307, Friday Afternoon

[justbeingbay]

After archery class -- or, as Bay suspected she'd fondly think of it, 'ogling the teacher's arms 101' -- Bay went back to her room to sketch in peace. (Or ... relative peace, considering the fact she kept singing under her breath and snatches of song were drifting in from the halls.)

She'd barely outlined the self-portrait she was working on before her phone rang with a call from Kathryn Kennish. She picked it up with some annoyance. "'H'lo?"

Her expression sobered quickly at what her mother told her. Her father was in the hospital after a heart attack. Regina had found him and he was doing better than expected, but he'd been asking for Bay. Could she come home for a few days?

Of course she could.

As she packed, she realized she was singing. This time, she didn't hold it in.

So tired, tired of this drama
No more, no more
I wanna be free
I'm so tired, so tired...

[OOC: Based on canon events. Cracked door, open post.]

Comments

[arsenicmauls]

Gert stopped in the hallway when she heard Bay singing. The song didn't seem uncomfortably revealing or anything, so she paused by the doorway for long enough to say, "You too, huh?"

[justbeingbay]

Bay opened the door and nodded her head a bit miserably as she kept singing. Over her shoulder, Gert might notice the open suitcase on her bed.

"Why'd I play the fool
Go through ups and downs
Knowing all the time
You wouldn't be around"

Once that was out of the way, she exhaled a giant breath of air. "Yeah," she said. "Singing. Fun Fandom plague to deal with, huh?"

[arsenicmauls]

"As Fandom plagues go," Gert granted, stepping forward and eyeing the suitcase. With a nod toward it, she remarked, "Not that bad, though."

"Been dealt a lot worse
Panicked here and there
I'm trying to move past it
And I'm trying not to care"

Well. There was that.

[justbeingbay]

Bay arched her eyebrows, tried to answer in words, and came up with lyrics instead.

Now I'm relieved to hear
That you've been to some far out places
It's hard to carry on
When you feel all alone
Now I've swung back down again
It's worse than it was before
If I hadn't seen such riches
I could live with being poor
Oh sit down
Sit down next to me

She made a face as she obeyed the song and sat down, gesturing for Gert to follow her. "My dad's sick," she said simply. "I need to head home for a couple days."

[arsenicmauls]

That seemed like a pretty clear invitation to sit down, yeah, so Gert did just that, claiming a spot on what seemed like the cleanest part of Topher's bed with clear worry etched on her face.

"You know I've convinced myself
What I lost meant fuck-all to me
But that was me, that was me
You're just as tough
Could deal with it too
But pain seems harder when it's all on you"

For someone who pretended to be fine with exposing all her secrets, Gert still felt pretty uncomfortable admitting that. Especially since her singing voice wasn't great.

"I'm sorry," she said, when she felt like she could open her mouth without more lyrics coming out. "Sick how?"

[justbeingbay]

"They think a heart attack but they're still doing tests just in case the show josses me," Bay said, rubbing an eye with her fingertips and smiling wanly at the support offered in Gert's song. "And ... thank you. I mean, he played baseball, right? He runs. He's not even 55. I don't get how he's sick."

[arsenicmauls]

"Probably stress, I guess," Gert said. There was no denying that John was high-strung, and he had a lot on his plate anyway. "It's good you're going back; you can wrangle him onto a couch and make him stay there."

[justbeingbay]

Bay snorted. "I hope. Maybe we'll talk him into giving up the senate seat. He's supposed to get out of the hospital pretty soon, and I just -- I should be there."

There was an edge of genuine fear to her voice. She hadn't been getting along with her dad lately, but if he died -- she didn't know what she'd do.

[arsenicmauls]

"Yeah, yeah, go," Gert said. "Send him my regards. And if you need--"

Oh, wait, looked like she was going to sing again. She cut herself off, making a face in the split second before she burst into song.

"Now I'm not one for lullabies
Or bullshit sweet assuring
That everything will be all right
But if it's not, you have my word
I'll be right here, I'll help you to endure it"

She cut herself off, scowling. "That wasn't what I was going to say."

[justbeingbay]

"Maybe not, but it helped," Bay said, and reached over to squeeze Gert's shoulder.

"When everything is wrong I'll come talk to you
You make things alright when I'm feeling blue
You are such a blessing and I wont be messing
with the one thing that brings light to all my darkness"

She broke off there. "Okay, that was way sappy. How come I don't get the songs with 'bullshit' in them?"

[arsenicmauls]

"I don't know, but it's kind of liberating," Gert remarked. "If I have to be stuck singing, at least it's appropriately grouchy."

Though her commitment to the 'grouchy' thing was questionable, since she was reaching out to squeeze Bay's hand now, just for a second.

"Anyway. You should get out of here and go see him. Want me to walk you to your portal?"

[justbeingbay]

Bay sniffled. "Yeah, thanks," she said. "Oh god, wouldn't it be terrifying if the Portalocity people are singing?"

She thought she was done talking, but apparently not:

" Well I might take a plane I might take a train
But if I have to walk I'm going just the same
I'm going to Kansas City"