fade into the dark // rio & emilio
TIMING: a few months ago PARTIES: @3starsquinn & @monstersfearr SUMMARY: rio comes to visit ari at work but meets her boss instead. CONTENT: none
Now that Orion also had a job, he realized he had to find something to do with his lunch. Eating was the obvious answer, for many reasons. But since running and grabbing food took no more than ten minutes of his time, Rio found himself suddenly free and with time to kill. He didn’t really want to go back and sit at his desk and play on his phone for almost an hour, and he definitely didn’t want to drive all the way back to the farm. He chose the best option, to drop in and see if Ari was working to see if she had some downtime to hang out before he needed to head back. Noon was like a universal lunch time, right? Maybe they’d sync up and grab lunch together before heading back to their respective jobs?
Rio had only stopped by the office a couple of times, and mostly in passing. He poked his head in, glancing around without seeing any initial sign of Ari. He pushed the rest of his way through the door and into the waiting area. Immediately, he could hear someone. The office wasn’t entirely empty, but he wasn’t convinced it was Ari either. His senses weren’t exactly world-class for a hunter, but he was confident enough that if there was anyone he could pick out, it was his best friend. “Uh, hello?” Rio called out, staying relatively quiet. If Ari was here, she’d hear him regardless. Rio could hear the noises, someone standing up and walking towards him. But when the figure made it there, it definitely wasn’t Ari. “Oh uh, hey Emilio. Ari isn’t here by chance, is she?” He had met Ari’s boss maybe once or twice, and admittedly found him pretty intimidating. But he had never given Rio any reason to actually be afraid around the man.
-
It had been a slow day, at least in comparison to how busy Axis had been lately. Missing persons cases were on the rise, but considering most of the missing people in question seemed to be returning on their own without any kind of outside influence, stories of time traveling adventures tucked firmly into their arsenal of weird White Crest shit, families were choosing to hold onto the hope that their loved ones would reappear rather than hiring private detectives to find them. That was all well and good for Emilio. Those first few weeks of time travel confusion had gotten him enough cases to leave a comfortable cushion in place for the slower pace of things now, and the less he had to talk to the people of White Crest, the more they liked him.
He was confident enough that things would remain slow today that he’d let Ari head out early, waving off any arguments and sending her home. It was something he regretted when he heard the door open. Usually, it was Ari who was in charge of greeting customers. They’d learned it worked a lot better that way. But Emilio had dug his own grave here, and leaving a stranger in the front of his apartment with the hopes that they might give up and leave eventually probably wasn’t his best idea, so he made his way towards the front of the apartment with a quiet mutter to himself. When the person called out, he took note of the familiar voice and relaxed just a little. Ari’s friends didn’t always like him, but that meant they also had a tendency to disappear once they realized he was the only one around. He nodded to the kid — Rio, wasn’t it? He was trying to get better about remembering their names — as he stepped into the front of the apartment, glancing around instinctively. Just him. Good. “Hey, kid,” he greeted. “She went home. Slow day. I can, uh… Tell her you stopped by?”
-
Once Emilio stepped out, Rio was pretty positive that there was no one else in the building with him. As he had been constantly reminded by hunters - rangers in particular - Rio’s hearing wasn’t exactly up to par with other rangers. But he had started working on that with Kaden before leaving town, and had tried to keep up some schedule of training while he worked with the Scribe. He was getting better. All around, he had gotten better. His senses, his strength and even his combat skills. He wasn’t particularly proud of this though. He had spent so long refusing to fight and wishing that he could rid himself of the abilities that it felt wrong to embrace them in any way.
Rio gave the man a small wave as Emilio walked into the room right before the man explained to Rio that Ari had already left for the day. After a small sigh, Rio shrugged. “Figures. That’s what I get for not texting first.” Oh well, maybe he’d grab some dessert to take back to her tonight after work. He supposed he was pretty much done here, though just walking out seemed rude. Admittedly, so did leaving without at least an attempt at socializing. The idea made Rio anxious immediately. He had only met Emilio once or twice, and socializing wasn’t something Rio excelled at ever after befriending people. “You uh- keeping busy? Ari always seems really busy.” Yeah, that was a poor attempt. “I uh- just started working at a law firm not too far from here. So that’s why I just dropped by, for the record. I’m not like a stalker.” Even Rio recoiled at the sentence immediately. Why would he say that? When had Emilion even suggested that? Jesus, this was awful. “That was a weird thing to say. I acknowledge that. I get nervous sometimes, clearly.”
-
Small talk had never come naturally to Emilio. Hell, talk had never come naturally to him; of the two languages he spoke, he wasn’t particularly good at conversing in either. He was good at threats, skilled in arguments, but simple conversation? There was a reason he could count his friends on one hand. He was reminded of it now, with Maybe-Rio asking questions and going on in spite of the fact that the person he’d actually come here to see wasn’t present. The kid was being polite, Emilio knew, but politeness had never made a whole lot of sense to Emilio. That was probably why he needed Ari to sit between him and his clients.
“Busy enough,” he replied with a shrug. It didn’t seem like enough to say, so he added, “Cases have slowed down the last week or so. They’ll pick back up again soon. That’s how it goes, sometimes.” He squinted at the kid as he babbled on, trying to keep up with the rapid-fire nature of his words. “I know you’re not a stalker. She said you’re her friend. People aren’t friends with stalkers. You don’t — I mean, I’m not looking for you to explain yourself. You can come see your friend at work. Not any of my business.” Except for the fact that the actual business was his, but… Well, that wasn’t relevant. “You, uh… Doing okay?” God, he was shit at this.
-
Welp, clearly Rio and Emilio were not the town’s socialites. Both seemed to be stumbling over the idea of small talk, never quite circling back around to doing it successfully. Rio knew at some point the right answer was to simply cut if off and leave, but if he did it incorrectly this random man may end up hating Rio and Rio’s anxiety simply couldn’t handle that stress. Though the further into the whole he dug into this conversation the less chance Rio had of convincing the man to like him anyways. It felt very catch-22. “Right year. Definitely should not have ever suggested I was a stalker. Especially to a private investigator. Odd choice on my part.” Rio laughed nervously, scratching at the back of his neck awkwardly. “But thanks. For uh- letting me come and visit. I will not disturb productivity.” That felt like the right thing to say to someone’s boss. Brownie points, right? “Oh me? I’m doing alright. Just uh- settling back into working life. And also back into town. Things aren’t any less weird than they were before I left I see.” Another nervous laugh and failed attempt at humor before Rio pivoted, “Are you uh- from here? I grew up here. Never even left Maine until last year. So getting out for a bit was cool and uh- intimidating.”
-
At least Emilio wasn’t the only half of this conversation who sucked at making conversation. Things might have gone a little smoother if one of them knew how to make small talk, but Rio being just as bad at it as he was meant that Emilio didn’t have to feel alone in his awkwardness. “Not the weirdest thing someone in this town has said to a private investigator,” he offered. “Not like I’m a cop or anything, anyway. Most I can do is snap pictures.” And… eliminate threats, but Rio didn’t have to worry about Emilio doing that to him. Ari would be upset if he did. He snorted at the kid’s promise not to disturb productivity, shaking his head. “Don’t gotta worry about that.” Ari was already much more productive than Emilio was at work just by not showing up drunk. The bar wasn’t particularly high. “That’s good. Good to hear. Know Ari likes having you back.” She’d been happy when he’d shown back up, and it was good to see her happy, after everything. He shifted at the question, fingers tapping nervously against his thigh. “Uh, no. México. I’m from México. Came to the states a few years back, traveled around a while. Came here last year. Seemed like a good enough place to…”
He trailed off as the clocktower chimed outside the window. He was about to make a comment about the time, because that was how goddamn desperate he was to end the awkwardness, but the moment the echo of the chime ended, the apartment into a deep, inky blackness. It was a strange sort of darkness; Emilio could tell that right away. He was a slayer. If it were just dark, he’d be able to see just fine. But even Emilio couldn’t see his damn hand in front of his face in this shit, and that was bad. He cleared his throat, eyes darting around uselessly. “Uh, kid? You still around?”
-
Rio couldn’t possibly imagine how Emilio intended to end that sentence. What could White Crest possibly have that made it ‘good enough’ in any category? The only example Rio could think of were unique or mysterious ways to die. Rio was pretty sure that wasn’t what Emilio was trying to suggest. But the opportunity never came, with a loud chiming noise echoing out across town instead. The chimes were loud, enough to upset Rio’s sensitive hearing. He tried to play off the discomfort by pretending to rub at his ears as he tried to muffle the noise. If the volume had been the only thing weird about the chimes Rio could have let it go. But he felt a sense of dread creeping in as he heard the chimes going off around him. It felt haunting, like the bells were chanting their rhythm. Though the feat wasn’t exactly difficult, the sound made Rio uneasy. And that was all before everything went dark.
Rio had never experienced darkness like this. The ranger's night vision had been a part of Rio’s life as long as he had retained memories. Seeing at night had never been a problem for him. But the darkness that overtook the walls of the office was something else entirely. There was nothing to see through. Any light available had all but disappeared, and Rio found himself staring into complete blackness with nothing there to look back at him. It was a terrifying sensation, realizing for the first time in his life that he was completely unable to see. “I uh- yeah. I’m here.” Rio tried to keep his voice as level as possible, but he knew he was failing. Panic was settling into his tone quickly and his breathing started to become more rapid as he found it harder to catch any actual air. He tried to remind himself that was a panic reaction rather than actual reality, but he was having a hard time convincing himself of that. “What is going on? I can’t see anything. Like… anything.”
-
There was a heaviness to the darkness, like someone had put a blanket on top of the damn world. It felt thick, tangible. For a moment, Emilio was reminded of the way things had been when he’d lost his powers to that broken promise to Regan — muffled and dull, with nothing working quite like it should. But his abilities were fine now. His hearing was the same as it had always been, his strength still present. It was just the night vision that was acting up now. If not for the way Rio’s heartbeat picked up pace as the darkness fell, Emilio might have panicked himself into thinking he’d gone blind, but that clearly wasn’t the case.
He nodded when the kid reaffirmed that he was still there, though he realized belatedly that the motion would be lost in the inky blackness of the apartment. “Uh, all right. You’re good?” He wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be a question or not, because there was definitely a hint of panic to the kid’s voice. Emilio wanted to reassure him, but he’d never been good at that. He was worse at it with people he didn’t know well, and despite their shared friendship with Ari, Rio was a near stranger. Certainly not the sort of person Emilio would have picked to be stuffed in this sort of situation with. “It’s not just you. I can’t see either. And that’s… I usually can. When it’s dark.” He took a step forward as if to ensure he still could. He could navigate his apartment well enough blind — it wasn’t a particularly big space, and his paranoia ensured that he’d mapped it out in his head down to the smallest detail — but the nature of the darkness made him hesitant to try. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his phone and tapped the button to unlock it before letting out a frustrated grunt. “Phone’s dead. Yours work?”
-
Panicking wasn’t going to solve anything. The thought did little to ease the pressure that was building on Rio’s chest, but he kept reminding himself nonetheless. The mantra had to work eventually, right? When Emilio spoke he sounded perplexed by the situation, but not panicked. That was a plus at least, that one of them was staying calm. Rio used it as a sort of motivation to force himself to act calm as well. “I’m fine. Just uh- confused” It was definitely a lie, probably an obvious one at that, but he had kept his voice as steady as he could manage given the situation. That had to count for something. Emilio’s comment took Rio aback until he remembered running into Ari in the Common the day he had gotten back to town. Ari had said that she worked with a slayer. Rio wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or more concerned. The tensing muscles and shiver that shot through his body was about what he expected at the reminder that he was here with a hunter. But Rio reminded himself that this was one Ari seemed to trust. That definitely counted for something.
Rio didn’t agree with the man, even if he probably should have. It had been the perfect opportunity to lay it on the table, maybe find some common ground with the stranger that he had found himself in this odd situation with. If anybody was going to understand the inherit fear that came with complete darkness, it was going to be another hunter who had never probably never experienced it before either. But telling a hunter that he shared their ability was basically the same as admitting that Rio was a hunter himself. Rio didn’t want to say that no matter how true it was. “Oh. Phone. Good idea.” Rio loved the opportunity to stop dwelling on the hunter predicament and dug into his pocket for his phone. He pulled it free, turning on the flashlight and attempting to illuminate the room. But even with the light, it did little more than give a few feet of clarity to Rio. Emilio was finally back into view, but there wasn’t much visible beyond that. Whatever was happening right now had practically taken away all the light that there was outside. He took a few steps towards Emilio in case the phone light was lost, “Those chimes. Those were different than usual, yeah? And this… whatever it is happened right after it. That can’t be a coincidence.”
-
All right, so the kid was definitely panicking. It was fair enough, really; Emilio wanted to panic a little, too. His tendency towards paranoia put him on edge on a good day, and he hadn’t had a whole lot of good days lately. But he did better when he had someone to look out for. He did a lot better when the person in question was a kid. If he’d been alone for this, he might’ve made stupider decisions, might’ve run for the door or tried for the window and broken his damn neck in the process. “Confused,” Emilio repeated with a nod. “Yeah. You and me both. Power goes out all the time over here, but…” They still should have been able to see something. The streetlights should have offered some reprieve, or the emergency lights in the hallway, or the goddamn moon. But it was like every source of light in the Bend had just… disappeared entirely. For all the weird shit he’d seen in White Crest, Emilio had never seen this before. And he was certain he didn’t like it.
Luckily, the kid was a lot better at remembering to keep his phone charged than Emilio was. The light that came from the phone’s flashlight was dim, and it didn’t make too much of a difference in the grand scheme of things, but Emilio could see the kid’s face and make out enough of what was around them to confirm that they were still in his apartment. It was weird that he felt that needed confirmation, but… a few weeks ago he’d been transported back to the goddamn 1800s while out on a walk. Anything was possible in this hellhole. “The chimes,” he repeated thoughtfully, thinking back to the clock ringing in the hour. Rio was right — it had sounded a little off. “Yeah. Yeah, it must be related. Christ. Goddamn clock knocking out the lights. This fucking town.” He sighed, moving forward and putting a gentle hand on Rio’s elbow to lead him to the couch. If they were going to be stuck in the dark, they might as well have the option of sitting down. “All right, so, the clock chimed and the lights went out. So, what do you think? Wait it out until it chimes again, hope they come back on? Wouldn’t recommend trying to walk home with the streetlights out.”
-
A million theories were running through Rio’s head right now, but having Emilion hear was surprisingly helpful in keeping his brain quiet. Even if Emilio was a stranger, it was someone that Ari trusted. That counted for more than Rio was able to explain. It was more than enough to override Rio’s own opinions on hunters. Plus, Rio could hear that Emilio was genuinely trying to help out right now.
Rio wasn’t sure if the phone light illuminating some of the darkness helped his anxiety, or the fact that the phone light wasn’t doing nearly enough was making things worse. The indecision caused an even bigger spike in Rio’s heart rate. He jumped when he felt the hand, gentle as it was, tapping on Rio’s elbow. “Sorry” Rio answered immediately, feeling bad for the slight recoil his body had done on instinct, “That’s uh- that’s just like my constant state. Not caused by you. Or the blackout for that matter.” His natural reaction to nerve wracking situations like this was to completely spill his guts and talk until he had literally run out of breath. But Rio was trying to keep grounded by reminding himself that Emilio definitely didn’t want to know about his upbringing or his issues with intimacy and physical touch.
“Yeah. This town.” Rio agreed lightly, following Emilio’s lead to the couch and sinking down into it. He set his phone down on the cushion face down so that his light could continue to give them a little visibility. Rio could dig through Scribe text for weeks and probably find nothing to explain why or how this was happening. But maybe he could at least find an account of someone discussing the weird chimes. “It chimed right on the hour. I mean, it could just be a coincidence. But logically speaking- maybe it will chime again in…” Rio drug that last word out to grab his phone and peak at the time, the flashlight scattering around the room as he did so, “57 minutes.” Emilio was right, they should both stay still. Walking around town with no vision would be incredibly dangerous. It made him worry for all the other people in town that may have gotten caught out there in the dark. They didn’t even have the other enhanced senses to give them an upper hand. “So we uh- have some time to kill now.”
-
Comfort wasn’t something Emilio was particularly good at. Most people who knew him could attest to as much. The Cortezes never had much use for it, made it clear that such things were better off being avoided when possible, and Emilio fell in line without a fuss. He’d never thought much of it because he’d never known people who needed much comforting. Even Jaime, barely six when he’d died, had been pretty easygoing. Rio was different. Rio was jumpy and uncertain in a way Emilio didn’t quite know how to deal with. And it was his default state, evidently. Emilio cleared his throat, uncertain in a different sort of way. “Right,” he nodded. “No problem. Just, uh… Let me know if there’s anything I can do to… help.” God, the fact that he really was trying his best here probably made it sadder, didn’t it?
At least they had some idea of what was going on, even if it wasn’t an idea that made a whole lot of sense. It made White Crest sense, he figured. In any other town, it would be insane to consider. In this one, it was probably just about right.
The idea of sitting around for fifty-seven minutes wasn’t one Emilio liked. He wasn’t good at sitting still, and was worse at it when there was something strange going on, but… There didn’t seem to be a lot of options available to them here. It was one of those awful situations where there was nothing to fight. Those had always been the slayer’s least favorite kind. “Uh, what do you want to do?” Rio might have a better idea than anything Emilio would come up with.
-
Emilio was barely visible through the darkness, something that Rio was still unaccustomed to. He hated this. The lack of vision made him feel helpless. And feeling helpless made him feel like the same scared kid he had been his entire life. He didn’t want to be like that anymore. He couldn’t be like that anymore. It was the whole reason Ari almost ended their friendship in the first place. “Uh- thank you” Rio responded, trying to get a gauge on Emilio’s attempt at comforting him. It was too easy to read the man as sarcastic. Another hunter looking down on someone weaker than him. But Rio didn’t get that vibe. Rio was pretty sure that Emilio was being genuine. He could tell the attempt wasn’t something that Emilio was well practiced in, but Rio appreciated the offer regardless. “I’m okay though. Hard to believe but I’m tougher than I look.”
There was no clear and present danger here right now for Rio to prove that. He certainly wasn’t asking for it, no matter how awkward an hour of silence and no vision would be. Rio had been beaten and bruised enough since getting back to White Crest. It would welcome a break in any form that it came in. As long as the lights came back on after the hour was over at least. “Umm… great question.” Rio shrugged, though he wasn’t sure if the motion was even visible to Emilio. He realized he should probably text his new boss, shooting off a quick message and hoping that it went through. “I’m not sure sitting around and chatting about life is something you’re eager to do. Or me for that matter.” Rio sighed. He still had issues opening up to actual friends sometimes, let alone trying to pass the time with someone who was essentially a stranger. “But uh- have you ever seen anything like this before? I’ve been trying to dig into White Crest’s history. Try to find some other mention of all the weird time stuff that’s been going on but… well it hasn’t been very fruitful yet.”
-
Rio seemed to accept the words of comfort for what they were, even if the attempt still felt flat. Emilio bit back the urge to tell the kid not to thank him, not to thank anyone, because he figured the kid knew that. If he was friends with Ari, he knew that. Ari, given her own experiences, wouldn’t let someone she loved fall into a fae bind, and she loved Rio. That much was incredibly clear from the first time she’d mentioned him. Shifting, he only nodded his head, the motion a terrible way to communicate in a room so pitch dark that the light of Rio’s phone was the only thing that allowed them to see one another at all. For Emilio, who had always communicated better nonverbally than he had with words, it was pretty much the worst situation to be stuck in with a near stranger. The only thing that made it passable was the fact that he was on his home turf, in his apartment, and the fact that he knew Rio was generally trustworthy thanks to Ari’s judgment. “Good. It’s good to be tough.” It struck him that it was the kind of thing Ari always said when he was worried about her, too. There was something to that, he figured, something to be said for kids rubbing off on one another.
“Not much of a chatter,” he agreed with another useless nod. “I don’t, uh… I mean, I’m not even great at the… sitting around.” He’d much prefer it if the chiming of the clock had sent a swarm of rabid beasts through the apartment window; that was the kind of trouble Emilio could deal with. That was the kind of thing he understood intimately, completely. This was so foreign by comparison that it felt akin to having been dropped in the middle of a country he’d never set food in with a map written out in a language he didn’t speak. Rio’s question, at least, was enough to take his mind off things for a moment. “Oh. I, uh… Haven’t lived in White Crest long. Less than a year. Can’t speak much for the history of it.” He paused, considering. “Have experienced the time stuff, though. Got pulled back into some cowboy bullshit in the middle of a date. Wasn’t too bad, all things considered.”
-
“Me neither. Not anymore at least.” Rio agreed. It wasn’t hard to tell that Emilio wasn’t much for small talk or sitting around. That didn’t come as a surprise at all. While chatting had never been Rio’s forte, sitting around was something he had always excelled at. Sure, it usually did it with multiple books piled around him, but he used to be able to spend hours sitting in the welcome darkness of the abandoned scribrary and read until he was nodding off at the desk. He found himself a lot more restless now, even though he didn’t want to admit it. It was a quality usually reserved for his sister. And he was very passionate about not sharing any traits in common with Athena aside from DNA.
“Ah. Right. That makes sense.” Rio should have known better. He had just hoped maybe Emilio had come to town for some reason. It was probably a bit of a stretch to think that may have anything to do with what was going on right now. “Yeah well, history is supposed to be like my shtick. The history of White Crest and the… weird things going on is like the only thing I’m useful at.” Rio sighed, “And I’m not feeling particularly useful right now.” No matter how late Rio stayed up or how many books he thumbed through he just kept coming up empty. It was driving him insane. “Cowboy? It threw you that far back? Holy crap.” He hadn’t even considered that it could go that far, considering it only took him back to the nineties. “It took my to the nineties I think. And my dad tried to kill me.” That wasn’t necessarily true, more like physically maim him so that his dad could kill a leshy. But it was close enough. “There has to be some sort of connection. I just can’t figure out what it is.”
-
He wondered what it meant, that not anymore. It felt like there was something behind the words, and part of Emilio wanted to ask because as much as he hated small talk, he hated feeling like he’d been left in the dark just a little bit more. It was why the detective shit worked for him. He got his answers, and he wasn’t bad at it. But… pushing people, asking questions, it tended to lead to trouble. And while the trouble was excusable when it was strangers he was causing it for, it would be less so with someone Ari loved as much as she loved Rio. Plus, he was pretty sure he’d promised her he’d be nice to her friends. He probably ought to stick to that as much as he could.
“Yeah,” he agreed belatedly, tapping a hand against his thigh absently. He glanced over as Rio continued, lamenting that history was the only thing he was useful at. It was a familiar kind of mantra. Emilio didn’t know shit about history, but he was only good for one thing. This situation was proof of it. With nothing around to fight, with nothing to kill, Emilio was little more than a wall decoration. He was just there, with no purpose behind him. He’d said as much before to Teddy, to Ari, and even if they verbally disagreed, he got the feeling it was the kind of thing everyone knew. But with Rio… “Probably not the only thing.” The words were cautious, uncertain. He didn’t know the kid well enough to put any certainty behind them, but he seemed all right. He seemed like the sort of kid who was good at shit, even if he didn’t think he was.
“Yeah. Cowboys. It was shit, mostly, but I think my boyfriend had fun. Wants to take up line dancing now.” There was a hint of fondness to the tone, a quiet smile in the words, but the amusement faded as Rio continued. His dad tried to kill him. Christ. Emilio tried not to think of his own father, who’d been tough in a necessary kind of way. “Sorry,” he offered, the word feeling clunky and unnatural even if the sentiment was genuine. “About your dad. Sucks.” Yeah. He could be better at this. “I’d offer to help you figure it out, but I’m not much… I mean, between you and me, I know I’m not the smartest guy around. I can do the detective shit, but this goes a little deeper than that. Not the kind of thing you can figure out by tailing people or turning over stones, I think.”
-
Emilio knew nothing about Rio to back up the gesture, but Rio appreciated it nonetheless. It was nice to think that other people around town actually found some value or worth in Rio. It wasn’t something he had been used to growing up. Most of the time he was just reminded that his twin held all the talent and future of the family. “Thanks. But whenever I try to help with anything outside of research I usually just end up getting myself hurt. I’m pretty clumsy.” A lot less so than he used to be, admittedly. As it turned out, when Rio actually focused on training instead of trying to ignore it he actually learned a thing or two. It hadn’t worked miracles, but he was a lot quicker on his feet than he used to be.
“That’s adorable. Not the cowboy time travel thing, obviously, but the line dancing.” Rio was immediately enamored. It was a welcome distraction from the dreariness of the situation the two had found themselves in. “Please tell me that you’re going to take him. And can Ari and I come?” The idea of dancing in front of other people was actually terrifying, but if he could force himself to do it with anyone it would be Ari. She hadn’t cracked Rio’s shell as much as she had jackhammered it. “Oh it’s fine. I mean clearly it’s not fine, but it didn’t exactly come as a surprise.” After getting over the initial shock of seeing his dad in his twenties, being attacked by him was about the most natural thing in the world. “I was never super close with my family.” Understatement of the year. “Don’t worry about it. Finding historical text on this town has never been easy” Rio tried to wave the offer off, but it bugged him that Emilio was so quick to tear himself down. Ironic, coming from Rio, but still. “I think detective work in this town is a lot less simple than you want to give yourself credit for.”
-
“Plenty of ways to help people that don’t need you to research or be quick on your feet.” Though Emilio struggled with anything outside the latter. Ari insisted that he helped people here at Axis, with the detective gig, but… More often than not, in this town, the detective gig was just a process of delivering bad news. Emilio wasn’t sure how much that helped, in the grand scheme of things. “But, uh… Nothing wrong with being clumsy, you know.” He thought of Silas, as he often did when faced with kids like Rio who weren’t fighters but were survivors all the same. And, just as it always did, that thought brought a stab of guilt along with it. For Rio’s sake, it was probably better if Emilio distanced himself here. He knew that.
But it was still easier said than done. It always was, with kids. Rosa would have teased the hell out of him for it, would have pointed out how terrified he’d been back when she’d first handed him his nephew, when Jaime was so small that he felt like the most fragile glass sculpture cradled in the hunter’s arms. He hadn’t thought much of kids until he tried being an uncle on for size. Now he had that treacherous soft spot for them, and all he ever did with it was get them killed.
Clearing his throat, he forced the thought from his mind. “Oh, yeah, I’m gonna take him. Not really my thing, but he’ll have fun.” And when Teddy had fun, Emilio did, too. He knew he ought to tell Rio no to coming along, but… How much trouble could he really get the kids into while line dancing? “Sure. But it’s on you to keep Ari from making fun of me too much. Counting on you, kid.” He was a little grateful for the dark, in that moment. Like a damn coward, he was grateful for the way it hid his expression, grateful for the way it saved him from having to study Rio’s. The kid’s dad tried to kill him, and it hadn’t come as a surprise. Emilio didn’t know what to say to that. He didn’t like the way it felt familiar. “Heard people say the family you make is the important one, anyway,” he offered, though he wasn’t sure he believed it. He wasn’t sure he could, given his own family history. Emilio had been isolated from the world outside his family until they’d been gone, had never had a chance to see them from a distance without grief coloring the lenses. He thought he might be lucky for that. He snorted lightly at Rio’s attempt to defend his intelligence, shrugging a shoulder. “Hardest part half the time is turning ‘your husband got eaten by a tree’ into something people will actually believe.” It was light, humor clear in his tone. He was tired of the heavy stuff. He’d never been much good at it.
-
Not that Rio had particularly high expectations, but this conversation seemed to be going better than he had expected it to. The bar wasn’t very high, but despite both of their apprehension the two seemed to be able to carry on the conversation. Whether it was awkward or not was an entirely different story, but given the fact that the two hardly had anything better to do right now, things seemed to be going well enough. For a hunter, the man seemed to be especially understanding of Rio’s lack of physical finesse. Granted, it was a lot easier to give the benefit of the doubt to some random kid. Maybe Emilio’s feelings about Rio’s gracefulness would be different if the man knew the truth about what he was. That the two had more in common than either one probably wanted to admit. “Thanks” Rio said, against his better judgment. “I guess I’m still learning that. Or unlearning a lot of other things, I guess.” Being clumsy had never been acceptable growing up, which had only made Rio play into it more.
“You’re putting a lot of faith in me. As if anyone could stop Ari from saying whatever is on her mind.” Rio laughed, happy to think about something positive for a change. He wasn’t sure what had happened in his life to make him think the idea of square dancing with strangers was positive. “But I’ll try my best. No promises though.” From the way that Emilio said it, Rio had to wonder if the man had his own family issues. It wouldn’t surprise Rio, but he wasn’t willing to pry right now. “I think that’s true, honestly. I’m closer with Ari than my own sister.” He counted pretty much any of his friends as being closer than his real family.
Listening to the man talk about his business, Rio couldn’t help but laugh. The story he had used was just ridiculous enough that Rio honestly couldn’t tell if it was real or made up entirely. In this town, the latter seemed more likely. Which just proved Rio’s point. “Jesus. The saddest part is I can’t even tell if that’s actually a case you’ve had or not.” He could only imagine what Emilio had to come up with. Rio had been guilty of the same growing up, but at least had the excuse of being anti-social and a recluse. Athena usually did most of the talking for both of them. “At this point, I think people in this town will accept just about anything if it means continuing to think there’s nothing wrong. I can already imagine what the news is going to say about this tomorrow,” Rio started, gesturing his arms around vaguely, “spontaneous solar eclipse or something, probably.”
-
Unlearning. Before White Crest, Emilio hadn’t even known there was such a thing. But since setting up shop in this town… he’d done an awful lot of it. Almost all of that unlearning was tied to the people he’d met here. Unlearning preconceived notions about the undead thanks to Silas (and Metzli, though he might not admit to that one as readily). Unlearning other things he’d believed about supernatural creatures in general thanks to people like Ari and Teddy. Unlearning a hell of a lot of things he’d believed about himself. Life in White Crest, he’d come to realize, was a never ending goddamn cycle of unlearning. It was kind of exhausting. “Guess I can understand that.” Better than he might have wanted to, really.
He huffed a laugh, offering a small nod of agreement because the kid made a damn good point there. There were very few things that could keep Ari from doing whatever it was she wanted to do, and making fun of Emilio tended to rank pretty high on that list more often than not. He’d never minded it half as much as he’d pretended to. His familial situation had never been normal. His siblings had never picked at one another the way he knew some did. In the Cortez family, sibling rivalry had tended to involve more knives than petty teasing, but… He liked to think Ari gave him a taste of what it might have been like had he grown up a little differently. And he liked that, even if it was another thing he’d never admit to. “No promises is a good policy. But I think you can handle it. She’ll probably listen to you better than she does me.” Not that that was saying much. Ari didn’t tend to listen to Emilio at all, really, unless what he was saying lined up with what she wanted to hear.
“Technically, I guess the tree didn’t eat him,” Emilio replied dryly, tone not making it any easier to tell whether the story was true or not. His face, too, gave little away, a blank mask with a spark of amusement in his eyes that you’d have to know him well to really spot. “Usually, I go with animal attack. People accept that one easy enough, and it’s simpler. You go with something else, the police get involved. And… Closure’s harder.” If someone thought there was a person out there somewhere who’d killed their loved one, a person the police couldn’t find or wouldn’t arrest, it consumed them. Emilio would know. You could never quite settle after a thing like that, never find peace. He wouldn’t force it on anyone else. Not ever. “I’m sure they’ll come up with some excuse for it. Probably explain the power blackout with something like a bird in the powerline or a bear taking out a transformer. Who fucking knows, with this town.”
-
Talking with Emilio helped keep Rio mostly at peace despite the anxiety that crept around every dark corner, waiting to infiltrate Rio’s brain. On instinct, he pulled his legs up onto the couch, wrapping his arms around his knees and entering a fetal position. The move brought more comfort than it probably should have, though he supposed it mostly had to do with comfort than anything else. He had often assumed this exact position growing up, trying to make himself as small as possible. As if the action could make him disappear entirely. That might just be wishful thinking. “I think I’m the best chance you have at not being mocked by her. I’m sure I can do my best to keep her distracted. I mean, who couldn’t enjoy a square dance, right?” The question sounded mostly sarcastic, partially because it was clearly not something that would usually sound fun to Rio, but something that Ari could easily make him enjoy.
This explanation didn’t clear much of anything up, and now Rio wasn’t sure he actually wanted to know whether this was a true story or not. Why make himself afraid of trees for the rest of time if he didn’t have to? “Well thank god he didn’t technically eat him.” Rio finally settled on, stuffing that idea into the deep recesses of his mind. “Animal attack is a classic. Can’t really go wrong with it.” And there was an argument to be made for the idea of closure. How could someone ever move on from losing a loved one if they couldn’t even understand or comprehend the true cause of death? Sometimes lies were easier. Kinder, even. “Let’s just hope the sun does come back. Not that they couldn’t think up an excuse if the sun never rose again, but it’d be a lot more complicated.”
-
The kid shifted beside him, and while Emilio couldn’t see the position he was situating himself into, he could feel enough to know that Rio was curled up in a way that sent a surge of something through him. It was the same kind of thing he felt towards Ari, towards Silas, towards Jaime. More often than not, it was the kind of thing that landed him in situations he’d be a lot better off avoiding. Unfortunately, it was also the kind of thing that made him feel something worth feeling. “Appreciate you having my back,” he replied dryly, pushing the feeling aside for now. “I’m sure your sacrifice’ll be worth it for me to have a few minutes of peace and quiet. And for making my guy happy. That’s probably the big one.” The more important one, in any case. Rio and Teddy would probably get along well, Emilio thought, though the thought was a little downplayed by the fact that he figured Teddy would get along with just about anyone and Rio seemed much the same.
He huffed a laugh at Rio’s response to the story, deciding to spare the kid the nightmares by refusing to elaborate any further. Murderous trees weren’t really as much of a problem anymore, anyway, so it wasn’t anything the kid really needed to worry about. “People tend to accept it easily enough.” Most people, he’d learned, wanted an easy answer. They wanted something concrete, something solid. Grief was easier when you had that. “If the sun doesn’t come back up, that’s it for me. I’m going back to México. Don’t want to imagine how fucking cold it’d get in Maine without a damn sun to warm things up.”
-
“The sacrifice is definitely worth it.” Rio shook his head vigorously before remembering that vision was a bit of a problem now and stopped himself. “I don’t know your guy” Rio stopped himself from adding on ‘I barely know you’, “but I am very dedicated to making sure that the two of you have a great night.” He was close with Ari after all. Plus, this whole bonding session in the dark had to count for something. The two probably wouldn’t be gossiping anytime soon, but he could count Emilio as a friend now right?
“Even the people that believe in the supernatural want to believe in the easy stuff every now and again.” Rio sure knew that he did. Trying to find a logical answer to something was always at the top of his list growing up. That had unfortunately died off the older he had gotten. He had finally just thrown out the supernatural word. The two hadn’t necessarily been dancing around the phrase, but it still felt weird to say it to someone that Rio had never experienced the supernatural with before. The lack of sun probably counted towards that, though. “Smart choice. I’d love to travel anywhere south of here and get away. But it’s definitely going to come back.” Rio sighed, clancing at his phone again and perking up, “Look our hour is even almost up. If we’re lucky, daylight will be back in the next fifteen or so minutes.” If they were lucky.
-
“You’d like him,” Emilio offered with a shrug. Even though he didn’t know Rio well, he figured it was true. Maybe this night of dancing would have to happen after all, if only to allow both Rio and Teddy the opportunity to make more friends. Emilio wasn’t sure if that was the sort of thing he’d care about under normal circumstances, but… Between Ari’s clear fondness of him and the time they’d spent here in this apartment, filling the silence together, he’d already developed something of a soft spot for the kid.
He grunted in quiet agreement, nodding his head. “Shit like that’s hard enough without tacking a mystery on to it. Most people, even if they know about this shit, know more about how an animal attack works than a vampire draining someone dry. They don’t know if it’s more or less painful. Makes it harder to think about.” Emilio, of course, knew better than most the level of pain most supernatural encounters carried along with them. He’d like to say it made things easier, but… Knowing what his family had felt when they’d died was worse, somehow. “Never been big on the cold,” he admitted. “Makes Maine a poor choice for me, probably.” He peered over at Rio’s phone, making note of the time. “You think it’ll come back all at once, or slow?”
-
Rio had always thought that mysteries were for solving. He enjoyed them. The ones in books and the ones in real life. He liked knowing that the Scribrary was there when he ran into a creature he didn’t know or something in town was happening that there didn’t seem to be an explanation for. He always found comfort in knowing that if he did enough digging he could probably figure out what was going on. But things in town were getting too complicated. Nothing was simple or black and white. Rio was tired of having to hunt down the answer for everything. And he was frustrated that nothing seemed to have any answer anymore anyways. In that way, Ro enjoyed the simplicity of a private detective breaking the news to someone easily. “Good point. If something like that happened, I wish I had the option of thinking it was something simpler.”
“Yeah, definitely an odd choice,” Rio giggled. Rio had never been super bothered by the cold, though part of that had to do with his very intentional clothing choices. When he spent all year wearing baggy hoodies and long pants he actually started to enjoy the colder weather to give him a break from the heat, “But I’m sure you get plenty of business here. So maybe not the worst choice career wise.” Rio could guess that his hunter heritage had something to do with what brought Emilio to White Crest. Rio wondered how much time Emilio spent regretting that decision. “If I had to guess? I’d say it’ll flip back on like a light switch. And hurt all of our eyes. But who knows.”
-
Simpler was easier for most people. Grief was an inherently complex things, full of emotions too big to be fully understood and questions too heavy to be answered entirely. Every tragedy doubled as a mystery, in its way, even the mundane ones. There was always going to be a part of you that wondered about the things no one would ever be able to tell you. What had the last thought been before the person you loved faded away? What had they felt? Where had they gone? It was a mystery, every time. Adding to that only ever made it hurt more. So Emilio provided simple answers, even when those answers were lies. The truth was important, too, sure — everyone deserved for someone to know the truth behind what happened to them — but not for everyone involved. Not if it was only going to make a hard thing harder. He could carry the weight of that truth so the victims’ families didn’t have to. He was pretty good at it.
Rio’s voice pulled him from his thoughts, and he huffed a short laugh at the kid’s response. “Got me bundled up like a goddamn Christmas present,” he complained good naturedly, shaking his head. He did have a habit of bitching and moaning when the weather turned cold, but that was hardly the worst thing about this town. And Rio was right — business in White Crest was good. “Keeps me busy,” he agreed with a nod. “Plenty of shit to do. And I guess running for my goddamn life is a pretty good way to keep warm.” There was a slight lilt to his voice, a quiet humor. Emilio’s jokes weren’t often funny to anyone but him, but he still told them. He opened his mouth to add something else, to talk about how their eyes would probably be the least of their problems, but the sudden tolling of the clocktower outside interrupted him. Before the echo of the bell had died down, the world lit up again. Just like Rio predicted, it happened all at once; complete darkness one moment, bright lights the next. The relative silence of the apartment was replaced by the ambient noise of appliances coming back on, the quiet hum of the lights. Emilio squinted against the sudden brightness, making a face. “Guess you were right about the eyes. Christ.”
-
Rio found himself laughing at the man’s joke. Though the boy wasn’t particularly good at it himself, he always appreciated the people that could turn dark, life endangering moments into something humorous. Rio never really had that school. When the going got tough he tended to get panicking. But he definitely gave props to those that could make light of the situation. “Way to look at the positive,” Rio lamented. There weren’t many positive things that Rio could claim about running for his life. He had done it more than enough times to be familiar with the concept. So the next time he found himself doing it he’d definitely remember Emilio’s words.
Things shifted so quickly, Rio barely had any time to prepare for it. One moment the two continued in darkness when the next the sky was suddenly lit up again as if the whole town hadn’t been plunged into darkness seconds before. “Jesus” Rio moaned, quickly moving his arm up and covering his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket. Just in the few seconds they were exposed they had stung and begun watering. This must have been what it was like to actually adjust to no light. Rio couldn’t say he was a fan. “Not a huge fan of the results, but thank god the lights came back on.” Rio exclaimed, still covering his eyes. He wasn’t quite ready to start the process of slowly letting light back in. “Which means I’m finally safe to get back to my job.” He wondered how Portia had dealt with the hour of darkness. “Thanks for keeping me company during… whatever that was.”
-
“That’s me. An optimist.” It was the kind of thing that was so laughably untrue that it would likely make anyone who knew Emilio roll their eyes, though he wasn’t sure the humor of it would work on someone who he’d only just met. Maybe it’d serve just as well; he certainly didn’t have the demeanor of an optimist, and even his gloomy apartment was brightened only by the additions other people had contributed. Milo’s posters on the wall, Teddy’s decor around the room, Silas’s plants in the corner by the window, Ari’s colorful desk decorations. The brightest parts of Emilio had always come from the people around him rather than Emilio himself. He wondered if Rio could sense as much.
Huffing a small laugh, Emilio nodded in agreement. “Could have eased us into it,” he agreed, as if whatever had made the lights go off might be listening and taking suggestions for the next time something like this went down. “But this is definitely an improvement. Guess I should get back to my job, too.” There wasn’t a ton to do at the moment, but he had a few cases he could start looking into now that he could see well enough to do it. “Sure. I’d say let’s do it again sometime, but might be better if that kind of thing is a one-time occurrence. Still. Nice meeting you, kid.”
