026 》sweet troubled man are you giving or taking?

[thering]

characters: Malcolm, Neal, Negan, Raylan, Doc
location: 1306 Phillips Dr
date/time: day 26 morning
content: the reset Playstation button was pressed
warnings: tbd

After the strangeness of the past two nights they were likely fully expecting to awaken in the same strange, different, not-so-new anymore places they found themselves in in the past two days.

Instead everything seems to have reset, again. The three permanent residents and two guests are back in 1306, exactly where they had been two nights ago. Malcolm was in his own room, Neal was in Doc's and Negan in Raylan's master bedroom. The two displaced cowboys are downstairs sharing one too-small couch, a night of drinking culminating in fighting over couch space and who gets to be the bigger spoon.

The fire in the fireplace had gone out and their Winter 2020 Collection of bespoke lanterns have vanished, but nothing else seems to be awry.

Comments

[thering]

"They are certainly not something we were ever prepared to deal with," Doc agrees. He was raised to try and survive the West, and he recognised the importance of being good with his guns, to foster good relationships with other gentlemen, to be cordial with women. There were no ghosts. There were no books or expectations or guidelines for how to deal with ghosts.

"Unfortunately I do not." He does not even remember going to sleep in Raylan's arms, even though that was how he had awoken. But he's not going to mention that to anyone, and most especially not to Negan. He would have a field day with that little factoid, turn it into something it most definitely was not.

"I just woke up, downstairs, over there." Doc just kind of gestures deliberately vaguely. Just in case he had asked Raylan and he specifically said he woke up on the couch. "It was where I had fallen asleep, previously. But there is no sign of anyone breaking in or any tracks in the snow to suggest we were put back where we had been taken from."

[vampirebats]

"Yeah..." Maybe he'd be poking for more details if he wasn't distracted by their overnight trips around the fucking town with no explanation, and no clear way to prevent it. Fuck, he does not like people dicking with him when he sleeps.

"Woke up in bed." Which Doc probably already knows, probably assumed already. He lets out a sigh and runs a hand through his hair, smooths it back.

"... So, what the fuck do we do? Just forget the random teleportation and go on with our goddamn lives?" That doesn't settle well with him, he's got to say.

[thering]

"I know. I went upstairs to check in on you." Doc pauses for a beat. "Just to ensure you had returned safely to us and were in one piece." Don't get any ideas or make it weird now, Negan.

"What do you propose we do?" They do not have an address to file a complaint to their captors to. They cannot threaten said captors. Malcolm may have been tied down when he was taken - Doc hasn't asked but he thinks it's not an unsafe assumption to make - so tying themselves down just in case there is a next time isn't going to be doing anyone any favours.

"We were randomly teleported here and we have carried on as best we can. Is that not all we can do? I suppose I could salvage a few extra locks and install them here, if it would make you feel better. You are planning on staying, are you not?"

[vampirebats]

"You did?" He won't make it weird. Right now. Probably. "Well-- thanks. I think I'm in one piece though."

More or less.

He lets out a sigh, biting down on the frustration that threatens to pop up. Not at Doc really, but he doesn't like getting jerked around by even unseen forces. "No, that's-- I know there's not a goddamn thing we can do. I'm used to shit I can deal with head on. Being played with is like a fucking punch to the balls every day."

More locks won't help though, he's so of that.

"... I hadn't made any plans, but Malcolm offered." He shrugs his shoulders. "So yeah, thinking about it, I guess. Better to stay in groups in my experience. Watch out for each other."

[thering]

"It is fine to let someone else worry over you every once in a while," Doc observes, but he doesn't push on that particular matter. It is not simply a matter of giving someone the wrong idea. Just a statement of fact, that in this house they all watch each other's backs as best they can. And while Negan has mostly managed on his own and mostly seems to keep to himself, he is part of the group too, for as long as he wants to be.

"An offer from Malcolm is an offer from us all. You are welcome to, if you find this place suits your needs." And they will just take him under their wing. It's not like Doc has even really moved into the room that Negan is currently occupying. All the things he has salvaged and rebranded as his own are still packed in the duffel bag, like he's ready to leave at a moment's notice.

[vampirebats]

"Yeah..." He can agree, mostly. It's just usually he's the big guy in charge, the indestructible leader. He's not sure what to do without that safety net sometimes. Easier to shrug that off though, push it down for now.

"Well, then... guess we might see each other around a little more often."