“I’ve never actually had a job interview before - I feel like I’m missing out on seriously life experience because of it, actually. Is that a weird thing to have never done? Oh! I mean, I’m not not into punk music? It sounds like fun! But I guess it would depend when it is for if I could even go, and I’d hate to take the ticket if someone else can or if they’ll like it more.”
“Really? I think I’ve done one or two, but they weren’t too bad. It’s not really a life experience you need you know? I’d rather go to Paris than a job interview. Well they’re super underground so if you’re not into mainstream it might be a little weird, but the energy is really nice. It’s for next friday and doors open at nine I think. It’s at this tiny club a good twenty minutes walk from the apartment.”
notes: harry has been acting strange for too long, and he and daniel clash on the matter (tw; blood, mental illness, violence)
word count: 5,000
Harry was at his breaking point. He tried to go to the house tonight with the rest of his crew, but they barred him from the property. He knew they could see how affected he was, hell even they were starting to feel the presence's draining energy. So to protect their youngest member they made sure he stayed away from the house. That meant Harry was left to stay in the apartment, a couple of bottles of beer scattered on the table in the living room, his eyes glassed over as he stared out the window. He knew he wasn't going to move from this couch tonight. He wouldn't be able to share a bed with Daniel, not when his warm happy presence polarized his mood so deeply.
Daniel had noticed the differences, watching as Harry slowly became more and more decrepit, his mood and even his physical state decreasing rapidly. No longer would he tease and press kisses to his forehead, instead it was shouting and the only thing that Harry's lips touched anymore was the rim of his drinks. For these reasons, the blond was concerned. He didn't quite understand the reasons or even the cause of his roommates poor mood, and the mystery was driving him up the wall. Walking through the door, throwing his satchel to the side, Daniel stared at the shape that he knew to be Harry. Sighing, the boy started to unbutton and loosen up his normally too tight pressed button down, shaking his head seeing the bottles scattered about. "Okay, what is wrong with you? Like.." Daniel started saying, his tone annoyed at the state of the apartment. He frowned picking up two bottles in his hand, his blue eyes darting into Harry's brown ones. "This is excessive. Ok. This isn't you, pull yourself together." Daniel huffed before stomping off to the trash can to dispose of the glass. "For me..." He added with a small, looking at Harry in his screwed up state. Because truth be told, Daniel needed him, and though it may he selfish, he wanted Harry to be okay; because Daniel wouldn't be okay until he was.
Harry felt irritation flash as soon as Daniel entered. The blond hasn't been helping with the situation at all. He was always nagging Harry about his habits, like he didn't care /why/ Harry was acting like this, and that he just wanted him to back to the happy supportive Harry he normally was. "Fuck off," he gritted, keeping his hand firmly wrapped around the last bottle so Daniel couldn't take it away. "Do you know who I am Dan? Really? You barely know me," Harry shot back, his eyes narrowing. True, this wasn't who Harry was, this was what the spirit had done. But he could use a little sympathy right now, which he wasn't receiving from his roommate. "For you," Harry repeated, a cruel snort following. "Just go to bed Daniel, I don't want to talk to you." With that he turned his back to the blond and brought the bottle back to his lips, finishing the rest of it off. He just wanted to be alone to waste away in his thoughts.
Daniel felt his eyes narrow as he only looked at the back of Harry's head, from where he stood near the trash can. Normally, someone's harsh words would barely seem to grace the blond's thoughts, but everything that Harry had said, it only seemed to stick in his head like a nagging voice that he couldn't seem to get out of his head, starting to believe all the lies that the brunette was telling him. Starting to believe that he barely knew Harry and that he actually meant nothing but just someone to split the check every month, nothing more than just numbers on a check. Nothing more. "God..!" Daniel complained, throwing his hands up angrily, feeling his fists ball by his sides, annoyed with the tone of voice and generally just how Harry was treating him. Again, normally he wouldn't care if it was anyone else, but this was something else, this was someone else. This was Harry. He had already lost two people who he loved and he only saw Harry going down that same path, knowing that sooner or later they'd be hating each other, grimacing at the sound of the others name, and generally feeling angry when the other would be mentioned. Daniel had hoped that this wouldn't happen with Harry, but he could already see it, could see everything they worked for slowly fading away into nothingness. "You're gunna have to fucking talk to me, we live together." Daniel growled as he waked back towards Harry, his eyes shifting from the tipsy brunette to the drink in his hand. "Give me your fucking drink, or i swear to god." He started off saying, knowing that Harry drinking away his problems was not only a bad idea, but also a very deadly one. "Fucking give it to me and i'll go to bed, believe me, i don't want to be around your ass very much as of lately either" Daniel said bitterly, his words like daggers, sharp and to the point, only meant to cause damage to the brunette.
Harry didn't know what Daniel was being so persistent. Harry wasn't worth it anymore, he wasn't the same Harry that Daniel had grown to care about. The person he was now was cruel, and bitter, unreachable. So different from how he normally behaved. Daniel didn't deserve to have someone like Harry around him, especially not in the same bed. Harry's stomach was curling with self loathing and anger, and he wanted to lash out at something, preferably himself. But Daniel was the only one in the room he could truly lash out at, so his anger was channeling towards the blond. "I don't have to do anything you tell me to," he gritted out. He could feel his emotions bubbling over, all of the dark feelings and anger clashing and causing his mind to fog. He was so angry and hurt, he felt like a caged animal, and Daniel wsa to poor soul who wandered too close to the bars. "Fucking take it then," Harry snarled, whipping around and lobbing the empty bottle of beer at Daniel. He watched it strike the blond in the gut with a painful sounding smack before ricocheting onto the floor and shattering. Harry froze, eyes widening as his actions sunk in. He had hurt Daniel, he just /assaulted/ the blond. As if a switch was flipped, all of the anger flooded away, and for the first time since entering the house he felt like himself. "Oh my god," he choked out. "Danny- Danny I'm so-" the words were trapped in his throat, and he could feel tears prickling in his eyes. He was too scared to go to him, to comfort him, because Daniel must hate him. So he let out a broken sob, his hands reaching out for his roommate but too afraid to touch him.
Daniel let his eyes fall to the floor, staring at the arrays of broken glass that reflected the light onto all the walls, twinkling as the dew of the few sips left was scattered amongst the pieces. The event that had just occurred, it was something that even Daniel didn't see coming. Never in a million years expecting to be standing here, tiny shards of glass wedged into his flesh, the others on the ground, as his cotton button down was turning from a off white to a red. Not only was the bottle broken amongst the floor, but Daniel's heart laid there too, shattered and blood soaked. Raising his head to meet Harry's eyes, he felt himself searching. Searching for the old Harry, the one that he had come to care for so dearly, not the one who was a drunken angry mess, lashing out at the boy left and right. "Why?" Daniel spoke slowly, knowing that there were watery droops arising in his eyelids, his vision getting blurred more and more with every passing second. "You're so what? You're sorry? Is that is?" Daniel replied bitterly, shaking his head as he clenched his fists by his side, "Who are you? Cause i know you're not the Harry i fucking love, that's not him. So who are you.. dammit." Daniel yelled, again shaking his head in disbelief that the brunette had transformed into the person in front of him, as he knew that this wasn't Harry. It was something else, something inside him that was making him act this way, something that was turning him into an almost demon like form of himself. "Who are you anymore, dammit." Daniel repeated loudly, the tears that he had been trying to hold back, falling in hot streaks down his tortured face
Harry couldn't tear his eyes away from Daniel's stomach, where blood slowly started staining his shirt. He'd done that, God, he was a monster. All Harry had ever wanted to do was protect Daniel and give him happiness the blond has never gotten to experience. But now he was just another name on the endless list of people that had disappointed Daniel. But this wasn't who Harry was, and even though that didn't excuse what he did, he was going to work his ass off trying to gain Daniel's trust back. But that was too far into the future. There was no way they were going to fix things so soon, not with the look of betrayal in Daniel's eyes, and the blood spilling down his front. Not when Harry was still spiralling. "I don't know Danny," he whispered, wiping at his eyes. "I don't know who I am. There's something wrong with me." Even though he feels more like himself, the darkness was still there, lurking at the back of his mind and whispering horrible things to Harry, about how horrible he was, how broken. Harry got up from the couch and moved into the kitchen, tugging the first aid kit out from the cabinet under the sink. He slowly shuffled back into the living room, holding the kit to his chest like a shield. "Will you let me help you?" He asked, his heart crumpling at the sight of Daniel crying. He yearned to hold him, to kiss his face and lips and help the pain go away. But there was no way Daniel wanted anything to do with Harry right now. "Danny I'm better right now, just please let me help you. You can hate me all you want but you shouldn't clean yourself up," he pleaded.
Daniel watched his tears hit the wooden floor, watching them bounce back towards him before falling again for good. His shaggy blond locks falling in front of his eyes as he let his head hang low, feeling so broken and hurt, and betrayed. Ironically, all he wanted at the moment was for Harry to kiss him, to hold him, and tell him that’d he’d be alright; but that wasn’t a possibility at the moment in time as Harry only continued to look at the blond in complete horror, no longer we’re there lustful glances. “I’m fine, i’m fine.” Daniel insisted quietly, his focus not on himself but the brunette and why he was being like this, why he was acting this way, why there was such darkness inside him. He didn’t understand and was automatically starting to blame himself for the problem, assuming that he must have done something to push the brunette away. He always seemed to do that anyways, it was only a matter of time till he did it to Harry really. “What’s wrong… Let me in…I can — I can help.” He spoke softly before gaining strength and confidence as he neared the end of his sentence. Raising his dewy eyes to try and meet Harry’s, but the brunette continued to avoid locking their gaze, focused only on his shirt that was worse for wear. “Fucking look at me.” Daniel demanded bitterly, his heart aching at the idea of being so close to Harry but emotionally feeling so far away. Taking his hands, the blond grabbed Harry’s jaw a bit too forcefully, forcing Harry to look him in the eyes and not anywhere else in the room as a distraction. Biting his lip to hopefully stop the flood of tears, Daniel spoke in a less than a whisper, “I’m fine… But please…”
Harry blinked at the blond at his words. Daniel was worried about Harry, he wanted to make sure the older male was okay. He didn't care that Harry had hurt him, had his tears and blood spilling onto the floor. His attention was focused on Harry. It only made the tan boy feel even worse. He didn't deserve Daniel's affection, not now. But here he was, so selfless and caring, wanting to make sure Harry was alright. Harry thought he was going to throw up from the guilt souring his stomach. His head jerked up when Daniel pushed at his jaw, and he was met with Daniel's fierce gaze. "I'm so sorry," he whispered brokenly. "It's work Danny, this thing... it's horrible. It's making me think such awful things." He shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it Danny. I'm better now, I just, I need to help you. I have to fix this." He hesitated before leaning forward and brushing their lips together softly. He was so scared to touch Daniel, but it felt so wrong being so detached from the blond. He wanted to repair the break Harry had caused between them, he wanted to be the man Daniel needed him to be. "Sit on the couch Danny, once I get you patched up we can talk about it more," he promised. It took something violent to pull him out of the spirit's grip, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let it take him again. Not if it meant putting the people he cared about in danger.
Daniel felt his jaw tense as Harry still wasn't allowing him to help, not letting him, pushing him away. "No." He said plainly, his eyes darting into Harry's, "Talk to me about it, talk to me." Daniel insisted, throwing his hands to his side in a fit of fury. Annoyed that the brunette seemed to not want to confront the initial problem at hand, the injuries that Daniel had we're a second priority, Harry's mental state being the primary one. Daniel carefully made his way towards the couch, not sitting down, but continuing to stand up as he wanted to continue the conversation; knowing that now would probably be his only chance to talk about the topic at hand. He wanted to fix this, make things return to their norm of cuddles in bed, goofy trips to the grocery store, just being themselves around one another, happily. He wanted that back and was willing to risk everything to get back there."What is? Work? That's what's horrible? Talk to me Harry, let me help." He continued to insist as he undid a couple of the buttons on his shirt, his fingertips tinted a shade of red from the cotton fabric that had absorbed the liquid. Daniel sighed quietly looking down at his chest, knowing that the wounds were nothing to the massive indentations that Harry had left on his heart, both good and bad.
Harry felt hurt flash across his face as Daniel pushed him away, but he didn't blame him. Harry wouldn't want to be near himself if he was in Daniel's shoes either. "I will, I promise," Harry assured, his voice confident. He was going to do anything to fix this between them, and he knew a huge part of the process was him opening up about what was making him act so differently. "It's the job we're working right now. I've never contacted anything so..." Evil was the word he was looking for. The spirit that was haunting this poor family's house was of nightmares, and it sure as hell was turning Harry's life into one. "My gift makes me more sensitive to it, and it knows. I can feel how dark it is, and no matter how far away I get, the darkness stays. I just can't stop thinking about these horrible things, like my parents, my grandpa, just the worst things." When the shirt was unbuttoned Harry dropped to his knees, getting up close with his abdomen to inspect the wounds dripping blood. There were still pieces of glass in some of the wounds, so he opened up the kit and pulled out a pair of tweezers. "Can I?" He asked, looking up at Daniel. He hoped that opening up to Daniel about what had been going on in his head would make him trust Harry enough to help him.
Daniel nodded his head, trying to understand but it was hard to, being that he wasn't gifted like Harry and had never been onto the sight of any of the investigations to know what it was like, so he tried his best to put himself in Harry's shoes. "Well is there anything you can do, to, i don't know? Block them out?" He offered, assuming that ghosts were like vampires, having some sort of weakness or dislike that would drive them away. "Yeah, god for it." Daniel replied looking down at Harry, feeling awful for having pushed him away now that he saw the sadness and hurt dwelling in Harry's brown eyes. "Just stop going into work then, would that work?" Daniel suggested as he watched Harry work, the brunette never looking up at him but instead focused on tending to his wounds. "Just tell me how i can help, i'll even be your target." He offered, giving a small nervous laugh in an attempt to lighten the mood, if only a little.
Harry shrugged his shoulders. Usually he could build his walls up pretty easily, but this one had its hooks sunk into Harry. The only thing he knew could work would be to keep his distance from the property, which was not easy. He craved it, need curled in his stomach telling him he needed to face the spirit more. But he knew he could never return, not without protection. "I've been banned from the house by the rest of the team, so the distance might help," he replied. As gently as he could he began picking the pieces of glass out of Daniel's skin. Luckily none of them seemed too deep, and not all of the cuts had glass in them. He froze though at Daniel's words. "What do you mean by target?" He asked, looking up at the blond nervously.
Daniel smiled gently, glad that Harry wasn't to be allowed near the area anymore; knowing that it was causing him such distress, he just wanted Harry millions of miles away from it. Looking down at his chest, there were no relative wounds, a scratch here a cut there but nothing bad. If anything it looked as if a cat had clawed him, so it was nothing that Harry need worry about in the least. "I don't know, just a target." Daniel mumbled, giving a shrug of his shoulders, "Get your anger out on me, i'd rather have that than you bottling it up and then lashing out at someone else."
Harry frowned deeply at Daniel's words. He rocked back on his heels and stood up, his hands moving to cup Daniel's face. "Danny, I'm never going to forgive myself for hurting you. And I'm sure as hell not going to do it again." With that he turned around, grabbing peroxide and a cotton swab from the kit. He wet the cotton ball and ran it gently along the cuts, knowing it must sting. But if the cuts got infected it'd be ten times worse, so he muscled on. When he was done he grabbed a bunch of bigger bandages and covered all of the cuts until they were sealed away. "There."
Daniel laughed nervously at his own words feeling awkward that he ever said it in the first place, now that he knew how uncomfortable it seemed to make Harry. "Please forgive yourself, i'm fine." He continued to assure his roommate, but he wasn't having it. Looking down at his chest he let his eyes roll over all the bandages and cuts, a bit excessive in his opinion, but he was thankful to have Harry nonetheless. Looking back at Harry, Daniel offered him a small smile as he walked towards him, wrapping his hands around the brunette's waist and pulling him close to him. "Thank you, but again, i promise i'm fine. Please stop worrying and feeling bad, it's nothing." Daniel laughed quietly, noting how emotionally and physically distraught the brunette seemed to be in. "I'm fine.. Really."
Harry rolled his eyes. Daniel just didn't seem to get it. Harry had gone against everything he meant to be for Daniel. He was supposed to be his friend, his protector, his gentle touch. But he broke every single one of those promises tonight. When Daniel moved closer to him Harry leaned into his touch, getting his hands around the blond's expansive back and pulling him tight. "It's not nothing Dan," he murmured. "I hurt you. That's not okay, no matter how fine you are." He sighed, dropping his head to Daniel's shoulder, his cheek smooshing against the hard bone. "You're my person Danny. You're the best thing in my life, and I just wanna make you happy. And clearly I've been doing a shitty job of it."
Daniel shook his head, hating the idea that Harry even had this thought in his head. Carefully, the blond pulled Harry's face from his shoulder to then be able to meet his eyes, "And you're mine, and you make me so happy." Daniel started off saying, already knowing that his cheeks were a bright shade of red, or were going to be soon. "You aren't doing a shitty job, i've been so happy since meeting you. No longer do i think life to just be about surviving and thriving, but loving and enjoying the precious moments" He said with a smile before pressing his lips against Harry's, never wanting to part from them ever again. Loving the feeling of their lips connected, loving sharing such an intimate moment with him was just the best thing imaginable. Slowly he pulled away resting his forehead with Harry's own, "I am okay, please stop blaming yourself baby. It wasn't you it was the spirit"
Harry pulled back when Daniel pulled at him so he could look at him properly. He stayed silent as Daniel spoke, his heart fluttering at his words. He knew Daniel has been happier since he moved in with Harry, but he didn't know how much he's actually been helping Dan. "I'm glad," he murmured, before kissing him back. His final sentence had him pulling back though, his mood dropping again. "No, I am going to blame myself. I'm a professional, I shouldn't have let it get to me this much. And it wasn't like I was possessed, I was still in control of myself." He wasn't letting himself get off so easily for this. The only way it wasn't his fault would be if he was taken over by the spirit completely, not just affected. "Can we just drop it Dan? I'm okay now, and if you're okay, we can just start to move on. Maybe makeout a bit?"
Daniel sighed as he wished that Harry would just forgive himself, as Daniel didnt even blame him, and would never. It wasn't his fault, deep down, Daniel hoped that Harry knew that. Though he didnt want to drop the topic, if that was what the brunette wanted, then so be it. Daniel couldn't help but chuckle as he listened to Harry's final statement, "Haven't you learned anything ghost boy? You don't have to ask with me, the answer is always yes." He teased, gently kissing the brunette as he was still giggling lightly to himself; keeping his strong hold on Harry, never wanting to let him go
Harry let out a puff of air. He was so drained was the problem, he's never felt more tired, but physically and emotionally. This was the most vulnerable he's felt in a long time, and he was growing self conscious knowing Daniel was seeing him like this, so weak. But Daniel's words had him cracking a smile, and he arched into his body as he kissed. Maybe he could learn to lean on Daniel, and not keep his walls up so high around him. Daniel was so relaxed around Harry, it was only fair it went the other way around. "I guess I'm just cheeky," he laughed gently, pressing his lips to Daniel's cheek.
Daniel laughed lightly, smiling as he was noting that Harry was acting more and more like his old self. Sure there might be parts of the evil spirit inside him, but he was resisting and working hard to fight it off, to continue to be the cheerful happy Harry that Daniel was oh so fond of. "You're just a minx, that's all." Daniel teased as he started to press playful kisses along Harry's jawline, "Come here baby." He cooed, pulling the brunette closer, "How bout we save that make out session for later and just go cuddle and get some sleep, okay?" Daniel asked, looking down at Harry, knowing that even he was tired so he could only assume that Harry would be too after all the emotional trauma of the day.
Harry laughed again, this time more freely. "Yeah, I guess I am," he replied. A happy hum left his lips as Daniel kissed along his jaw. He cuddled into the blond, careful of his injured stomach. "Sounds like a good idea to me," he admitted. He hated being so selfish and wanting to sleep when he and Daniel had just gotten back on good terms, but he was so, so tired. He pulled reluctantly out of Daniel's arms so he could move into their bedroom. He shed his clothes along the way, letting his pants and shirt fall to the floor before he climbed into bed. His eyes were already growing heavy as his head hit the pillow, but he wasn't going to fall asleep until Daniel was in bed.
Daniel crawled in a few moments later, laying that he was able to face Harry who was giving him an adorable dopey grin. Reaching over, the blond started to gently rub Harry's back, his eyes looking over the boy and trying his best to see all the details even though they were in complete darkness. He couldn't help but smile, knowing that Harry was on his way to returning to normal, and hopefully soon they, as a duo, would be able to rid the spirit that was aching so heavily on Harry's soul. "Goodnight." Daniel whispered as he pressed a his to the brunette's head, smiling. He really did mean it, he had never been happier in his life, and it was all because of him, it was all because of Harry.
Harry smiled softly at Daniel as he climbed into bed next to him. He curled into him further when the younger started rubbing his back, the action so soothing and warm it had him relaxing completely. But as his eyes scanned Daniel's face, he couldn't help but remember the pain and betrayal that was there only an hour ago. "I know you don't want to hear this right now, but I really am sorry," he murmured. It was still weighing on his conscience, and he wished he could go back in time and stop it all from ever happening. But it did, and how he has to deal with the guilt. Harry wormed closer and pressed his lips to Daniel's, trying to replace all of the negative emotions with the comfort that came with Daniel's touch.
Daniel sighed as he couldn't help but tangle his legs with Harry's own, the two bodies now becoming one in a sense. "Apology accepted, now come on, get some sleep." He tried to coax the older male, hoping that he'd be able to get some sleep and relieve his guilty heart that was weighing upon him. Daniel still didn't blame Harry, not for any of it. If anything it was the awakening that he needed, it showed Daniel just how much Harry meant to him, and to what extents he would go to make sure that the brunette was okay and well at the end of the day.
Harry hummed in agreement. He was tired, but now that he and Daniel were so interlocked he wanted to stay awake and appreciate having the other male so close to him again. "Fine, fine. Night Danny." He kissed him again, before letting his head fall to the pillow. Before he allowed himself to start drifting off though, he moved his hand to Daniel's chest, placing it over his heart. He could barely feel the pulse of his heartbeat, but it comforted him enough to let himself start to drift off to sleep.
“Interviews are usually pretty boring, actually - or, like, really invasive? Which sucks because then either they ask me questions I don’t want to answer, or then they’re uncomfortable because I answered and they don’t get it… which I guess is why I do the interviews, now that I think about it. Sorry, what was your question? I got a little sidetracked.”
“It depends what kind of interviews you’re doing. Like job interviews are the worst, but if someone’s coming to you for expertise or whatever, that’s fun. I don’t think I remember the question either actually...” Harry paused, before letting out a triumphant noise. “Oh yeah! I was gonna ask if you were into punk music. I got these tickets for this cool underground band and the guy I was gonna go with bailed, so I was looking to give them away. Or go, if you’re into moshing with a stranger.”
Pausing from his sketching, Aramis shifted his position on the chair, feet tucking warmly between the cushion and the armrest before blue eyes glanced up to take a minutes break byregistering all that was going on around him. The lobby was fairly empty give or take resident entering or leaving, and Aramis soon focused on the figure who was seated a few feet in front of him for the past twenty minutes or so since the brunette began drawing. Lips quirking up into a wry smile, he spoke, “You know, if you wanted me to draw you like one of my French girls, all you had to do was ask.” Aramis said in a dry tone to the person, voice laced with gentle teasing and eyes lighting up in amusement.
Harry was probably one of the biggest idiots on the planet sometimes. Mostly when it came to remembering his key. He’s had such a whirlwind week, and being out of the apartment for the first time in days was bound to be eventful, even if it was only for a new pack of cigarettes from the corner store. And of course he was right, meaning something had to go wrong, leaving him waiting for the landlord to come back from one of his endless lunch breaks to let him back in. He looked up though when the other male in the lobby spoke up. “I will pay you good money if you draw me like Rose from Titanic,” Harry laughed, picturing the look of horror on Daniel’s face if he saw it.
zara: bc it's affecting you and you're not yourself right now
zara: so? you should still be allowed to be happy, this is all sounding like excuses to me
harry: sorry i cant be perfect all of the time like you princess
harry: it's not that i'm not allowed to be happy, it's that i can't be happy. what we're working with is attaching itself to me in some way, and it's not fading away like it's supposed to when i leave the property
zara: why do I care about you? do I need a reason?
zara: I don't need to but I want to anyways
harry: why do you care about this?
harry: i dont know what to tell you zara sometimes my work isn't all cool videos and easy voice recordings. i'm dealing with forces you can't even begin to imagine
