Log:Abandoned and Not

The Madness of David Flyte 2020/02/18 Porter Grimm 29

Sandy Bottom Island

Gabrielle's been laying low, avoiding her home and people in general. N'zrathol's influence has been reduced, but she still feels like she's losing it. She's used to facing things head on, but she can't see or sense N'zrathol's influence. It's masked from her, while others can see. Gabrielle is tired of not being able to fight for herself. Tired of others risking themselves on her behalf.

The night is rather cold, but it's a lonely comfort for Grimm. She sits cross-legged in the sand, a bottle of beer in her hand. What's one more rule broken when she's already got an attempted murder charge hanging over her head. Her thoughts drift to the memory of how Porter looked, lifeless on the ground. And how frustratingly calm Malcolm was. Like he didn't take her pleas at all seriously and wouldn't armor up when she begged him to.

She takes another swig and closes her eyes, a few tears of mixed sadness and frustration trickling down her cheeks.

A nice, quiet night on the beach. No beachcombers, screaming kids, wayward beach balls... Nope. Just the moon, the stars, the soft lap of the water...

FLASHTHWUMP

...

...

SPLOOSH

...the Porters falling out of the sky...

Grimm sits up in alarm at the FLASHTHWUMP. A bit of hope. A bit of fear. She scrambles to her feet and tries to cast her shadow sight over the water to find him.

Fortunately, Porter didn't fall far. Also fortunately, the where he landed is only a little over waist deep. To him. He pops up with only a brief sputter and looks around. He can't see in the dark, but he can at least tell which way is land and which isn't. So he starts stepping and tries to use his other senses. Like talking. That's a sense, right? "Gabrielle?"

"Porter??" Gabrielle asks in surprise, and a little suspicion. "Is it...is it really you?" she asks worriedly, taking a step back and away from the water.

Porter holds up his hands. Not quite like 'my give up' but more 'it's ok' or 'please don't hurt me?' "It's Ok, Gabrielle. It's me. Really." At least now he has a better idea where she is, and he steps thattaways. Not too quick, though. Mostly because wet jeans are heavy. "Are you Ok?"

Grimm raises a hand overhead, an orb of light manifesting and spreading across the beach to help Porter see. And maybe temporarily blind him. "You're...you're okay!" she says excitedly.

It does help him see. A really bright light. Really well. He startles and blinks several times, then looks down at the sand. And shades his eyes with a hand. "Yeah. I'm Ok. I was asking about you."

Grimm dims the light to more comfortable levels. "-Me-?" she asks incredulously. "After what I did to you? God, Porter, I'm...I'm so sorry. I didn't know..."

Porter lowers the hand from his eyes to hold it up. Now in a halt. "Gabrielle, stop. It's Ok. I know it wasn't on purpose. I don't blame you for any of it. It was probably mostly my fault."

"How can it be okay?" Gabrielle begins to tear up. "You were...you were dead! I lost control and I...I killed you." She wipes at her eyes, about to lose it. "They kept having to revive you at the hospital..."

"But you didn't," Porter assures her. "Well, not anymore. I'm Ok, now. Good as ... gently-used." Ok, he tries to assure her. "Besides, I couldn't die die. I have a promise to keep." A smile. To help with the re-re-assuring.

Grimm lets out a brief laugh at the gently-used comment, even between the tears. The tears keep coming and she wipes at them. "A promise?" she asks curiously in between sniffles. She's too afraid to make any movements to get closer to him.

"Yeah. We're going to beat this thing together. Remember?" He hopes she does, or she might be more forgetful than him. And that would be a really bad sign. "You're not getting out of your half that easy, and I'm not going to abandon you."

That causes Gabrielle to burst out into full sobs. It's hard to tell which part of it does it. Really, it's all of it, but the line about not abandoning her really seals the deal. She takes the last few steps towards him and throws her arms around him in a big hug, too busy crying her heart out to say anything in response yet.

He's also not going to let her fall, or go without hugs, and catches her welcomingly. "It's alright..." Sure, he's said pretty much that since he arrives, but this time maybe is the time he should have waited for. Not a pressing assurance, but a soft one. Porter doesn't mind the crying, either. He's already sopping wet. Hopefully she doesn't mind drippy hugs.

Grimm doesn't seem to care about the water or drippiness. The cold certainly doesn't affect her anymore. "I'm so glad you're okay now," she says with a strain in her voice from the emotion. It's also muffled due to her face being buried against his neck.

Porter could probably say something startling wise. Or unsurprisingly stupid. So, this time, he hedges his bets and just hugs her. Maybe to probe that he really is Ok.

Grimm sinks against him. It seems like he chose the right thing to do. After several moments, Gabrielle finally seems to have cried herself out. She sniffs a few final times. "Thank you. For not abandoning me," she whispers hoarsely. She straightens up and wipes her face with the sleeve of her jacket.

"My pleasure." At seeing her wiping he offers... well, his sleeve is about all he has to offer. "And you're welcome. So, what's the next step? What can we do next? To beat this thing."

Grimm's makeup is a mess. Smeared from the crying and all that. She rubs her face with her hands. "Sorry. I really needed that. The detective investigating the attack on you is...was? A good friend. Now I think we're just...detective and suspect," she says sadly. Some dark energy surrounds Gabrielle's hands, and when she lowers them form her face, her makeup is perfect again.

"Well," she sniffs. "There's a morbane who sent a really creepy message suggesting we join forces to stop N'zrathol. Radical and I were going to meet him in Geneva."

"He seemed worried about you, too," Porter adds, "and a little stuck between his job and you. But there's no suspect part anymore. We cleared that up, happily." Another smile as he notes, "You look beautiful anyways, you know..." A blink. "A more creepy wha? Why does that sound not nice?" A pause. "I know I just asked, but you sure you're ready to jump back into this? I mean, we're going to take care of this, but it doesn't have to be, like, tomorrow."

"He did...?" Gabrielle sounds hopeful. Then sighs. "You don't know him like I do," she smiles faintly. "It's committed to the job. If it was between his duty and me, duty would win out. But...it's why he's such a good detective." She gives a little shrug over that. She's part proud, part sad over that. She has yet to check her phone for messages.

She smiles in appreciation as he calls her beautiful. "Thanks. But I'm sure I look a mess after ugly crying like that."

After composing herself some more, she nods once. "I can't run from this. It's not going away on its own. And yeah, creepy as in...he sent a zombie chimpanzee with tentacles and wings in a bellhop suit to deliver the invitation."

Next: Log:Planning for Lereau