(no subject)
Dec. 19th, 2015 04:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wgrahamWill isn't the type of person who generally enjoys going out to eat. He doesn't like being in public, for one, and also he's very basic about the sorts of things he eats, not needing anything extravagant. Eating is one of those things he does because he can't not, not because it's something he necessarily enjoys.
That isn't to say he doesn't like food. There have been times in his life when he's very much appreciated a good meal, though a lot of those moments are a bit tainted now that he has a better idea of the ingredients that were likely used.
Diner food, though, is less benign than sort of unpleasant. But he and Reid aren't here for the cuisine.
When Reid had told Will about the vampires leaving bodies near cafes and restaurants like the one they're in now, Will had wondered if maybe there was some kind of underground food service system, one that captured human victims and fed them to vampire clientele. It was probably a long shot, but he figured they might as well check some of the places out, to see what they might be able to determine.
They aren't undercover exactly, but they're also not visibly armed. Will's not carrying a gun, though he can do it now with his status as law enforcement, but he has his switchblade in his pocket, feeling much better knowing he has a weapon he can use if he needs one. He's not sure of Reid's carrying, but a part of him hopes he is. A bigger part hopes they won't have cause to need to defend themselves.
They've ordered already, and both have (sadly not alcoholic) drinks in front of them. Will's been looking around as much as he can without drawing attention, remembering how much he hates the florescent lighting they use in these places, the combination of the lights and the permeating smell of bleach giving him a headache. He sips his Coke.
"So far this place seems more like a typical diner than I was hoping," he tells Reid with a wan smile. "I hope I didn't interrupt your afternoon for nothing."
That isn't to say he doesn't like food. There have been times in his life when he's very much appreciated a good meal, though a lot of those moments are a bit tainted now that he has a better idea of the ingredients that were likely used.
Diner food, though, is less benign than sort of unpleasant. But he and Reid aren't here for the cuisine.
When Reid had told Will about the vampires leaving bodies near cafes and restaurants like the one they're in now, Will had wondered if maybe there was some kind of underground food service system, one that captured human victims and fed them to vampire clientele. It was probably a long shot, but he figured they might as well check some of the places out, to see what they might be able to determine.
They aren't undercover exactly, but they're also not visibly armed. Will's not carrying a gun, though he can do it now with his status as law enforcement, but he has his switchblade in his pocket, feeling much better knowing he has a weapon he can use if he needs one. He's not sure of Reid's carrying, but a part of him hopes he is. A bigger part hopes they won't have cause to need to defend themselves.
They've ordered already, and both have (sadly not alcoholic) drinks in front of them. Will's been looking around as much as he can without drawing attention, remembering how much he hates the florescent lighting they use in these places, the combination of the lights and the permeating smell of bleach giving him a headache. He sips his Coke.
"So far this place seems more like a typical diner than I was hoping," he tells Reid with a wan smile. "I hope I didn't interrupt your afternoon for nothing."
no subject
Date: 2016-01-09 09:06 pm (UTC)One victim's husband had arrived at the scene of the crime, and Reid remembers it vividly, can almost still feel the contact of the man's fist against his cheek and his back against the wall of the alley. At the time, he'd understood the reaction, he'd felt the same way after Maeve had been killed. Lashing out, wanting someone to pay, these are things Reid has experienced, too; but now that his mind wanders back to that day, which had happened to be Luke's birthday, he wonders if there hadn't been something more to it. He kicks himself now for not making deeper connections sooner, for not seeing past the surface of the reaction because he'd been preoccupied with the thought of visiting the man he'd come to fall in love with, but Reid sits up a little straighter in the booth.
"Maybe the victims themselves aren't connected at all," Reid says, narrowing his eyes as they squint in thought. "Interviewing the families is going to be our best next step in solving this, I think the connection must be through them. It's possible the victims were all just forms of collateral, and I know where to start in finding that out. One of the victims, her husband came to the crime scene, and he... reacted. Violently. There was grief in it, of course, but remembering it now, I think there was a degree of guilt to it, too. It was almost like he wasn't surprised to see his wife dead. He should be the first one we talk to, then see if we can conduct interviews with the closest relatives of the other victims."
He cuts himself off before he says Luke could help them interrogate more vampires, too, if only because Reid doesn't want to have to explain why it would be safe. The larger part of him doesn't want to involve Luke at all, doesn't want to put his boyfriend in any line of danger, but at the same time, Luke's abilities are undoubtedly exceptional. Besides that, Luke had offered his help in the case, no matter the capacity, and Reid thinks he'd be something of a fool not to take it. Pausing to take another sip of his coffee, he glances up at Graham to find his partner studying him, and he resists the urge to shift uncomfortably under the mild scrutiny. Graham knows he's hiding something, of course he does. It's not because they know each other inside out, that side of it will have to come with time, but Graham can see things in people the same way Reid can. It's what makes them a good pairing.
Still, he's not ready yet to reveal what Luke is, not without his boyfriend's permission. Eventually, it may be too much for him to continue keeping the secret from someone he works so closely with, especially if Luke will be involved with the case; but until then, Reid is ready to keep his mouth decidedly shut about the influence of the full moon.
"Let it happen," Reid advises, finally breaking his silence. "Let yourself fall in love with her, if that's what you want. I got here in May and now, I'm sharing an apartment with the love of my life." It's so easy to say that, to refer to Luke that way, and it still surprises him because before and after Maeve, romantic love had been such a foreign concept to him. He and Will don't share the same pasts, not even the same personalities, but they're similar in the way they'd viewed themselves--incapable of finding love, of being in a relationship, and that entire theory has fallen apart for both of them in just a matter of months in this city.
"I think we're lucky to be in this position," he continues, nodding as if he has to convince himself of it, which he most certainly doesn't. "We weren't looking for what we have but here it is. Some people search for a lifetime and never find it at all. Darrow's a fickle place, it lets people come and go without choice, but I couldn't let that hold me back from loving Luke. I don't care how long we have together, I just want to be with him. Given the choice, I'd stay with him here for the rest of my life, whether or not I was shown a way back home. I want to spend every day with him, I want to grow old with him, I want--" His breath catches in his throat, and he has to take a second to gulp it back down before ducking his head. "I want to marry him someday. All these things that I couldn't have had before I was brought here, I want to do them all with him."
no subject
Date: 2016-01-13 06:37 pm (UTC)"The way you describe it makes me wonder if the native vampires don't appreciate the presence of the ones from outside the city. Maybe they're drawing too much attention from people like us, knowing we'll try to stop the killings," Will ruminates out loud. "But you're right: we're going to need to talk to the families to see if there might be something tying them together. Or at least a common thread related to what you said about that one victim's husband. Maybe there's some kind of bribery system at play, or the human residents are getting something out of protecting the vampires and their actions." Will's eyes are moving as he shifts through ideas in his brain, not focusing on anything but moving things around.
"There are a lot of possibilities," he says, blinking to look at Reid directly. "Too many. Hopefully interviewing the families will help us narrow it down some, give us a handful of starting places. I think we should talk to the violent husband soon, so we can get the ball rolling."
It's funny, because Will has never been a person who enjoys talking about his feelings. A lot of them are dark, or course, unsavory, but there are tender feelings beneath everything else, a desire to be needed, the urge to seek out companionship. Before Molly Hannibal was the closest he'd come, and that wasn't ideal for a variety of reasons, the least of which was that Hannibal would just as soon kill him as support him.
But he's not afraid of his feelings for Molly. Most of his life he'd been immune to the idea of romance, and stringently against showing any vulnerability. Hannibal has seen his soft places, but that's because he knows how to get Will to roll over and expose them. But with Molly he's finding he wants to reveal himself to her, he wants to open a door into his heart and let her in. It's like she has a key somehow, just through being who she is, and even if she didn't, he wouldn't chain up his soul to keep her out.
Will finds himself smiling when Reid talks about wanting to marry his boyfriend, and a part of that is related to the measure of himself he sees in Reid. Minds like theirs are almost never quiet, they're full of data and scenarios and odds, and it's hard to let love settle in an environment like that. Logic is a shield, and it's easy to hide behind physics and probabilities and science, especially when the usual reaction people have is to be put off by the methodology. Deep, intense feelings are terrifying, and positive ones are worse. Being cynical is easy because there are no hopes, no expectations, and no disappointments. Finding hope, learning to love someone, to need them, it opens a person up to all sorts of potential pain.
"The odds against finding someone here have got to be astronomical," Will says. "It's such a small pool to draw from, much smaller than we're used to, and people are from so many different places. Or maybe that's why it works. Shared experience," he adds with a small smile. "Whatever it is, I agree: we are lucky. I feel like my entire world has been turned upside down, but it doesn't feel wrong at all."
He pauses for a moment, taking a drink of his coffee which has unfortunately gone a bit cold. "I hope you get to grow old with Luke," he says, holding Reid's eyes for a moment. "I hope I can stay too, and experience life with Molly. She's so good, and I've had so much bad. I want time to enjoy this, to be with her."