extent | duplicitynet

I always saw you as a chewing tobacco type.

( nick uses the gesture of patting down his pockets as a way to maneuvre out of ragnor's arms, taking a few steps back as his palms slide over the pockets that he already knows are empty. he doesn't really smoke much any more, but the kitchen is full of little stashes that nick has made for himself in case of emergencies. hard liquor tucked away behind the cereal boxes, pills hidden inside mugs on shelves high enough that people never bother to look. in a drawer that only seems to be used for tea towels and coasters, nick digs around until he finds a crumpled up packet, with one lone cigarette. it's enough.

he doesn't smoke inside, either, but there's no one to get mad at him for it right now except for himself, so he slides up onto the kitchen counter instead of walking outside. cracks open the window, a compromise to someone that isn't even here to ask for it. )

Is Magnus okay?

[ he could just summon cigarettes, or the materials to roll them— it'd give nick something to do. but sometimes grief needs to be felt, like an earthquake; let it happen, then do what you can with the wreckage.

so he stands there and watches nick dig around for the cigarette. ]

To be honest, it's hard to tell.

[ magnus has a complicated love life, hope is not the first vampiress turned cruel he's been with, and ragnor is sure his friend is having all sorts of flashbacks.

but then, magnus is magnus, so although ragnor knows he's not great, it is hard to pin down where in the pain scale he actually is. ]

He'll try to help her. He's— he brought me back from worse.

[ ragnor can't help sounding unhappy about it. he's not ungrateful, but he still thinks magnus was stupid and reckless, and it was sheer luck they survived. ]

Lot of people that want to try. How do we help Hope, right?

( nick isn't a particularly bitter person, most of the time, but there's a sharp edge to the words that don't quite sound right, coming from his mouth. he shuffles back on the counter until he's leaning against the window, looking at the end of the unlit cigarette for a few beats until smoke starts to furl from the end and embers light up, and then he tilts his head towards the open gap in the glass. the first exhale comes with an unhappy downturn of the corners of his mouth, guiltily glancing down the hallway as he takes a drag.

but kyle isn't in a place to protest, and michael isn't here at all, so he just blows the smoke out in the direction of the window and keeps going. something else to unpack later, probably. )

That's how Michael got Kyle to switch his humanity back on. Pissed him off so much, he lashed out but it flipped the switch, so. I guess that's what he was trying to do here.

[ ragnor needs to ask more about this 'switch', he's seen vampire shut down before, but this seems... deliberate. that's much worse.

not that ragnor has much sympathy either way, the hurt caused doesn't go away just because the perpetrator didn't mean it. ]

Any strong emotion flips it back?

I think so, I don't really know a lot else.

( it hadn't seemed important, outside of the notion of learning more about kyle. it's a particular kind of hypocrisy, that nick had been so willing to forgive kyle for his own publicised murder but hope's name feels like acid in his throat, but he doesn't much care about that right now.

he tugs his legs up to his chest, looping an arm around them as he continues to smoke out of the window. it's a very fragile calm, with nick's carefully chosen words and deliberately slow breathing, but he's determined to stay on top of it. no breakdowns today, thanks. )

Nate cursed her, so she can't...kill again, at least. It doesn't solve the problem, but it's something. For now.

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