genessia | [Audio] First Contact

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[Audio] First Contact

[There's nothing but the sound of breathing at first. Distant, echoing sounds of traffic and civilization. Almost as if he were in an alley, halfway up a fire escape. Something that might be the sound of someone wetting their lips.]

Hi.

[A space then, where the thought of a laugh might fill it but nothing does.]

I'm Glenn. I-

[There's a noise, almost disbelieving.]

So this... It's some kind of purgatory, right? I know there was information. Something about...spirits, and kidnapping? Only I'm not sure how kidnapping works exactly if you're already dead. Never been good at all of that religious stuff.

[A pause, and then a sigh.]

So am I close? I just know there's no way I'm alive. Trust me on that one. Anyway, this place... It isn't even touched. No way a real city looks like this. Maybe the...message when I got out of that thing had more information. I didn't pay it much attention.

I was kind of waiting for her to tell me I was her only hope.

[Glenn takes a deep breath, more purposeful this time. He sounds more certain, when he speaks again.]

I guess this is my way of saying that I'm looking for answers. If anyone's got them.

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Okay, it's okay- [His own voice sounded thick in his throat now, and if Maggie said she wasn't dead he would believe it, however little sense it made to him just then. He'd believe anything, if it was for her. If it would help stop the sobs that were tearing at his heart.]

Park. [He tried to remember, and he could have sworn he had seen it but his heart was beating too fast in his chest.] I'm coming. Okay Maggie? Just stay there.

[The sounds of traffic, of civilization are louder. There's a distant sound as he grabs a passerby, asks with the smartphone away from his ear.]

The park which way is the park? Please! Thank you!

"They said this place just- it just takes people, not because they're dead, just because, nobody knows why." She was rambling, a little, between sobs, curling up on the bench a little, knees pulled up to her chest, head down with her forehead on her knees, her phone that had been on her lap now cradled between her thigh and her stomach. "It's safe here, there's no walkers, there's no-" She cut herself off, bit her lip hard enough to taste blood. She wouldn't mention that, she wouldn't mention it. If he didn't know that was better for him. He didn't need to know.

No what?

[Glenn was breathing harder as he ran, not focused on technique, or on anything but his destination. The park. Maggie. Who was here and not dead, in some place that gave the dead second chances, some place free of walkers. It sounded like a dream. Like any second now he was going to wake up, and the bat was going to come down again. Just let me hold her first, just one more time. Let me make sure she's okay.]

I see the park. I'm almost there. I'm almost there.

Edited 2017-09-28 15:21 (UTC)

"Saviors." Maggie's tone was somewhere between a sob and a curse. She said it like, once prompted, she couldn't get the word out of her mouth fast enough.

When he said that he was close, that he could see it, she forced her body to move, unfolding from her cramped position on the bench and standing unsteadily, wiping at her face with the hand that hadn't grabbed her phone as she rose. Looking for him.

[Saviors - of course. He wasn't sure why he hadn't filled in the blanks himself. It was just another thing to make this place almost too perfect. Glenn swallowed hard, pumping his legs harder yet once he'd actually gotten into the park, harder still when he caught sight of what had to be her.]

Maggie. I see you.

[He didn't stop, didn't slow, dropping the phone into the grass when he was only feet away, and rushing forward for an embrace - half-smiling like he couldn't believe yet whether he should be.]

Maggie let her own phone fall into the grass when she moved forward, steps halting, not as quick, but pulling him into the embrace all the same, tight, desperate, her fingers pushing into his shirt and back. She was crying again, and let herself be weak enough, briefly, to bury her face in his shoulder, clutching close before she finally let go just enough to look at him, choking, "You're really here."

[Glenn wrapped his arms around her as tightly as he dared, burying his face into her hair and inhaling. Eyes squeezed shut against the warmth of escaping tears, the sob of his own catching in his throat even as he smiled. It was real, it had to be. There was a moment before he could speak, pulling away just enough to look at her, press his forehead against hers, eyes shining.]

I told you I'd find you.

Edited 2017-09-28 16:19 (UTC)

He said that, and suddenly she couldn't breathe, looking at him. It took a moment, too long, for the sob caught in her throat to find it's way out, and she was almost smiling, crying at the same time. "You did," she said, finally, curling her hand in the fabric of his shirt like she needed to hold on or else she'd fall apart. She probably would.

It was impossible. It should have been impossible. Glenn was dead. Negan had killed him. This should have been impossible. But he was here, warm in her arms, real, and she thought she would burst from all the feelings inside of her. She had too many tears to cry, too many words to say. He was here.

[Glenn pulled her back more firmly into the embrace, looser this time, and with his hand raised to her hair, stroking it. Hiding a new stream of tears down his face from the knot of emotions hanging in his chest.]

Shh. Shh, I've got you.

[There was an attempt being made, to keep his voice calm, but it didn't do as well as he knew some of the others could have. Not that it mattered. What mattered was them, there.]

I'm never letting go of you again.

"Don't," she said, her voice shattered, breathy from crying. "Don't." She couldn't say if she was telling him not to let go of her, or not to promise not to; The conflicting emotions were making it harder to stop crying, harder to think. Instead of saying anything else, she let him hold her, held on to him, leaning her forehead into the crook between his neck and his shoulder, trying to remember how to breathe.

When she thought she could handle speech, she mumbled, "I didn't think you would come. I didn't think anybody else would.." Her voice warbled, uncertain and still hoarse from crying.

Okay. Anything. [The whispers were a platitude, a promise made open-ended since he couldn't quite tell what it was she wanted. He let her, more than satisfied to stand like that. To wait while they both tried to recover, catch their breath.]

How long were you here? It can't have been long, I... [I saw you, when... he almost started to say but didn't. But maybe things didn't work like that here.] And, more importantly, are you okay?

"I don't know. A few days," she said it quietly, and she was almost out of sobs but she didn't know how to look up, to disengage. She couldn't. Part of her didn't ever want him to let go. "I'm- I'm okay. It's just. It's just been a long.. a long couple of days." Her voice shook at the end, like she was trying to pitch her voice up, to sound more okay, but it failed, ended up sounding more like crying again.

It had been weeks. But she couldn't say that, how could she tell him that? How could she tell him that she'd buried him, weeks ago, at the Hilltop? She couldn't. She couldn't imagine how to even begin.

Edited 2017-09-28 16:51 (UTC)

I'm sorry. [Glenn tells her, softly, not sure what exactly it is he's apologizing for. For dying? For taking so long to get there? Days, she'd said, but days weren't really days when they were apart. They always felt like more. He knew that, but then... They had both known the other was alive this time. Had argued doggedly, found each other. This was different. He couldn't imagine their positions being reversed. Couldn't imagine that the world would keep turning if Maggie died.

But he nodded, almost distractedly, small movements so he didn't disturb her.]

When you go here. How long had it been, since...well. [He hadn't intended to ask.] It's just...your hair. It looks a little different again. [Not that he'd ever gotten a good look.]

She shook her head, just a little, and didn't realize that her hands were shaking again. "What do you remember?" she asked, trying and failing to keep her voice even. She didn't know how to do this, how to talk around this, how to handle it. How to tell him that he'd died, that the world had folded in on itself, that she had kept living with a hole in her heart.

I know that I died. [He had mentioned that he thought, in the message he'd sent out. He debated, for a moment, telling her a white lie. Claiming that the whole thing was a blur. Some of it was vague, was an addled mess but for the most part... Yeah, he wasn't going to lie to her.]

I remember most of it pretty well - but I'm okay. [He added that quickly.] Not a scratch. You can check later, if you want. [And only from him could that come off as a simple promise, an offer, lacking in ulterior motives.] Then I just...woke up again. Here, in that weird pod thing.

[He couldn't shrug from where he was, not really, but he tried.]

Now...tell me he stopped after me. That no one else- [His throat caught and he took a breath, the corner of his mouth quirking up unintentionally.] Died. Tell me Daryl isn't trying to blame himself for it.

He knew. That was.. Maggie couldn't tell if it was a relief or a horror. She swallowed more tears, nodding slightly, loosening her hold on him just a little bit as she told him, "No one else from our group. I don't- I don't know about Daryl. We got separated, after.. we found each other again, though. Before I came here." It felt jumbled up in her mind, like a lot of her memories the last few years. Like she had too much to remember, too many feelings about those memories to keep track of it all.

[No one after him. That... That was something. Probably about all he could ask for there. Glenn moved enough that he could tilt Maggie's face to meet his.]

Okay. I didn't know. Probably I shouldn't have asked. [He gave her a little attempt at a smile, some kind of apology.] Maybe we'll all end up here. If the two of us did anything's possible, right?

"Maybe." The thought should have given her hope, but she felt like her heart had too much in it already to feel anything else. "Maybe we will," she said anyway, quiet, before she took advantage of their closeness to kiss him, like the world depended on it. To her, it just about did.

[There was no hesitation in the returned kiss, soft but firm. It was everything that Glenn had needed to make everything else just...vanish. Just for a minute. He held the kiss as long as she was willing, a hand sliding to cup her face.

Words? Who needed words?]

Within the kiss, Maggie held on to Glenn more tightly again, clinging to him and the kiss for as long as she could. When they parted, she kept her eyes on his. "I can't believe you're here," she admitted, voice soft. "I never thought.."

Would've been a little crazy to, wouldn't it?

[His voice was soft, just a hint teasing. But more than anything what was coming through his words was fondness. Relief.]

...you know, I don't think I even really care what this place is anymore?

She smiled, just a little, just faintly, her eyes still red from crying, her voice still hoarse from it. "Me either." He was here - what else mattered? In this moment, at this time.. Glenn was here and she didn't care about anything else. "I'm just.. happy you're here." Her voice shook a little on the last word, but she didn't start crying again. A small victory for composure.

Me too. I'm happy that... That we're here.

[Glenn moved carefully to raise both hands to her face, brushing damp trails from under her eyes with the pads of his thumbs. Gentle as a feather. And then he kissed her again, briefly, just for good measure.]

She nodded slightly, only a tiny movement, after the kiss. She was almost at a loss for words, just looking at him, feeling him there, being with him. It was unimaginable. Finally, she glanced down a little, focusing on his shoulder, hoping it would let her keep her voice steady if she didn't look him in the eye, and said, "You're.. you're gonna need a job." It was a joke, really. She didn't care what happened as long as they were together. But she had to say something.

[He laughed, small and quiet but there. A smile tugged on his lips all the same.]

A job. [Glenn echoed. The concept was...foreign.] I guess there's not much of a need for professional scavengers here, huh? [He swallowed, shaking his head and giving her a little shrug.] Worst comes to worst... they've gotta have pizza, right?

[Audio] First Contact

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