No longer in service. What the hell did that mean, no longer in service? Or rather, he knew what it meant but what did it really mean?
Kem stared at his phone with an expression of mingled distaste and offense, as if the little device were itself responsible for his inability to reach any member of Aishe's family.
Having no luck with her cell and afraid he'd lose his nerve between now and the end of the day, he'd called her parents' house, where she'd been living since her return from Egypt while she saved money for her own place. Kem checked the number in confusion and redialed with deliberation.
Same deal.
Confusion and something like rising panic were the foremost impressions for Kem, who had never known Aishe to be completely unreachable. He wasn't self-centered enough to think he had somehow caused this strange nonexistence, but he was filled with worry.
Forcing himself to think, he considered the possibility that their phone number had simply changed, or they'd switched providers. Aishe's cell had picked up, so eventually she would get his message. Whether she called back or not was up to her.
Kem had considered sending to her several times, but he couldn't get over the idea that it would only compound their problems. Not only was she probably trying to cope with the fact that her ex was a vampire, but then to have him invading her head as well... he couldn't bring himself to do it.
There was something to be said for a life lived in a dark cave in the deepest corner of the universe. Finding such a paradise, Kem resolved, would definitely be an option if he couldn't at least tender a decent apology to Aishe.
Perhaps he should practice saying "Gollum, gollum," over and over until he had it just right.
Talking to Walls (private)
Kem thought about his discussion with Pak for a while. Most of the night, actually. Between the dawning understanding that he truly had been a first-class idiot and the strange feeling he'd gotten from Aishe, that she was somehow in trouble, he was ready to pull out his hair with frustration.
As the sun came up behind the tightly drawn blinds, the clock finally hit 7 am. Aishe had told him several times she rarely slept beyond then. Kem sat on the floor in his bedroom, his back against the foot of the bed, staring at the nature documentary he'd long since lost interest in.
***
"Aishe""Do you always sit so close to the TV? You know, you'll fry your eyeballs that way."[/quote]
He'd spent time with her at her parents' home, where they'd sometimes rented a movie or two and stayed up late (well, late for her). He would sit on the floor and she would lie behind him on the couch. True, they'd never done much more than hold hands before, but when they sat that way she always draped her arm around his shoulders, letting her hand brush across the flat plane of his chest.
[quote="Kem"]"You're not that far behind me. If anything I'm only a warning system to the impending frying of your own eyeballs."
***
Kem looked down at his cell phone. If he didn't call her now, he wouldn't call her at all, and he would wake up in a day or three and remember nothing of the way he felt now, just that he'd done the right thing in leaving her be to live out her life.
He was more than passably acquainted with the cycle of his own moody depressions. Normally it wasn't worth bothering to fight against, but Aishe was worth it. More than anything he'd made of his life, she was worth it.
Keeping that thought in mind, he slowly dialed her number, running through all possible openings.
"Aishe... remember me?" Ass. Of course she remembers you.
"Aishe, don't hang up!" Possibly... go immediately for the groveling, always big points with the ladies.
Kem smacked his forehead as her phone rang.
"Hi. If you had a blunt weapon, whose head would be the first to feel it?" No. Way too accurate. He knew her too well to even pose that one.
"Hi! This is Aishe!"
Kem stopped breathing and then remembered that breath was essential to speaking, which was what he was supposed to do right about now. He inhaled mechanically...
"I'm not available to take your call at the moment, but if you leave your name and number and a short message, I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Talk to you later!"
He felt himself deflate as the fortifying breath he'd taken simply let itself out. There was an uncomfortably long pause before the beep, and he almost didn't say anything at all. After a long wait, however, he managed a brief message. "Hi... Aishe, it's Kem. Look... I know it's been a while. Please, if you can manage it, give me a call back. I owe you an explanation - at the very least. Ah, just in case you've forgotten the number it's..."
He'd waited too long. He was cut off before he could finish and he couldn't bring himself to dial again. Kem tipped his head back against the bed and closed his eyes, pondering his next step.
(( *** denotes flashback))
Kem`Raaisu
18 years ago
Kem`Raaisu
18 years ago
Short of sending, there wasn't anything Kem could do at the moment. And he wasn't going to do that. What if she were driving or something and he startled her and she careened off the road and landed in a ditch in a blazing pile of twisted wreckage?
Kem blinked.
Wow. Score one for the overactive imagination. Definitely no sending. He reminded himself to let Pak know that using the phone was a terrible idea and had been no help whatsoever (was that overly critical of him? Probably.) and sat where he was for a bit more before slithering up off the floor into a vampire-shaped heap on the bed. He was tired, but sleep wasn't going to happen today. He was thinking too much. Worry gnawed at him even as he grabbed a pillow and tugged it down over his head trying to block it out.
He tossed.
He turned.
He pulled out the nintendo and beat Mario in about 9 minutes flat.
Nothing worked. He was still tired, and still worried.
Ten minutes later found him working on the contents of the bar in the kitchen. Aishe's voice was murmuring in the back of his head, soft and concerned, warning him in her way about the amount of drinking he'd been doing lately.
Obviously, he needed to drink more.
It wasn't classy but it did the trick, he thought as he was passing out on his bed shortly thereafter. When the sun went down and he woke up he would try her again. If that didn't work, hangover aside, he'd drive to her place. He'd get her to listen. He would do it properly, and she would listen.
She had to.
Listen.
Gollum, gollum.
((ooc: Kem out.))
Kem blinked.
Wow. Score one for the overactive imagination. Definitely no sending. He reminded himself to let Pak know that using the phone was a terrible idea and had been no help whatsoever (was that overly critical of him? Probably.) and sat where he was for a bit more before slithering up off the floor into a vampire-shaped heap on the bed. He was tired, but sleep wasn't going to happen today. He was thinking too much. Worry gnawed at him even as he grabbed a pillow and tugged it down over his head trying to block it out.
He tossed.
He turned.
He pulled out the nintendo and beat Mario in about 9 minutes flat.
Nothing worked. He was still tired, and still worried.
Ten minutes later found him working on the contents of the bar in the kitchen. Aishe's voice was murmuring in the back of his head, soft and concerned, warning him in her way about the amount of drinking he'd been doing lately.
Obviously, he needed to drink more.
It wasn't classy but it did the trick, he thought as he was passing out on his bed shortly thereafter. When the sun went down and he woke up he would try her again. If that didn't work, hangover aside, he'd drive to her place. He'd get her to listen. He would do it properly, and she would listen.
She had to.
Listen.
Gollum, gollum.
((ooc: Kem out.))