hold me closer, necromancer

Time was a strange thing. Sometimes, it dragged on so slowly that you would give your right eye for an hour to pass and sometimes it went by so fast that you blinked and a year had gone by. The latter was how Sam had been feeling for a long time. Between business with the Council and just trying to figure himself out, a year and some change had passed.

His house was busier than ever, his life stranger than ever, and his luck crappier than ever but he was still here. His limbs were in one piece, his latest concussion had eased a few weeks ago and the scars on his body were still plentiful but they were just that, scars.

It had been hard to get time to himself. With Brannoc gone, there had been a lot of focus on putting the Council back together and Sam thought they'd done a pretty good job. Brid was helping a lot and while Sam hadn't let himself take the step further than friends, they were extremely close and their relationship was much, much stronger than it had been.

Sam was glad for that.

It was an overcast, rainy day in Seattle but that didn't stop Sam from grabbing his dusty skateboard to head out to the half pipe in the backyard. Taco followed him and took up shop playing with the gnomes in the grass. That would at least save any visitors from being attacked.

Small favors.

[NFB but open for calls/text/etc]

The music room is often where Sam found himself these days. Between Council meetings, Council business and dealing with the weirdness of his estate, the music room was the place he felt most comfortable, most relaxed.

Today, he was spinning something jazzy, letting the dulcet tones of brass instruments and mournful guitars wash over him. Taco was curled up on his lap, snoring in the most adorable way possible. Sam had his phone in one hand, lazily answering a text message here and there to pretend he was still working.

The door was shut and James was under orders not to bother him unless absolutely necessary. So far, no one had tried to get his attention. Sam closed his eyes and sighed.

[NFB but open for the usual things]

"We should put in a pool."

Ramon's words came to Sam's ears and he snorted. Sam was laying on the top of the skate ramp, shirt off and head braced against his skateboard. It was warm but not terribly so. Ramon was nearby, rolling back and forth on his board.

"It doesn't get warm enough here for that," Sam told him, shaking his head. "It'll be a waste of money."

Ramon shook his head even if Sam didn't see it. He knew it was happening. "Come on, imagine the parties, Sam!"

"Are you going to clean the pool?" Sam asked, opening his eyes just the tiniest bit. "Are you going to save the gnomes when one falls in?"

Ramon was silent for a second before coming up with a solution. "We'll hire a lifeguard! James can do it!"

"No, I will not do that," James said. He was down on the lawn, tending to some bushes. Sam was pretty impressed with his range of hearing. "I don't get paid enough for that."

Sam smirked. "Man's right. Look, I'll get you a kiddie pool, Ramon. Will that work?"

"Spoilsport."

Sam grinned.

[NFB but open for the usual things]

Sam was covered in mud. Covered. From head to toe, only the tiniest bits of clean skin or clean fabric peeked through. Beside him, Ramon was similarly caked in mud while Frank trailed behind them, wet and complaining.

Mermaids. The Council had discovered a group of mermaids in a lake nearby and had sent Sam out to talk with them. No one else from the Council had come along as they all had convenient excuses of some sort. Right then and there, Sam should have figured something was up but he hadn't.

The mermaids were beautiful. Ramon made several comments about them eclipsing the mermaids he'd seen in movies which had seemed to please them. Sam had walked closer to the edge of the lake, crouching down to be more on their level when it'd happened.

While one mermaid had been speaking demurely to them, two others had reared up and tugged him into the water, pulling him down to the floor of the river where the mud had happened. They'd done the same thing to Ramon when he'd lunged to help Sam. Frank had stayed back but he'd gotten splashed and soaked when each mermaid in the lake had taken turns flapping their tails at him.

Sam and Ramon had been released with giggles and whoops of laughter and then the mermaids had refused to speak to them further. They were done. Sam and his friends had trudged back to the estate, scowling and glowering.

When they got home, James refused to let them come in and instead directed them behind the house to get hosed off. James just wasn't going to clean up muddy tracks in his house. No sir.

So, with an air of exasperation and anger, Sam waited out back while Ramon used the hose first. What a stupid day.

[NFB but open for the usual things]

Ramon was asleep at the kitchen counter. Sam had spent a few bleary moments just staring at his friend before he'd shaken his head and tossed a blanket over his shoulders. They'd had a Super Bowl party last night and Ramon had a little too much fun, it seemed. There were gnomes around his feet (also asleep) and Sam was just going to leave them alone.

Instead, he quietly grabbed himself some orange juice and took it out front. The garden was in full bloom and meticulously groomed. James's work, no doubt, and Sam made a mental note to thank him. There was no way Sam could ever keep this up. A light drizzle had started to fall, speckling Sam's shirt and pants but he didn't mind.

He took a seat on the front step and stretched his legs out. Everything had been so quiet, so calm lately and he'd gotten used to waking up at peace. He was almost optimistic, even. That was strange. And scary.

But, he was just going to drink his orange juice and go with it.

[nfb but open for texts/calls/visits/whatevs!]

Apparently, they were going to have Thanksgiving at Sam's house. Haley had suggested the idea because of the space and with Sam's large array of interesting friends, it would just be safer and more comfortable. Sam hadn't really argued that much. The house was still clinging to some of the uneasiness that it had come with when it had been in Douglas's possession and he hoped that maybe this would vanquish it.

But, Sam wasn't cooking. He could cook but he wasn't. Instead, he was sitting on the counter in his kitchen, eating an apple and watching Haley get a pie together. James was nearby, glancing over to Haley every once in awhile and pretending he definitely wasn't doing that nope not at all. It amused Sam. Maybe he'd given James the 'if you hurt my sister, I'll kill you' talk just to make him sweat.

Before Sam could entertain that fact further, Haley dumped a bunch of flowers and a basket in his lap.

"Make a centerpiece."

"What's the magic word?" Sam asked.

"Shut up."

"Ding ding!" Sam laughed and went about making the world's worst centerpiece.

[NFB but open for stuff]

Sam didn't tend to have a lot of nightmares anymore but when he did, they were awful. This one had been full of blood, zombies, Brid, Ramon, Frank, his mother, Haley, everyone. The last thing he remembered was seeing his face in a darkened mirror, splattered with blood and grinning in a feral fashion.

Sleep...wasn't going to be happening the rest of the night. The sun hadn't risen yet and the rest of the house was quiet. Sam had stumbled his way down to the music room and put a record on. Door closed, he was able to listen to it without waking everyone and using headphones.

He fell into the seat there and closed his eyes, rubbing at his temple to try and stave off the headache he knew would come. Hadn't had something this bad in awhile. Hopefully it wasn't going to be some harbinger of doom. Everything had been calm and uneventful and Sam wanted that. Craved that.

He didn't care that Ramon got bored or Frank was considering getting a part time job. Sam needed a damn break.

He sighed and rested his head against the back of the chair. His heartbeat was calming and he was starting to feel a little less keyed up. Better. This was better.

[NFB but open for the other stuff, if needed]

Sam was used to water. He lived in freaking Seattle so rain was more likely than sunshine on any given day. But, that didn't mean it should rain inside. Sam's roofs were sound (James made sure to have them checked) and leaks were not a thing that happened in Douglas Montgomery's old estate.

So, the rude awakening of getting ice cold water just dumped all over him while he was asleep was not cool. It soaked him through and through and had him sitting up, looking around for Ramon because he's the only person who'd do that. His bedroom was completely empty though and completely quiet save for the chattering of Sam's lips. It sucked that he'd gone to bed wearing nothing but his shorts and now his skin was goosebumping and he felt himself shivering.

"What the hell?" he mumbled, slogging his way out of bed and watching the carpeting beneath his feet get wet. His bed was a mess of wet sheets and wet quilts and he had no idea how he was going to explain that one to James. Maybe he'd just do the laundry before James discovered it.

"I'm gonna catch a freaking cold," he mumbled mopily, stomping over to his closet and tugging his robe on. It did nothing to dry his soaking wet shorts but it gave him some warmth at least so he could assess the situation. There were ice cubes on the sheets and water dripping from the ends of his quilts onto the carpeting.

"What a mess," he mumbled, peering up at the ceiling for any signs of where the water had come from. He didn't think a ghost would have or could have done something like that but it was definitely something he'd ask Ashley or Brooke about.

Later. After he got cleaned up so Ramon didn't find out about this and tease him about having an accident as an adult. He didn't need that.

[NFB but open for the usual stuff!]

"Do you think we're alone in the universe?"

The question was asked while Sam and Ramon were splayed on their backs in the middle of the half pipe with the night sky above them. Tonight, they could actually see the stars due to a break in the clouds. It was warm and lights were coming from the various lamps that James had installed around the massive backyard.

"What, you mean like aliens?" Sam asked, glancing over at his friend. "You asking me if I believe in little green men?"

Ramon shrugged a shoulder, propping his head up with his skateboard. "They could exist, right? I mean, look what else exists."

Sam couldn't really argue that point considering he could see the gnomes playing what looked like soccer out of the corner of his eyes. Apparently, the Minotaur was playing referee.

"Yeah, but space aliens?" Sam asked, looking back up at the sky. "Wouldn't they have made contact by now?"

"They could be billions of miles away," Ramon pointed out, pointing up at the sky. "Other universes, other whole dimensions and maybe it's just taking them awhile to get here."

Sam pursed his lips and kept looking up at the sky. "You don't think we have enough down here to contend with?"

"You saying you don't want a little alien guy to join the fun?"

Sam groaned and reached over to smack Ramon's stomach. "No. I do not."

Ramon laughed and they both fell quiet again.

[NFB but open for calls/texts/whatever.]

For the most part, things had settled. Sam had physically recovered from the beating he'd taken several weeks ago and the emotional scars were dulled. His mood was lighter, more buoyant than it had been awhile. His friends were alive and well and though Brid was still distant, she'd come around a little more often in the past few weeks than she had been and Sam counted that as a win.

So, Sam was spending today doing something he loved and hadn't done in a long time: skateboarding. The half pipe in the backyard had been sorely lacking his company while he'd been dealing with Brannoc's death and with the reappearance of Douglas. His board had started gathering dust and that just wasn't right.

It was overcast and cool today. The minotaur had somehow found an umbrella and was sitting outside near the half pipe, watching the gnomes make battle plans in the grass. Sam let them be. They weren't hurting anything and the less he knew about battle plans, the better.

Sam jumped on his board and started skating up and down the sloped sides of the half pipe. It felt good, it felt natural. He even cracked a smile or two while he went shooting down the side of the half pipe and up the other.

It felt good to finally feel like things weren't about to crumble. Sam approved.

[NFB but open for calls/texts/visits/other things]

Bridin Blackthorn had spent most of her life surrounded by Alpha males. She was used to the swaggering. The posturing. The jockeying for position. But that didn’t mean she always had patience for it. So when Eric grabbed her shoulder and turned her away from the dome, away from her view of Sam—who had just now been blown back against the edge of the circle—she didn’t even think. She reacted, smacking his hand and pushing him back.

( And Brid is a badass and Sam manages to do some stuff! )

[NFB but open for calls/texts! Follows this. Post 2 of 2. Taken from Necromancing the Stone and just about at the end! Warning for: post length, violence.]

As the group all sat in Sam's kitchen, Sam was pretty sure they were all thinking about the same two things. One, that Sexy Gary, at least whilst under the glamour, was indeed worthy of his moniker. He was all thick-corded muscle, auburn hair, and dimples. Sam could easily imagine him in a hot firemen calendar or a sexy lumberjack photo shoot. Not that he spent a lot of time imagining those things.

( Stupid Sexy Gary! )

[NFB but open for phone calls since there's finally time for him to get a phone call or text, if wanted. Taken from Necromancing the Stone. Warning for: talk of corpses and insults directed towards Keanu Reeves. ]

Douglas had never spent much time in dreamland. In his childhood, sure, but as he’d gotten older, it seemed like his ticket to the place had been revoked.

( Sleep was a dark and static time when nothing happened... )

[NFB, NFI, OOC is cool! Lifted from Necromancing the Stone. Warning for: nothing really objectionable here though long post is long. Taco is cute, Ed is my favorite.]

Douglas ran one hand over a stack of CDs and the other over a row of vinyl. It had to be in here somewhere. He often moved it around, trying not to keep it in one place too long, and he was sure the last place had been the music library inside the duck figurine.

( In which there is some backstory for Douglas... )

[NFB, NFI. Taken from Necromancing the Stone. Warning for: stabbings. Part 1 of 2.]

Douglas shuddered and wasn't sure when he'd last felt like this: relief and elation so strong that his whole body shook with it. Not since his youth, surely. He turned the key and stumbled into his bungalow, one of his many safe houses he'd purchased when the need to lie low arose.

( The room was spotless... )

[NFB, NFI. Lifted and slashed from Necromancing the Stone. Warning for: length, some blood.]

When Sam finally swam back to consciousness, it felt like his brain was wounded and was trying to beat its way out of his skull. There was an awful taste in his mouth and his vision was blurry and stinging.

( And Mrs. W makes an appearance! )

[NFB. Lifted lovingly from Necromancing the Stone. This was a super long chapter but it's one of my favorites. Open, if needed.]

Brid leaned in and kissed Sam solemnly on the cheek. When she leaned back, her face was a mask. "What we need is answers, and we’d like you to help us get them. The pack and I would be eternally grateful.”

( And we continue on being sad today... )

[NFB. Part 2 of 2. Cut and slashed from Necromancing the Stone. Warning for: post length, vomit. Open, but if you want to talk to Sam, you're probably going to get one of his friends at this point due to him being sick.]

Douglas was peering at the coin in James' hand. The coin was attached to a heavy, braided cord that was stained with age and had supposedly once been a hangman's cord. It was the first real thing he'd been able to examine closely since waking up in this state of limbo. James had been his only visitor and Douglas was sincerely hoping this item would mean he could fix both of those issues very soon.

( And the canon continues on... )

[NFB. Lifted, paraphrased and buzzed from Necromancing the Stone. Warning for: post length and Douglas's general creepiness. Open, if needed.]