I think you set that bedspread on fire. Pretty sure I found it in the fireplace a few days later.
( Ezra, admittedly, was curious about the dreamspace he'd be inhabiting, but he recognizes a micro-nap. If David were asleep, there'd be an environment. He'd be dropping into a scene. )
You're not alone. You're with them now? ( He doesn't wait for the answer. ) What am I walking into? If I walk into it?
( He needs to make it clear, the plan might shift. )
[Maybe another time, when every one isn't on high alert. For now, this is the option they have.
David grits his teeth, because he's not sure how to explain things.]
They're tightening their grips. And they're suspicious. Whatever it is they've been planning, they're getting closer to pulling the trigger. So they're monitoring our communications as a result.
[David runs a hand through his hair.]
You don't have to come back. We can figure it out. But if you were coming back, I didn't want you to come in blind.
( For a long, long time it was what Ezra wanted. What they wanted together. But, when he said he was all in - his vows, med school, Elena - all of it - he'll do what he's asked.
Maybe it could go right either way. Work out. His instincts say strength in numbers, be in the belly of the beast. But Max, Sierra, Jaq, David, they're there. Is it making a difference? )
[What does David want? David wants Ezra to run as far away as humanly possible and forget he exists if it means he'll survive what's coming. He wants to be sure that there's no risk of Ezra getting possessed by his mother, for better or worse. He wants his husband to survive, even if it means sacrificing himself in the process, and he won't hold it against him if he did.
But he knows that he can't tell Ezra what to do here. Because at the end of the day, he got stuck in this the moment Ezra helped exorcise him. The moment Ezra agreed to let him go with him instead of going home.]
I can't tell you what to do, Ez. I love you, but I can't choose for you.
[He turns to face him, cups his face in his hands and holds his gaze.]
I know. That's why I can't tell you what to do.
[Because what he wants is for Ezra to leave him, to find his parents and be safe and off the board. He wants Ezra to live, because the only way out of this may be David and the others dragging their parents down with him.
He leans in to kiss him, fondly and firmly, before he's yanked back suddenly as someone back in the room wakes him from his brief nap.]
( Ezra lets go of Rusty's hand and opens his eyes, the feelings of his husband's kiss still lingering on his lips. Only a minute or so, sixty seconds, if that have passed. He's still not any closer to any answers. Except.
He doesn't set his seatback upright again. Not yet. He stays reclined. )
They're monitoring communications. It's weeks away. He told me to choose.
( He knew his answer the minute he asked. He also knows what David wants, what he tried to do at first. When he tried to leave. Ezra should choose himself. Not David's family. Not his legacy.
It stopped being a choice. It just is. )
I'm staying. It gives him an angle, should he need it - the husband who finally betrayed him and the company. And if not - something happens - to him - or to me. Irina still has one of us.
( And if not, someone at the bunker. )
Maybe I can do more good before they drag me back.
( He sends one more message. A black heart to his husband before breaking his phone (nat 20) and tossing its' parts into the glove compartment, closing it with his knee. )
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bravebartender) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
everyonelives2025-03-12 08:39 pm
no subject
( Ezra, admittedly, was curious about the dreamspace he'd be inhabiting, but he recognizes a micro-nap. If David were asleep, there'd be an environment. He'd be dropping into a scene. )
You're not alone. You're with them now? ( He doesn't wait for the answer. ) What am I walking into? If I walk into it?
( He needs to make it clear, the plan might shift. )
no subject
David grits his teeth, because he's not sure how to explain things.]
They're tightening their grips. And they're suspicious. Whatever it is they've been planning, they're getting closer to pulling the trigger. So they're monitoring our communications as a result.
[David runs a hand through his hair.]
You don't have to come back. We can figure it out. But if you were coming back, I didn't want you to come in blind.
no subject
( For a long, long time it was what Ezra wanted. What they wanted together. But, when he said he was all in - his vows, med school, Elena - all of it - he'll do what he's asked.
Maybe it could go right either way. Work out. His instincts say strength in numbers, be in the belly of the beast. But Max, Sierra, Jaq, David, they're there. Is it making a difference? )
no subject
But he knows that he can't tell Ezra what to do here. Because at the end of the day, he got stuck in this the moment Ezra helped exorcise him. The moment Ezra agreed to let him go with him instead of going home.]
I can't tell you what to do, Ez. I love you, but I can't choose for you.
no subject
( Make it clear. Make it make sense. )
no subject
I know. That's why I can't tell you what to do.
[Because what he wants is for Ezra to leave him, to find his parents and be safe and off the board. He wants Ezra to live, because the only way out of this may be David and the others dragging their parents down with him.
He leans in to kiss him, fondly and firmly, before he's yanked back suddenly as someone back in the room wakes him from his brief nap.]
no subject
He doesn't set his seatback upright again. Not yet. He stays reclined. )
They're monitoring communications. It's weeks away. He told me to choose.
no subject
[Rusty won't judge him either way. In the end, it's Ezra's decision, and regardless, he can't go back to Kansas. He just has to decide.]
no subject
It stopped being a choice. It just is. )
I'm staying. It gives him an angle, should he need it - the husband who finally betrayed him and the company. And if not - something happens - to him - or to me. Irina still has one of us.
( And if not, someone at the bunker. )
Maybe I can do more good before they drag me back.
no subject
Ditch your phone. Anti-scrying charms are in the glove box.
[And once the phone is gone, he'll shift the car into drive and put lots of distance between them and it.]
🎀