“Thanks, I s’pose.”
Jamie just sort of sits there, hoping that Noah’s getting enough sleep. Only when he’s asked about tea does he realize that Noah was just laying there being old and not lively.
“Tea would be nice, but are ya ready ta get up yet? It is a ‘oliday so we’re not really ‘spected ta be up and about.”
Jamie, shut up, there’s tea and you want to lay around? Seriously. Even though he basically just told Noah to go back to sleep the red headed Spy climbs out of bed and moves in the general direction of the door.
In reality, Noah probably wouldn’t have minded simply lying around all day with his head tucked under Jamie’s chin, something which he often tried even on the days they had to work. Though, with it being Christmas, he figured he should at least try to be more active, even if active simply meant sitting up properly to drink tea and watch the frost fog up the windows. When Jamie suggest otherwise, however, he’s tempted to just flop back down and bury himself into the redhead’s side, but the Spy’s already up before he even has a chance to try.
“We can lay ‘round after we get tea.” He grins and he stretches, getting to his feet before following Jamie out the door, fish teapot in hand. How he loved trying out new gifts.
“Thanks.” He pokes at it, moving it around the plate to cool it off. “Oh, yeah, I almost fergot somefin’.” The red head digs around in one of his pockets for something before pulling out what looks like two leather bound passport books, then the other pocket. In total there’s what looks like various forms of identification laying out on the table. “I got bored and decided ta make future travel arrangements easier.”
The last vacation had gone terribly and, obviously, if they were going to plan something for the future Jamie wanted to be certain that their movements wouldn’t be easily tracked. Of course, he’d still have to ask administration first, because termination of employment meant deportation for him and… he’s not certain what the conditions of Noah’s contract are, though he probably could snoop around.
” ‘Ope I wasn’t bein’ too presumptuous.” He goes back to his plate and makes an attempt at eating without burning himself.
Noah watches Jamie poke at his food, smiling slightly, though his expression changes to confusion as the redhead suddenly pulls out two little books and a few papers. He leans against the table as he reaches down to sort through them, recognizing his name and information immediately. So this is what the Spy’s been up to since their last failure of a vacation.
“Nah. I think travellin’ more would be nice.” He’s grinning now, feeling almost stupidly jubilant about the idea, though he tries his best not to show it too much. It had been so long since he’d really been anywhere to just relax and take in the sights, something which he had hoped to do when Jamie had proposed their last trip. With all the years spent working for BLU it wasn’t like he didn’t deserve more time off, though at this point a part of him doubts administration really cares what he does or where he goes. Back when he had been recruited there had been a shortage of mercenaries due to lack of respawn, but now, well, it seemed like anyone who knew how to properly hold a gun could sign up.
“Got anywhere in mind ya’d like to go?”
Alois nods and moves past Noah through the door. Louis wasn’t exactly heavy, actually she was probably the lightest one in their small group, but Alois would prefer to set her down soon and let her sleep. It also seem, to him at least, that the other two could use some sleep as well.
“It looks fine in here.” He calls back as he moves around to locate a bed. The cloth barrier that separated two beds was pulled aside. He sets Louis down in one of the beds and searches for the light. He flicks the switch, but nothing happens. “Looks like the lights are out…at least the place isn’t coming down around us.”
He sits at the edge of Louis’ bed and waits for the other two to follow. They probably needed to talk about what to do next, that and Alois needed to figure out why Louis’ magic, and his more unusual abilities, didn’t seem to be functioning in the town. The idea that this might be a larger scale issue hadn’t occurred to him, but he does know that the events leading to they traveling here were unusual.
While Alois is settling Louis in, Noah decides to take a quick look around, shining the flashlight into the dark, barren rooms to make sure there wasn’t anything lurking in wait. The last thing they needed was to put themselves in a vulnerable state when another one of those creatures was just around the corner. It appears to be rather empty, however, from what he could see at least, letting everyone know that the place was safe on his end as he manged to wander upon the janitor’s closet. That might be helpful, actually.
Before joining the other, the Sniper collects a sturdy enough looking mop, heading back towards the entrance to make sure the doors were neatly shut before shoving the large stick through the handles. A tarnished file cabinet joins the barricade, filled to the brim with old documents that gave the metal box some weight, making it harder to push aside from the outside. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do for now, hopefully giving them enough time if they needed to escape through a window or something.
After dusting his hands off, Noah joins the rest of the party in the room Alois had established as their resting place, taking a seat on the bed opposite of the one the twins were currently occupying. “‘Opefully this torch will last us, then. Least till mornin’, anyway.” Ah yes, morning. Maybe by then he’d be able to wake up from this horrid nightmare and actually enjoy his time off with Jamie.
A man fires a rifle for many years.
And he goes to war.
And afterward he turns the rifle in at the armory.
And he believes he’s finished with the rifle.
But no matter what else he might do with his hands, love a woman, build a house, change his son’s diaper.
His hands still remember the rifle.
Jamie takes the bow in hand and tightens the hairs before resting it against the strings. He goes off on something that was fairly easy, well, easy to him and sort of festive sounding. He can’t recall the name of it, only that his uncle liked to play it at times. If he went and researched it he could probably find some history to the tune, but right now he was kind of busy. After a few minutes of playing he stops and sets it aside.
“Got a bit rusty after nearly a year so…”
He gives a shrug and flops over onto the warm sheets. He had woken up early to get the tea and stuff ready, but he still wasn’t a morning person.
“Merry Christmas.”
As Jamie plays, Noah closes his eyes and listens to the gentle festive hum of the violin, quite appreciating the tune the redhead had chosen. It wasn’t tradition Christmas music, of course, but it still sounded lovely nonetheless. He could get used to this, he thinks, listening to the Spy play whenever he felt the sudden urge to practice, way better than any old record could ever be.
“Ya’ call that rusty? I thought it was absolutely lovely.”
A warm grin as he follows Jamie down onto the bed, having become slightly dozy after listening to the relaxing tune, still not fully awake. He let’s out a content hum, nestling himself against the Spy, limps sloppily intertwined with limbs. A long moment passes after their last exchange of words, making it appearing almost as if the Sniper had fallen back asleep, before he wills himself to sit up slightly and look down at the redhead.
“Ya’ want some tea?”
Alois goes off in the direction he was certain the hospital was in. He wasn’t sure if it was completely safe, but they should be able to find a place to rest for a bit in there, hopefully. Actually, chances are the place would end up like the other structures soon enough. Whether they’d find anything useful there was another matter.
“I don’t know if anywhere’s safe around here.”
He looks back to make sure both Noah and Jamie kept up while listening for anything other than the faint dragging. Unable to think of anything to say to either of them he resumes his silence as they approach the small town sized hospital. It was maybe two stories plus a basement/morgue big, so it was doubtful anyone would get lost inside.
Once in front of the main doors Alois would forcibly pull one open while balancing Louis’ sleeping form on his back. He peered in and didn’t see anything other than an empty hallway and a large desk. With the dragging getting closer outside, and the hospital being fairly sturdy at the moment, Alois enters with Louis and waits within for Noah and Jamie.
What Alois had said was most likely accurate, especially with how quickly everything was decaying around them. There best bet would probably be to get as far away from this town as possible, but with the heavy drag of metal headed towards them there was definitely no going back the way they had come. That, and there was no guarantee that the rest of the world wasn’t being infested by this new form of madness, a thought that only made Noah’s gut sink even lower.
Without anywhere else to go, Noah simply nods and follows the vampire’s lead, silently taking a hold of Jamie’s sleeve more for himself than to actually coax the Spy along. The hospital at least appears to be a decent size for a small town, holding up better than the other building around them which still appeared to be rusting and peeling right before their eyes. Once Alois manages to pry open a door, the Sniper moves in behind him to hold the flashlight out, shining the dim ray inside to get a better look.
“Looks alright…” For now, at least. Compared to everything else, it was a Godsend. It probably wasn’t a wise idea to essentially trap themselves, but with the exhaust of the night taking its toll they could at least rest up for a while and collect their bearing so they might figure out what to do next. Noah still hadn’t the faintest idea what was going on, but maybe someone else did. “Take a quick look ‘round, make sure ‘s safe, then barricade the doors and rest up for a bit.” He pauses, looking towards the others to confirm if this was alright. “Shouldn’t be ‘ard to find a bed.”
Jamie only nods at the explanation of why Noah’s brother didn’t know about them yet. The Spy himself only found out through observation and guesswork, but it seemed as if Noah was more comfortable in the closet. So Jamie doesn’t push the subject, yet. Years from now it would probably become something of an issue, but that was a long time from now and that was assuming they’d both be alive, or even together, that far into the future. Though Jamie’s adamant about them both living and staying together as long as possible.
“Don’t ‘ave a good memory fer Christmas songs, sorry. Most of wot my uncle taught me was Irish folk songs and classical stuff when ‘e was in the mood ta teach that.”
Still, he picks it up and rests it against his shoulder, just below his chin while extending his arm out to bring his fingers up around the scroll at the end. It was the right size, so there wouldn’t be any problems with reaching the exact spots that needed to be reached.
Perhaps one day, Noah will let his brother know about his attraction towards males, and not just be brushed off as appearing too shy or awkward to keep a girlfriend. It was just a rather hard subject to bring up, especially when sexuality seemed to be so negatively looked upon, so much so that even the Sniper himself had never actually used the words ‘gay’ or ‘homosexual’ when referring to himself. If he finds the right guy then maybe he wouldn’t be so reluctant, though, with how things were going with Jamie, he thinks he might have found him.
“‘S fine. Try one of those then, hm? See if it plays alright.”
That, and Noah sort of had a soft spot for listening to someone play an instrument. As Jamie sets up, the Sniper leans in a bit, resting his head against the Spy while being not to hinder his movements. “Merry Christmas, love.”
Jamie nods, still not fully understanding how much it meant to Noah to have a somewhat awkwardly shaped tea set. He’d gathered that fish and tea were both important to Noah, but if there was some deeper meaning it managed to elude the Spy.
When Noah revealed what it was Jamie’s eyes widened. He moved closer and gently took the case into his hands and setting it down into his lap. He then reaches to the latches to open up the case. The Spy lifts it up, still careful, as if expecting it to shatter at the slightest touch.
“It’s brilliant, thanks, Noah.” He moves it around, checking the strings and tuning it properly. “So did ya tell yer brother ‘bout us or…? I don’t mind if ya do or don’t, but…” He trails off and focuses his attention on the violin.
Noah wouldn’t go into too much detail as to why the tea set was special to him, since a part of him didn’t really understand it himself. It just gave him a sense of stability, something he hadn’t had in quite some time. That, and he really loved fish and tea.
“Glad ya’ like it.” Considering how rare it could be to get a reaction out of the Spy, Noah takes the wide, grey-blue stare as a good sign. His smile widens a bit, turning warmer as Jamie examines and tunes his gift, though it seems to falter slightly at the mention of his brother. “Er, well, no. ‘E doesn’t really know I’m, ya’ know…” There’s a pause as he clears his throat, letting Jamie guess what he meant, considering that he should know how rarely the Sniper peeked out of the closet. “So, ya’ know any Christmas songs ya’ could play?”
