hey brother, do you still believe in one another?

[infamousdelsin]

". . . Wow," Reggie says.

He's sitting on Delsin's couch, in Delsin's apartment, and Delsin's just broken the news that Reggie's dead. He'd been standing at the door when Delsin had brought Spark back from his morning walk, and the dog couldn't stop barking at him so Delsin had tucked him into the bathroom to get some quiet and privacy. He's exhausted and his head hurts, and he's got Reggie.

"Yeah," he says softly. "I tried so hard to save you."

"I . . . I know," Reggie assures. He grips Delsin's shoulder. "I remember, Del. You did your best, okay? I know you did." He leans back, arms out to the side. "But, hey. Here I am, right?" He smiles, chin lifting in that achingly familiar way.

"Here you are," he agrees. His eyes are soft and maybe still a little surprised. "God, it— it blows my mind, Reg. You're right here." He reaches and touches his shoulder, and for a second, Delsin almost believes his hand will pass right through him. But it doesn't. It lands firmly on Reggie's shoulder and stays there, and he clutches tightly before yanking him into a hug.

"That's right, Brother," Reggie whispers. "I'm right here. And I'm never gonna leave you again."

It's exactly what Delsin needs to hear, and he grips tighter with a soft, broken sound. He ignores the weird, worried knot in his belly. This is Reggie. Reggie is real, and here, and safe.

---

Later, Delsin is feeling tired. He's always cold, now, which seems to make the fatigue even worse. He hasn't been cold in so long, not since he'd gotten his smoke powers. But now he is, and it's . . . weird. He takes a deep breath: he's ready to tell Reggie he's going to go lay down and rest for awhile. Reggie pops out of his seat like there's a tack under him.

"Hey, Brother, why don't we go for a walk?" he suggests. "You look like you could use some fresh air."

Delsin looks up, and he's about to protest, say that he just wants to take a nap, or something. Then Reggie's hands are under his arms and hauling him up.

"Yeah, come on!" he assures. "It'll be great! You can show me around, introduce me to your friends; I can help you find a job to keep this respectable apartment."

"Creepy apartment," Delsin corrects with a little mumble. Well, it is! It's just kind of here for him, with no precursor, right? Did I just use 'precursor' right? he asks himself.

"Ah, it's not so bad," Reggie says, looking around. "Come on, let's go!"

"Hang on, lemme get Spark." Delsin doesn't like to leave him alone anymore, not since he's been forgetting to lock him in the bathroom. Reggie sighs heavily, but he lets Delsin hook the dog up. Delsin gives him a look, but brushes it off to typical brother annoyance at the barky beast.

Delsin's feet hit the sidewalk heavily, and he has to continually tug at Spark's leash to quiet his barking at Reggie. He leans into Reggie occasionally as they walk, just listening to his voice. It's nice. The cadence is familiar. He has no idea what Reggie is talking about, but that part doesn't matter. It's just for the sake of hearing his brother again.

They're just outside the park when Delsin has another dizzy spell. He clutches to Reggie with a gasp. No, no, no. He can do this. He can breathe through this. Reggie's arms are around him, holding him up carefully. Delsin's sure he'll come out of it. Only he doesn't. This time, the world spins black.

The last thing he hears as his body slumps to the sidewalk is Spark barking.

[ Timed to August 10th, 2014, around two PM. Find Delsin sprawled just outside the park, or have Spark find your character and drag you to him! Either way, he'll be unconscious when you find him and you'll have to shake him awake. Open for forever! ]

Comments

[storybrooke_savior]

Emma immediately felt like an ass, but seeing him laying there like that, it touched a nerve. She'd just lost so many people already.

"Delsin what happened?" she asked, hugging him back hard for a moment before pulling back to look at him with obvious fear and concern. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you look like shit."

She blinked, and suddenly her expression cleared and shifted to one of horror. "You've seen your brother again, haven't you." It wasn't really a question. "Delsin listen to me, you need to keep your distance from him. I don't think that's your brother. I know it looks just like him, sounds like him, but it's all a lie."

[infamousdelsin]

Delsin frowns. "Passed out," he echoes. Right. Of course. He'd gotten dizzy and then everything had gone black. He looks around for Reggie, and part of him isn't surprised to see him gone: but most of him is disappointed. He sighs and grabs Shikamaru's shoulder with his free hand to pull himself up until he's sitting.

[infamousdelsin]

Delsin frowns, growing confused. "What're you talking about?" he asks. There's a little rock in his stomach that tells him he knows exactly what she's talking about, but he pushes the feeling away. "Keep my distance?"

[likethedawn]

"Of course," she says, moving to place herself in a position to support him. She makes sure to keep Spark out of the way, lest he runs into one of their limbs in the process. "Alright, let's get you back on your feet."

[infamousdelsin]

Delsin manages to get one foot under him, and he uses it as a brace so he can stand and get the other stable without totally shoving Aurora down. It's right about now that he realizes just how much taller he is than her, and he grimaces. "Sorry," he says.

Spark dances around their feet, whining and yipping nervously, but otherwise actually attempting to stay out of the way.

[likethedawn]

"Don't apologize," she tells him, wincing a little under his weight. As much of a height difference as there is between them, Aurora doesn't mind. Delsin's a dear friend, and she wants to see him well again. "How do you feel now?"

[cagedlamb]

Elizabeth's expression shifted to something a little harder. No toward Delsin, but at the apparent actions of his brother. Something was seriously wrong with the situation.

"You don't look well, Delsin," she settled on, not wanting to push the subject. Not yet. "Let me help you up. Do you think you can stand?"

[infamousdelsin]

"Better," he says with a nod. It feels a lot better to be standing, like having the blood flowing properly is helping. "Kinda hungry, though," he adds with a little laugh. "Why don't we, uh, go back to my place and have some lunch?"

[infamousdelsin]

He nods. "I think so," he assures. "Yeah, let's get me up. Vertical seems like a good idea." He swallows and shifts to wrap an arm around her shoulders. "Hey," he says. "How're you doing, anyway? After that whole thing with Booker?" He hasn't checked in on her as much as he would've liked to, and he feels bad about that. "Did you find a place, yet?"

[breakthroughs]

The way that Delsin looks around makes Shikamaru raise a brow, immediately suspicious about what might be responsible for Delsin's fainting spell. He easily wraps a hand around Delsin's upper arm to help him up, then crouches to keep an eye on the guy.

"Let me guess. Looking for your brother?"

Delsin isn't the only person who's been spotting folks around the city, judging by some requests that have come by the police department, all of them searching for missing people who never seem to turn up.

What type of entity might have that skill in Darrow, Shikamaru isn't sure, but he wants nothing more than to track it down.

[infamousdelsin]

He nods. "He was just here. He must've gone to get help, or something." He frowns, though, at the look on Shikamaru's face. "What? You act like you know something. Have you seen him?"

[likethedawn]

"That sounds good to me," she tells him with a nod, helping to move with him as they begin to walk.

[storybrooke_savior]

"These people showing up, this weird...exhaustion that's bringing everyone down," Emma pointed out, wishing she had some more solid evidence to back up her suspicions. "It's not isolated. It's happening to a lot of people all over the city."

[infamousdelsin]

Delsin wants to believe her. Sort of. Or maybe he doesn't. Either way, he shakes his head. "Come on, Em, no way," he says. "I'm just overtired from dealing with Spark and trying to find a job. That's all it is, I swear." There's no way Delsin's part of this weird pattern, if it's even there.

[breakthroughs]

"I hate to say it, Delsin, but you're not the only person who's been seeing what might be visions of people they know around the city. If your brother knew what was best for you, he should have stayed by your side and called an ambulance, not take off running with you on the ground," Shikamaru points out. There are times when he's softer with his words, but the way things are going now, he can't see what sugarcoating would help. "There have been a lot of calls at the department recently, asking our help in tracking people down. The one thing they all have in common is that people turn for help when they're too exhausted to do it themselves. They're tired. Not just emotionally. I've heard it described as something bone deep."

[infamousdelsin]

Delsin shakes his head. "No, this is different. It's fine, I'm sure he's around here somewhere." But the things Shikamaru is saying strike a nerve, and Delsin looks away with a frown. "It's not the same," he insists.

[cagedlamb]

Elizabeth helped him up, using her weight to steady him if he needed it. Her concern was purely on him, but she wasn't really sure what she could do beyond helping him.

"Yes, recently. I'm all moved in now. I didn't have much to take, so it wasn't too bad," she replied, not wanting him to worry about her. The apartment felt empty, but she still had Oliver at least. She would be fine. "I'm really sorry you had to see all that."

She apologized before, but it felt right to reiterate it.

[infamousdelsin]

"I'm sorry that Booker was a crap-face," he says. He doesn't go harsher than that with his insults, though. He has a brother, so he knows how it goes with people you care about: you're allowed to insult them, but if anyone else tries, they're gonna get their asses beat. So, crap-face it is. "The rest only bothers me because it upset you." He nudges her temple with his nose, gently.

[cagedlamb]

Elizabeth appreciated how he was approaching it. She was still so angry at him, even though she knew the anger was mixed with a lot of sadness she didn't know how to explain. So she didn't think about it, at least not for now.

"He was out of line," she agreed, offering him a small smile when he nudged her. Despite being in such awful condition, the fact he was trying to support her meant a lot. "I'm okay. And I'll be better once I get you home. You shouldn't be out like this."

[storybrooke_savior]

"Then where is he?" Emma insisted, though it was obvious she wasn't enjoying having to point it out. She didn't want to be right. She wished like hell she was wrong. "If your brother was really here, Delsin, he'd still be here, he wouldn't have run off and left you face-planted in the park, would he?"

[infamousdelsin]

"Reggie wanted to go for a walk," he explains. "Trust me, I wanted to just take a nap," he adds with a laugh. He kisses her hair gently. "Thanks for making sure I don't get mugged in my sleep," he murmurs.

[infamousdelsin]

No, he wouldn't. Delsin knows this, but it hurts to hear it said aloud. Like that makes it real. He shakes his head. "Stop, okay?" he says. He grips her shoulder tightly, trying to anchor himself. "It has to be him." It has to be. He's not sure he can handle the alternative.

[cagedlamb]

It was hard not to say anything negative about his brother. Elizabeth didn't want him to be angry, but if he had been in any kind of condition as he was at that moment, he should have known better than to force him to go out.

"Maybe you should tell him next time you're not feeling well. He should understand," she replied, trying to be diplomatic. Especially in the face of his affection - she didn't want him to be cross for getting into his business. "I'd like to speak to him eventually, if you don't mind."

[storybrooke_savior]

Emma clenched her jaw tight against the urge to snap and yell. He didn't want to see it, or hear it. She couldn't blame him for that, but dammit, this shit was obviously toxic.

"I saw someone too," she blurted out, scrambling for anything that might make him believe her. "I saw Neal. I saw my son's father. But it wasn't really him, Del, it was a lie. That cannot be a coincidence, you know it can't!"

[infamousdelsin]

"I'd like that," he says. "I think Reggie would, too. He's always been a little judgemental about my, uh. Choices in girls. But I think he'd like you a lot." He smiles, tightening his arm around her briefly.