Leaving Times Three

Who: Corwin and Ivan
Where: Ivan's house
When: Not too long after sunset

Though he was still nervous, and still glancing around him ever time the van wasn't in motion, Corwin felt... a little bit better about everything. Delilah was coming with him. She'd be safe, he'd be able to look after her, and he didn't have to leave her behind. He swung by Shannon's house to pick up his drawing, tucking it safely away for Eric to see when he came back, but then he had another person he really needed to say goodbye to in person: Ivan.

Corwin pulled the van to a stop in front of Ivan's house, but again, he took a long moment to look around suspiciously before he got out and hurried up to knock. He was pretty sure Ivan would be home; someone with that many stitches wasn't going to be out and about much.

Ivan was asleep on his couch with the television on, all the other lights off and allowing a light blueish light from the monitor to show through the window next to the door. Startled by the knocking, Ivan eased up from the couch, wincing a little to the movement and slight jarring of his stitches, and walked to the door. Lucius wasn't there, which struck Ivan as a little weird, as the man said he'd stay with him for a little. He was probably with Marlowe or something... figures.

Opening the door, Ivan poked his sleepy head out and smiled brightly at Corwin, though a bit tiredly in his eyes. "Corwin.. hey.." he said softly, his voice a little ragged from sleep, "What's going on? Come in, come in..." He stood back from the door and watched the taller man with a smile. The feeling that something was wrong got to him and his smile slowly started to fade.

Taking the invitation gladly, Corwin stepped inside, and made sure to get the door shut behind him. Just in case. Then he pulled the scarf hiding his face back down, so they could actually converse. "Hullo... how're you doing?Feeling okay? Healing up some, under all those?" He could see stitches, even in the dim light-- Corwin had pretty excellent night-vision, by necessity.

"..A little achy... but I'm healing, yeah..." Sitting down, Ivan patted the cushion of the couch next to him for Corwin to sit. His smile returned, if only a little, "What brings you to my little corner of the town?" Ivan still couldn't help but feel something was wrong, "...Did something happen..?"

"Well, kind of, yes," Corwin hedged, coming to sit beside him a little awkwardly. "Ivan, I've got some-- erm, bad news." Really bad, he was afraid. He wasn't at all sure how Ivan would take this.... He took a breath to brace himself, unnecessary though it was, and just spit it out: "I have to leave town. A hunter found me-- someone who specializes in-- in killing people like me. I can't stay."

Ivan's smile almost immediately dropped, and his eyes were stuck on Corwin's. A feeling of lonely dread filled his now barely moving chest and he felt his eyes slowly but surely becoming sting-y and wet, "What do you mean...? You're leaving..? ..and.. not.. coming back...?" It was all Ivan could do to keep from panicking. He was losing another friend--only this one wasn't dying, but the end result was just the same. "No.. no, you can't... you can't leave... not now..." he said quietly, shaking his head slowly as stray tears lined his cheeks.

Oh, god. Corwin knew he'd take it badly. Trying to keep his own stirrings of "what do I do?" style panic down, Corwin brought his hands to Ivan's shoulders. "I don't know. Ivan, I can't stay-- I got shot this morning, and I-- I don't want to die. Again. And I don't want to put the people around me in danger, either...." He didn't know if he'd come back. At this point, probably not, and he wasn't sure whether saying that would hurt or help-- probably hurt. "I'll still be-- I have email, still. And I can give you my phone number."

Ivan was beginning to feel a certain separation anxiety start to form in his belly. It was all so hard for him to comprehend, for him to believe. His only actual friend in this entire town in seven years was leaving? And just leaving an email and phone number? That wouldn't be enough, no, not for Ivan. It was selfish of him, but after all he had gone through, he felt he deserved to be a little selfish. "No.. but--but why...? You... no, please.." Ivan's blabbering was incomprehensible, overwhelmed by panic, "You can't.. you can't leave me..." Ivan latched onto Corwin like a frightened child, "..You.. you said you wouldn't abandon me..."

"I did promise," Corwin whispered, remembering, as he automatically put his arms around Ivan as comfortingly as he can. But he had to leave. He had to leave. He didn't want to die all over again, for good this time. And Delilah was coming with him, he had to get her someplace safe.

... Delilah was coming with him. Hrm.

"Ivan, shh. Listen to me," he soothed, trying to still the babbling and get him to pay attention rather than just react.

Burying his face into Corwin's chest, Ivan trembled to the arms wrapping around him, "Please don't leave me alone..." Clinging to Corwin as if all possibly life depended on it, Ivan hushed his sniffing and rose his head, blue, reddened eyes locking onto Corwin's. He sniffled a little bit, raising an arm to lightly rub at his nose with his wrist. He was listening... so definitely listening.

Hardly able to believe he was saying this-- he was never this impulsive, not really, certainly not before he came to Marquette-- but seeing no other way for this to end well, Corwin licked at a fang and asked, "How attached are you to Marquette?"

Ivan listed his other arm to lightly wipe at tears on his face, sniffling a little before quietly answering, "Not very... I hate this place..."

Corwin shut his eyes a moment and told himself that it was for the best. He'd be safe. His family would take Ivan in as if he were one of their own, if they didn't make him one of their own... and he'd have to warn them not to do so without permission.... But there was a small part of him that was being childishly surly about Ivan tagging along with him and Delilah.

And that is an unworthy thought, Corwin told himself firmly, and opened his eyes to look back down at Ivan. "I don't have a lot of room left in my van, but if we can pack your things light, and quickly... you can come with me. If you can stand being in a van with my dog for as long as it will take to get home."

It took Ivan a little bit to establish what exactly he was hearing. He didn't want it to be a dream, but also felt it was a little too good to be true. After a little while, Ivan nodded slowly, looking into Corwin's eyes, "Yeah.. yeah... I won't mind..." He wanted to get used to dogs, but that was besides the point. Corwin was giving Ivan an offer he couldn't possibly refuse.

Corwin smiled a bit and gave Ivan's hands a pat. "Come on. Let's see what all we can fit in my van." Along with Delilah's bags. And an extra person he didn't actually have a seat belt for. This was going to be tricky, but he'd make it work. He even grinned a bit more at the thought, "You can meet my sire. And sister. I bet you'd like my sister." And they'd have to make some limits to biting, but he could work that out with his family later.

"I don't have a whole lot of stuff..." he said quietly, looking back over his shoulder towards the hallway that lead to his room and the backroom. The hidden basement beneath his kitchen had a lot of stuff underneath, mainly pre-cut wood and Masonite, nails, a hammer and pre-stretched canvas--stuff he'd probably be better off selling. The massive canvases in his backroom were obviously out of the question, but he could easily sell those on eBay. Okay, so he did have a lot of stuff. He could sell it for some nice billfold-change. Standing, he wiped at his eyes once more before turning into his backroom.

The canvas he was set on keeping was the one with the portraiture sketch of Silent Hill's God, in all of her glory, on it in light pencil marks. The linseed oil and paints were already in a ziplock bag, as well as a small cantine of turpentine and the brushes. He had very few outfits, too... most of his stuff he could easily pack into the small gym bag down beneath the kitchen. His laptop was also in its special case, which he could put some smaller things in too. Looking at Corwin, he wandered into the kitchen, "..I'll be right back..." With that, he lowered behind the counter in front of a small door. Opening it, he slipped inside and slid down the dirt slope into his basement.

Corwin had started to follow, but at the "I'll be right back" he realized he probably wasn't welcome to follow, so he stopped in the middle of the living room. "Ah-- all right. Let me know if you need me to help with anything." He was, after all, a lot stronger than Ivan... and healthier. Aside from the being dead part.

Ivan wandered around in the darkness, bumping a bit into wood piles and racks of stretch canvas with a few "Ow"'s here and there before he grabbed his gym bag, covered in dust and cob web. Going back to the hill, he tossed the bag up through the small door before hauling himself up, grunting with effort and physical pain before he was able to worm himself up back into the kitchen, covered in dust and dirt with a few splinters in his arms. With a cough and a sneeze, Ivan went back to Corwin and wiped dust from his shirt before smiling sheepishly up at the taller man, "Dusty down there..."

With that, he went into his room, inviting Corwin to follow him before he started gingerly putting what clothes he had, neatly folded of course, into the bag. Once that was done, he put in the baggies of linseed oil and other paint supplies, as well as other daily essentials, including the blankets Corwin had bought for him and his pillow. With just his gym bag full and his laptop case and the lone canvas, he looked up at Corwin as if for approval.

The sounds of pain made Corwin come in, anyway, giving Ivan what help the rest of the way up he could give, up to and including simply pulling Ivan up the rest of the way, himself, if it looked like he needed to and Ivan would let him. He watched the packing, already working on how he could fit what, where. The canvas could go anywhere, the laptop case the same. The gym bag... he was pretty sure he had room on top of the box of his clothes. He nodded the desired approval. "Good. Do you need to-- call anyone?" He knew Ivan had at least one friend in town.

Ivan looked down at the floor and shook his head slowly, thinking, "My phone was destroyed," he said softly, making an emphasis on the 'dee' sound of the word, "I'll leave him a note though... In case he comes over tomorrow... He's supposed to be here now.. but he's not... so I can just write him up a note.. telling him where I've gone..." Ivan silently doubted the other would miss him much. After all the drama he basically cased him and his... girlfriend.

"Let's do that." Corwin thought that Ivan's friend would probably want some way to contact him, though, so he suggested, "And we'll leave my home phone number and your email address, just in case he wants to contact you later. Is there paper and something to write with around here?" Ivan would have to write it, of course. Corwin and paper didn't really get along.

Ivan nodded a little to the suggestion, setting his luggage down onto the floor before going back into his room and grabbing a piece of scrap paper laying on the floor. With a charcoal pencil, he wrote Lucius a note, leaving his email address and looking to Corwin for the phone number, scribbling it down as it was relayed to him. He left it on the couch and backed away from it, "..He'll find it there.. Can leave the door unlocked so that he doesn't have to break it down again to get in... he's broken a lot of my stuff..." he said that last part matter-of-factly. Looking up to Corwin, Ivan said quietly, "..Ready to go then?"

"Ready to go," Corwin said with a little smile, and pulled his scarf back up before going to heft up Ivan's gym bag and laptop case, leaving the comparatively light canvas for him to carry. "We, er... have to go pick up my other friend, Delilah. Just... so you know. We'll have company in the van that isn't my cats or Kirk." Or Alexi, Delilah's dog. This was going to be fun.

Before they headed out to Corwin's van, Ivan ran quickly back into his room to grab the antique sabre of his ancestor, careful to sheathe and secure the blade before bringing it with him. Out of everything he had to leave behind, one of them was not going to be his ancestor's war sabre. "I would like to meet her..." he said softly with a smile, "I don't mind." With that, he waited for Corwin to put in his things before seeing about crawling in himself.

Corwin loaded everything into the back, gently pushing cats and Kirk out of the way to do so. He was pretty sure he'd managed to get everything in with room to spare for another person, another dog, and a few more bags... it'd be tight, but he thought they'd make it. Coming around the front, he climbed into the driver's seat and turned on the engine. And quickly turned off the music, Offspring, before it killed anyone's eardrums. He'd have to find quieter music once Delilah got in. "All right," he said bracingly as one of the cats climbed into his lap. "And away we go."