The darkness at the door...

[awickedtime]

He comes and goes. Mostly, he's up at the top of the mountain, causing what trouble he can, helping out the prisoners, doing everything he can to make things a little more bearable. He sees Sabrina as much as he can, finds her beautiful and terrible in a way that's altogether too familiar. It's a role that comes naturally to her, and he knows that neither of them are entirely comfortable with that.

It's dark (of course), when he comes up for air, heading down the mountain to shower and change into warmer clothes. He'll probably have to burn everything he's worn up there; the smell clings in the fibres.

He's dressed in warm layers, stout boots, coat and scarf when he knocks the door of Marcus' cabin. In cat form, Salem twines around his ankles.

"We'll go back soon, man," he says, quietly. "She'll be okay without us for a little while."

Comments

[pushbackthedarkness]

"Yeah?" Marcus asks, genuinely curious. Not all that long ago, he wouldn't have been. Before Darrow, he knows what he would have thought of an offer like that, knows he would have immediately been suspicious and suspected Nick of being in league with demons.

But Darrow has changed a lot of things for Marcus. And his view of what is good and what is evil has become a lot less narrow.

"I don't think I'd mind a bit less pain," he says with a smile. "Thank you."

[awickedtime]

Nick takes another sip of his tea and then sets the cup down, shrugging out of his jacket when he does it. He slips down onto his knees in front of Marcus, glancing up at him with a raised eyebrow. "It'll feel weird," he explains, palms of his hands grazing Marcus' knee over the fabric of his pants. "Warm. You might feel giddy for a moment or two. Drunk, almost."

[pushbackthedarkness]

At a time like this, a shot or two might not feel so terrible, although Marcus hasn't been drinking because Dan can't drink. So feeling giddy or little drunk for a moment is actually kind of appealing and he smiles faintly at Nick's words.

"Go ahead," he says. "Even an ex-priest like me can hold his liquor."

Moments in which he feels like he can make a joke are few and far between right now, but he can't help himself. It's better to lighten the mood at least a little when he can. Even if the mood doesn't feel terribly light at all.

[awickedtime]

Nick smiles, but it's distracted, far-away, the words for the incantation already shaping on his lips as he starts to ghost his hands over Marcus injured knee. Just like when he'd made Rosie feel better, he pictures light and heat. He lets it flow from him into Marcus. It's only a little spell, but it helps.

[pushbackthedarkness]

As Nick had warned, he does feel a little giddy. His knee warms, almost as if it's been bathed in sunlight, then the feeling recedes with the giddiness and the ache fades with it.

It's not healed, he can tell, he'll still need to be careful and to put ice on it later, but the pain is significantly reduced, as is the swelling. When he moves his leg carefully, most of the stiffness is gone, too.

"That is better," he says with a smile. "Thank you."

[awickedtime]

Still on his knees, Nick smiles up at him and then stands, sitting back down on the couch and reaching for his tea, cradling it in his hands again, enjoying the warmth. It's cooled down enough to sip.

"It'll last too," he says. "I'm sorry I can't do more."

[pushbackthedarkness]

"You've done plenty," Marcus says and he doesn't only mean his knee, but everything Nick is doing up there at Kagura with Sabrina. It's no easy task, he knows, getting in and out of that place, but Nick is up there helping wherever he can.

"It helps to know you're up there with her," he adds. "If that weren't the case, I doubt I'd be above charging back up there, injured knee or not."

[awickedtime]

"I'm keeping an eye on our girl," he says, sipping his tea. "I'll be there when she needs me. I can...boost her, if she needs it. If she needs me."

[pushbackthedarkness]

Marcus doesn't know whether or not she'll need the boost Nick is talking about, whether or not her magic is enough to handle this on her own, but still he says, "She'll need you."

Because it's not just magic she needs from him. From Charlie. From Marcus himself and her friends at the Home. From Salem. They're more than that.

[awickedtime]

"And I'll be there," says Nick, meaning it utterly, with every fibre of him. "I've let her down enough times. I'm not doing it again."

[pushbackthedarkness]

Marcus nods, believing Nick completely, oddly able to trust him with this. He's not always the most trusting man in the world, he tends to see people as generally good, but not always necessarily as honest with themselves as they like to think they are. With Nick, though, when it comes to Sabrina, Marcus doesn't think he's fooling himself. He really does believe Nick will do whatever is necessary.

It'd hard not to think that, knowing what he's already sacrificed for her.

"I'm glad you are," he says honestly. "Helps with the worrying a little."

[awickedtime]

"I'll bring her home," he says. "Or back to my place, anyway. It...feels important for the four of us to be together, once we get them out. I hope you understand that." He looks at Marcus from under dark eyebrows. He realises tahat he's asking for even more trust.

[pushbackthedarkness]

Marcus doesn't particularly like that, nor does he know if he really understands it, but he also knows he won't be able to force Sabrina to come home before she's ready. For all it pains him, he makes himself nod.

"But you have her call me the second she's able," he says. "And if I have to track you all down myself, I'm seeing her the next day."

He doesn't leave room for any sort of negotiation on that and doesn't think he needs to. Sabrina will want to see him, too.

[awickedtime]

"You have my word," says Nick, hoping that that's still worth something with everything that Marcus knows about him, about what he's done. "I'll bring here here myself. Or Charlie will."