After the weird weekend, Duncan wasn't actually hiding out, he just... wasn't meeting new people. The people that mattered (Veronica, Logan, and occasionally Dick), he saw more or less every day, but the King of Neptune wasn't looking for new friends, just yet. He still hadn't figured the place out.
But, apparently, the place had figured him out. He was walking along the beach in board shorts, contemplating a swim, when he spotted a familiar blonde head... and a familiar blood pattern (OhgodLillypleasecomeback... don'tdothisLillyplease...) on her head. He touched his fingertips to his cheek, recalling the last moment he could before his four-day blackout. It was seeing her there, and the world had lurched, shifted to black and white, went gritty, meant less.
He tried to say her name, but he just hitched a gasp, frozen in the sand, water lapping at his feet and ankles.
Lilly just stared at her fingers in disgust for a second before touching her head again. Ugh. Her hair was gross and matted and just what the fuck was going on?
She glanced up and saw her brother standing dumbly in the water and let out a breath of relief. For a minute, she thought she'd entered into some kind of Time Warp or something and that Rod Serling guy was going to pop up all black-and-white and start talking in a low, creepy voice.
"Duncan," she called out, trying to wake him from whatever stupid daydream or whatever he was lost in and tried to get to her feet.
She was talking to him. His beautiful sister, his best friend, was... Well, even after she'd died she was still talkative. He couldn't doze off on the couch without her talking to him about (her death, justice, bringing the fucker down and you did, Duncan. Oh, you did) ridiculous things like fashion and how he had no sense for it. Not even death could curb Lilly, and that was comforting.
He finally managed to stumble forward, mouth slightly agape as he stretched his hand out, hoping it wouldn't be like Ghost and her hand would reach for his and slip back through...
"Lilly..." He was just trying the name on for size. He'd wanted for so long to be able to say her name without the waving ache in his chest, the breakdown surging at his temples, and the looks of knowing pity from third parties who knew nothing. Nothing.
"Uhm, yeah," she replied with an exasperated sigh and attempted to roll her eyes, an act that would've been a lot easier if her head wasn't throbbing in pain. It took way more effort to stand upright then it should've, but she didn't think on it much. After all, she had bigger things to worry about. Like, the fact that she didn't know where she was and, oh, that she was bleeding from the head.
"Hey, you wanna help me out or something or are just gonna keep standing and staring like a retard? My brain isn't actually oozing out of my skull, is it?" She reached a tentative hand back up to her hair to feel around. Just in case.
As tears rose to his eyes, he had to laugh, just once. She was exactly the same, looked exactly the same, and his heart was trying to break and mend itself simultaneously. It was the best pain he'd ever experienced.
"Take--" He swallowed hard when his voice cracked, trying again. "Take my hand, Lil." She was there. He just... couldn't wrap his mind around it. Everything else was secondary. His sister was alive.
Okay, something was up here, Duncan was acting even weirder than normal and Lilly wondered briefly if he was off his meds. Though, if he was, he'd more likely be going ballastic, not treating her like a little kid or something.
She raised an eyebrow and watched him suspiciously as she took a step back, her hand still pressed against her bleeding head. "Why?"
The way she looked at him.... well, it alarmed him, and triggered something that was (anger. How dare you look at me like that when I spent four days in retard hell mourning your stupidity?!) foreign, and was she stepping back? Was Lilly afraid of him? Oh, God, did she know what he'd done?!
No. There was was no way she knew.
"I just..." He swallowed hard, taking a tentative step forward. "I haven't seen you in a while."
Lilly let out a quick laugh. "No, actually, dorkus, you saw me this morning." Was she speaking too quickly? Maybe she'd have to go slower and use small words.
He did look serious though and that was... well, weird. Just like the rest of the situation. Had he really gone mental?
"It's way more complicated than that," Duncan said, and for as many times as they'd ended up wrestling on the floor of one of their living rooms for giving that look (either one of them could deliver it, it ended in a tussle), he was so glad to see it.
"No, it's been a long time." Maybe he should let Veronica tell her.... No. He couldn't do that to Veronica.
Boldly, he went to his sister and embraced her, crying, now. "God, Lilly...."
Her eyes wide, Lilly went stiff when Duncan moved to hug her as she tried to figure out just what the hell was going on. Duncan was crying? And yeah, he'd always been the more sensitive one or whatever, but this was getting a little much.
She wiggles a little in his arms and managed to get a hand between them, pressing it against Duncan's chest as she tried to push away some. "Okay, seriously. You are really starting to creep me out here."
Duncan wiped a trail of blood that was working her way down to her eyes from her forehead unabashedly, because he (Had his hands all over it before, even on his face) hated the thought that she was in pain, and certainly didn't want to see the evidence.
"I'll take you to the clinic. You died, Lilly. And Neptune turned inside out because of it. Our family fell apart..." Like it was whole to start with.
Immediately, Duncan's brows set with his jaw and he gently tugged his hand away, still regarding her with that look.
"My anti-depressants that Mom gave me to make me numb? Yes. But not the other ones." Well, not yet. He still had some, but they were quickly running out.
She believed him. Because if there was anything Lilly knew, it was that Duncan wouldn't lie to her about something like that. At least not without her figuring it out immediately.
"Okay," she conceded, but continued watching him carefully. "Because you're not making any sense. You know that, right? You're sounding crazy. I'm very very alive."
Oh, he didn't want to be having this conversation, because he couldn't think of a way to not slip into Student President-Duncan, which Lilly always hated. Jake just hated that Lilly would never be in Mock UN.
"Lilly..." He sighed, weighing his words. "Aaron Echolls killed you. With an ashtray. Or an... Oscar statue. No one's sure. Because you had those... those tapes." He had to prove it. He didn't want to, but he needed Lilly to believe him.
That caught her by surprise and she went absolutely still again, her eyes widening. "How do you know about the tapes?" she asked, not really sure if she wanted to hear the answer.
But, apparently, the place had figured him out. He was walking along the beach in board shorts, contemplating a swim, when he spotted a familiar blonde head... and a familiar blood pattern
(OhgodLillypleasecomeback... don'tdothisLillyplease...)
on her head. He touched his fingertips to his cheek, recalling the last moment he could before his four-day blackout. It was seeing her there, and the world had lurched, shifted to black and white, went gritty, meant less.
He tried to say her name, but he just hitched a gasp, frozen in the sand, water lapping at his feet and ankles.
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She glanced up and saw her brother standing dumbly in the water and let out a breath of relief. For a minute, she thought she'd entered into some kind of Time Warp or something and that Rod Serling guy was going to pop up all black-and-white and start talking in a low, creepy voice.
"Duncan," she called out, trying to wake him from whatever stupid daydream or whatever he was lost in and tried to get to her feet.
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(her death, justice, bringing the fucker down and you did, Duncan. Oh, you did)
ridiculous things like fashion and how he had no sense for it. Not even death could curb Lilly, and that was comforting.
He finally managed to stumble forward, mouth slightly agape as he stretched his hand out, hoping it wouldn't be like Ghost and her hand would reach for his and slip back through...
"Lilly..." He was just trying the name on for size. He'd wanted for so long to be able to say her name without the waving ache in his chest, the breakdown surging at his temples, and the looks of knowing pity from third parties who knew nothing. Nothing.
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"Hey, you wanna help me out or something or are just gonna keep standing and staring like a retard? My brain isn't actually oozing out of my skull, is it?" She reached a tentative hand back up to her hair to feel around. Just in case.
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"Take--" He swallowed hard when his voice cracked, trying again. "Take my hand, Lil." She was there. He just... couldn't wrap his mind around it. Everything else was secondary. His sister was alive.
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She raised an eyebrow and watched him suspiciously as she took a step back, her hand still pressed against her bleeding head. "Why?"
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(anger. How dare you look at me like that when I spent four days in retard hell mourning your stupidity?!)
foreign, and was she stepping back? Was Lilly afraid of him? Oh, God, did she know what he'd done?!
No. There was was no way she knew.
"I just..." He swallowed hard, taking a tentative step forward. "I haven't seen you in a while."
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He did look serious though and that was... well, weird. Just like the rest of the situation. Had he really gone mental?
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"No, it's been a long time." Maybe he should let Veronica tell her.... No. He couldn't do that to Veronica.
Boldly, he went to his sister and embraced her, crying, now. "God, Lilly...."
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She wiggles a little in his arms and managed to get a hand between them, pressing it against Duncan's chest as she tried to push away some. "Okay, seriously. You are really starting to creep me out here."
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(Had his hands all over it before, even on his face)
hated the thought that she was in pain, and certainly didn't want to see the evidence.
"I'll take you to the clinic. You died, Lilly. And Neptune turned inside out because of it. Our family fell apart..." Like it was whole to start with.
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"Duncan," she said carefully and reached up to pull his hand away from her face, her concern mounting by the second, "are you off your meds?"
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"My anti-depressants that Mom gave me to make me numb? Yes. But not the other ones." Well, not yet. He still had some, but they were quickly running out.
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"Okay," she conceded, but continued watching him carefully. "Because you're not making any sense. You know that, right? You're sounding crazy. I'm very very alive."
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"Lilly..." He sighed, weighing his words. "Aaron Echolls killed you. With an ashtray. Or an... Oscar statue. No one's sure. Because you had those... those tapes." He had to prove it. He didn't want to, but he needed Lilly to believe him.
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