The Docks [OPEN, tw: marriage break up, drunken behaviour, violent tempers]

[willcabot]

Sitting at the end of the dock, Will's legs draped into the cold water as he finished the last mouthful of the bottle. Turning the bottle in his hand, the amber glow made him for one awful moment think of Corry's hair in the fading sunlight- throwing the bottle impulsively at the wall, he let it smash satisfyingly before pulling another bottle towards him.

He couldn't feel his toes any more, he couldn't remember how long he'd been sat here for like this. He hadn't been home yet, hadn't been to the boat just in case she was there. Everywhere he looked it reminded him of her, of the life that they'd promised each other and the life that was now in ruins. Because she loved him. Ha!

Glancing at the ring on his finger, he pressed his forehead to the rim of his drink and took a gulping breath in. Her smile as she said I do. Pulling the ring off he stumbled up and backwards before throwing it into the deep waters of the cove. Turning his back on the water, he took another few mouthfuls and heading towards the shore.

"Shit," Will swore, dropping the bottle to the floor before he turned and ran towards the end of the dock. Tearing off his shirt, he jumped into the water and dived into the deep, ice cold waters. Shifting, he swam deeper and deeper until he found the band of metal down in the dark bottom. Clutching it in his hand, he swam back to the surface before pulling himself onto the docks. Collapsing on the wooden planks, he stretched out his hand and ignored the feet of someone else standing there. "Pass me a drink, will you?"

His hand curled round his wedding ring, letting the metal bite into his palm as he stared up at empty grey skies.

Comments

[asharpertongue]

Lara hadn't been looking for Will, not exactly. She'd gotten the text from Corry and gone for a walk. Maybe it was instinct that pulled her to where he was but it didn't matter. He was her friend, had been for most of her life, and as close as she was with Corry, as far as she and Will had drifted in recent years, she still hurt when he did.

She sat down next to him and handed him another bottle, sitting in silence. He'd talk when he was ready.

[willcabot]

Will takes the bottle, sitting up enough to drink but not enough to look Lara in the eyes. He had found his one, or so he thought and now, now she was gone. Just like that. Because she loved him.

"What day is it?" Will asked, his voice rough from the amount he'd drunk. He hadn't been home since she'd told him, he hadn't been anywhere but the bottom of a bottle. And another after that.

[asharpertongue]

"It's Saturday." Lara said taking the bottle from him and swigging the cheap booze. "And I take it you've been drinking since Christmas if you're scraping the bottom of the barrel with this shit." She took another sip and winced through the burn of the cheap booze. "God, Will. This shit is horrendous."

[willcabot]

"Huh, thought it was still Thursday." Will muttered. Looking bereft as the bottle was removed forcibly from his hand, narrowing his eyes at Lara he held out his hand for the return of his drink. "Well, that's what Christmas is about right? Drinking with loved ones."

And here he was drinking alone. He'd already tossed his phone into the garbage after his father's sixth call to ask why the hell he and Corrine weren't at dinner. Why Ed was trying to cover with their grandmother.

[asharpertongue]

"You really think you need more of this?" Lara said, setting the bottle down on her far side away from him. Letting him drink one night away was fine, but three days was more than enough. His liver needed a break. If he wanted it, he'd have to fight for it and she doubted he was in any state to do that. "And yeah, drinking is traditional. But it's normally done inside, in the warm, not on the docks half naked while swimming about in a freezing ocean. I know we don't feel the cold as much as humans but this is hyperthermia waiting to happen, Will."

[willcabot]

Will let out a grunt of irritation, slumping back onto the wooden boards. He wouldn't fight her, not a woman and not when the person he wanted to hit probably wouldn't even know why he was doing it.

"I dropped something, had to get it back." Will murmured, fist tightening around his ring as he bit back the urge to cry. Like a kid- like a child- he was a Cabot and they didn't let things like this bother them. "S'alright, I'm warm really."

[owenphillips]

The sea was calming, and Owen had been on edge for most of the day after a conversation with Mrs Garner. He’d walked down to the beach. Stripped off to his underwear and then realised that now was not a good time to go into the sea. Because he couldn’t trust that he’d want to get out anytime soon and he had work commitments later. So with a small frown, he’d put all his clothes back on and started to walk home via the docks.

From a distance he saw someone throwing something into the sea. It hadn’t seemed that strange, and he’d not been paying complete attention until the other person seemed to start moving in an agitated manner, ripping off their t-shirt and diving into the sea. From where he stood, Owen didn’t know who it was and thusly couldn’t be sure it was a Siren. So when time had passed and they hadn’t emerged for air, Owen felt his feet carrying him quicker along the wooden ground below. He was just reaching the end when the person finally surfaced.

Will. Will Cabot. Corry’s husband. Siren. Asking for a, no doubt alcoholic, drink and he looked worse than Owen felt. Which really was something right now. “Are you ok?” He asked, it was stupid really, but the first thing that came to mind.

[asharpertongue]

She saw his fist tighten but she didn't pry. She had a fair idea of what was in it. "You're freezing." Lara said, touching his arm. He really was freezing. "The yacht is around here somewhere, right? Can we at least go there before you get frostbite on bits that should never get frostbite?"

[willcabot]

"No, the yacht is at the house. I'm not at the house." Will said perfectly reasonably. Rolling over onto his front, he pushed the ring into his pocket and tried to ignore the tan line where his ring should be. Bending down, he stumbled as he grabbed a bottle- the last bottle and shook it to see if there was anything left. "You've got alcohol at the club, right? The good stuff. We should go there."

Will would've normally helped Lara up, been a gentleman about it- been charming but he didn't feel like being charming. He felt like drinking a whole bunch. And then maybe drinking some more at Henry's grave. Yeah, he'd do that.

[willcabot]

"I will be when I have another drink." Will groaned. Water dripping off his body as he held one hand aloft and waiting for a drink to be passed to him. The other was tight around the ring he'd fished from the bottom. He'd lost his pants at some point- right when he'd shifted. "So, I'm naked. There's a really good reason why."

[asharpertongue]

"Fine." Lara said, standing and dusting herself off. "It's closed tonight but I've got my keys." At least he'd be warm there and she could water down his drinks. "Come on then." She said, taking a few steps to see how steady he was on his feet.

[edcabot]

Ed was angry. He was angry and scared and worried all at once. It was a lot of emotions that he normally wasn't used to dealing with and it made him more jittery than he usually was. Ed never talked about it but the reason that he called and emailed and texted his family so much was so that he knew they were okay. After what happened with Henry he was terrified that he would lose another one.

And then Will had gone off the grid, so to speak. Ed knew he had his reasons and his heart ached for what Corry had done to his brother but Ed was still scared and angry at Will just disappearing. By the time he found his brother on the docks he was properly pissed and scared.

"Hey, asshole!" he shouted, storming over to a naked Will. Will struggled to his feet, drunkenly weaving as he did so. As soon as his brother was standing Ed punched him, right in the jaw. It probably hurt Ed more than it did will, the older Cabot practically being carved out of granite. But Ed was too pissed to care about his throbbing hand.

"Don't you ever, EVER go silent like that again!"

[willcabot]

"Henry?" Struggling to his feet, Will blinked as he wiped his eyes and looked at the figure approaching him. Blinking he stared down at his youngest brother and stared some more when Ed punched him in the face. Barely reacting, the alcohol and cold had pretty much numbed him towards any sort of stimulation, Will took one step closer before swinging at his brother.

Swinging at his brother... missing and falling spectacularly on the jetty. Groaning, Will rolled over and batted his brother away with an ineffectual arm.

"It's been an hour or two. Three at tops," Will said drunkenly slurring his words just a little.

[willcabot]

Scratching his bare ass, Will tottered down the jetty towards land. Picking up his shirt, he wavered in one place as he made sure the ring was secure in his pocket before he put on his shirt. He looked ridiculous but shifting, especially when drunk, could be a haphazard thing and the rest of his clothes were somewhere in the water no doubt.

"You are a good thing- should have married you. You might have stuck around," Will said draping his heavy arm over Lara's shoulders as he drunkenly stumbled forwards.

[asharpertongue]

Lara rolled her eyes and huffed a laugh, taking his practically naked weight and letting him lean on her heavily. "You had your chance when we were teenagers, Cabot. We both know I'm too much woman for you anyway." She said, helping him through the streets towards the bar. It wasn't like they were going to be seen by many people at this time but she did her best to put out 'you don't see this' vibes to anyone they did pass.

[owenphillips]

It was a little hypocritical of Owen not to instantly pass the alcohol over, considering he’d done a fair share of drinking in the days when his friends were missing. But then he hadn’t jumped into the sea drunk during that time. Owen could guess the reason for the nudity – he himself was quite fortunate that his Siren form was similar shaped to his own body but people were different. The question was why Will had jumped in to start with at all.

“Yeah?” He asked, he wasn’t meaning to come across as a dick. But his next statement was meant in good faith. If he thought Will needed it, he’d make sure he got home safe. Otherwise he was chucking the bottle. “Give me a good reason and I’ll give you your alcohol back.”

[willcabot]

Will looked down at Lara, wishing her hair was red like amber and fire and wishing she smelled like Corry did when they just woke up and she just fit in his arms. Lara didn't fit anywhere, she was just Lara.

"That you are, don't know how Levi is able to sit down half the time." Will replied, laughing at the idea of poor Levi just being abused by his matriarch. It was clear out of the two of them who was the power in their relationship, who wore the pants so to speak. "She told you to look after me, didn't she?"

[willcabot]

Narrowing his eyes at Owen, Will pointed one large muscular arm at Owen before letting it fall heavily to the side.

"Because my wife has left me," Will announced before laughing. Almost a little hysterically. "My wife has left me."

[asharpertongue]

Grinning, Lara elbowed him in the ribs. "Levi doesn't object. Even when he does walk with a limp." She said, smiling up at Will until his question made the smile fall away some. "You know she did." Lara said, propping him up against the side of the bar's entrance and fishing out her keys. She pushed open the doors and ducked under his arm again, leading him inside and kicking the door shut so it latched behind them. "Come on. My office has a couch." Maybe she should say more but in this state he wasn't really listening. And she wasn't going to give him the usual platitudes. Corry had hurt him and he deserved to have the chance to feel it without someone trying to rationalise it or apologise for it.

[owenphillips]

For a second he thinks he’s going to be threatened. And that’s ok, he’ll take threats because Will isn’t that much bigger than him, but he’s sober so any thrown punches can probably be dodged without injury.

But then Will speaks and Owen doesn’t really have words to reply. The first thing he does is hand the bottle back because as far as Owen is concerned. That is a damn good excuse for needing a drink. He feels guilty too because only a few weeks ago he’d been at the wedding reception, feeling a bit baffled that Corry was married to Will when he’d always assumed her heart lay elsewhere and then… well. This. He had hoped this wouldn’t be what happened. And yet here he was with Will Cabot whose wife was leaving. He dropped down to sit next to Will, “Fuck. Man, I am so fucking sorry.”

[meowhistory]

Lena wants to butt her head against him and circle him before curling up on his lap because even though she's not a witch or a siren or anything else useful, she can pick up on misery and a good cud-

Oh God, she IS NOT a cat.

But now she's already next to him, Will Cabot. Didn't change at all in four years, still something like out of a Catholic image. "Shit."

[edcabot]

Ed thanked Poseidon that Will's punch didn't connect because if it had then it probably would have been lights out and he did not have the sort of face that looked better with a black eye. He should have known that Will was too drunk to actually make contact though when he had called out their dead brother's name. Henry would know what to do here, he'd know how to handle the situation to calm Will down and then be there for him. But Henry wasn't there anymore. Just Ed.

"It's been three days," Ed said before reaching down and hauling Will to his feet. Once with brother was standing, Ed stripped off his trench coat and threw it at Will. "Don't you ever, ever disappear like that again. Not- not after Henry. Just- don't. Please."

And if Ed had to wipe away a few years, so what? He was the baby of the family after all and if he wanted to cry at the idea of losing another brother he would damn well do it.

[willcabot]

"Because she loves me." Will replied bitterly, laughing at that. Even if it felt like he would never laugh again, even if it felt like there was something missing where his love had been.

Stumbling in to her office Will dropped onto her couch and threw his arm across his face as he stretched out along it.

"I'll pay for the dry- dry cleaning," Will muttered about his very bare ass being pressed against her nice couch. Holding his hand out for a drink, Will swallowed down the hurt about Corry's concern. She loved him, she loved him.

[willcabot]

"No, it hasn't." Will replied with all the unreasonableness of a man who had been drinking for the past three days with very little else passing his lips. Except her name. Her name and not understanding how she loved him and had left him. Or rather made him leave her. She always ran.

Letting Ed help him to his feet, Will took his little brother's trench coat before looking at him confused. He wasn't quite sure what Ed meant for him to do with it, he doubted it would fit him.

"S'okay baby brother," Will said hand patting Ed's shoulder as gently as a drunk giant might. "I won't. Now, let's go get a drunk. A drink."

[willcabot]

"Are you trying to sit on my lap... I'm a married-" Will began looking up at the woman beside him who looked like she was either about to mark him as her territory or climb onto his lap. He barely could think about finishing the sentence, he wasn't a married man or he was until his wife signed whatever papers she would draft up. Because she loved him. "-man."