pushbackthedarkness | (no subject)

Having reluctantly left Neil to talk to Grantaire on his own, Marcus returns to the bedroom, pausing every so often to listen for the voices outside. It seems that Grantaire is done shouting, though he can occasionally hear Neil's voice, despite his efforts to keep the volume down, and he finds he's glad Sabrina is with Nick for the night. She'd not respond well to this, nor should she have to, and Marcus is relieved she'll get to be kept out of it.

He's not sorry to have given Neil a place to stay and he'll never take back that offer or the safety of his home. Nor does he entirely blame Grantaire for his outburst, although he does wish, with a very heavy heart, that he hadn't returned to drinking. This is life, for better or worse, and for the first time in five long decades, Marcus is a part of it. His love for Neil far outweighs any loss of sleep or concern he has for the glass outside. None of that matters. He is a little worried about Dan, however.

But this is where they've all found themselves and Marcus eases open the bedroom door and slips back inside, closing it gently behind him. Dan won't have fallen back asleep, not now, but just in case he doesn't want to risk waking him.

As he expected, though, the bedside lamp is still on and Marcus rubs his hands over a tired face, then looks to Dan.

Threaded | Flat

Dan's managed to at least return to the bed, though he sits with his back against the headboard, knees somewhat drawn up and his arms looping loosely around them. His eyes stare off just slightly as he expends the energy to keep from fully freaking out.

Most of that is spent keeping himself from shining, from hearing or seeing what's been happening outside the house. The drunken shouting, the crash of the glass, an angry man-- it's not anything Dan hasn't experienced or even done before, but that's the problem, isn't it?

There's pain, at the bottom of all of this, that Dan can empathize with, and come morning, maybe he will.

For now, he's forcing slow and even breaths, keeping himself separate from a situation so haphazardly primed to bring up the old bad stuff.