of willow bark.]

So, I can literally make anything because Duke's an amateur chef or something. He also keeps stuff like beer on hand if you feel like it. There's regular sodas and stuff, too...also? Some kind of imported cream soda thing, but I swear it's what butterbeer may taste like.

[Before he can speak, she raises a hand playfully to stop him.]

Yes, I have read a little Harry Potter. Try not to faint.

[He chuckles when she groans, but he nods in agreement with her words.]

Exactly how everyone loves me. [That too, is a joke. There are a lot of people who can't stand him for that exact reason. But he's never really cared about those people so it doesn't matter.

He follows her into the cabin and glances around. He kneels down and scratches behind Brownie's ears, then pets Duchess gently before rising to his feet.]

Yeah? Personally I'm thinking root beer floats.

[He smirks about the Harry Potter comment, though.]

You mean other than the bits you heard me and Liam reading to Scott while he was sleeping for a month?

Root beer floats... [She sticks her head in the fridge and sniffs, then grins.] Have to move some things around in here, but there's definitely some root beer...or maybe cream soda. It's doable.

[She withdraws from the fridge at his question, bumping it shut with her hip so she can go for the vanilla ice cream in the freezer.]

I mean that I know enough to recognize you were reading him The Prizoner of Azkaban right before he woke up.

[Allison widens her eyes with a mock gasp, then licks the tip of her finger and pretends to draw a tally mark in her favor on an invisible scoreboard.]

[Not that Steve likes the news, but at least it's something else to focus on.] You need anything there to make it more comfortable for you?

[He's been to Duke's cabin once before, but it can't hurt to ask.]

[She makes a face like she wants to say something, then crumbles a little and rubs her hands over her face with a groan.]

Nothing I can have right this second. [Because what she wants is her pack, right by her side, possibly curled up watching movies. Or hugs, from anyone.

...or Duke. Awake.]

Okay.

[He understands - and he wants to respect her. He's not going to baby her, and he knows she has closer friends who will take care of her. Still.] If that changes, you give me a call. Or at least think about it, all right?

[He's always so careful to be polite, to respect her space...and he's always there. It's one of the things she likes about Steve, really likes...she wonders if he knows. If he realizes, every time he offers his hand to her in friendship, every time he looks in on her when something bad happens...every time they share something good, like the power to fly with giant wings or the house Rembrandt lived in...

She wonders if he knows.]

I won't think about it...I don't have to.

[She smiles a little, drawing a shaky sigh as she rubs her eyes, specifically, this time. Her eyes stay dry as her hands drop.]

If I just...can't stand it anymore...[People dropping into comas, loved ones getting hurt, strange happenings on the Barge doing terrible things to everyone...]

...pack is the first place I'll go. Do you understand?

[She reminds him a lot of Bucky. That's not why he does what he does - but it's a part of why he respects her. He respects people like that, who will do anything for their friends, their family, their pack, whatever they want to call it. He looks up to them, he wants to be like that, and he wants to give them the support they deserve.

He nods, looking satisfied, at least, in the respect that she won't go through this alone if she needs someone. He doesn't care if she calls him, as long as she calls someone.] I think so. And I'm glad to hear it. [Truly, genuinely glad.]

This place is pretty overwhelming, sometimes. For all of us.

Yeah, so I've noticed. [It's supposed to sound sarcastic, but Allison only ends up sounding tired, and older than her years.

She's glad Steve gets it, though...about being pack, being part of her group, one of her...people. It feels weird in her head, but the animal side of her sort of relaxes with a silent breath when it comes to mind, content that he's found his place in her still relatively new world view.

She doesn't say anything for a long moment, then peers at him as she comes to a decision.]

Do you want to come have dinner with me later? Or at least grab something to take back to your cabin? I'm cooking anyway, and Duke's kitchen is very well stocked. We're talking all the tasty stuff.

[Family is just where you go first. Maybe it's crazy for someone with no living relatives to have such a strong sense of family, but there it is. His mother did everything she could for him, she meant the world to him, and Bucky's been at his side since they were kids. There's nothing more important than taking care of the people you love. And there's no one better to turn to - which makes the fact that he'd been hiding things from Bucky since he arrived here all the worse, even if he wouldn't - can't - take it back.

At the question, he looks a little surprised, just for a second - but then he relaxes, and he looks grateful, instead.] I - yeah. Sure, I'd like dinner. If you don't mind the company.

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29} it's dark in my imagination

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