The next step - RP for Isaac

[herosponge]

He'd heard the door open but then there'd been no more sound from Isaac. Peter had tried to stay away, taking Lacey for another walk but he was upset and worried and he needed to do something about it

Comments

[opiate_visions]

Isaac had been listening to the thump-thud-skitter, thump-thud-skitter of Lacey being played with.

Then there was a louder thump a crash-bang as his door was crashed open and then there was a dog landing on him at full speed. He yelped as Lacey landed on him, trying to fend off having his face licked all over.

[herosponge]

Peter pondered not going in, making Isaac come out but, at length, he rose and padded to the door.

"I'm sorry,' he said softly as if it wasn't intended. "You okay?"

[opiate_visions]

Isaac had Lacey held by her body, her head pushed back to keep trying to lick his face, tail wagging and legs paddling to get free. He sat in bed still, sheets and blankets rumpled around him.

"Yeah. No harm, no foul." He let go of Lacey.

[herosponge]

Lacey gave a single bark as she was let go, looking from one to the other before racing out. Peter stayed standing in the door way.

"I... I don't know what I did but I will apologize soon as I know." He nodded, turning to leave.

[opiate_visions]

"Apologize?" Isaac asked. "What are you talking about?"

He didn't understand. "You don't need to apologize for anything."

[herosponge]

He honestly looked confused as he looked back. "Are you sure? After earlier I just... Nevermind then. Sorry we bothered,' he murmured, smiling. "Sorry for the burnt smell earlier. I tried cooking."

[opiate_visions]

"I guessed when the smoke detector went off." He leaned back on his hands, regarding Peter with an almost smile. "It's okay. You didn't do anything, Petrelli. I'm just-"

He paused, then settled on the safe and sort of true answer. "I still feel really up and down with the detox."

[herosponge]

Peter nodded, looking down and then up. He couldn't hide his shyness from Isaac but he was trying to hide the rest. He shuffled, looking back towards the door and then at Isaac.

"I guess I shouldn't let you be. Sorry we bothered,' he murmured, regretting the stunt. "I... I'm sorry I lied. I threw the ball in here on purpose. I won't do it again."

[opiate_visions]

"I was awake anyway. I can't sleep." Now that Peter was here, he was torn between telling him to get lost, telling him he could stay, telling him he didn't care either way, or getting up and coming back out with him.

"Do you want to see the finished drafts for the detox piece I was working on?"

[herosponge]

A slow, excited smile curved Peter's lips. "I'd really love to. DO you mind,' he asked, still hesitant and nervous. He didn't step back, waiting to make sure it was okay."

[opiate_visions]

He didn't answer, just gestured to the table where a sleek folder sat, waiting to be piled into the padded express envelope and mailed in the morning. "Ink work is finished on it."

[herosponge]

Peter took the gesture as an okay and opened the folder. Slowly he worked his way through the pages, becoming engrossed in the work.

[opiate_visions]

It was, as best he could, Isaac's rendition of what the detox had been like. There were few words, everything was distorted one moment, perfect clarity the next, panels blurring in and out of vision and shifting point of views as he had lost grasp of where he was and who he was with periodically.

There was five comics worth of pages. The last page was just a few simple words and a thin, marked hand being caught in a much stronger one. 'At seventy two hours, the nightmare ended, and I slept.'

Isaac chewed on his thumb while Peter read.

[herosponge]

Peter just stared at the last panel, biting at his lip as he remembered that day. His world had utterly and completely changed that day. For better. For worse. Gabriel had left. Isaac had made it. It was the day Peter had felt the most broken in his life, tired, worn, excited, hurt.

"It's beautiful,' he finally managed, choking on the words.

[opiate_visions]

"I don't know how much it shows what it was like as a carer dealing with it, but..."

He hoped it caught why he acted like he did. The frustration, confusion, paranoia and delusional beliefs that drove a detoxing junkie.

[herosponge]

"It makes it easier to understand from this side,' he said, nodding. "I stood by it all but I didn't always understand. I do get it more now."