Old Stone

[drownondryland]

By the time it's all over, the last thing Meredith really wants to do is walk all the way back to Tony's and deal with other people, but it seems like this is her last job as maid of honor for the day, even if Wolverine does most of the work

Comments

[missingthekeep]

"Nae quite the word I'd use," Sean says, looking warily up at her, serious but not overly concerned. Not yet, not without more to go off of. "Ye gonna tell me what the hell happened out there?"

[drownondryland]

Meredith draws in a deep breath, considering that seriously. It's not her story to tell and there are people who probably deserve to know more than he does, but they aren't here and they aren't him. "This place happened," she sighs. "Peter got... got hurt, but we found him in time, so... he'll be fine."

[missingthekeep]

Sean's eyebrows go up at that before drawing back down as he frowns. "Fine?" he repeats, a little incredulous. "Must've been a doozy ta make a man miss his own wedding."

[drownondryland]

Meredith shrugs, helpless, and heads over to sit beside him, chewing at her lip. Somehow it doesn't count as sharing a secret if she's telling him, most of the time, and no one asked her to do so anyway. "I don't know," she says, "maybe that's the wrong word. Fine. He's... still in one piece, still alive. He dug his way out of a grave, he was buried. In his own yard. He's a little shaken up."

[missingthekeep]

"Faith an' begorrah," Sean says as he leans forward with his elbows on his knees, more than a little gobsmacked. "Christ, jus' like that? Since when is that somethin' that happens here?"

[drownondryland]

"I don't know," Meredith says, shaking her head, "since today?" It has to be something to do with Peter's past, but beyond that, beyond it not being the time and place to ask, she didn't want to know. Knowing would mean something more to keep secret now. "He's lucky we were there in time. He's lucky Mary Jane insisted he was there. I should have made him go to the clinic."

[missingthekeep]

"I'm almos' surprised that ye didnae," Sean admits, still trying to wrap his head around it all. At least the only parts of it he really needs to concern himself with are a little less daunting. "Are ye okay?"

[drownondryland]

"I'm fine," Meredith says, looking a little confused. She wasn't hurt, she didn't crawl out of the ground, she's fine. For all her worrying, there are problems she never imagined possible, but she's fine. Drawing her knees up toward her, she flashes him a tired smile. "I'm just starting to think I shouldn't be allowed in wedding parties. It doesn't end well."

[missingthekeep]

"Nonsense, it jus' means ye havenae been in the right ones yet," Sean counters, going along with the attempt at levity as best he can. It's still a big thing to take in. "An' it's nae yer fault madness seems ta follow that Parker fella 'round like a dog."

[drownondryland]

"No, I know." Meredith's a lot of things, but she's not so crazy as that. At least, she doesn't think she is. She sighs and shakes her head, smile falling away. "It's no one's fault. Which really just makes it worse. It's so unpredictable. And of all the days - she could have lost him."

[missingthekeep]

"Jus' another day in paradise," Sean sighs with a small, grim smile. "A wee bit more harrowin' than most from the sound o' things, but unpredictability's always been the name o' the game here. Thank goodness ye lot went after him when ye did."

[drownondryland]

Meredith nods, tongue pressed against her teeth, almost but not saying how weird it all feels. The wedding will happen another day, but it didn't, and she's not really one to believe in signs or luck, not really, but she'd put more stock in this happening than she'd thought. It's unsettling in ways she doesn't yet know how to name and she's not sure she'd say it to him if she did; it doesn't seem fair. "I just wish that weren't true," she says. "Like there aren't enough ways these things can go wrong already."

[missingthekeep]

"Least it all worked out in the end, right?" Sean offers, finding it easier to be hopeful when it's about something he has no stake in. "I mean, sure an' that's one hell of a nasty speed bump, but the wedding's still on. No great tragedy." This time.

[drownondryland]

"Right," Meredith says, arms still hooked around her knees as she twists her fingers together. "It's just a close call." This shouldn't confound her so much. It's not about her, nothing to do with her, and still her worry's not entirely for Mary Jane. Resting her head against her arm, she cracks a smile. "You don't have anything like that I should look out for, do you? Experience being buried alive or... trapped in a cave somewhere?" Just saying it is so ludicrous, she almost winds up laughing, even if this place makes it possible.

[missingthekeep]

The question catches Sean off guard, if only because it's not exactly something he's ever had reason to think about. He almost doubts anyone has. "Er, none that I c'n recall?" he says with an awkward shrug. "I mean, I've been in plenty o' binds, but nothin' that c'n really come back ta bite me like that, 'm sure."

[drownondryland]

"Good to know," Meredith says. It's funny to her now, really, if morbidly so, if only because the alternative is continuing to pay attention to the way this is weighing on her. All the same, she sobers up and shakes her head. "She knew. She just knew, some instinct kicked in and she... knew. And I didn't believe her. I'm not like that, I don't get that."