[PRP] Entertain Me (Preacher & Alexis)

[Daekie]

Alexis cringed, shoulders pulled in, eyes on the ground.

"Y'shouldn't be friends with me," they said, very quietly; like they expected her to hit them. "I ******** up. I'm sorry."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Preacher sighed loudly, and cursed. "Then what d'ya think I am, then? Jus' a user?"

daekie

 

[Daekie]

Alexis ran fingers through their hair, over and over; it was more obviously a nervous tic or a stim, now, something they didn't want to be doing but couldn't resist without more energy than they had left.
More energy than they had in general. Not now.

"...I'm more useful like that."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Preacher reached up and grabbed Alexis' hand. "Y'ain't gotta be useful. Never asked ya ta be, did I?"

daekie

 

[Daekie]

Alexis pulled away from Preacher's hand violently -- they looked terrified (of her, of the contact, who could say). "Have to," they said, suddenly short of breath -- they felt feverish under their own skin. "Have to be. I'm better. Alois said so." There was dirt under their nails; they'd stopped pulling at their hair and kinked their fingers into it solidly, to the point it seemed further pressure would just break.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Don't gotta be," she said loudly. This time she didn't yank at Alexis' hands, but put hers on tops of theirs. "Stop that. Ya just gotta be you, that's all I want n' Alois can get <******** class="quote">

daekie

[Daekie]

Another cringe, this time at Preacher's volume, and Alexis still stepped back -- but they didn't pull away so actively, this time. Their footsteps were nearly soundless. "I died," they said very quietly, "twice, y'don't know me, I died back in October."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Preacher followed, moving forward whenever Alexis stepped back. "Cool," she said flatly. "I saw ya in November. In tha void, I saw ya last week, I saw ya last month." They went on a silly boat ride, they rescued a cat, they ate fries at Darlene's and she goaded them about Zac.

"Maybe ya died, but I like what's left, then."

daekie

 

[Daekie]

"You don't," Alexis said very quietly, taking another step back; their heart was beating like a hammer in their chest, so loud and so strong they thought Preacher could maybe hear it. Fire in their veins, so counter to their usual, so counter to what they'd thought would be their always. Their throat was closing up on them.

"You shouldn't."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

She stepped forward again. "I do n' I should. Ya can't get rid of me so easily, 'Lexis."

daekie

 

[Daekie]

Alexis stood there, paralyzed for a second, and took one final step back - pulled their hands away from Preacher - and, in the blink of an eye, closed the door again. There was a quiet thump and the sound of heavy breathing behind it, like they were on the verge of tears; the lock hadn't clicked.

The door wasn't locked.

There was a heavy weight against the door. Not heavy, but -- person-weighted.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Goddammit, and the door was closed again. It wasn't locked, this time, but the thump... She pressed her ears against the door for a second, then thumped her own back against it and slid down.

"M'not goin' anywheres, 'Lexis,"

daekie

 

[Daekie]

Alexis didn't acknowledge her.

There were just very tiny, choked-back sobs for at least five minutes, and no other noise.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"'Lexis," she pressed her mouth up near the door. "I'll be right 'ere when ya wanna open tha door, kay." She sat there, back against the door, looking up at the sky.

"There's a cloud out 'ere what looks like a d**k."

daekie

 

[Daekie]

Alexis' breathing evened out, eventually, but it was in the unfortunate way that implied they'd gotten so exhausted from crying they'd ended up falling asleep.

They weren't heavy on the door - at some point they'd slumped partway off it.

The Semblance of Unity