Still falling {grey & finn}

[Deleted]

Rai had finally given Finn permission to bring Grey to the hospital. It was the 20th of November now. Four days since she'd come back and eight days since she was missing. She felt bad, making one of her best friends wait that long to come see her. The only issue was, she didn't know exactly when Finn was bringing him around. She dreaded the moment, the look on his face. She didn't know how he felt about vampires, but she had this worry that he hated them and therefore would hate her. It was irrational. She was scared to tell her parents too and they were completely loving and supportive. What evidence was there against Grey doing the same?

She could smell Finn coming before he would get to the room. She knew what his blood smelled like. Then, another smell hit her, almost like a ton of bricks. She reached out her hand and clutched the edge of the hospital bed. Wait. She knew what that was. It had to be him.

She growled, standing up. She was wearing comfortable pants and a sweater today, not that awful hospital gown. She crossed to the window and open the curtain. It was dark outside... Whether dawn or dusk, she didn't check. She pressed her forehead against the cool glass and tried to ignore the scent. She'd gotten used to Finns, Poes and the healers by now and now a whole new person was coming. Her parents were bad enough but this, this was somehow worse.

@finn first!
grey xavier slater

[Deleted]

Finn walked in silence with Grey to the Hospital Wing. He had wanted to tell his friend what he was walking into just now, but Rai had made him promise. His friendship with Rai trumped everything else, especially right now. She would explain to Grey exactly what had happened to her, and how Grey reacted...well, that was what Finn would be there for if need be. Rai had mentioned that she knew Finns’ ‘scent’ now, so as they neared the door to the Hospital Wing, he wondered if she could smell Grey too. Probably. He couldn’t help but feel a little shudder through him. He would always love Rai no matter what or who she was, but the vampire thing would take some getting used to.

“Ready?” he asked, looking over at Grey. He pushed open the door to find Rai with her forehead against the glass windowpane. He gave a cheerful smile, or one as cheerful as it could get in the situation. “Hey love, look who is here to see you,” he said, gently pushing Grey towards her. He would follow close behind in case his action was necessary; he didn’t think it would be though.

grey xavier slater next?
@railynn

[grey xavier slater]

The Monsters

walk among us

She was there. Then she wasn’t. And just as unconditionally random, she was back again. That was all Finn had really told him so far. He knew something bad had happened, especially if he wasn’t allowed to see her at all in Hogsmeade when Finn found her either. The one thing he had heard some of the aurors talking about was that there had been a lot of blood. If she had managed to escape from someone, or something, that wasn’t too hard to believe. Apparently it had already been eight days since Rai first disappeared. He had counted at first, but everything melted together after a while. If he had to be honest, he wasn’t really sure what day of the week it was. Some kind of leniency had been allowed and Finn showed up at the school and said Rai was ready to see him. What was the difference between today and yesterday? Either way, it was better than trying to sit in class, pretending to care about what was being taught. Normally that would be a blessing, these days it made him sick thinking about it.

Whisked away from the castle, he and Finn arrived at St. Mungo’s. He hated hospitals, muggle and magical alike. For being rather decent at healing spells these days and having to fix any little injuries he accrued, he would have thought that the irrational fear would have gone away. It hadn’t. To make it worse, he had to see Rai in whatever state she was in. That didn’t mean he didn’t want to go, just that seeing someone at their worst point in time wasn’t something he was fond of. Clearly she was feeling good enough to want to see him, but that didn’t really change the fact that she was in the hospital for terrible reason.

Eventually they reached what Grey assumed was the door to her room. He hadn’t really talked too much since they left; Finn seemed to be trying to lighten the mood as best as he could. It wasn’t hard for him to tell that there was something not being said. Something only Rai could tell him. Staring at the door, Finn asked him if he was ready. Grey nodded his head. “Ready.” Finn opened the door and pushed him into the room. Rai was standing at the window, her head up against it. She looked…fine? He wasn’t sure though with her back turned to him like that. He took a few more steps forward as Finn followed him into the room. “Hey.” That was all he could manage out, everything else seemed to not want to come out of his mouth.

@railynn & @finn
446
Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ya by Dropkick Murphys
</3

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

And there was his Finns voice. Rai felt her heart steady just a little at the sound, but it didn't last. The other voice came next, the one accompanied by that overpowering smell. She clenched her fists at her sides, took in a deep breath, and turned around. Her face was pale and the skin around her eyes discolored, as if she hadn't sleep in a year. It had only been a few days, but that didn't matter. The stress, the pain and the lack of sleep was enough. Rai always got enough sleep before this. Rai always got enough sunlight. Enough exercise. Now she almost looked like a bag of bones, since she was so thin already.

She didn't look at Grey, but instead her eyes found Finn first, standing back. She looked at him with pleading eyes, though she wasn't sure was she was pleading for. Then her lip started to quiver and she looked away, biting down hard on her lip.

Finally, after another moment of silence she looked at Grey and gave him a week smile. "Hey," she returned softly.

She took one step forward then, folding her arms over her chest. "I'm alive. Surprise."

@finn
grey xavier slater

[Deleted]

Finn just watched carefully as Grey and Rai approached each other. "I'll just step back and let you two catch up," he said, carefully taking a few steps back.  He wouldn't leave the ward, not with Rai still being so new to her new self and Grey still not completely filled in.  He'd step in if necessary, but he didn't think it would come to that.  Or at least, he hoped.


@railynn
grey xavier slater


ooc: background fade suckas 

[grey xavier slater]

The Monsters

walk among us

He didn’t really know what to expect to see when Rai turned to face him. Finn had already moved to somewhere else in the room. It was clear now that something terribly wrong had happened. This girl in front of him was Rai; it looked like her, sounded like her, but at the same time, there was something off about her. He could feel his face start to contort in confusion by everything. That probably wasn’t the best thing to do, but it was hard to stop it from happening. He tried to reason with his brain; she had been found with blood all over her. That would explain the pale skin, sunken eyes, everything else. Plus who knows what she went through while she had been missing. Four days in that condition would make anyone look like they were half-dead. Grey looked back to see what Finn was doing again, unsure of what he should do now. He had never been in a position like this. There was still something that he was missing, most likely the part that felt “off” about Rai. The urge to ask her that was on the tip of his tongue but he couldn’t bring himself to doing that.

An awkward laugh escaped him as she stated she was alive. That wasn’t an appropriate reaction at all. He could feel his brow furrowing further as he tried to figure out why exactly she was in the hospital. Sure she looked like hell, but it had been four days already. If they were letting people visit her, then it wasn’t dragon pox or some other undesirable disease. None of this made sense to him. Without thinking too much about it, Grey walked over to Rai and hugged her. That was the only thing that seemed to make sense. She was still Rai. That much he knew. Everything else could wait.

@railynn & @finn
315
My Hero by Dropkick Murphys

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

Finn spoke and stepped back, but Rai wasn't able to answer him. Her eyes were already on Grey and she couldn't tear them away as she tried to gauge his reaction. Then there it was, that look. It was different then she expected... it was more confused than angry or scared, but it still made her stomach churn. She tried to hold perfectly still, waiting for him to say something. But... he didn't. He looked back to see what Finn was doing. Was he hoping Finn would take him out of there? Or was he hoping Finn would leave them alone? She was over-analyzing this, which wasn't necessarily like her. She blinked, hoping that he would do something.

Then he laughed at her words about being alive and she felt like she could breathe a little. Just a little. That awkward laugh was familiar. Familiar was nice. Then his brow was furrowing and she wanted to lean away from him, but she held her ground. He was analyzing her now, she could tell. Trying to figure out what was wrong. Rai wasn't expecting her feet to move at the same moment his did, moving into that hug.

It was nice, at first, to feel that warmth. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him too until, after not enough time, that scent overcame her. Her eyes shot open and she looked to Finn before gently shaking her head as if to tell Finn that everything was all right. She was okay... maybe.

She gently moved her hands to Greys shoulders and pushed him back, just enough so she could look at his face. "Don't-" she started. Don't what, be scared? Get mad? Cry? What was she going to say? Instead of speaking she just shook her head and pulled one of her arms back. She used that hand to gently move her short hair off her neck, tilting her head to the side to show Grey the punctures there.

grey xavier slater

[grey xavier slater]

The Monsters

walk among us

She was unbelievably cold. That was the first thing Grey noticed when they hugged. He wasn’t really sure what that meant, but he reminded himself that they were in a hospital after all. She had lost a lot of blood, according to the things he had heard, so it was a possibility that it was because of that. And on top of that, the room she was in was remarkably cold, much more than he remembered the halls being. He’d have to talk to the nurse about that, because people who were sick or injured needed to be warm, not shoved into an ice box like this. The embrace held longer than it ever had before, not that it was a bad thing of course, just different. He had fully expected to be the first one to pull away, like usual, but holding on a little longer wasn’t going to hurt at all. Rai had probably gone through hell and back, the hug was the least he could do to help her readjust to everything again.

Then the unexpected happened. He wasn’t the first to pull away. Rai was. And it wasn’t like it was the kind of pull away that signaled the end of a hug. It was a push away. That didn’t make any sense at all. He stared at her as she started to tell him to not do something. Had he done something wrong? About to ask her what was going on, Grey continued to watch silently as Rai shook her head and moved her hair away from her neck. He wasn’t sure what to look at first, his eyes darting back and forth between her eyes and neck, before finally settling on the two visible marks there. Puncture wounds. He felt the blood drain from his head, a pit forming in the base of his throat as he stared at the punctures still. He knew what it meant without Rai actually saying anything. All the blood he had heard about, the reason why she had been brought to St. Mungo’s and was kept there instead of to the castle immediately after being found. And why Finn was standing in the background, watching, making sure Rai didn’t snap right then and there, unable to control herself.

He felt horrible for thinking that way, but it had to be true right? Finn had seen her numerous times already, but he was also capable of stopping her because he knew about it. Letting Grey in on his own without saying anything was like sending a lamb to the slaughter. Even if it was Rai. His thoughts hooked onto that thought: this was still Rai. Just because she was something else now didn’t mean that she wasn’t the same old person he had known for the last seven years. She would never hurt him on purpose, that much had been made clear throughout their time together at school. The reason Finn was there was probably a safety precaution that had to be followed. Grey tried to talk again, but nothing came out, his throat still dry from the rapid sickening feeling that had overcome him.

How had she managed to survive that? They had learned about vampires in class. Being turned was an unspeakable horror, most people who didn’t go into willingly ended up dying. But Rai hadn’t. She came back a vampire. That was still better than being dead. He had to keep reminding himself that as his thoughts bounced all over the place. Trying once again and failing to talk, he reached his hand out instead, brushing his fingers over the puncture marks on her neck. All they felt like were little bumps, like two cuts. How could something so insignificantly small cause a change like this? “Everything's going to be okay,” he finally managed to force out. Whether that was for himself or Rai, he was unsure. Grey glanced over his shoulder at Finn in the corner before returning his gaze back to Rai. “I’m-We’re here now.”

@railynn & @finn
671
Know Me Well by Roo Panes

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

It was like watching the world crumbling down around them as she stood there waiting for his reaction. It felt like nothing was stable, like the walls and floor could dissipate at any moment. If she made one move it would all crumble into smaller than bite sized pieces that she wouldn't be able to put back together. She already felt like she couldn't put herself back together. If she lost one of her best friends then she was surely broken. It had been hard enough not to let herself starve to death already. She had to really evaluate why she'd decided not to die a few days ago by the vampires hand in the first place. What made her want to live and was it worth continuing on for?

She saw how pale he became when he finally stopped flickering back and forth between her eyes and neck, and she hoped her hand that was still on his shoulder would steady him. She saw more there too, in his eyes, as he began to process it. She couldn't tell what it was but it still scared her. For a horrible second she thought he was going to run from her. After some time it looked like he was about to speak and she raised her eyebrows expectantly, but no words came. He tried again, and failed again and for another second she thought she'd completely broken him.

Then his hand lifted toward her and she felt her grip tighten on his shoulder. He touched the scars, and it took all of her energy not to move. She was afraid of what would happen if she did. "Everything's going to be okay," he said, looking back at Finn and then back to her. "I'm-We're here now." Once again, the familiar sound of his voice calmed her a little, but now it was different. Now it was the voice that came after he knew what she was, and it was still just as comforting as it was before. That made all the difference to Rai.

Her hand that was holding her hair back moved to gently touch the back of his own hand before it could leave her neck. "Good. And don't go," she choked out, her eyes flickering over to Finn on the second word. It wasn't like they were going to leave, of course. He literally just said they were here now. But she still felt the need to say it.

grey xavier slater
@finn
(She can't word 0.0 I broked her)

[Deleted]

Finn had said nothing for several minutes now; he knew that Grey recognized what Rai was now, and he needed to process that. He did wonder what was going through both of their minds in the silence that seemed stiff between the two of them, but then Grey hugged her. He watched carefully, in case Rai lost control but she was okay for now. She was standing as still as a statue as Grey touched her scars, and reassured her that they were there for her. He did not fail to notice he first said I - perhaps he had been right about those feelings after all.

“Don’t worry Rai, we’ll be here until you ask us to leave,” he said to her reassuringly, still not leaving his sentry position on the wall. He had had plenty of time with her when they first brought her to the hospital, he would let Grey take his time with Rai now. It was a lot to process.

@railynn
grey xavier slater

[grey xavier slater]

The Monsters

walk among us

His hand still hadn’t left the scars on her neck. Now that everything was finally revealed, he felt somewhat better. Not because Rai was a vampire, but because she was alive. Vampirism was accepted nowadays, he had heard that at one point it was seen on equal terms with being a werewolf. Obviously the latter was getting better as well, but the fact of the matter was that being a vampire wasn’t as nearly as bad as it used to be. Rai would be fine. He’d definitely make sure of that.

All of that was positive reassurance, trying to tell himself that things were going to be okay with her. Unfortunately, he knew that wasn’t always going to possible. There was deep-seated trauma she was going to have from whatever went down while the vampire turned her. That was something he’d never be able to fully understand without having been there. The only thing he and Finn could really do was to make sure she stayed true to who she was; to not let the vampirism destroy everything that Rai was to them. Grey knew that she would do her best to not let it change her, but he was more afraid of the outside forces pushing down on her. She was now a part of a demi-human race. There were going to be other vampires interested in talking with her. At the same time, she was also still an auror, or at least he hoped she would continue with it. She was one of the reasons he wanted to join too.

There was still one question that had been bugging him the entire time. What had actually happened to her? While he and Finn had confronted Uriah about the where she had gone, the results had been expected, coming from scum like him. But then she was back. Beaten, bloody, but breathing. That was all any of them could ask for. Still…”What exactly happened?” Grey immediately covered his mouth. That was supposed to be kept in his head. He stared straight at Rai, hoping he hadn’t just pushed the one button he wasn’t supposed to. How insensitive could he be? She had every right to hate him at this point. Hell, she could rip out one of his arteries then and there and he wouldn’t care. Curiosity killed the cat, unfortunately.

@railynn & @finn
392
I Love You by OMFG

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

Rai wasn't suprised at Finns confirmation slash promise, and she nodded at him. Then Grey asked the question and covered his mouth right away. Rai couldn't help but slowly grin. He was worried that would upset her, that it was the wrong thing to say. It was a perfectly logical question, and if he was ever going to be an auror he needed to learn how to ask the hard questions.

She moved her hand away from Grey's and dropped both hands to her sides. She hadn't actually told Finn the whole story yet, either. Yes, she told him about the moment she decided not to die but she hadn't told him about Club Indigo yet or everything the vampire had said to her.

"I went to the club to see Uriah when suddenly I was being dragged into the shadows... I was knocked out at that point and woke up in a strange place," she spoke clearly but quickly, punching every consonant so she wouldn't have to repeat herself due to being misunderstood. "He... Bit me and drank my blood for three days straight. I was sure I was going to die. He didn't even bother to stop the blood when he left me alone. I had to stop it myself, but the blood it-" she paused, shutting her eyes for a moment only to see terrible images there, so she opened them again to find Grey's. She stayed perfectly still, almost like a statue, and her voice dropped in volume. "And then he told me he was assigned to kill me, but he would prefer company. He said I could live, or I could die. The only way to live was to become like that. I considered death," her eyes flickered to Finn, then back to Grey, "but something told me to stay." Those last words were a whisper, barely audible.

She didn't go on yet to explain her escape.

grey xavier slater
@finn

[grey xavier slater]

The Monsters

walk among us

Even though Rai smiled at his question, he couldn’t help but feel horrible for even thinking that was the correct thing to say right now. If he was given the chance, he’d punch himself in the face for that. But it didn’t seem to faze her as much as he thought it would. Maybe she was hoping he or Finn would ask, assuming she hadn’t already shed all the details on him. Grey watched as she dropped her hands to her sides, but he kept his hand still firmly planted on her shoulder. It was amazing how reassuring even something like that was, and he didn’t plan letting go anytime soon.

Rai began detailing everything that had happened since she went missing. So Uriah had knocked her out. When Finn had told him that she was missing and had planned on going to meet her brother, Grey knew there was something going on. Pushing that aside though, he continued listening as she started talking about the vampire that had bitten her, the intention being to kill her. All he could do was stand there and make sure she kept going, even when she stopped for a few seconds. Tightening his grip on her shoulder as she covered the part about the vampire giving her the choice to live or die, Grey could feel his heart beating faster and faster. It ached trying to even comprehend what she had gone through, since it was impossible for him to understand what being on the verge of death was even like.

At least the vampire that had done that to her was decent enough to give her a chance. He didn’t know much about them, but knew that since Rai had joined their ranks, he’d be learning about them rather quickly. Grey stayed quiet for a few seconds after she finished talking. Something had told her to stay? He still wasn’t sure to feel overjoyed at that, if it was even right to be happy in a situation like this, or relieved that she was strong enough to keep going when it seemed like it was the end of everything. “I’d personally find you and kill you again if you ever died on me like that Railynn.” He managed out, half joking half dead serious. Grey couldn’t recall the last time he had used her full first name like that. Then again, he couldn’t recall a time when he had been this frustrated and happy at the same time.

@railynn & @finn
416
Creating God by Avenged Sevenfold

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

Rai found immediate relief in the fact that Grey didn't ask her what made her stick around. That wasn't a conversation she was sure they ere ready to have. Hell, she wasn't even sure if she understood it herself. All she knew was that she saw his face the moment she was asked that question, and that she had said she wanted to live because of that. At first, she thought that it just represented all the people she was leaving behind. Her family, friends, the other aurors. And that was partly true but another part of her knew that it was more than that, and she didn't want to look inside that part of herself. Not now, not yet.

She nodded at Greys words, grateful for his hand on her shoulder. She gave a nod, "I won't leave you," she said firmly, making a promise. She kept her eyes locked on his for a few more seconds before looking to Finn again. She tried to send a message through her eyes, a message that she wasn't ready for him to tell Grey what she had told him. About seeing Grey. Then she cleared her throat, looking back to Grey again. "At least your blood doesn't smell very good. I'm not surprised, you always smell bad," she managed to joke, a small smile cracking on her lips.

Making jokes was easier than thinking about everything happening in her head.

grey xavier slater
@finn

[grey xavier slater]

The Monsters

walk among us

“Good.” That seemed like the only response that he could get out without it feeling forced. He wasn’t ready to lose friends and family. It would happen someday, especially if he became an auror, but not now. Rai understood that. That’s why she was still here, right? He didn’t want to know what it would have been like, should she have decided to let the vampire kill her. The way he and Finn had interacted with Uriah had been testament enough that her being gone for only a day was enough to drive both of them insane. Had she died, there would have been no restraints holding them back anymore. Grey had heard Azkaban was nice this time of year.

He watched as Rai averted her gaze to Finn, and then back to him again. Grey knew there were things he still wasn’t being told. That was okay. The biggest bomb that had been dropped today, about her being a vampire, was enough to hold him over until she was ready to tell him the rest. The same could have been said about how Finn had been keeping him in the dark the last few days at school. He was completely fine with waiting until the time was right. Until Rai was ready to tell him everything that had happened. The fact that she was alive was all that should matter at this point in time. And that she had to adjust to being a vampire. Other than that, he knew she would be back to her normal self soon enough.

The comment about his blood smelling bad was just the start of that too. “You can smell my blood?” He actually didn’t know that about vampires. Probably managed to sleep through that class or something. “What about Finn? He can’t be too much better, right?” Grey grinned, looking back over his shoulder at Finn, who had stayed quiet for most of their time in the room.

@railynn & @finn
327
The Original by Roo Panes

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0