ALEX+RAVI; these boys need to log with other peeps
Who: Alexander & Ravindra
When: Last week Friday night
Where: Woods behind Blomgren, north of Tyrol
Rating & Warnings: PG for animal nomming?!
Why did Alex have to take up residence so far from Tyrol? It was inconvenient. At least tomorrow was the first day of the Fest of the Green, so Ravi didn't have to worry about getting back in time for duty on no sleep after walking all night.
As soon as he got off duty, he went home only long enough to change and grab a satchel he'd packed for the trip. Food, his ledger, Amelia's lantern, the sweater he'd knit for Alex (he seemed in desperate need of clothes), yarn and needles to start a new project with if he ended up having to stay, and an empty sack in which to keep whatever dead bloodless thing Alex saw fit to grace him with. He left long before the gates closed for the night and started for Blomgren.
He didn't have a horse to take and he didn't bother renting one--Alex had said animals hated him now and Ravi didn't want to risk losing a rented horse. He'd walked the circumference of India a thousand times over as a child, anyway, and following a road was something he could do in his sleep.
By the time he got past the outskirts of Blomgren, it was just past dusk, and he started watching for whatever it was he was supposed to be looking for to alert him to Alex's presence.
Why did Alex have to take up residence so far from Tyrol? It was inconvenient. At least today was the first day of the Fest of the Green, so Ravi didn't have to worry about getting back in time for duty on no sleep after walking all night.
After spending most of his day out with crew, drinking and celebrating, he returned home only long enough to grab a satchel he'd packed for the trip. Food, his ledger, Amelia's lantern, the sweater he'd knit for Alex (he seemed in desperate need of clothes), yarn and needles to start a new project with if he ended up having to stay, and an empty sack in which to keep whatever dead bloodless thing Alex saw fit to grace him with. He left long before the gates closed for the night and started for Blomgren.
He didn't have a horse to take and he didn't bother renting one--Alex had said animals hated him now and Ravi didn't want to risk losing a rented horse. He'd walked the circumference of India a thousand times over as a child, anyway, and following a road was something he could do in his sleep. Which was good, because he knew he wasn't quite sober yet when he set out and he was going to be taking most of the trip with a headache.
By the time he got past the outskirts of Blomgren, it was just past dusk, his headache was fading, and he started watching for whatever it was he was supposed to be looking for to alert him to Alex's presence.
Alex preferred to take his meals long after the light of the sky had faded and so he sat, thirsty, on the branch of one of the higher trees in the wood, keeping an eye out for Ravindra. As soon as he spotted a lone figure approaching, he began his descent, not recklessly but carelessly, paying no mind to the little scratches he gained as he dropped from branch to branch. They were minor cuts and would heal over completely before the breaking dawn.
He met Ravi at the edge of the wood and his greeting was cut short by the absence of a riding animal. "You walked?" Well, obviously yes, but it merited asking, anyway.
Alex coming out to meet him was something of a relief. He had worried he'd walk too far, have to stop and turn around, get lost, etc etc.
Having walked that far was not anything worth noting to him, so his only reply to the incredulous question was a grunt of affirmation. "How was the hunt?" he asked.
Of course, Ravi, always treating his surprise as nothing worth surprising over. "It went better than expected, though there were several misses," he said instead, noticing Ravindra's satchel with some bit of curiosity. Ah, the city gates, he wouldn't be able to return until dawn. "It was trial and error, finding out how close I could get without alarming them after turning back." He began to walk, leading Ravi into the wood. It would have to be deep in so that his light, which Alex was sure Ravi would be insistent on using, wouldn't catch any of the villagers' attention. "We'll see if tonight is any better."
"You are learning," he replied, to excuse the failures, as he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked after Alex. He hadn't brought the lantern out yet--the moon's light had been sufficient for the task of following a road--but as they moved deeper into the woods, he was able to see less and less.
But Alex had seemed so aggravated about the light before that he was wary about bringing it out, even though he could barely see. It wasn't until after he tripped over who knows what and barely avoided a nasty faceplant that he took out the lantern and struck it with a particularly angry click. A root, it turned out. He kicked the tree. Shot a glare at Alex for good measure and said an icy, "I hope the light is alright."
"Yes, yes, it's fine," he said absently, then paused and turned to look back the way they came to see how far in they were. Good enough, he supposed. "But I hope you have something other than kicking the earth to keep you busy." After a few more minutes of walking, he came to stop in front of a particularly old tree with roots thicker than a horse. "You can stay in here," he said, side against the base of the trunk. The roots formed a little cave-like pocket, big enough for a large man, but not much more than that. "Don't burn it down, please."
That was his only note of departure before he bamfed transformed into a bat and went off in search of something to kill.
"Mm." He had brought something to keep himself busy, thank you very much, asshole. (He was a little bit frustrated.)
Alex's transformation came as a surprise; he gave a start and just stared as the bat-Alex flew off.
And then he was alone in the woods in the middle of the night. Wonderful. He stared at the pseudo-cave in the roots, and decided that actually he would feel pretty ridiculous huddling in there, and instead took a seat on the ground outside, his back against the trunk. He'd been walking an awful long while and he still had the last vestiges of a headache eating at the corners of his mind, so he pulled the cloak's hood over his head, blew the lantern out, and dozed off. He trusted his instincts to wake him up in case of strange noises from approaching wildlife.
When Alex returned, it was nearly three hours later. Locating a target was one thing -- locating a target large enough to satiate him, yet small enough to carry back was another. There had been a herd of elk sleeping and while it had been very tempting to snatch one of its young, Alex wasn't so sure how well an animal's aversion to his person weighed against a mother's instinct to kick the ass of anything trying to harm its offspring. Perhaps if it hadn't been an entire herd, he would have tried his chances, but alas.
"How confident you are!" he called, shoes scuffing the broken branches and leaves littering the ground. Slung around his shoulders was the body of a fawn, still soft and limp. Carrying a dead animal through the wood was probably the most exercise he had gotten since waking up in the dirt and it showed in his actions, kneeling and letting the body slip unceremoniously onto the ground a few feet from Ravindra with a thump, leaves crinkling on impact. He didn't rise, instead falling into a crouch beside the animal, balancing on the pads of his shoes. "Were you asleep the entire time?"
The sound of Alex's return woke him. The headache had completely gone, but three hours was an odd amount of sleep, just between long-nap and actual-sleep, so he woke up groggy, having to force his head up and his eyes open. He squinted at what Alex had dropped in front of him but couldn't make out much in the dark.
"Yes," he answered, taking up the lantern and turning it on again as he staggered to his feet. "It was a very long walk."
He stood over the animal Alex had brought him, looking down at it silently for a moment. "I was expecting something more like a rabbit," he said finally.
He automatically narrowed his eyes at the sudden light, taking a few seconds to adjust to the brightness, but his grin quickly found its way back onto his face. "Rabbits are too flighty," he said cheerfully, obviously proud of his catch like a dog would be of a bird or a rat. "I've had some of it already. You wanted the marks?" He turned the neck over and it flopped to the side carelessly, revealing two small puncture wounds at its base. They were discreet, the dried blood hardly noticeable against the fawn's brown coloring.
A noncommittal, "Mm," was his only answer to the rabbits remark. He knelt to look at the fang-marks but he couldn't tell in the dim light how well they matched the marks found on the victim. It would have to wait until he got the fawn back to the station.
"Thank you," he said. "I hope it can help." His eyes lifted to meet Alex's. "And I am glad the hunting works out for you."
Surprise overtook his cheer, grin subdued into a confused smile. Ravi wasn't jumping for joy at finally having something he could compare the victim's bites to. Well, jumping for joy for Ravi would have been a smile, maybe even a grin. Regardless, he should have given some kind of reaction--more than a bland 'thank you' and 'I hope'. "Aren't you going to...sketch it down?"
His eyebrows rose. "What? No. I am taking it back with me. To compare."
"What!" His fingers curled into the coarse fur a little deeper. "No, no! No, no, no. You can't take this, it's too heavy! You'll attract too much attention." A pause as another realization dawned on him. "They'll ask you where you got it. How you got it." He stood, as if to strengthen his point. All the mirth in him was now gone, replaced with grim displeasure. "You are not taking this with you."
Oh my god, Alex! Eyeroll and facepalm and long frustrated silence. "Then get me a rabbit," he said, not looking up. "And I will make sure no one knows."
He had been ready for another row, so Ravi's easy dismissal left him at a bit of a loss. "... How are you going to do that?" he asked warily, half out of the expectation that him questioning Ravi might trigger a verbal beat down and half out of his genuine concern slash paranoia that the Guard wouldn't accept the body of something as a basis of comparison without knowing its integrity.
"By being the person who is in charge of the investigation," you idiot, didn't I mention that already? He stood, eyes on the dead deer at his feet. "There is an Other on my team that will keep this sort of thing in confidence, also. We will think of a cover story."
"Ah." Yes, he did mention that before, Alex remembered now. He rubbed the base of his neck, then sighed. So he would have to go and find a rabbit? Troublesome! "Why don't you volunteer instead," he muttered grumpily, the comment born out of his grudging acceptance of Ravindra's reasoning. All the assurances in the world would not satisfy Alex. "You. Go in there." He pointed to the hollow of the tree, then scooped the corpse into his arms and walked farther into the wood. He'd get Ravi his rabbit, but he was going to finish eating first, damnit.
His answer was an eye-roll. At least Alex was relenting without much argument. Ravindra was really beginning to regret his assignment to the Myron case. It was making all this so complicated. And why was Alex so insistent about him waiting inside the damn tree!
As Alex walked away, he went to sit in the hollow and pulled out his knitting to start on a scarf that he'd probably unravel once it was finished. He didn't keep a lot of the things he knitted as time-wasters. When he heard Alex approaching again, he put the knitting away and came out to meet him.
Because he would be pissed beyond all belief if he came back to find his best buddy dead, too! Then he probably would turn Ravi into a vampire, just to punch him in the nuts.
When Alex returned the second time, he had to resist the urge to toss the rabbit's body at Ravindra like a playdoll. He was fairly sure the sergeant would not appreciate it, but then again, he was fairly sure he wasn't particularly concerned about making Ravindra completely happy right now, either. "Here you go, one rabbit as ordered," he said, holding it up by the scruff of its neck. The bite marks were fresh, but there was very little blood missing from its body. Alex had his fill on the deer and besides, if the evidence brought back still had its blood intact, then maybe that might deter suspicion... Somehow.
Alex wasn't happy. That much was obvious. Ravi felt guilty for asking so much of him. And for, well, for everything, really. Being a part of the investigation in the first place, slipping up when he spoke to the Magus, speaking to the Magus when Alex hadn't wanted him to in the first place, all of it. He was handling everything so poorly. He wasn't cut out for this. Maybe he never should've joined the Guard at all. Should've just stayed a merchant instead of trying to move up a caste. That's what you get for going against dharma, you ruin everything.
Stop it, Ravi. Nothing good comes of letting yourself wallow.
He took the rabbit from Alex and shoved it into the bag in his satchel. The sweater was still in there. He paused, staring at it. The thought of giving it, especially when he felt so useless at the moment, was awkward. But he'd spent so much time on it; he couldn't come all this way just to not give it.
He looked up, meeting Alex's eyes (because not meeting someone's eyes was a sign of insincerity, or whatever it was people had that hang-up over). "I am sorry to ask so much of you." His apologies were a rare thing, always sincere. "I appreciate your help, Alex. Really."
In that pause, Alex had followed the object of Ravindra's attention, but could not make out what it was. But were those knitting needles next to them? No, couldn't be. Ravi couldn't knit a scarf to save his life, he thought.
He drew his eyes back to Ravi and was mildly surprised at how gloomy he looked, sounded. "Count it as return for the clothes," he said, regarding him curiously. Was he happy about the situation? No. Was he angry at Ravi? That was a no, too. Sure, he was irritated with the sergeant's recent actions, but Alex knew he was being, at least in Ravindra's eyes, excessively nervous about his ordeal. It wasn't something he expected Ravi to understand, though. How could he? He wasn't on the shit-list of nearly every person who enjoyed living. It would be a lie to say that he hadn't felt like letting his fist try to do the explaining, especially when he had left his meeting with the Magus, but that anger had subsided. Alex had no doubts that all of the frustration he'd been experiencing with Ravi would subside, too, in time, as they always did.
After a pause, he asked, "Do you think I'm mad?" He figured he must have, if Ravindra felt like it was necessary for him to apologize (and look him in the eye!)
That made him look away. Just the eyes, a nervous twitch more than anything else. He was overthinking it. Of course he was overthinking it, that was what he always did. "No." Yes. "But I think I have been very demanding."
He turned away to dig the sweater out of the satchel. "I brought something for you. As a thank you." More than that, but, well. He held it out, a neatly folded black sweater trimmed in red. His knitting was the one thing he honestly felt proud of, but even so, he found himself worried that Alex would hate it and think it was awful and amateur and nowhere near as good as what Catherine used to make for him. He suddenly wanted to yank it away and shove it back in the bag and pretend he hadn't brought it out in the first place. He didn't. He waited.
His aversion told Alex the answer was not "no," but "yes." He didn't find it worth confronting Ravi about, though. Ravi would settle back to normal in time.
He blinked at the offered sweater, lifting it out of Ravi's hand. It was nondescript, just a standard piece of clothing, but as he looked down at it in the dim light, he felt the back of his eyes grow hot. Alex didn't bother to hide the tears that began to slide down his cheeks, just held onto the sweater tightly, so tightly his knuckles grew even paler. It reminded him of Catherine, of the scarves, sweaters, socks and dresses she would knit for their family.
That was not the reaction he'd expected. It had been so long that he didn't even make the connection between hand-knit clothes and Catherine; he didn't even consider that it might remind Alex of her. Confused, not knowing what to say or do, he stood there nervously and waited for a prompt.
He sucked in an unsteady breath, closed his eyes and swallowed. Another deep inhale, exhale. When he opened his eyes, tears were no longer falling, but were settled at the corners. "Catherine," said Alex, voice thick from the sudden wave of emotion. "She..." He began to rub the knitted surface under the pad of his thumb, uncaring of the dirt that parted from it.
Of course it would remind him of Catherine. Hell, Ravi had learned from her in the first place. He felt like an idiot for not having realized that.
"She taught me," he said. "She said I needed a hobby that did not involve hitting people."
He paused, lips parted, and then a small, weak chuckle escaped from his throat. "Did she?" He smiled forlornly at the sweater and wished, not for the last time, that she would shake his shoulder as she always did. "Good call." Another pause, then, "Thank you. It does get chilly in the early hours."
A smile. Half a smile. Ravi never gave more than that. "You are welcome."
It was hard to realize that even though Catherine's death had been ten years ago for him, it was still a fresh wound for Alex. It was the converse to Alex not realizing that for Ravi it had been seventeen years since his own death. He would have to try harder to keep it in mind.
"Do you need a hug?" he asked, arms held open. It might seem strange coming from him, but this was the sort of thing you picked up raising a daughter.
Finally, he looked at Ravi and the sight made him pause in surprise. He dipped his head and shook it, as if in disbelief, and then, with a light laugh, took a step into his open arms. The sight was surely comical.
"Sometimes I don't know who you are," Alex said, patting Ravi's back before stepping out of the embrace. He felt strangely grateful for his friend's offer, but wished it had been his wife instead. "You're different."
It was kind of nice to finally get in a hug that Alex instigated and not a quick stolen one that had to be cut short to prevent awkwardness. It still felt too short--but, of course, it always would.
Alex's comment was met with a chuckle. "People change, dosta. Blame your daughter for turning me soft."
He smiled, but the corners of his lips didn't lift very far. "Blame. Or commend." It was bittersweet.
Not wanting to enter the territory of his daughter, Alex took another step away and turned his gaze to the large tree beside them. "What are your plans for the rest of the night?"
He caught the hint and let Amelia drop from the conversation.
He shrugged. "None. It would take me until morning to walk back, but tomorrow is the Fest of the Green, so it is not as if I must be back in time for a shift."
Until Ravi had mentioned it, Alex had forgotten the festival. Now, he wondered how he ever could have. It was such a huge celebration, extending even past the city walls, albeit at a more...calmer tempo. He felt a small sense of regret in being unable--or unwilling--to participate. "When are you leaving?"
"Whenever you are sick of me, I suppose." He probably needed more sleep, but, whatever. He could run on what he'd gotten. Spending time with his BFF was way more important than sleep.
He thought of telling Ravindra to share the years he had missed out on, but quickly dismissed the idea. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear it, or could appreciate it, right then. He wasn't sure he wanted to encourage Ravi to work with his needles, either. He wanted to be alone. This realization caused him to frown. How selfish of him. If their positions had been reversed, Alex was sure he would want to spend time with his friend after seventeen years of thinking him dead.
He pinched the soft skin between his eyes. "Well, you are guaranteed safety from any wild animals that might find you good-sized," he said, avoiding the topic. Then he took a seat near the large roots of the tree and reclined against the trunk, holding the sweater in his lap. "Come, you must be tired."
He was, but it was the sort of tired he had learned to ignore. That was a hint, though. He could read Alex well enough to know he didn't feel like talking. That was fine. (It wasn't fine. He wanted to spend time together, not come all this way out just to sleep before heading home in the morning.)
He sat beside Alex, leaning against the trunk of the tree as well, and set the lantern on the ground to his side. He adjusted the collar of his cloak, and the hood, and wondered whether he should say anything. The silence stretched on for a while, the longer it went the more pressed Ravi felt to break it but the more awkward it felt to do so.
He did finally settle on what to say, because he felt that it would be best if he actually bothered to voice his feelings for once. "I feel like...it is a dream, you know, to have you back. And I will wake up one morning and you will be gone again."
A faint smirk. "You said that on the first night. Don't you think, after this past week, that it's...inconvenient?" The timing, the investigation, the, well, what he came back as.
"Did I?" Hadn't it been more like a threat the first time he'd said it? 'If this is a dream I'll be angry' or something more along those lines? Ah, what did it matter, anyway. "Well, I have not stopped feeling that way. And it may be inconvenient, but I would rather have you here in inconvenient circumstances than not have you here at all."
"That's gracious of you." The Ravindra that sat next to him was similar as far as Alex's feelings on Amelia went -- both people that he knew, but possessing faces he didn't. Amelia had only been three, though -- Ravindra's then and his now were considerably different. Alex found it bizarre at times, how much his friend had calmed. How more open he was.
Perhaps it was the meal or the extra hunt or the unexpected bout of tears, or perhaps all three that caused Alex's eyelids to droop, another sigh escaping his mouth. "I am here and breathing," he said quietly, closing his eyes, "for better or for worse."
Smiling softly, he answered, "Yes." Now it was just a matter of keeping it that way.
When: Last week Friday night
Where: Woods behind Blomgren, north of Tyrol
Rating & Warnings: PG for animal nomming?!
Why did Alex have to take up residence so far from Tyrol? It was inconvenient. At least tomorrow was the first day of the Fest of the Green, so Ravi didn't have to worry about getting back in time for duty on no sleep after walking all night.
As soon as he got off duty, he went home only long enough to change and grab a satchel he'd packed for the trip. Food, his ledger, Amelia's lantern, the sweater he'd knit for Alex (he seemed in desperate need of clothes), yarn and needles to start a new project with if he ended up having to stay, and an empty sack in which to keep whatever dead bloodless thing Alex saw fit to grace him with. He left long before the gates closed for the night and started for Blomgren.
He didn't have a horse to take and he didn't bother renting one--Alex had said animals hated him now and Ravi didn't want to risk losing a rented horse. He'd walked the circumference of India a thousand times over as a child, anyway, and following a road was something he could do in his sleep.
By the time he got past the outskirts of Blomgren, it was just past dusk, and he started watching for whatever it was he was supposed to be looking for to alert him to Alex's presence.
Why did Alex have to take up residence so far from Tyrol? It was inconvenient. At least today was the first day of the Fest of the Green, so Ravi didn't have to worry about getting back in time for duty on no sleep after walking all night.
After spending most of his day out with crew, drinking and celebrating, he returned home only long enough to grab a satchel he'd packed for the trip. Food, his ledger, Amelia's lantern, the sweater he'd knit for Alex (he seemed in desperate need of clothes), yarn and needles to start a new project with if he ended up having to stay, and an empty sack in which to keep whatever dead bloodless thing Alex saw fit to grace him with. He left long before the gates closed for the night and started for Blomgren.
He didn't have a horse to take and he didn't bother renting one--Alex had said animals hated him now and Ravi didn't want to risk losing a rented horse. He'd walked the circumference of India a thousand times over as a child, anyway, and following a road was something he could do in his sleep. Which was good, because he knew he wasn't quite sober yet when he set out and he was going to be taking most of the trip with a headache.
By the time he got past the outskirts of Blomgren, it was just past dusk, his headache was fading, and he started watching for whatever it was he was supposed to be looking for to alert him to Alex's presence.
Alex preferred to take his meals long after the light of the sky had faded and so he sat, thirsty, on the branch of one of the higher trees in the wood, keeping an eye out for Ravindra. As soon as he spotted a lone figure approaching, he began his descent, not recklessly but carelessly, paying no mind to the little scratches he gained as he dropped from branch to branch. They were minor cuts and would heal over completely before the breaking dawn.
He met Ravi at the edge of the wood and his greeting was cut short by the absence of a riding animal. "You walked?" Well, obviously yes, but it merited asking, anyway.
Alex coming out to meet him was something of a relief. He had worried he'd walk too far, have to stop and turn around, get lost, etc etc.
Having walked that far was not anything worth noting to him, so his only reply to the incredulous question was a grunt of affirmation. "How was the hunt?" he asked.
Of course, Ravi, always treating his surprise as nothing worth surprising over. "It went better than expected, though there were several misses," he said instead, noticing Ravindra's satchel with some bit of curiosity. Ah, the city gates, he wouldn't be able to return until dawn. "It was trial and error, finding out how close I could get without alarming them after turning back." He began to walk, leading Ravi into the wood. It would have to be deep in so that his light, which Alex was sure Ravi would be insistent on using, wouldn't catch any of the villagers' attention. "We'll see if tonight is any better."
"You are learning," he replied, to excuse the failures, as he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked after Alex. He hadn't brought the lantern out yet--the moon's light had been sufficient for the task of following a road--but as they moved deeper into the woods, he was able to see less and less.
But Alex had seemed so aggravated about the light before that he was wary about bringing it out, even though he could barely see. It wasn't until after he tripped over who knows what and barely avoided a nasty faceplant that he took out the lantern and struck it with a particularly angry click. A root, it turned out. He kicked the tree. Shot a glare at Alex for good measure and said an icy, "I hope the light is alright."
"Yes, yes, it's fine," he said absently, then paused and turned to look back the way they came to see how far in they were. Good enough, he supposed. "But I hope you have something other than kicking the earth to keep you busy." After a few more minutes of walking, he came to stop in front of a particularly old tree with roots thicker than a horse. "You can stay in here," he said, side against the base of the trunk. The roots formed a little cave-like pocket, big enough for a large man, but not much more than that. "Don't burn it down, please."
That was his only note of departure before he bamfed transformed into a bat and went off in search of something to kill.
"Mm." He had brought something to keep himself busy, thank you very much, asshole. (He was a little bit frustrated.)
Alex's transformation came as a surprise; he gave a start and just stared as the bat-Alex flew off.
And then he was alone in the woods in the middle of the night. Wonderful. He stared at the pseudo-cave in the roots, and decided that actually he would feel pretty ridiculous huddling in there, and instead took a seat on the ground outside, his back against the trunk. He'd been walking an awful long while and he still had the last vestiges of a headache eating at the corners of his mind, so he pulled the cloak's hood over his head, blew the lantern out, and dozed off. He trusted his instincts to wake him up in case of strange noises from approaching wildlife.
When Alex returned, it was nearly three hours later. Locating a target was one thing -- locating a target large enough to satiate him, yet small enough to carry back was another. There had been a herd of elk sleeping and while it had been very tempting to snatch one of its young, Alex wasn't so sure how well an animal's aversion to his person weighed against a mother's instinct to kick the ass of anything trying to harm its offspring. Perhaps if it hadn't been an entire herd, he would have tried his chances, but alas.
"How confident you are!" he called, shoes scuffing the broken branches and leaves littering the ground. Slung around his shoulders was the body of a fawn, still soft and limp. Carrying a dead animal through the wood was probably the most exercise he had gotten since waking up in the dirt and it showed in his actions, kneeling and letting the body slip unceremoniously onto the ground a few feet from Ravindra with a thump, leaves crinkling on impact. He didn't rise, instead falling into a crouch beside the animal, balancing on the pads of his shoes. "Were you asleep the entire time?"
The sound of Alex's return woke him. The headache had completely gone, but three hours was an odd amount of sleep, just between long-nap and actual-sleep, so he woke up groggy, having to force his head up and his eyes open. He squinted at what Alex had dropped in front of him but couldn't make out much in the dark.
"Yes," he answered, taking up the lantern and turning it on again as he staggered to his feet. "It was a very long walk."
He stood over the animal Alex had brought him, looking down at it silently for a moment. "I was expecting something more like a rabbit," he said finally.
He automatically narrowed his eyes at the sudden light, taking a few seconds to adjust to the brightness, but his grin quickly found its way back onto his face. "Rabbits are too flighty," he said cheerfully, obviously proud of his catch like a dog would be of a bird or a rat. "I've had some of it already. You wanted the marks?" He turned the neck over and it flopped to the side carelessly, revealing two small puncture wounds at its base. They were discreet, the dried blood hardly noticeable against the fawn's brown coloring.
A noncommittal, "Mm," was his only answer to the rabbits remark. He knelt to look at the fang-marks but he couldn't tell in the dim light how well they matched the marks found on the victim. It would have to wait until he got the fawn back to the station.
"Thank you," he said. "I hope it can help." His eyes lifted to meet Alex's. "And I am glad the hunting works out for you."
Surprise overtook his cheer, grin subdued into a confused smile. Ravi wasn't jumping for joy at finally having something he could compare the victim's bites to. Well, jumping for joy for Ravi would have been a smile, maybe even a grin. Regardless, he should have given some kind of reaction--more than a bland 'thank you' and 'I hope'. "Aren't you going to...sketch it down?"
His eyebrows rose. "What? No. I am taking it back with me. To compare."
"What!" His fingers curled into the coarse fur a little deeper. "No, no! No, no, no. You can't take this, it's too heavy! You'll attract too much attention." A pause as another realization dawned on him. "They'll ask you where you got it. How you got it." He stood, as if to strengthen his point. All the mirth in him was now gone, replaced with grim displeasure. "You are not taking this with you."
Oh my god, Alex! Eyeroll and facepalm and long frustrated silence. "Then get me a rabbit," he said, not looking up. "And I will make sure no one knows."
He had been ready for another row, so Ravi's easy dismissal left him at a bit of a loss. "... How are you going to do that?" he asked warily, half out of the expectation that him questioning Ravi might trigger a verbal beat down and half out of his genuine concern slash paranoia that the Guard wouldn't accept the body of something as a basis of comparison without knowing its integrity.
"By being the person who is in charge of the investigation," you idiot, didn't I mention that already? He stood, eyes on the dead deer at his feet. "There is an Other on my team that will keep this sort of thing in confidence, also. We will think of a cover story."
"Ah." Yes, he did mention that before, Alex remembered now. He rubbed the base of his neck, then sighed. So he would have to go and find a rabbit? Troublesome! "Why don't you volunteer instead," he muttered grumpily, the comment born out of his grudging acceptance of Ravindra's reasoning. All the assurances in the world would not satisfy Alex. "You. Go in there." He pointed to the hollow of the tree, then scooped the corpse into his arms and walked farther into the wood. He'd get Ravi his rabbit, but he was going to finish eating first, damnit.
His answer was an eye-roll. At least Alex was relenting without much argument. Ravindra was really beginning to regret his assignment to the Myron case. It was making all this so complicated. And why was Alex so insistent about him waiting inside the damn tree!
As Alex walked away, he went to sit in the hollow and pulled out his knitting to start on a scarf that he'd probably unravel once it was finished. He didn't keep a lot of the things he knitted as time-wasters. When he heard Alex approaching again, he put the knitting away and came out to meet him.
Because he would be pissed beyond all belief if he came back to find his best buddy dead, too! Then he probably would turn Ravi into a vampire, just to punch him in the nuts.
When Alex returned the second time, he had to resist the urge to toss the rabbit's body at Ravindra like a playdoll. He was fairly sure the sergeant would not appreciate it, but then again, he was fairly sure he wasn't particularly concerned about making Ravindra completely happy right now, either. "Here you go, one rabbit as ordered," he said, holding it up by the scruff of its neck. The bite marks were fresh, but there was very little blood missing from its body. Alex had his fill on the deer and besides, if the evidence brought back still had its blood intact, then maybe that might deter suspicion... Somehow.
Alex wasn't happy. That much was obvious. Ravi felt guilty for asking so much of him. And for, well, for everything, really. Being a part of the investigation in the first place, slipping up when he spoke to the Magus, speaking to the Magus when Alex hadn't wanted him to in the first place, all of it. He was handling everything so poorly. He wasn't cut out for this. Maybe he never should've joined the Guard at all. Should've just stayed a merchant instead of trying to move up a caste. That's what you get for going against dharma, you ruin everything.
Stop it, Ravi. Nothing good comes of letting yourself wallow.
He took the rabbit from Alex and shoved it into the bag in his satchel. The sweater was still in there. He paused, staring at it. The thought of giving it, especially when he felt so useless at the moment, was awkward. But he'd spent so much time on it; he couldn't come all this way just to not give it.
He looked up, meeting Alex's eyes (because not meeting someone's eyes was a sign of insincerity, or whatever it was people had that hang-up over). "I am sorry to ask so much of you." His apologies were a rare thing, always sincere. "I appreciate your help, Alex. Really."
In that pause, Alex had followed the object of Ravindra's attention, but could not make out what it was. But were those knitting needles next to them? No, couldn't be. Ravi couldn't knit a scarf to save his life, he thought.
He drew his eyes back to Ravi and was mildly surprised at how gloomy he looked, sounded. "Count it as return for the clothes," he said, regarding him curiously. Was he happy about the situation? No. Was he angry at Ravi? That was a no, too. Sure, he was irritated with the sergeant's recent actions, but Alex knew he was being, at least in Ravindra's eyes, excessively nervous about his ordeal. It wasn't something he expected Ravi to understand, though. How could he? He wasn't on the shit-list of nearly every person who enjoyed living. It would be a lie to say that he hadn't felt like letting his fist try to do the explaining, especially when he had left his meeting with the Magus, but that anger had subsided. Alex had no doubts that all of the frustration he'd been experiencing with Ravi would subside, too, in time, as they always did.
After a pause, he asked, "Do you think I'm mad?" He figured he must have, if Ravindra felt like it was necessary for him to apologize (and look him in the eye!)
That made him look away. Just the eyes, a nervous twitch more than anything else. He was overthinking it. Of course he was overthinking it, that was what he always did. "No." Yes. "But I think I have been very demanding."
He turned away to dig the sweater out of the satchel. "I brought something for you. As a thank you." More than that, but, well. He held it out, a neatly folded black sweater trimmed in red. His knitting was the one thing he honestly felt proud of, but even so, he found himself worried that Alex would hate it and think it was awful and amateur and nowhere near as good as what Catherine used to make for him. He suddenly wanted to yank it away and shove it back in the bag and pretend he hadn't brought it out in the first place. He didn't. He waited.
His aversion told Alex the answer was not "no," but "yes." He didn't find it worth confronting Ravi about, though. Ravi would settle back to normal in time.
He blinked at the offered sweater, lifting it out of Ravi's hand. It was nondescript, just a standard piece of clothing, but as he looked down at it in the dim light, he felt the back of his eyes grow hot. Alex didn't bother to hide the tears that began to slide down his cheeks, just held onto the sweater tightly, so tightly his knuckles grew even paler. It reminded him of Catherine, of the scarves, sweaters, socks and dresses she would knit for their family.
That was not the reaction he'd expected. It had been so long that he didn't even make the connection between hand-knit clothes and Catherine; he didn't even consider that it might remind Alex of her. Confused, not knowing what to say or do, he stood there nervously and waited for a prompt.
He sucked in an unsteady breath, closed his eyes and swallowed. Another deep inhale, exhale. When he opened his eyes, tears were no longer falling, but were settled at the corners. "Catherine," said Alex, voice thick from the sudden wave of emotion. "She..." He began to rub the knitted surface under the pad of his thumb, uncaring of the dirt that parted from it.
Of course it would remind him of Catherine. Hell, Ravi had learned from her in the first place. He felt like an idiot for not having realized that.
"She taught me," he said. "She said I needed a hobby that did not involve hitting people."
He paused, lips parted, and then a small, weak chuckle escaped from his throat. "Did she?" He smiled forlornly at the sweater and wished, not for the last time, that she would shake his shoulder as she always did. "Good call." Another pause, then, "Thank you. It does get chilly in the early hours."
A smile. Half a smile. Ravi never gave more than that. "You are welcome."
It was hard to realize that even though Catherine's death had been ten years ago for him, it was still a fresh wound for Alex. It was the converse to Alex not realizing that for Ravi it had been seventeen years since his own death. He would have to try harder to keep it in mind.
"Do you need a hug?" he asked, arms held open. It might seem strange coming from him, but this was the sort of thing you picked up raising a daughter.
Finally, he looked at Ravi and the sight made him pause in surprise. He dipped his head and shook it, as if in disbelief, and then, with a light laugh, took a step into his open arms. The sight was surely comical.
"Sometimes I don't know who you are," Alex said, patting Ravi's back before stepping out of the embrace. He felt strangely grateful for his friend's offer, but wished it had been his wife instead. "You're different."
It was kind of nice to finally get in a hug that Alex instigated and not a quick stolen one that had to be cut short to prevent awkwardness. It still felt too short--but, of course, it always would.
Alex's comment was met with a chuckle. "People change, dosta. Blame your daughter for turning me soft."
He smiled, but the corners of his lips didn't lift very far. "Blame. Or commend." It was bittersweet.
Not wanting to enter the territory of his daughter, Alex took another step away and turned his gaze to the large tree beside them. "What are your plans for the rest of the night?"
He caught the hint and let Amelia drop from the conversation.
He shrugged. "None. It would take me until morning to walk back, but tomorrow is the Fest of the Green, so it is not as if I must be back in time for a shift."
Until Ravi had mentioned it, Alex had forgotten the festival. Now, he wondered how he ever could have. It was such a huge celebration, extending even past the city walls, albeit at a more...calmer tempo. He felt a small sense of regret in being unable--or unwilling--to participate. "When are you leaving?"
"Whenever you are sick of me, I suppose." He probably needed more sleep, but, whatever. He could run on what he'd gotten. Spending time with his BFF was way more important than sleep.
He thought of telling Ravindra to share the years he had missed out on, but quickly dismissed the idea. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear it, or could appreciate it, right then. He wasn't sure he wanted to encourage Ravi to work with his needles, either. He wanted to be alone. This realization caused him to frown. How selfish of him. If their positions had been reversed, Alex was sure he would want to spend time with his friend after seventeen years of thinking him dead.
He pinched the soft skin between his eyes. "Well, you are guaranteed safety from any wild animals that might find you good-sized," he said, avoiding the topic. Then he took a seat near the large roots of the tree and reclined against the trunk, holding the sweater in his lap. "Come, you must be tired."
He was, but it was the sort of tired he had learned to ignore. That was a hint, though. He could read Alex well enough to know he didn't feel like talking. That was fine. (It wasn't fine. He wanted to spend time together, not come all this way out just to sleep before heading home in the morning.)
He sat beside Alex, leaning against the trunk of the tree as well, and set the lantern on the ground to his side. He adjusted the collar of his cloak, and the hood, and wondered whether he should say anything. The silence stretched on for a while, the longer it went the more pressed Ravi felt to break it but the more awkward it felt to do so.
He did finally settle on what to say, because he felt that it would be best if he actually bothered to voice his feelings for once. "I feel like...it is a dream, you know, to have you back. And I will wake up one morning and you will be gone again."
A faint smirk. "You said that on the first night. Don't you think, after this past week, that it's...inconvenient?" The timing, the investigation, the, well, what he came back as.
"Did I?" Hadn't it been more like a threat the first time he'd said it? 'If this is a dream I'll be angry' or something more along those lines? Ah, what did it matter, anyway. "Well, I have not stopped feeling that way. And it may be inconvenient, but I would rather have you here in inconvenient circumstances than not have you here at all."
"That's gracious of you." The Ravindra that sat next to him was similar as far as Alex's feelings on Amelia went -- both people that he knew, but possessing faces he didn't. Amelia had only been three, though -- Ravindra's then and his now were considerably different. Alex found it bizarre at times, how much his friend had calmed. How more open he was.
Perhaps it was the meal or the extra hunt or the unexpected bout of tears, or perhaps all three that caused Alex's eyelids to droop, another sigh escaping his mouth. "I am here and breathing," he said quietly, closing his eyes, "for better or for worse."
Smiling softly, he answered, "Yes." Now it was just a matter of keeping it that way.