Seamus had been laying awake on his couch, staring up at the ceiling in complete silence as he iced his hand. Part of him had been hoping that he'd be able to take a nap, the hours of sleep dwindling down to nearly nothing since his birthday, realizing that he was having trouble with it when Orla wasn't with him. He was wide awake now, annoyingly so, with nothing to do but replay the scene back at the beer tent
( ... )
She didn't mean to say it quite like that, the incredulous tone behind her voice perhaps a bit more biting than she had hoped it would come out. But she was racked with a confusion she'd never felt before, a complete misunderstanding of how a simple hello could have bubbled up into something so fucking insane. She crossed her arms against her chest, more an action of nerves than of anything else.
She felt uncomfortable and weird and that, in and of itself, made the whole thing worse.
"Seamus- what happened?" she asked, her voice softening slightly. "Why would you do that?"
She knew why. She knew Zacharias had been egging him on, trying to get him riled up. She had been furious with with, and she made that entirely too clear when she'd dragged him back to his flat to clean him up.
But a part of her also understood his frustrations. Even if she didn't want to admit that out loud.
For the first time in their entire friendship Seamus debated about letting Marlow inside, realizing then just how easy it would be to brush this entire thing off and slip back into his flat before she could stop it. And as tempting as that was he knew that she deserved more than that, even if he was going to give her the bare minimum now.
He stepped aside, leaving just enough room in the doorway for her to squeeze through if she wanted to.
It wasn't like he had any neighbors, his flat on top of his shop, but the entry was already starting to feel a little claustrophobic and he wanted to go sit down again.
"Can we just, I don't know - not do this right now?" he asked her, sounding more exhausted than anything else.
She hovered in his entry for a moment, the hesitation in stepping inside his flat entirely unfamiliar to her. She had spent so many nights here, curled up on the couch with him, some horror movie glaring on the screen while they tossed popcorn back and forth at each other whenever someone jumped. And now, she felt like whatever lay beyond that door wasn't going to answer the millions of questions bubbling inside of her. But she had to do something, didn't she? This was Seamus she was talking about.
Her footsteps were ginger as she stepped past him, the weight hanging on her shoulders growing uncomfortable now. Whatever lightness she had felt in the last few weeks was diminishing now, her body feeling sore in ways she hadn't felt in a while.
She turned back to face him, a pained expression settled on her face.
"Seamus you don't get to just punch him in the face and then get to avoid it-" she said. "I have never seen you act like that before-"
The moment the door to Seamus' flat closed behind her, Marlow leaned back against it, her arms crossed against her chest. She tilted her head back gently against the door, wondering how she'd just managed to lose a friend she'd had for fifteen years. There was something she didn't know- something Seamus had to be hiding from her and why, she had no idea. They'd never had a problem sharing secrets before. But then, she started the shift, didn't she? When she'd retreated into herself, she'd caused that flood of unease
( ... )
Since Marlow had left, Zacharias had been alternately trying not to fall asleep and fielding owls from his agent. He'd nearly let her talk him into going to St. Mungo's to speed up the healing process in case she couldn't work her very specific brand of magic to get things rescheduled for him. In the end, he figured a few bruises were a decent punishment on top of seeing tears in Marlow's eyes and had told her to do what she had to do, cancelled shoot be damned.
When he heard the knock, he was sure he'd finally pushed her far enough to have her called directly to his door to bully him out in person.
What he got instead was far more concerning.
He pulled the door open to see Marlow looking conflicted at best and three steps from falling apart at worst. Zacharias honestly didn't know what to do with that except push the door open the rest of the way, furrow his eyebrows and reach out to pull her in. "What happened? Are you okay?"
But even one word didn't sound convincing. She moved past him, her hands wringing as she stepped inside his flat. She was teetering on this odd edge of panic and pain, her brain still processing what happened at Seamus' flat. It still didn't feel real- the exchange they shared, the way his words cut so quickly through her.
She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply as she gripped her hands into fists.
"No-"
The word came out as a sob cut through her voice. She turned back to face Zacharias as the tears she had tried so hard to hold in finally escaped. She could feel her body shaking as the crying finally came, her lips quivering as she opened her mouth to speak but the sobbing was too much. Finally-
"Hey." His voice was much softer than he expected it to be. This wasn't the first time he'd seen Marlow upset, but this was objectively worse than the last time.
For one, sobbing and shaking was new. For another, he was far more invested and attached even than he had been before.
"Hey," he repeated. Zacharias crossed the space between them to rub at her arms with his hands, sliding them up to uselessly wipe at her tears. "No. I'm sure it's not that bad. What happened?"
If she was this upset, he knew it was that bad. For another moment, he was going to go ahead and hope for the best.
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She didn't mean to say it quite like that, the incredulous tone behind her voice perhaps a bit more biting than she had hoped it would come out. But she was racked with a confusion she'd never felt before, a complete misunderstanding of how a simple hello could have bubbled up into something so fucking insane. She crossed her arms against her chest, more an action of nerves than of anything else.
She felt uncomfortable and weird and that, in and of itself, made the whole thing worse.
"Seamus- what happened?" she asked, her voice softening slightly. "Why would you do that?"
She knew why. She knew Zacharias had been egging him on, trying to get him riled up. She had been furious with with, and she made that entirely too clear when she'd dragged him back to his flat to clean him up.
But a part of her also understood his frustrations. Even if she didn't want to admit that out loud.
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He stepped aside, leaving just enough room in the doorway for her to squeeze through if she wanted to.
It wasn't like he had any neighbors, his flat on top of his shop, but the entry was already starting to feel a little claustrophobic and he wanted to go sit down again.
"Can we just, I don't know - not do this right now?" he asked her, sounding more exhausted than anything else.
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Her footsteps were ginger as she stepped past him, the weight hanging on her shoulders growing uncomfortable now. Whatever lightness she had felt in the last few weeks was diminishing now, her body feeling sore in ways she hadn't felt in a while.
She turned back to face him, a pained expression settled on her face.
"Seamus you don't get to just punch him in the face and then get to avoid it-" she said. "I have never seen you act like that before-"
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When he heard the knock, he was sure he'd finally pushed her far enough to have her called directly to his door to bully him out in person.
What he got instead was far more concerning.
He pulled the door open to see Marlow looking conflicted at best and three steps from falling apart at worst. Zacharias honestly didn't know what to do with that except push the door open the rest of the way, furrow his eyebrows and reach out to pull her in. "What happened? Are you okay?"
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But even one word didn't sound convincing. She moved past him, her hands wringing as she stepped inside his flat. She was teetering on this odd edge of panic and pain, her brain still processing what happened at Seamus' flat. It still didn't feel real- the exchange they shared, the way his words cut so quickly through her.
She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply as she gripped her hands into fists.
"No-"
The word came out as a sob cut through her voice. She turned back to face Zacharias as the tears she had tried so hard to hold in finally escaped. She could feel her body shaking as the crying finally came, her lips quivering as she opened her mouth to speak but the sobbing was too much. Finally-
"I messed up-"
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For one, sobbing and shaking was new. For another, he was far more invested and attached even than he had been before.
"Hey," he repeated. Zacharias crossed the space between them to rub at her arms with his hands, sliding them up to uselessly wipe at her tears. "No. I'm sure it's not that bad. What happened?"
If she was this upset, he knew it was that bad. For another moment, he was going to go ahead and hope for the best.
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