[Before, when Doug’s bought alcohol, it’s been a matter of resistance. He likes to prove to himself he can throw it away. Pour it down the sink and then smash it as hard as he can.
It’s always been days better than this, though. Days when he’s upset, spent too much time thinking of Anne or what he’s done in the past.
It’s not like today, when he has to grapple with two very distinct possibilities. With everything that had been said the night prior, there’s a chance that Daniel was sick and injured somewhere, teetering on death or already succumbed. There’s also the option that Minkowski had suggested. He’d found a better place to go. That he’d gone to a place filled with memories of the one person Doug feels he actually hates.
A breakup would have been fine. He might have struggled, but he would have found a way. This is different. Either he’d have someone to mourn, or someone didn’t even think he was good enough to say goodbye to.
It’s no surprise that he crumbles.
To his credit, Doug does manage to pour out and break one. It’s only halfway through the second one that somehow, it’s no longer going down the sink, but down his throat. The liquid is gone in seconds, and Doug throws it to the floor with its cousin, sending brown glass skittering in all directions.
The rest is squirreled away. He can already feel the warmth in his limbs, and he needed the good vibes to last.
Besides, he’d have another source coming soon, anyway.]
[Doug leaves the house, but he doesn’t go to his own. There are two possibilities, after all. One is that he will have to listen to Minkowski and Dominic fight. That hardly sounds ideal. The other, however, is that they won’t fight at all. That Minkowski agreed.
No. He wasn’t going to do that.
He doesn’t know where he’s going until he’s there, facing the far wall of fridge doors in a convenience store. He grabs the nearest six pack, shooting off a few messages as he does. After a second of thought, he grabs another one, then carries his haul to the register.
One was enough for him to lose his senses before. Twelve should keep him subdued for a long while. ]
“your going to where now?!” henry’s yelling caught the demon off guard, bendy looking eavedropping as jess explained again “i said my friends invited me to go with them to this place cause the myers house! right in haddonfield!” she said as henry sighed “come onnn dad! please the guy who like used to live there has been locked up ever since halloween! ever since 2000 something he hasn’t escaped! come onnnnn” jess gave henry the puppy eyes as the retired animator squinted, before sighing smiling slightly “alright alright... but be careful alright? that town is known to have bad luck all over” he said as jess squealed, jumping around “yes!!” bendy watches the whole thing go down, the hooded demon giving a worried look as he gulps slightly feeling something was wrong
Doug’s sitting on the couch when Dominik and Minkowski come back in. He should be in the basement, in the apartment. That’s where Jacobi would go first, after all. The problem is the silence. Even if Jacobi was quiet, and he could be deathly silent at times, Doug knew he was there. There’d be an occasional rustle or shift, and he’d know he wasn’t alone.
He hasn’t heard it in what feels like ages. That terrifies him more than anything.
“Doug?” Minkowski’s wearing her soft, maternal voice. It’s the voice that surprised him after so many months of gruff orders and business-only mannerisms.
It’s not so surprising now. But it’s rare enough that it feels weird. That it feels serious.
“What’d Lovelace say?” He already knows by her voice that she hadn’t gotten a good answer.
“Same as everyone else. Hasn’t called. Won’t pick up.”
Doug only nods and stands up. He moves toward the front door but Minkowski’s firm grasp keeps him from going far.
“Where are you going now?” Her brows are pinched. The concern is obvious.
“File a police report? Put up posters? I don’t know.” His voice is soft, haggard from the yelling on the beach. The urgency is still obvious though.
“Doug...” she starts to speak but trails off just as quickly. Dominik, despite having been silent the whole time, is the one that steps in.
“Maybe he doesn’t want to be found.”
Renee’s expression darkens. She turns to look at Dominik, anger drawing her brows further closer together. He somehow manages to ignore her. Doug almost wishes he knew the secret.
“He’s made it clear that he doesn’t like some of us.” Doug tries his best not to scoff. “Maybe he finally decided to leave.”
The anger on Minkowski’s face subsides just a little. Much to Doug’s chagrin, he knows that she probably agrees. Most anyone would think that.
“He has nowhere to go,” Doug says feebly. Minkowski just shakes her head.
“He has Kepler’s house now.”
Doug opens his mouth but... but it quickly closes again. Daniel said they’d be together, but... Kepler had always been more than that. He’s like a shadow, one looming menacingly over any ounce of happiness they’d managed to scratch out.
Once again, it’s Dominik that breaks the silence though.
“Maybe it’s for the best.”
Doug’s gaze snaps upward. The spiral of self-hate and pity is, for the time being broken.
“Say that again,” he rasps. He doesn’t realize that his hands are starting to shake.
“All the fighting, the fireworks --”
“Dominik --” Minkowski tries to interrupt, but her husband keeps going.
“The lack of common courtesy or decency. Maybe it’s better for all of us.
Doug doesn’t realize he’s on his face until he’s face to face with Dominik. His arm is stretched out wide, starting to curl into a fist, when Minkowski catches it.
“Hey, knock it off you tw--”
“Maybe you’re the reason he left! Do you know what he told me while I was talking to him? He said that it’s sickening being around people who are disgusted by you. Who do you think he was talking about? Because it sure as hell wasn’t me.”
Dominik doesn’t flinch, even as Doug’s voice rises. He’s lucky that his wife his holding the rabid communications officer back.
Doug isn’t sure how long he walks for. At one point, he swears he feels his feet aching, feels blisters forming on the soles as sand and other detritus rub and grind at the skin. That felt like hours ago though, and while the pain lingers on, he’s become almost numb to it.
A handful of weeks ago, they’d been on this beach. They’d laughed, Daniel had gotten embarrassed as Doug ran around naked, then frustrated when he insisted on quoting Star Wars. The ash from their bonfire had long since been buried, maybe even dragged out to sea, but the memory lingered.
Of course, that was some distance back. Not far from the parking lot. Doug isn’t sure where he is or how long he’s been walking. How long he’s been yelling. It’s enough for his throat to ache, but he ignores it.
Ignores it until he stumbles, pitches forward and falls onto his stomach.
When Minkowski finds him some time later (he doesn’t know how long, or how she got there) the sand beneath his face is saturated. Her hands are gentle on his shoulders but it’s clear she doesn’t know what to do or say.
It’s fine by him. Doug doesn’t know what to do either.
“We should... go home,” she says. “Maybe he’ll be waiting.”
Doug shakes his head. He stands up and begin trudging toward the car (he didn’t know why he was surprised that she’d been following him).
“The other direction.” He motions back toward the way he’d come from. “We don’t know... we don’t know that he went south.”
