Recovery [Open]

[tarnishedbadge]

After two days spent at the family's house Levi announced that they either stop trying to prevent him from going home or he would injure himself further so he could get sent back to the hospital. They must have thought he was stupid or stubborn enough to do it because Thursday night they dropped him off back at his place. His sister had insisted on staying the night and Levi had been too tired to argue with her beyond making her promise to leave first thing in the morning.

Fortunately some booze and pain killers sent Levi off to sleep in a hurry and by Friday morning he had barely remembered that his sister had been there. Only a note promising to drop some groceries by and an omelette were any indication that she had been there. He had tossed the omelette, knowing all too well how poorly his sister could cook, and instead settled for some toast and dry cereal.

He had a dozen message on his answering machine, most of them work colleagues congratulating him on graduating from the "James Thornton Academy of Avoiding Work" by getting injured. That made him smile, not just for the dig at James but for the harassment. If the other cops hadn't cared about him they wouldn't have called. None would have showed genuine sympathy, giving each other shit was how they showed they cared.

Once he listened through the messages again and wrote a few notes to remember who said something he decided to go about trying to cure himself of feeling stir crazy. Normally he would have gone for a swim or tried some surfing but the cut on his hip wasn't supposed to get wet for several more weeks.

Instead he settled on a short walk down the beach with a cane the hospital had given him to use for the next week or so. With how easily the thing continued to sink in the sand though it was probably more of a pain in the ass to use it than not. Out of sheer stubbornness and the relief of two more pain killers he was able to go for a decent walk down the beach, at least enough to make him feel like he had gone out and done something.

By the time he made it back home though he was exhausted and just collapsed at his kitchen table. For the last few days he'd been thinking about the investigation, unable to focus on saving Corry, Emily and Wulfric but instead on the frustration he felt at being kept in the dark by different sides of the community. How much pain and anguish could he have saved the captives from if people would have just talked to him? His own girlfriend had been a siren and not only had he not known, she hadn't trusted him with the information he was looking for.

As far as detectives went, he wasn't much of one. He had become a police officer to protect the people of Siren Cove but he wasn't even sure if the people needed or wanted his protection. Grabbing a legal pad and a pen Levi wrote out his resignation letter from the force. Rereading it he crumpled it into a ball and drafted another. And another. And another. By the time he gave up over an hour later the table was littered with abandoned attempts.

Forcing himself away from the table he wandered aimlessly for a bit before deciding to kill his brain a bit with whatever was on TV. When it seemed like all that was on were police procedural he gave a growl of frustration and turned it off, instead settling for the stack of comics that had been delivered while he was in the hospital.

ooc: If you're a friend or colleague, come by and check on him. Anyone else can just find him wandering along the beach and say hi.

Comments

[asharpertongue]

Lara's been driving past his house every day since she'd heard he'd been let out of the hospital. She'd toyed with the idea of going to see him at his parents, even going so far as to drive over to the super-rich side of town but she got cold feet. Dealing with Levi's disappointment and fear was going to be bad enough without adding suspicious parents into the mix.

It was early evening when she drove past and as she slowed down to pass by she saw a light on inside. He was home.

She swallowed hard and kept driving until she could turn around, deciding to park outside his house. It wasn't like he wouldn't know it was her when she pulled up anyway. The engine would give it away.

She parks quickly and gets out, heading up the path before she can chicken out. She needs to face this because if this thing with Levi is going to end, she needs to do it soon. Band-aids are always best when they're snatched off quickly.

Straightening her jacket and wiping her sweaty palms on her jeans, she walks up the path to his front door.

There's only a moments hesitation before she knocks.

[tarnishedbadge]

The knock surprised Levi, he hadn't expected anyone to come. That was the point of having a secluded beach house, privacy. Giving an exaggerated groan he pushed himself off the couch and hobbled over to the door with his cane. The hobble and cane were mostly for effect, in case his guest was going to over stay their welcome he could feign his injury acting up.

He wasn't sure who he expected when he opened the door, maybe one of his family, but it wasn't Lara. She hadn't called his house phone, she hadn't stopped by and in general he thought she was avoiding him. That she was going to keep avoiding him because of what he now knew.

Seeing her there though caused his stomach to flutter and his pulse quicken. He always forgot how beautiful she was, even if it was just a few hours between seeing her, like his mind refused to accept that his memory of her was accurate, that anyone could be that perfect. She was always better than his memory though and seeing her standing at his door he just wanted to pull her close and kiss her.

"Hey," he said instead, turning to the side so she could come in. "Come on in. Uh, if you're staying for a bit..."

[asharpertongue]

She couldn't move for a second. He was still a little banged up but mostly he was intact. It was a serious effort not to just push him back against the door so she could check him all over, make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her and then kiss him hello the way she wanted to. But then her eyes found the cane he was leaning hard on and she frowned at it, hating that he was hurt enough to need that kind of help. She hadn't realised how deep the wound had gone. it was enough to sober her up though and she fought down her instincts.

Shaking herself, she smiled a little and stepped inside, giving him a wide birth so he wasn't forced to touch her. The last thing she wanted was to hear the horror and fear in his voice she'd heard that night at the hospital.

She waited for him to close the door, hovering awkwardly in the doorway as he locked it and led the way inside. Following she hissed quietly at the limp and fought the urge to just duck under his arm to help him.

[tarnishedbadge]

Levi didn't miss how she was giving him a wide berth, as if physical contact with him was something to be avoided. He wondered if she was silently making a point because he could pick up on her desire to touch him, to comfort him, but she was holding back. Maybe she was preparing to reject him, trying not to give him false hope. He knew that she was a siren now so maybe she couldn't be with him in order to protect the other sirens.

He glanced over at the table littered with his letters of resignation and wished that he had cleaned those up before she came by. While he'd been hoping she would come by seeing her like this, refusing to get close to him, hurt. It hurt worse than any of the injuries he had sustained.

"How are you?" he asked, leaning the cane against the table and straightening up as he walked to the couch. "You... I remember you were hurt."

[seas_open]

She's fresh out of the ocean, having only allowed herself to melt back to the shape she wears most of the time and slipped back into her bikini when she catches sight of someone walking down the beach. It looks like he's struggling with a cane and she watches with a faintly amused smile for a moment before glancing down at herself to make sure there are no residual scales still showing through before she saunters closer.

She leaves her towel and sandals behind under her blue umbrella, a book open face down in the sand.

"Well, this isn't quite the beach activity I've gotten used to," she comments when she's near enough to be heard, reaching up to squeeze excess water from her hair at the same time.

[tarnishedbadge]

She was gorgeous. The kind of beautiful where you had to do a double take not just to admire her but because at first glance there was no way anyone could be that beautiful. Levi would have thought living in Siren Cove he'd gotten used to people like that but seeing the woman on the beach made him realize he probably never would.

"I'm a pirate captain in training," he said, giving her a smile as he got closer. "Any day now I'll get called up to the big time and they'll give me a wooden leg. Have to make sure I'm ready."

[seas_open]

"But as a pirate you'll need to walk on that wooden leg without a cane and be very menacing," she says and her smile is genuinely amused at his response. "Nor are you accounting for the weight your parrot will inevitably put on your shoulder, so all in all, I have to say this is a very disappointing pirate training session."

But he's awfully handsome and April thinks she can find it in her heart to forgive him. It looks far more likely that he's been injured and while she's been responsible for a few injuries in her time, she's never gone out of her way to make anything worse.

[tarnishedbadge]

"The giant, bushy beard I'll eventually grow will help with the menance a lot," he said with a bit of a laugh. He know he looks a bit rough, some of the cuts on his face still healing, so maybe he had a long way to go before he was menacing. Mostly he was lucky she didn't assume he was some sort of thug and bet away as quickly as she could.

"And the parrot keeps flying off. Maybe I'm not cut out to be a pirate after all."

[just_another]

Joel doesn't know if he and Detective Astor are friends; the fact that, even now, he refers to him as Detective instead of by his name might suggest they're not, but the truth is Joel's always been uncomfortable making the switch from an official title to a person's first name. He knows he likes the other man, despite the talking to he'd gotten, and he appreciates both what he'd done while Mark was around and everything he knows he'd done for Spencer after his family had been killed.

The fact that he had helped save Raleigh just cements the fact that Joel thinks highly of him, though he'll never know how to say that and so instead he shows up on the Detective's doorstep with several books and a cup of coffee. Besides a healing potion, the books are the only thing he can think to give, and while he's revealed himself to Raleigh recently, he's not ready to continue on that path.

Chewing his lower lip nervously, he knocks, then shifts from one foot to the other.

[tarnishedbadge]

Levi thought about not answering the door, about just letting whoever it was knock until they went away. But he lived on the edge of town, a ways out, and if someone came to see him they had put in a little bit of effort to do so. Grunting with effort he pushed himself off the couch and headed toward the door.

He smiled when he opened it, surprised to see Joel but not disappointed. He liked the other man, despite the lecture he'd given him before, and especially since Joel had taken it well.

"Joel," he said, moving aside so the other man could come in. "Come on in, it's good to see you. I was hoping you weren't a reporter."

[just_another]

"Could you imagine any interview I might write? Subject told me to leave him alone, so I did." It's a joke, only faintly self-deprecating, because he's not sure it's such a terrible thing to be able to understand when a person might want to be left alone instead of bombarded with questions. He's had his own trouble with reporters lately, though in the wake of the other kidnappings, no one seems very interested in what happened in the lighthouse anymore.

If he's honest, he's grateful for that. He doesn't want Spencer to have to deal with reporters any more than he already has.

"No, I heard about what happened," he says, feeling awkward. "I talked to... Emily." He's still not sure who knows her real name, if he should say it or not. "She's staying at Spencer's with us right now, I just... I broke you coffee and some books."

[tarnishedbadge]

"Good," he said, breathing a sigh of relief. "About Emily. I was worried about her, I didn't want her spending her recovery by herself."

It was maybe a disservice to Emily to think that but Levi was worried about her. She had been kidnapped for several days and from what he understood, put under some mental anguish too. It was good that she had someone like Spencer and Joel to be there for her.

"And the coffee and books are appreciated, thanks. I still can't drive for a bit longer so I'm at the mercy of whatever I already have here at the house."

[keirasullivan]

She could totally turn around and moonwalk away from Idiot Number One, couldn't she? This was a thing, a thing she was totally going to do. God damn it, he looked hurt more so than the papers made out.

"Fucker, shit." Keira swore, pressing her lips together in irritation before stomping towards him. He shouldn't be out, he should be in bed or a hospital or something and he was an even bigger idiot than she thought. "Hey asshole, pretty sure I read in the papers that you were supposed to be in hospital. You know skipping out is not cool."

[tarnishedbadge]

Levi had now officially seen a siren in all their siren-form glory and he wondered if he was not seeing a harpy. The screeching certainly was present that they talked about it the legends.

"I have a full discharge from the hospital and I'm only limping because a cane doesn't work worth shit in the sand," he said before smiling at her. "But it's sweet of you to care."

[keirasullivan]

"I don't, I just don't want Siren Cove's newest hero dropping dead in front of me. Somehow the police might think to pin it on the nearest Sullivan." Keira replied dryly. Her side of the family hadn't done anything remotely illegal but there were still some Sullivan's, her cousins in particular, who weren't that good. "You need a hand there?"

[tarnishedbadge]

"Don't worry, if I die I'll be sure to scrawl your name in the sand before I die so they'll know I proclaimed your innocence," he reassured her with a smile. While Levi was willing to judge everyone on their actions and not that of their parents, hell knows he hoped people did that for him, there was still a lot of talk about the Sullivans.

"And thanks, but I really need is a temporary hip replacement and yours are a little low to the ground for what I need."

[doublethepain]

The last time he'd seen Levi had been during their considerably--and thankfully--short questioning session after the incident at the lighthouse. He's been wanting to stop by the station to offer a proper word of thanks but between dealing with his own personal stresses and taking his relationship with Joel to another level, he just hasn't found the time. Rather, he hasn't made the time.

He'd regretted that after reading about what had happened in the papers. He's gotten bits and pieces of the story, considering he's housing Raleigh now, but he hasn't wanted to push her for information. He's still not comfortable talking about what had happened with Mark to its fullest extent, he hasn't even told Joel some of the more distressing details--things Mark had said, the way he'd tried to get under Spencer's skin, those are all things better left buried for now.

He's walking home from the library, having stopped because he'd wanted to prove to his boss that he's ready to come back--one look at the cast still on his left hand and his boss had adamantly told him that part-time is the best offer on the table, but Spencer had jumped at taking it because he doesn't feel right keeping Joel from the store any more than he already has been--and it's only by mere happenstance that he sees Levi on the beach.

Something tigthens in his chest at seeing the cane in Levi's hand because he's not using to seeing the detective like that and he hesitates for a moment before heading in Levi's direction. It doesn't take long to catch up, not at the pace the other man is going, and he falls into stride beside him, good hand tucked in his pocket.

"The town really must be cursed," he says with a weak smile. He doesn't want to ask if Levi's okay, the man clearly isn't and he still hates getting the question himself. "I hope the doctors gave you their pharmacy's best."

[tarnishedbadge]

"Spencer," he said, smiling at the other man when he realized who it was. Of course, even from a distance he was able to tell it was Spencer. Either that or someone animated a well dressed scarecrow.

Still, he liked Spencer and he was one of the few people that Levi liked talking to. Spencer seemed rather private, like himself, so he didn't have to worry about him prying into his life. Levi liked that.

"I'm fine. Don't look so worried. It's all superficial and short term with the injuries."

[doublethepain]

"I'm not worried," he lies, though his smile widens into something more genuine. "This is, unfortunately, just my face. I am glad to hear you aren't suffering from any permanent damage, dapper as the cane may be."

He cringes as soon as he says it because it sounds so distasteful. He remembers what Joel had teased, about their bruises making them look tough, but Spencer hadn't felt tough for even a second throughout the Mark Fuller ordeal. Levi, though, hadn't had much of a choice considering his chosen profession and Spencer has always admired that.

"Just another day in the life of Detective Levi Astor, was it? You ought to be due a very large and shiny medal soon."

[tarnishedbadge]

"It is pretty dapper, isn't it? I think I might fake a limp after a bit just to see how it looks when I'm more mobile. Maybe I'll make it a permanent addition."

He was only half joking. If people thought that he didn't have full use of his leg that could be an advantage. It would also be horribly insulting to everyone that did need to use a cane to walk, so maybe not so much. Maybe it was just something to look forward to in his later years.

"And I don't know about a medal. Maybe just a slap on the back and a 'not bad'."

Recognition beyond that was too much to hope for. Even his father hadn't even mentioned how well he had done, just that he had managed to almost kill himself in his job.

[starsfallen]

Corrine has Levi delivered two dozen deep pink roses symbolizing gratitude. A stuffed teddybear dressed as a cop. 15 year old aged single malt scotch. Inside an envelope is a small card. Written in pink script it says only 'Thank You' with a heart to its side and a lipstick kiss. And a thousand dollar general-use giftcard.

Corrine cannot bring herself to bring it to the cop. The first few days were numb and blurry. Almost as if she'd waken from a bad dream. But as time progresses the anxieties and fears sneak up in unexpected places. She hasn't left her grounds since Tuesday. But she has people there for her, at least. And the steady diet of Xanax and absent nibbles will stabilize itself out.

For now, the package will suffice. She's sure he'll know who it's from.

[callmeemily]

The bell rings, and it's because Raleigh's on his front porch. She's on his front porch, and she's got a backpack on, because she's still on crutches. She looks like hell - hell on a plate, with one side of her face dark and swollen, a black eye - it's half covered by her hair because.... because, because she can feel people staring at her and it makes her uncomfortable, but she wanted to stop in. Stop by.

She wanted to thank him, now that they both were a little further away from the event itself. She's never been here before, but it seems like a good time - she's off work until... well. That's another matter entirely, and she doesn't know what to do about it - but they'd take that as it came.

[tarnishedbadge]

"It must have taken you forever to get here," Levi said when he opened the door and saw who it was. He lived a short ways out of town down a private drive so anyone who came to see him had to be really determined and that was by design. Emily having the determination to get here shouldn't have surprised him.

"Come in," he added, shifting his weight on his cane to move to the side and let her on. "Please tell me you didn't walk all the way here?"

[callmeemily]

"Nah, I grabbed a ride with the delivery guy, and I can take a cab back to the Waters house." She shrugs a shoulder, like it's no big deal that she's here - it's not, really; she'd handled the drive by herself, but the rest of it was her sitting in a truck that she'd bribed a ride out of with future baked goods.

She's glad he invites her in - mostly because she knew it was a crap shoot, but she did really want to see him and say hi, especially because... because. Because she sort of thinks he's her friend, and if there's one thing this whole thing did (besides give her horrible nightmares she wasn't really doing a good job of avoiding), it's shown her that she's got friends, and how much she appreciates them. She's careful not to bump anything with the crutches, but she sees the cane and actually laughs because what else is she going to do? "We... are a pair. Seriously. Watch out world, we'll hobble after you."

[tarnishedbadge]

Levi felt bad that she would have to take a cab all the way back but he wasn't in any shape to offer her a ride back just yet. Still, if she had come all this way the least he could do was be hospitable to her. Besides, he liked Emily and thought she was fun to talk to.

"I was mostly preparing to use it to play up how much pain I'm in to get rid of you in case you were someone annoying," he said. "But you aren't. Do you want something to drink? I'm afraid I mostly have booze and water."