dear followers today i offer you another iron maiden joe prequel snippet. tomorrow? who knows.
warning for mentions of alcohol and smoking {brief}
It's past midnight, which means Nicky has the pool to himself: no sane person would go for a swim at half past two in the morning, especially not on a Sunday - Monday, now, he supposes. To be fair, he's not swimming, just sitting on the pool's edge with his jeans rolled up, feet in the water. It's quiet, apart from the gentle lapping of the water against the sides and the occasional sounds of activity from the motel behind them - not the nicest, but the best they could find on short notice. The pool is lit from within, glowing blue against the darkness. They couldn't risk going to any of their usual places, not when they don't know exactly what Booker told Merrick.
Nicky sighs. Lifts the cigarette in his hand to his lips and takes a long drag, closes his eyes as he exhales. He's exhausted, but he can't go to sleep yet. He's got a clear line of sight to their room's door here, can hear anything that could signal something's wrong. He'll stay up all night if he has to, because if he dreams he'll dream of the lab, or of Yusuf, and neither of those are things he wants right now.
(Well. That's not entirely true. Because as much as he hates the dreams, as shaken as they leave him every time, he does look forward to them in some twisted way. They're the only way he gets to see Yusuf anymore, after all.)
He's startled by the sound of footsteps on the concrete behind him, but relaxes once he recognises them. He doesn't turn around, but he does stub out his cigarette - the health effects have never been a problem for him, but he knows all about second hand smoking and the damage it can do. He'll have to quit, most likely. He should have done it a long time ago.
"Thought I'd find you out here. Can't sleep?" Andy asks behind him. He hums, leaning back on his hands and looking up at the few stars left, the rest hidden by light pollution. Andy settles herself beside him, rolling up her own jeans and dipping her toes in the water, wincing when it jolts her wound. "Fuck."
"How's it feeling?" he asks, careful not to let himself think too much about what it signifies.
"Hurts," Andy says. "Raided the minibar, though." Something clinks beside her - two bottles, both already open. She hands one to Nicky. "How are you feeling?"
It's a question he's not sure he's ready to answer. Tired, certainly. Angry. Hurt. Missing Yusuf so much it sits in his chest like a stone, but that's not new.
"I don't know," he says instead of any of that, which is largely the truth. "Sebastien?"
"Hasn't moved. But he got something to eat, I think."
Guilt claws at him - he should have reached out, should have noticed something before it got this bad. But he'd been too wrapped up in his own grief to see, and now they're paying for it, and-
"You're thinking too much," Andy says. "I can hear you." She takes a long sip from her bottle.
"You'll probably have to be careful with that now," Nicky tells her, lightly teasing, and Andy elbows him. But she's smiling, at least, so it's all just as well.
"You should get some sleep, Nico," she says then, gentle, as if he's the one with a bullet hole in his side.
He shakes his head. "Don't think I can tonight. But you should go, you're healing."
Andy shrugs. "I tried, but it hurt, and I didn't want to wake Quynh."
"How is she?"
"You tell me," Andy responds. "You were both in there."
Truly, Nicky doesn't want to think about it that long. Not now, when Nile is still so shaken and they still need to do something about Booker, not when Andy is mortal now and he's still not sure what that means for them. When they're all safe, when they've figured out what to do next, he'll think about it.
"I miss him," Andy says unexpectedly, and Nicky knows exactly who she's talking about - who else could it be? "When Nile dreamed of him, the other night - Book stopped talking about them. I guess I thought-"
"I know," Nicky says. Nile's description of her dream is still running on a loop in his mind.
Andy sighs, and in that moment she looks so, so tired. "I always thought I'd see him again, you know. Maybe it was foolish of me, but. I always hoped, I guess.”
“Yeah,” is all Nicky says, a lump in his throat, because, well. What else does he say? He takes a long sip from the bottle in his hand. Five hundred years, he’d told Nile, pretending like he doesn’t know exactly how long it’s been down to the day. Over half of his life.
Andy doesn’t say anything else, winces when she shifts her weight.
“Want me to take another look at it?” he offers.
She shakes her head. “Tomorrow, maybe.”
There’s not much more to be said, after that. Nicky holds out his arm in a wordless offer, and Andy leans into his side, resting her head on his shoulder. She doesn’t fall asleep, but it’s a near thing. Nicky’s so tired his bones feel heavy, but he doesn’t fall asleep either.
It’s not exactly peaceful, not after everything that’s happened today, but. It’s good to have her with him.
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