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

[seas_open]

"If that's your usual Friday morning routine, then colour me just a little bit jealous," she says with a laugh. She hasn't settled into anyone's bed since her arrival in Siren Cove, not even for a night, though she's met plenty of people she might consider spending a night with, this apparent pirate-to-be no exception.

"I don't know, I think the cuts work for you," she says, then offers her hand. "I'm April. Did you get caught up in the... excitement of the weekend?"

[tarnishedbadge]

"What can I say, you're lucky you didn't stumble on me already tied up, it's that bad," he said, grinning. The teasing and flirting came automatically, part of his persona for so long it didn't even occur to him that maybe he should hold back on account of being with someone.

"Detective Levi Astor," he said, taking her hand and shaking it. If she heard about the craziness of the weekend then she probably recognized his name.

[seas_open]

"A detective. So you were more than just a little caught up, then," she says, her eyebrows lifting. A detective isn't exactly the type of friend she usually makes, not when she has a tendency to cause the kind of trouble most officers of the law look down upon, and while she's never been arrested, she thinks that's probably due to the distance she's kept.

Yet the idea of befriending one now is kind of appealing. Fun in its own way.

"But you're alright?" she asks, her gaze sweeping over him.

[tarnishedbadge]

Levi caught a flash of wariness about police from her, not the normal sort of wariness that people sometimes had but a more... personal wariness. Like she knew she could be busted at any moment. Apparently April needed watching.

"Nothing permanent. I'll have a pretty awesome scar on my left hip but I'm told that some women are into that kind of thing," he said with a shrug. The doctors were fairly certain it wouldn't heal very ugly. "So assuming I wear a swimsuit really low... I can find those kinds of women at the beach."

[seas_open]

"Scars tell a story," April says, her gaze shifting down to his hip briefly, though any wounds he has are covered right now. She's not sure she'd say she's particularly interested in scars herself, no more than she's interested in anything else, but they do tell a story. That much is true.

"You can make up anything once it's healed," she adds with a grin. "And no one will be able to call you on it, because it's terribly rude to insist someone got their scar another way than the one they're telling."

[tarnishedbadge]

"Stopping a pair of serial killers in the line of duty isn't a cool enough story?" Levi asked. As far as stories went, he thought that one was pretty damned awesome. Apparently April was a bit of a tough sell though if she thought he needed to make up a story.

"And here as I laid bleeding out on the ground I had thought, 'At least if I meet a gorgeous girl on the beach, she'll think this is an awesome story for this scar' but apparently you think I need a better one."

[seas_open]

"Sure it is, but you might get bored," she answers with a bright laugh, her smile growing. "Any gorgeous woman you meet on the beach would be incredibly impressed with your story, I promise, but I'm just saying that one day you might get tired of telling those details over and over again. You might want to turn it into a shark attack or a very intense game of touch football gone wrong."

April knows she her own tendency to lie about her past is probably what has led her to assume he might eventually want to tell a different story, but she simply can't imagine it. Telling the same life story over and over with no variation.

[tarnishedbadge]

"It definitely was a pirate attack then," he said with a grin, unable to help but smile when she did. Other than Lara she was, perhaps, the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen with an infectious laugh. If she really did get up to trouble it was probably a lot of trouble.

"We were boarded by a rival crew and I took a glancing blow to the hip, only the gorgeous female pirate captain of the other ship took a shine to me and nursed me back to health."

[seas_open]

"See? Isn't that more fun? It also sounds like the plot of a romance novel, one of those ones with the very serious paintings on the cover of a woman in a ripped dress and a man with no shirt on," she says, smiling. "And one can never go wrong with that. Or so I'm told." She's never been much of a reader of romance novels; nor much of a reader in general. She'll research the history of a place she's living if she thinks it's necessary, but for the most part she finds she's generally too busy to sit down with a book.

[tarnishedbadge]

"It's definitely how I would have preferred to get the scar," he admitted. Unfortunately he hadn't really had a choice in the matter and was stuck with the serial killer thing being the reality. Still, it could have been a lot worse, he could have just fallen over while walking along the beach and scraped it on a rock.

"Unfortunately in a small town like this I think everyone is going to know the real story. Also that I'm not a pirate."

[seas_open]

"Well, I'm not from town, so if you hadn't told me I never would have known. I would have believed in your pirate abilities for as long as you'd let it go on," she says. "Even if I did think your training needed a fair bit of work."

Her smile fades a little, though, and she tilts her head, studying him. "But a serial killer is fairly impressive, too, you're right about that. That's the sort of thing everyone should be grateful for. Parades in your honour and medals, that sort of thing."

[tarnishedbadge]

"I think all I'll get is a hearty pat on the back. No one is going to want to bring that incident up again if they can help it."

Which is fine, because he doesn't really want to either. He's never been a fan of attention, as much as he likes to get affirmation, so it's just as well. Besides, he's not crazy about rehashing what happened that night either.

"I'm okay with being a forgotten hero. Besides, you know and can hold me in high esteem now and what's better than that?"

[seas_open]

"The highest esteem," she agrees with a laugh, wondering about his reasons for such a thing. Most men in his position, she's found, would want the accolades. They would want to be treated as a hero and have people tell them what a wonderful thing it is they've done. She's not sure she's ever met anyone who wouldn't want that and she watches him for a moment, interested.

"But you can't have possibly gotten yourself into trouble just to impress me," she teases. "That seems like a lot of work."

[tarnishedbadge]

"Well you looked like you were worth it," he said with a grin. It was fun bantering and flirting back and forth with someone that seemed able to not just keep up but not get too tired of it either. Sometimes his refusal to be too serious rubbed people the wrong way.

"Also, you know, they were killing people and that's bad. Unless you kill the people who are killing people. To save the life of people they were trying to kill. Then they take your gun for a bit while you're under review."

[seas_open]

"Seems a little silly to take the gun away from someone just trying to protect people," she comments, her gaze sweeping over him curiously. While she's never been particularly fond of cops, she's never had a real issue with them either, mostly because she's made sure to stay out of their way. Her time in foster care had caused her to run into them as a child, though, and while she'd had her powers to help her along, she knows there were plenty of kids who only survived foster care because of the police officers.

"Though you do look like you need the break," she adds a second later, her smile growing again.

[tarnishedbadge]

"There's always a review of any shooting. They already gave me my gun and badge back," he reassured her.

Levi was familiar with the flitting, back and forth thoughts she had about cops. It was the sort of thing that most anyone who had to deal with cops did, trying to figure out if he was a good cop or bad cop. Honestly, depending on who he was dealing with, Levi could be either.

"I do look like I could use some more relaxation, don't I? At least until the bruises fade."

[seas_open]

"You should probably give it a rest on the pirate training, too," she agrees with a smirk. "I've heard they can be very... rigorous." She chooses the word on purpose, her gaze sweeping over him again, this time with less curiosity and more intent. The one thing Siren Cove certainly isn't short on is attractive men -- and women -- and while she has absolutely no interest in getting deeply involved with anyone, she can't deny the urge to play is strong.

[tarnishedbadge]

Levi didn't miss the once over she gave him. He was pretty sure he wasn't intended to miss the once over. Despite being a possibly-taken man, Levi couldn't help but appreciate how she looked as well. Even in Siren Cove she stood out.

"Well I guess I should avoid any physical activity then if I don't want to hurt myself."

[seas_open]

"That really is too bad, I've heard physical activity can be very good for the soul," she teases gently, a smirk curving her lips. She's not quite willing to go to bed with just anyone she meets, but she does like to know when and where there are options for her in the future. Levi might be injured currently, but he'll heal, he won't always be hurt, though a man like him might well already have someone in his life.

Not that that's always stopped April before.

[tarnishedbadge]

Levi was fairly sure that might have been an offer of sorts, or at least expressing potential interest. Technically Levi was in a relationship with someone he cared about very much. Potentially that relationship was completely over and while he'd never really done random hookups he could probably use a good distraction if things with Lara were over. But he'd rather it not come to that, no matter how gorgeous April was.

"Well if my soul does need some healing, I'll come find you to see if you have any suggestions."

[seas_open]

"Be sure you do," she says with a nod, then flashes one more smile before she turns back toward her towel and her clothes. Her need for a swim has been satisfied, but she still feels restless, like there's an itch under her skin and she wonders just how long she's going to last in a place like Siren Cove.

"It was very nice meeting you, Detective," she calls over her shoulder, but she doesn't look back.