III. (open-ish) i said i've been through a lot of noise

[oorah]

featuring: hotdog & his (close) cr
what's happening? frank is suffering from vaccine side-effects and has been ordered to go to the clinic to take care of it; meanttime max has arrived! and just undergone debarking surgery.
day: march 1 (night) & march 2 all day
content warnings: sick man, sick dog, the whine (not)heard round the world.
notes: if it's feasible that frank or micro would have told your character where he is, then feel free to show up. or if you are sick maybe you are unlucky enough to encounter this jerkbutt. hit me up if you want something specific!

march 1

[ after frank gifted jessica a lovely murder basket, she suspects he isn't feeling himself (joke's on her tbh.) since only just injecting him with the experimental drug that would (with any luck at all) make him immune to kilgrave's powers, she assumes frank's weird behavior is a side effect and sends him to the clinic to get checked out. after akira puts him on bedrest, he's open to visitors, and of course the first person he wants to see isn't a person at all. he texts hawkeye and micro furiously: ] bring me my fucking dog, you assholes.

[ okay, so he might be a little testy. once a sleepy max just out of surgery is brought to the clinic, too, the dog will lay at the foot of his bed, alternating between lazily guarding and even lazier dozing. frank hates being stationary. he hates feeling useless. the aches and pains are taking a toll on him, but not as much as the rising tide of frustration and irritability. even if he's usually not a chill guy by a landslide, today he's especially twitchy. he'll likely be up long into the night fantasizing different and creative ways to make kilgrave hurt. oh, hi kids. didn't see you there. ]

march 2

[ frank hasn't slept much. between the fever and refusing to take anything stronger than aspirin, he's sweating and out of it, an angry red rash climbing steadily up the back of his neck to peek out of his black jumpsuit collar. the blankets are on his feet, but he keeps kicking them off. he hates being sick, and he knows he's a terrible patient besides. maria always used to scold him for acting like a child; or worse than their actual children since they took being sick like a champ, just happy for the day away from school. he could endure torture and pain aplenty, max the dog had witnessed both first-hand. he lived in bunkers buried in the sand and traveled to countries that were just holes in the ground, but a little fever and nausea and he's ready to die. every time a cold shiver wracks his spine, he wishes for it even; picturing the bullet in his skull. the doctors telling him a shift in millimeter increment would have killed him. should have, even the way it is.

max is on the floor now, his big block head peeking out from underneath the cot. he watches the door, alerting frank to any new arrival with a tiny growl before shutting his eyes again. the noise little more than a rattly rumble from the dog's barrel chest. the message is clear: you take this one, dad. i'll get the next. ]

Comments

[oorah]

[ whatever akira gave him earlier made frank feel good. and he's drifting in and out of a nap when david comes by. he swallows past the dryness in his throat and tries to sit up, rubbing silt out of his eyes. it's convenient having a greeter, he doesn't have to worry about anyone paying him unwanted attention with max here now.

the dog recognizes david instantly as one of the men who helped him when he got here and he puts a paw up on his knee while accepting the pats with a wide smile. frank signs to the dog absentmindedly, speaking the word softly at the same time so he might understand. ] Off. [ max immediately listens, putting all four feet back on the floor and sitting pretty. frank nods his approval, signing Good boy before his tired gaze slides over to david at last. ]

[gaits]

[ max goes back down and david drops a kiss onto his furry head before sitting next to frank on the cot. frank looks a little better than he did the previous night, but there's still worry that lingers in his gaze as he slowly signs the word sleep and then makes an okay sign.

sleep okay? ]

[oorah]

[ he hates when micro looks at him like that. he shrugs a shoulder noncommittally. he hadn't really slept for more than collections of minutes at a time, his fever hanging on. frank reaches out suddenly, gripping david's knee. he kept seeing him here even after he'd left, hallucinations are fun aren't they? his expression is clear. stay. ]

[gaits]

[ get ready for more because he hasn't stopped looking at frank like this since after the kilgrave debacle. david doesn't expect an actual answer, but he takes the shrug anyway with a nod, leaning over to grab something from the basket. it's one of the rose bottles he'd saved and washed out, now filled with water instead when he offers it to frank.

but something eases in his expression, his own hand lifting to cover frank's on his knee and giving it a small squeeze before shoving it off gently. yeah i'll stay, dick. ]

[oorah]

[ he shoots david a put-upon look, but moves to accept the bottle with the same hand the other man had pushed away. he takes a swig, and then closes his eyes as it threatens to come back up. he tries a smaller sip after that, letting out a slow breath when he manages that. frank hands the bottle back and goes for his device, thinking of his hallucination of jess-- except. she had never come in. and max had growled like he'd seen someone. had she really come by? his nose wrinkles, typing a quick message to david. ] have you seen jess?

[gaits]

Not really, no.

[ he doesn't really know how to approach her after everything that happened, even though a part of him feels like he should try to thank her. but on the same vein, he also feels like she'd rather drink than listen to him fumble with his words, so. ]

Need to tell her something?

[oorah]

[ he lets out a breath and leans back against the bedframe, shaking his head and waving his hand like fuggettaboutit - it doesn't matter anyway. jess and he always eventually cross paths again. ]

i think i've said enough already. how are you holding up?

[gaits]

I don't mind playing messenger
Just this once.

[ awkwardly offers to wingman????? anyway. the dark circles beneath david's eyes probably do a better job of answering that question, but he shrugs too. ]

I'm alright.

[ alright as he can be in this place. ]

I got some chamomile tea. My drone too.

[oorah]

[ the offer feels weird, though he isn't sure why. everything's felt weird since kilgrave scrambled shit up inside his head. but he thinks this is unrelated. the fever isn't helping him get to the bottom of it either way, so he skips it for now. ]

you and your fucking tea [ he nudges david's leg with his foot, shaking his head. he got a veritable haul of goodies, but only one matters to him now. ]

i talked the natives into letting us have a warehouse. thought we could rig up some holding cells.

[gaits]

No one's saying you gotta have any.

[ more for him anyway!! the holding cells idea makes him pause, though, and he thinks it over before replying. ]

Yeah, it'd be a good idea.
If I can get my hands on some cameras I could probably hook something up too.

[oorah]

i got more coffee. and coffee plants for our garden.

[ yeah that's right. they've got a garden. fuck off. ]

knew you'd have the rest of the plan before i even got the first nail in the place. that's what you can tell jess, she'll know how to hold that dick for brains.

[gaits]

"Our" garden?
Don't I get a say in this?

[ he's grinning even as he says it, shaking his head a little. ]

Alright
Doubt we'll have it ready before the new wave of arrivals, but it's good to get it started now at least
Just in case we get another psychotic dickbag

[oorah]

not a single one.

[ insert smug smile here. ]

let's sure fucking hope not.
i don't know about you but i've hit my quota

[gaits]

I hit my quota before I even got here.

[ david's shoulders slump, drooping in on himself. he's tired. he's so tired, but there's no time to stop and rest. not when they're still trying to figure out what to do about kilgrave, what to do about all these kids that they've somehow taken upon themselves to protect. what to do about frank, because david knows that frank won't stop putting his life on the line for them, and someone needs to watch his six and that someone might as well be him since he's been doing it for so long --

sometimes he thinks about waking up one day and realizing he's back home, with sarah and his kids. he thinks about waking up and forgetting everything about this place: about mike and eddie and tetora and akira; about jessica and everything they've done and he doesn't know what's worse. ]

I have a feeling there's gonna be at least one in the next wave of arrivals

[oorah]

fair

[ really fucking fair. like he didn't?? no, they had both been through enough before this place. he isn't sure whether it's the fever or just... everything catching up to him, but he's struck with that feeling again. like he's being selfish for enjoying david being here. he should be home with sarah and the kids, and something akin to hurt flashes over his (as ever) open expression. ]

always one rotten apple to spoil the bunch

[gaits]

[ david doesn't know what he'd do without frank here. he'd keep going, of course, go through the motions of living in this shitty community and everything else, but frank has always provided comfort and solidarity in the most unlikely of places and ways. he doubts he would have settled so quickly in reims without frank here, and the thought doesn't even bother him anymore.

and he should be home, he should be with sarah and his kids and living the life he'd fought so hard to get back. but he's here instead, and as he watches the hurt spread across frank's expression, he knows he can't leave him here alone. ]

Just have to keep the good ones separate, right

[oorah]

hopefully they'll be just as douchey so we spot em quick

[ he's leaning towards david without realizing he's doing it, needing to occupy the same space as the other man now. his illness is adding to his overall patheticness and he couldn't hate it any more. but as ever micro makes these things a little more bearable. what a dick. ]

[gaits]

[ what a dick, even as he scoots a little closer to meet frank halfway, letting the other man lean against him. the movement comes almost second nature to him by now, and he's come to accept that too. ]

One can hope.
I also hope there'll be less kids this time.

[oorah]

[ he gives in the same way he always does, or maybe with even less resistance with his body run down the way it is. he slumps against david, resting his cheek against the man's shoulder and heaving a deep, body-wide sigh. ]

no shit
there's only so much of us to go around [ aka frank needs an adult ]