WILLIAM CARNEGIE
Warlock
Posts: 158
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective/Art Thief
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Zoey Washington
Played by:
Ange
Last seen May 11, 2024 19:24:12 GMT
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Post by WILLIAM CARNEGIE on Apr 20, 2024 17:01:46 GMT
Returning to an empty apartment each night had been one of the most painful reminders of the brutal change in his life. For months afterwards he’d wait in a place they’d never shared for the sound of the door closing. The vacuum that had taken Zoey’s place at his side drawing at his emotions like a black hole, leaving his life feeling empty. It had been deserved, Will had taken himself that much, but it had taken so long to grow used to it. Just as he had, she had been back there again. God, it hadn’t mattered that she’d hated him at first, he would’ve taken that for a thousand years to selfishly keep Zoey in his life, just that he could look across a room and find her again.
Slowly her presence had started to creep back into the penthouse, making it feel theirs in a way. She would leave minutes earlier than him at the moment to make sure that they didn’t arrive at the station at the same time. By now there had to be suspicions about what was happening between them, despite the professionalism that settled over them like a blanket at the station. Jill, as Zoey’s confidant, had to suspect the truth at least, if he wasn’t telegraphing it to everybody with the way his attention would drift to her. Here he didn’t need to hide it and it had become a relief that as soon as the apartment door shut – his or hers – they could slip back towards their new way of being together.
Dinner already on the stove when Zoey had arrived. The two of them lingering in the kitchen over their first glasses of wine as he stirred and basted, the first forkful of rice offered up to her for a taste test before he’d served it up. Brief discussions of their day slipping away as he’d brought up her father. It would put a brief pall over the table, but he wanted this to be her safe space to share her worries over him. For as long as she would let him he’d play her ear to listen, to shoulder to lean on. Literally now that they had retreated from the kitchen.
Will lifted his wine glass, draining the last mouthful from it as his mind slithered back to work. The abandoned vehicle from yesterday had been playing on his mind half the night, nibbling at the edges of his attention as they’d eaten, as they’d settled down together. There’d been no ID left in the vehicle, no purse, no registration in the glove box. A search of the woods that had stretched over two days had turned up nothing and by the time they’d towed the car to the station for an inspection he hadn’t been surprised that the search of its license plate and VIN on the system had brought back nothing. It was though the car had grown opaque while its occupant had vanished entirely.
He frowned as he set the glass back, his hand going to Zoey’s hip, his thumb circling slowly, meditatively as he picked through it in his head. As he realised he’d been silent for too long, he managed to gather himself together enough for a faint smile. ”Sorry,” Will murmured hoarsely. Slipping into his own world while she was right there was unfair. He’d done that enough at the end of their marriage, a gulf that had felt like the Grand canyon opening up between them. Even now the bridge they were attempting to build across it felt thin as a high wire. One wrong move and they would tumble off.
”We caught a strange one yesterday. An abandoned car just on the outskirts of town. There was blood on the passenger seat, both front doors were open. The driver’s window was shattered, but everything else seemed scrubbed clean. I can’t seem to stop picking over it.” But he should. This job, his other, neither was worth the fragile relationship that had started to develop between them. Zoey, she was meant to be the centre of it all. The core around which his life had been built. This time he wouldn’t allow it to implode. Letting out a long breath, Will let his smile strengthen. ”Do you want another glass? There’s still some left.” Enough alcohol to enhance that light buzz in his system, to drown the parts of his mind that weren’t focused on the woman in his arms.
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ZOEY WASHINGTON
Human
Posts: 51
Played by:
Julia
Last seen Apr 30, 2024 18:18:04 GMT
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Post by ZOEY WASHINGTON on Apr 29, 2024 20:12:16 GMT
━ nothing good is born from lies ━ ZOEY COULDN’T REALLY SAY WHAT THEY were doing, but all she knew was that putting a label on it felt as though it would ruin it. They were almost dating again, which, of course, felt a lot like their marriage━except they weren’t together every night, so she didn’t have to stress about where he’d gone or what he’d been doing. She simply… didn’t experience it. Maybe they could never be married again for that reason alone, though Zoey would be lying if she said it didn’t still gnaw at her. When she spent a night at her own apartment, she wondered if he was laying in his bed, also trying to sleep and thinking of her, or if he was out doing… whatever it was he’d always done. Thinking about it hurt, so she tried not to.
She enjoyed her time with him instead, trying to fade into the fantasy of whatever this was. Especially when she needed support with her dad. Will understood better than anyone━he was her rock in all of this, and he always had been.
When she arrived that night, she distracted herself from her empty stomach (and the wonderful smell of his cooking) with talks about work, how their respective days had been, and then, eventually, he asked about her father. Zoey had to fill him in on yet another thing that had gone awry. He was deteriorating faster now, and she felt guilty for every moment she left him in New York. The woman she’d hired to look after him had found Zoey’s dad in a panic last week, walking in circles around his apartment because he couldn’t find his wallet. It was in his pocket the entire time. It spiralled him into a full breakdown.
After dinner, they settled onto the couch, and she wondered aloud about what would happen if she suggested they sold his car. It would give them more money for his care, but, most of all, it would be another risk she could mitigate. Zoey didn’t want to keep taking away his freedoms, but she terrified herself when she thought of him getting behind the wheel and…
“What do you think? How should I bring it up to him?” Zoey asked lightly. After a moment, she turned her head from where it rested against him, looking up at his face. Zoey’s brows drew together, and another moment passed before his thumb started working on her hip again, his attention finally shifting back to her face.
“It’s fine.” Zoey mumbled, shifting her head off of his shoulder. She didn’t move away any more than that, instead leaning forward to take another sip of her wine, but her head didn’t rest on him again. Her eyes stung a little, but she tried to push the feeling away. She was just being silly. It reminded her of what they’d been like close to the end, and Zoey wondered if this was already dissolving.
She smothered it until it was gone, telling herself that she didn’t have to dominate the conversation. Will could say what was on his mind, too.
And, of course, in their line of work, it could be a lot.
By the time she turned her face towards him again, she’d blinked her eyes clear, focused on his story now. “I assume you checked the plates and the VIN.” Will wasn’t new at this, he knew the proper protocols━how you found someone that didn’t want to be found. “Do you want me to look at it?” She asked. Not because she was FBI now, but because a second set of eyes could help━like the old days, when they’d compare notes and facts at home.
Zoey finished off what was left in her glass and shook her head lightly, smiling at him again. “I’m okay, thank you. Are you ready to head to bed?” She asked lightly, reaching to her hip to curl her fingers around his hand. “It’s been a long day,” She added, “I just keep thinking about laying down.” Zoey laughed lightly, hoping Will wouldn’t want another glass━that he was ready to snuggle up in bed, too… and maybe they could be okay for just a little bit longer.
WILLIAM CARNEGIE |
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WILLIAM CARNEGIE
Warlock
Posts: 158
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective/Art Thief
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Zoey Washington
Played by:
Ange
Last seen May 11, 2024 19:24:12 GMT
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Post by WILLIAM CARNEGIE on May 11, 2024 19:19:31 GMT
The neat little boxes he’d sorted his life into had held up for a while, but eventually the edges of them had started to break down. One melting into another, thoughts escaping at the wrong time, dragging his attention away from where it had needed to be. His attention drifting at home even more than it had at work, Zoey’s voice eventually breaking through. Will knew he should’ve seen the signs of it before he finally had. The weight of all those boxes had put a strain on his marriage and he’d been too foolish to properly pack them away to stop what really mattered from breaking.
Over the last few months he’d tried, much to Lex’s exasperation. Clues to fresh investigations he once would’ve chased after set aside for nights like this. The few that he’d already been in the middle of slowing down. All of it moving towards a place where he could finally set the work aside. What was left could be anonymously forwarded to those doing this officially, with Lex’s help. Lex could sulk about it all he wanted. He wasn’t sitting at the kitchen table watching the woman he loved fill with grief for the father she was slowly losing. Or laying on the couch seeing that frown work its way back over her face again. Neither job had ever been as important as her and God, he hated that it had taken him too long to see it.
Will’s lips pressed together at Zoey’s mumbled response. It was anything but, the two words he’d used all too often during their marriage when he’d been brushing off her questions sticking in his conscience like thorns now. He knew that chasing after the conversation he’d drifted from would only make things less fine. Zoey had already shifted her head from his shoulder, opening up a space between them that he immediately wanted to close. Work absolutely wasn’t the way to do it, but Zoey deserve to hear what had been on his mind, especially when he could actually say the words aloud this time.
His gaze drifted over her face as she turned towards him again, seeking out some sign of the damage he’d done with his silence. This should’ve been dinner table talk instead, something to set aside before they settled down like this. There should’ve been a wide open space for Zoey to whisper her fears over her father’s deterioration to him. ”Both,” he said with a sigh, shifting slightly against the cushions as his frown cut deeper for a moment. ”Neither matched anything in the system. I’ve tried tracing the colour and model, but there’s over a thousand in the state.” He supposed he could’ve asked Lex to help narrow the search down, a quick buzz through the computer system probably would’ve had him throwing a name up in an instant, but this was official business. If there was something truly criminal here, he needed to keep the investigation clear.
There’d been no intention there to burden Zoey with the pressure of another case considering all she had going on. The tension that had been there in his chest since the moment he’d found the abandoned car eased faintly at her offer though. ”If you have the time, I’d appreciate it,” he told her after a moment. ”One of the Organized Crime Unit agents came out to the scene. I don’t know what her interest was.” Or if she’d found something. If she had then Camilla hadn’t come to him about it. Perhaps it was that silence that was really getting to him. This town was too small to have such blank spots in it.
Seeing the smile return to Zoey’s face eased more of the tension, the pangs of guilt he’d felt easing away. Her fingers curled around the hand he had settled on her hip, more reassurance. Will smiled back as he shifted, glad that she still wanted to head to bed with him. ”Sure,” he said lightly. ”It’s been a long day – a long week.” And it had to have felt twice as bad for her with all that was happening with her father. He eased off the couch, leaving the glasses and bottle on the coffee table to deal with in the morning, then drew Zoey into the bedroom.
The dance of their bedtime routine felt natural, despite the small seismic shift on the couch. Easing around one another in the bathroom, drawing down the covers and easing close under them. Drawing Zoey in against him again, as though just a few inches between them would somehow feel like some permanent fracture had opened between them again. ”I’m sorry I brought up work again,” he murmured, pressing his lips to Zoey’s shoulder in an extra silent apology. ”I’ve been trying not to bring it home, but this one has been eating at me. Months ago there was another case – the woman in the car managed to escape when it went off road, but if she hadn’t, we might’ve been looking at a similar situation. Do you have the time to look at them both? That’s a question for tomorrow,” he said, chiding himself. Enough. He let out a long breath and tried to settle down, slowly melting against Zoey, closing down all those tiny pockets of space between them until all he could feel was her fitting perfectly against him.
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