Back in Town
Who: Brian and Hunt
Where: The phone, man
When: Around 5PM
After getting off the phone with Manhattan, Brian figured it really did seem about time to start calling around and actually telling people he was back. He had another hour to kill before heading to Anton's, it was raining a little again, he'd gotten the worst phone call out of the way already, and he could use something hopefully positive before heading out. He just hoped people weren't too curious where he'd been and why, but maybe answering would be easier after another week.
One of those people to call was Hunt, Cameron Hunt who for whatever reason went by his last name. Brian wasn't going to complain; it was easier to say. He was one of Brian's variety of friends that'd come from a game-following group he'd first gotten into when he moved to Marquette, back when he knew no one and wanted to get to know as many people as possible. He'd be well out of school by now, so it'd be safe to call without winding up leaving a message on voice mail, or something. Brian wasn't a big fan of voice mail.
Settling back on the couch, Brian dialed in the number, and crossed his fingers for an answer that wasn't a machine.
Hunt was, indeed, home. He'd stayed late tonight, one of his students had come to him at the end of last period, wanting someone to talk with about everything that was going on. Most of his students knew that he ran an open door policy if they ever needed an ear and every so often, one of them would take him up on it. Hunt hadn't at all begrudged the fact that today someone had. When the phone rang, he was sitting at his desk, grading papers and he picked it up on the third ring. "Hello?"
"Hey, man, was starting to think you weren't home yet," Brian said with a grin. No answering machine! "That'd be a long day full of teenagers, if not."
Hunt started a little, recognising the voice, but not expecting to here it. "Brain?" he asked. "Where you calling from?" He put his pen down and stood up, walking over to grab a soda from he fridge.
"Home, finally, actually," Brian answered, propping his feet up on the arm of the couch. "Got back in town last week, been having a hell of a time getting settled back in. How you doing, man?"
"Home, as in 'back in Marquette' home?" Hunt asked, sounding surprised - which he was. He'd gotten used to the fact that Brian was gone, it would take a mental reset to realise he was back. "I mean - that's great - just... unexpected, y'know. When? Recent, or have you just been settling back in and not cluing us in to the arrival?" he asked, realising that was probably too many questions. But - he'd mentioned 'unexpected', right?
"Home as in, sprawled out on my couch wishing it wasn't raining, home," Brian laughed. "I got back early last week, and it's been pretty hellish since. I've been stalling on making the calls because I figure everyone's gonna be all questions. You're proving me right, Hunt, you really shouldn't do that or I'll start expecting to be right, all the time." He was joking, as usual, and if Hunt asked, he'd answer. Only fair, right, since he'd taken over a week to call?
"Damn - but you're out of town for... How long now? You don't call, you don't write..." Hunt parodied a jilted lover with humour in his tone, knowing they'd both know what he was doing. "Okay, so less questions." He paused. "No, screw that - what's been up with you? How've you been? I promise to stop asking if you just tell me..."
"You ask as many questions as you like, I'll just tell you your sounding like an offended girlfriend and be done with it," Brian chuckled. "You're worse than Manhattan was, man, and that's sad." Which, of course, meant nothing, since talking about Manhattan in the terms of "offended girlfriend" would probably have made her hit him. "I just had to head home to the family for a while. Had kind of... yeah." Out with it. You're a big boy. You can talk about this. "My dad died, Hunt."
There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Oh, man - I'm sorry. I... didn't know." There it was - that natural awkwardness that came whenever there was a death in the family. "When?" he asked, realising that that was another question.
"Well, of course you didn't know," Brian scoffed gently, trying for lightness again. "I only just told you. Hell, I've only told Mya and Manhattan, and Man' on accident." He sighed a little. Yeah, another question, but that was okay. "Mid-July. It was pretty sudden, which was why the whole 'disappearing without warning' thing."
Another pause. "What did he die of?" Hunt asked, unable to stop himself. He wondered if he even wanted to know the answer, but knew that he had to ask anyhow. He put the can down on the side, suddenly not thirsty. At least, not for a soft drink. He didn't like it when death invaded his peaceful little life. He hadn't liked it at school, he didn't like it here. Course, at school, helping the student s through it was his job and he did it with vigour, but... Now this seemed as if death were invading his personal life. That was something altogether different.
That was trickier. He couldn't very well say the truth-- the fabric of the universe killed him because he took someone else out of it-- but saying it was a heart attack or something just felt wrong. "Some bastard mugger," he finally said, reluctantly, rubbing at his forehead. That was close enough to a hunter, right? "They got him, but there were complications with Dad, so...." His sheepish little grin came through in his tone. "Showed up just in time to watch. Wasn't a very fun trip, all in all."
Hunt wouldn't have heard it, even if Brian had told him the truth - but a lie was much more acceptable. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "How's you mom handling it?" he asked, looking in the frige to see if he had any beer. No - he was out. Not a good thing right now.
"Could be better," Brian admitted. "She doesn't really know what to do without him around. She's staying with my brother now, though, it seems to be doing her good." Tom had three kids and a daughter-in-law to keep her busy, which had really been his reasoning in taking her in and selling the old house. But it was about time to get off this subject. "It's okay, man. It's over, anyway, and it's good to be back and out of it again. Even if it is fucking raining." And felt like it had been the whole damn time, though he knew it hadn't.
"Well, the weather had to break sooner or later. You know - give it a couple of months and, once the snow hits, you'll be wishing for rain," Hunt laughed. He'd been living in the UP for a good decade now, but the winters still came as a shock to him. "So, you want to get together some time - really catch up?" he offered easily - he'd never been much one for talking over the phone. It seemed, alien, somehow.
Hunt had obviously never actually seen him caught outside in the rain before, and if Brian had anything to say about it, he never would, either. It was stupid, and bad enough when strangers saw it. Friends, who could rib him about it for years to come, he tried to avoid when possible. Snow would be a welcome relief, after a month or two of rain. "Yeah, like the rest of town, I'm sure," he chuckled a little, a little white lie to save one's own pride. "Sure, man. Weekend sometime?" That, he figured, was safer than having to depend on Hunt's schedule. His staying after school was pretty unpredictable.
"Saturday?" Hunt agreed, thinking along the same lines as his friend. "The Wooden Nickel - say eight?" he suggested. The bar was a dive, but he'd always had a soft spot for it, and they had some decent live bands on every now and then.
"Sounds good, to me. I don't think we've been there since spring." Weekend plans were always a good thing. Brian pretty much never worked evenings on the weekend if he could help it. "I promise I'll try not to bring any issues," he added with a grin.
Hunt chuckled at that. "Hell, bring whatever you want - and I can chatch you up with what's been happening in town. Then again, this is Marquette, which means that's a big, fat nothing - except... You're been back in town for a week or so, right?" he asked - meaning clearly that the guy would have heard the news. Things had been going downhil lately.
"Yeah. Just in time to miss one disaster, or so I'd been told, and then step right into a couple more." Cat attacks, dead kids, vampire warnings, now seven missing people. This was just weird, for sleepy little Marquette. "People at the diner've been talking, people around town, whatever. Everybody's on edge, I think. How're the kids holding up?" Meaning Hunt's students'.
"On edge, just like everyone else," Hunt told him. "After all, it's their friends that are missing - or, if not, people they knew. Two of the kids were well known - the type that effect everyone. But... Four kids just gone. Everyone's feeling it. The high school's not the place it was. Especially not on the heels of the murders. You know, I remember when this was usch a nice town," he sighed, walking to the front door to check his locks. The door was bolted in several places, of course, but he started a patrol around the house, checking every door, every window. Methodically checking his security silently as he hung on the phone.
"That's rough. Bet parents are being a lot more careful, these days. Maybe it's one of those 'comes in threes' things," Brian suggested, a little hopefully. "Like celebrity deaths, or something. So this'll be the last of it and we can go back to being a sleepy nothing town again." He'd like that. He expected everyone else would like that, too.
"You know, if that's a positive mental attitude, I'm not sure that I want one," Hunt laughed as he checked a window lock. He could really do with a beer. "Anyway, things'll be okay - they always are. I'll see you Saturday, right?" he checked.
"That's me, mister optimist. Yep, Saturday. If we're lucky, this'll all have blown over by then." Brian sat up to check out the window-- rain looked like it'd stopped, at least for the moment. "I'll talk to you then." He grinned a little and added, "Try to stay dry, man," before hanging up. That was certainly his motto.
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