An Unpleasant Call

Who: Doc and Eva
When: Evening
Where: Via phone

With dinner cooked, eaten, and cleaned up after, Eva was free to make the call she'd been half-putting off all day. Not really consciously, but it seemed like there was always something to do. Until, of course, there was nothing else to do. The house had been cleaned, mirrors and broken windows replaced, everything set to rights. Everything except, of course, the issues between she and Doc.

Eventually, however, she had to get things cleared up, one way or another, and she wanted to know how he was doing in the wake of the shadows attacking. He hadn't said anything about her firearm; she wasn't sure what to make of that. With a glass of wine, cigarette, and phone, Eva made her way onto her back porch and took a seat, enjoying the cool night air. Dialing Doc's number, she held the phone between her shoulder and ear and lit the cigarette as she listened to it ring.

Doc's work had resumed once dinner with the twins was done; there was still a mountain to do, after all. At the time Eva was dialing his number he was busily twisting wires together, feeding them into a separate breaker panel that wasn't active yet. Soon, he mused, following the feed back. Distinct wiring was important, he never knew if he'd need to run this place on a generator or isolate it from the house.

Unfortunately, and he chided himself for ever thinking it could be otherwise, Doc was a man who was prone to interruptions. Duty, children, firefights, there were plenty of things that found ways to butt into Doc's personal projects. And while a phonecall seemed like a mundane-enough disturbance, Doc knew it was anything but as he saw the caller. His last talk with Syn had given him perspective to help fuel his patient hopes, at least. Doc wanted things to work out to at least a non-hostile level, but there were plenty of cases in his life to show him that not everything worked out how one wanted.

"Martens," he answered after a moment, holding the phone between his ear and shoulder and setting his wire strippers down.

"You sound well," Eva said in greeting. "I hope that's the case." She didn't think she'd need to introduce herself; after all, how many women of his acquaintance had Italian accents? And, of course, there was always caller ID. She took a drag from her cigarette, holding the smoke for a long moment and trying to relax some of the tension in her shoulders as she exhaled. "I hope I am not interrupting; I wanted to call and make sure there had been no resurgence of attacks or anything of the like."

"Doing alright," Doc assured her with a testing roll of his shoulder. The claw marks were still there but healing fast, a blessing of his demonic side, and Doc had hardly felt them after the first day. "Everything's been quiet here, yeah. A little cleaning up, some future planning if this sort of thing happens again, and we're back to life as usual. Everything alright on your end?" he asked, a note of genuine concern in his tone. Eva was strong, but Doc knew that every incident plunging her farther into the strange side of life could potentially be overwhelming.

"Everything is repaired and put back to rights," Eva said easily. "All I suffered was a few broken mirrors, after all. Simple, really. I trust your children are well, also?" She had a few questions with regards to them, but she wanted to spend what time she could on the pleasantries. There would likely be a few unpleasant things she'd need to bring up at some point - she wanted to enjoy the parts of the call that she could.

"They're both fine, yeah," he answered, smiling slightly. The twins were, in large part, the reason they'd all survived the attacks so well. Seph and Syn had a working plan in place by the time Doc had gotten back home, and they'd adapted it to fit the others he brought with him. If he hadn't already told them half a dozen times by now, he would've gone inside in that moment to tell them how proud he was. "Don't suppose you've happened to see Eddie around town, have you? I sorta wanted to keep an eye on him."

"No, I'm afraid not," Eva said, regret coloring her voice. "I don't suppose you have a general area where he might be found? I could certainly keep my eyes open. I trust your other guests made it home safely? Kurt and Natalya?" It had been a bit of a surprise to see the German there, but she supposed that was the way it worked in small towns. Everyone knew everyone else.

"They're fine as far as I know, too," Doc answered again, "Kurt'd get in touch with me if there was more trouble. As for Eddie, I ran into him around Harlow Park, but there's no guarantee he'd be there now." Doc knew details about the young man, after all; knew about his transient nature and the habit he had to feed. Facts like that meant he'd be hard to just find. "Just keep an eye out for him, I know the kids told him we'd help if he needed anything."

"I'll make sure to keep watch," Eva promised. She paused then, taking a sip of her wine for courage and as a mild stalling tactic. "From the atmosphere in your home the other day," she began in neutral tones, "whenever I happened upon your children, I gather they are aware of what happened with regards to the cave and the jewelry?" It was a question, though she knew the answer. She supposed she was just looking for confirmation; she hadn't known until then if Doc would have told them or not.

Sighing quietly, Doc moved to lean against the new work bench he'd put in, head hanging a bit. "They were here when I came home that day, Eva. They cleaned me up, took care of things while I... sorted some stuff out." He wasn't about to bring up the phantom state he'd been trapped in; she'd shoulder the guilt for it, and Doc didn't want that. He'd made the choice to exert himself, after all, and had done it knowing there would be consequences. "Yeah, they know."

"I suppose I should have assumed they would know," Eva said, sounding regretful. "Either if told or by finding out on their own." She took a drag, feeling guilt like a tight ball in the pit of her stomach. "I hope it would not be overstepping my bounds to ask forgiveness of them, as well," she continued, "though if you prefer that I stay away, I will respect your wishes." She wouldn't want to; it wouldn't be right to let things sit unresolved between them, but she could understand any reluctance he might have to allow her near the twins.

"Not my place to say, either way," Doc replied with a little smirk. "They're old enough to make their own choices, so are you. Gotta warn you, though, it won't be a warm reception. And before you do, you need to be sure of something..." He sighed again, fumbling out a cigarette and lighting up. "When you had the jewelry, are you positive you didn't hurt anyone? Didn't go out some night and cross someone's path?"

"I did say ask," Eva told him, dryly amused in spite of the guilt she felt. "I do not presume to assume it will be given." Her smile faded at his next question and she shook her head, realizing a moment later that he wouldn't see it. "No," she said. "The worse it became, the stronger the urge was to hide, seclude myself. I stayed away from people." There had been the blackouts, but she'd always woken up in her own home, the locks on the doors and windows intact. She couldn't have hurt anyone.

He listened wordlessly, striving to really believe what she was saying. Doc wanted to think he could take all of that at face value, but Syn's talk leapt to the front of his mind again. How well did they know each other? If he'd hidden so much of himself, couldn't she have done the same? Faith, Doc mentally chided himself, holding back from passing any form of judgment in the moment. "That'll go a long way, I think," he said at last, "But like I said, be ready to be yelled at. Seph's sharp as a tack, and Syn has this way of making you feel like you're five years old and being scolded. Past that, you're free to track them down whenever you feel like it."

"And what of us?" Eva asked quietly, absently swirling the wine in her glass, watching the light from the window catch the liquid. "I am aware that there is a great deal left unresolved."

Doc had no answer for that, pulling on his cigarette and listening to the near-inaudible crackle of tobacco burning down. "That's the question, isn't it?" he echoed lamely, shaking his head at himself. "I wish I had an answer, but I don't think it's time for one yet. However it goes when you talk with the twins, we'll have a chance to try and resolve as much as we can. But for now? Try not to dwell on it, I'm nowhere near important enough to stake a claim in your thoughts, Eva." And for his part, Doc would do his best to take his own advice. He'd bury himself in this project, his tasks as War, and whatever else he could until that moment came. "We'll have our time to say whatever we want to say, and I promise it won't be on the phone."

Try not to dwell on it. That hurt, as much as Eva tried to lessen the impact. She took a steadying breath, nodding again to herself. "I'm afraid you may be underestimating your importance," she said simply, stubbing out the remains of her cigarette as it threatened to burn her fingertips. "Take care of yourself, Doc," she added quietly with a soft sigh, a note of finality in her voice. Though she hoped they weren't done, she though it was safe to assume that the conversation was. "If you need me again, please don't hesitate to call."

"I hope I'll just be able to talk to you in person instead," Doc replied, wincing a touch at the brevity of Eva's farewell. He hadn't meant the sentiment to touch a nerve, but obviously it had. Am I ever going to get better at this? "But I will." He didn't like the way it sounded when she called him Doc, had actually grown accustomed to the sound of his own name coming from her lips... but he'd put himself in this spot. "I miss you, Eva," he added before he could talk himself out of it, "I'll talk to you soon." Work. I need something to work on.

"You are always welcome here," Eva reminded him, something in her softening at his admission. "I miss you, as well." The temptation to put up her own walls was there, of course; she wasn't a woman who often risked her emotions in this way. But with Doc as cautious as he was, one of them had to be willing to put themselves out there, so to speak, and she was determined that this gap wouldn't remain unbridged because of lack of effort on her part. "Good night."