in the quiet hour

Who: Sophie and Oz
Where: their house
When: After midnight

It was late, everyone else was in bed, or, at least, not actively up any more. Well, everyone else save for Billy, who'd been put to bed on the couch in the living room since she wasn't happy to move him, and Oz, who she had no doubt was still around here somewhere. She knew him when he got like this - he wouldn't be sleeping tonight. Sophie was up as well, and showing no signs of going to bed. She'd been keeping herself determinedly busy since Billy arrived and everything was set in motion. Her 'patient' took up a lot of her time early on. Then there was the talk with Dean, then she'd returned to Billy until she couldn't pretend that there was anything else that needed doing there, save for checking on him occasionally and making sure he remained stable. Now she was cooking, making bread and cinnamon rolls and anything else she could think of that a house full of people would need come morning, moving round the kitchen, taking things in and out of the oven, checking on other, mixing yet more still, a one woman production line.

Oz had been monitoring situations pretty much all night. And finally...things seemed to be settled down. For now. He was sure once morning came there'd be a whole host of other shit to deal with, and that wasn't counting all the preparations they'd be making before night fell again. Either way, he wanted to see his wife. He felt exhausted and wired at the same time, and he wandered into the kitchen, setting the shotgun that hadn't gone far from his reach on the table before he walked up behind her, put his arms around her, and simply hugged her. As usual, he turned his face in towards the back of her neck, drawing in her scent. "You should get some rest, Sophie." he said quietly, even if he knew she wouldn't. Not only because they probably had a lot to talk about, and secondly--she wouldn't really leave a bunch of half-done things in the kitchen.

"I'll rest tomorrow," she said, returning the hug. "There's going to be lots going on that I'm not going to be any use for, I can grab a couple of hours then. Anyway, I couldn't sleep now - my mind's too busy." She pulled away and moved to the oven, taking a tray of buns out and putting it down on the side, before starting to move them off one at a time onto a cooling rack.

He watched her, and sighed a little to himself, leaning back against the counter. He knew better than to try and help her much--he'd be In The Way. Plus, she was probably doing it specifically to keep herself busy and he couldn't fault her for that. "I'll go into town early tomorrow, and get everything we need. If you can think of shit to write down for me, that'd be good, you know if you leave it to me I'll forget things." At least, he would forget small things. Major things he could be trusted with. Practical things that might occur to everyone else might not to him--but he knew that, so he was trying to prepare before he messed up.

"You'll have a list by dawn," Sophie said, then swore under her breath as she burnt the edge of her wrist on the baking sheet, dropping the slice with a clatter. "Fuck!" She turned her wrist upwards, the long red welt already forming on the pale skin there as she moved to run it under the cold tap.

Oz winced, then moved over next to her, leaning over the sink to take her arm, turning it over so he could see the burn as the water ran over it. "Sophie...some sit down with me for a little while." he said softly--and it wasn't really a request. He didn't think the burn was bad per se, but she was agitated, and had every right in the world to be. Oh yes, and the worst thing either of them could really imagine was happening. Again. They both needed a little breather.

Her arm was starting to go numb under the freezing water, so she withdrew it, wetting a cloth instead and holding it over the burn as she let Oz lead her. "I can't be long - I have to go check on Billy again," she said, quietly, but it wasn't really a protest, just something that did actually need doing.

"I know." Oz said, letting her have that, not going to argue with her, even if he figured that right now, Billy was as fine as he was going to get. He was as stable as he was going to get. And he was positive that Maddie was checking on him every five seconds or so too, so if anything really bad happened, they'd know, even if it was just by a quick shout to alert them. He led her out of the kitchen entirely, only pausing to grab the shotgun again as he led her there, hand on the small of her back. He picked the den, since it was empty, and he didn't bother flicking the lights on either. Moonlight came in through the windows well enough to light their way, and he sat down on the couch, taking her with him. He put both arms around her and tugged her back against him, shotgun propped against the arm of the couch well within reach--but not in the way.

She hugged him back again, taking comfort in that for long moments. She couldn't believe that all this was happening. Again. And last time it had, she'd lost him. Okay, yeah, that had been her own fault, but still, she's still lost him. And she hadn't had him back for that long and she knew the look she'd seen in his eyes tonight. And that wasn't even starting on everything else. There was so much that needed to be said, she didn't know where to start. Until she pulled back and her gaze alighted on the shotgun before she looked up at him. "You gave him a gun." It was a flat statement and they both knew who she was talking about. Oz had given her baby cousin a gun. At sixteen. Never mind they'd been that age when this happened to them, never mind they knew what they were facing - the first damn thing he'd done was to arm him.

He nodded. "Yes, I did." he said. He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, partially to give himself time to think over his explanation--because he wasn't stupid. He knew damn well this was the part where he justified himself to her. Tried to make it make sense. He also was more than well aware of his communication issues, and how half the time even when things made perfect sense to him, he couldn't for the life of him make them make sense to anyone else. "I know he's got abilities, but I don't know how far they reach. I don't know how effective they would be against this. And the last thing I want is anything to happen and have him unable to help himself." he said, voice clear and soft. Unrushed. "Not with this happening around us. I can't take that chance."

"You know guns are of limited use against vampires, J," she reminded him. "Does he even know how to fire it? Or how to tell the difference between a person and one of them?" She didn't look happy, but then there was so much not to be happy about at the moment, that really wasn't hard. She looked around the room and then rose, moving to the windows and the glass door leading into the back yard, closing the curtains over all of them, not liking the idea that something could be watching from outside in the dark. It plunged the room into pitch blackness for a moment, before she switched on a standard lamp in one corner that gave enough of a dull yellow glow for them to see as she sat back down with him.

He winced faintly at the sudden light, even if it was dim. His bad eye fell shut and stayed that way for a while. "I'd rather him learn on the fly than get caught with absolutely nothing, Sophie." he said. "And it'll slow them down. I don't want him left with something like a stake that'll work, but it's close range. I wanted him to have something he could use to buy himself time." he explained. "Tomorrow I'll be taking him out back to get him some practice with it, but we didn't exactly have time for lessons last night. I know you're unhappy about it, but I think it was the best thing to do, all things considered."

"I don't want him getting hurt, J. He's only sixteen - he's still a kid. He shouldn't have to deal with this kind of thing." So, they'd had to do just that, so they weren't that much older even now, but that didn't mean that Dean should have to go through this. What had happened to them hadn't been fair either, it shouldn't have happened. Sophie knew that that didn't make a damn bit of difference, but she wanted it to be said.

Oz gave a heavy sigh at that. "Sophie...do you really think I don't know that? No, he shouldn't. We shouldn't have either when we were his age but that's what happened, and not wanting him to have to deal with it right now doesn't change the fact that our town's been overrun with fucking vampires, and there's nothing we can do about that. Besides try our best to keep him safe." He paused, then continued, because there was more to it, even if he was holding back a huge part. "He's also got someone to protect. When we went downstairs, and I was going to get the guns out just in case, he told me about Thia, and made it fairly clear that he was going to be going to get her, and that if I wanted to stop him there'd be a fight. And I know I could have. I know that. But..." he trailed off. "She's just a kid too."

Oh and there they were, stepping on another one of her twitches - there seemed so many of them right now. "A girl who died last week," Sophie said, quietly. Dean had told them, about what she was. And so far, Sophie hadn't said a damn word on the subject, not a thing. She'd been keeping very, very quiet about it. But... a fade. She had no idea what that was, apart from what Dean had told them. And that was that fades were made out of magic and dead people. And considering her life to date, Sophie wasn't a big fan of either.

Reaching over to put his arm around her, he watched her for a few long moments. He knew that they'd be getting to this, though he's sort of hoped it would be slightly later. But it wasn't. So, witness the dealing. "I know it bothers you." he said quietly, giving her shoulders a squeeze. "And...I'm really not sure what to think myself yet. I'm sure we'll figure it out. I just..." He paused, almost opting not to say the next bit but in the end decided it was best to put it exactly how he felt about it. "If I ever got Amanda back, there'd be no way in hell I'd ever be able to leave her in the middle of this kind of situation to get taken from me again." he said. "And there was no way I was going to do that to Dean, either. It takes something to think like that, to be selfless like that. I...recognize it. And I also have to say, in that same vein...if I did get Amanda back I wouldn't be overly bothered by how it happened. Some things are more important."

Sophie brought a hand to her head and massaged her temples. "I don't know where to start with all of this," she told him, leaning back against the couch, looking away a little. "It's like the world just exploded again and I don't know where to begin. With the vampires - which would be enough by themselves - or with the fact that somehow we're going to have to get Billy to go to the hospital in the morning, because I'm fairly sure he's got a broken arm and he could do with stitches. Then there's the fact that Dean's walking round with a gun. And a girl who's not dead. Not to mention apparently a guardian angel. I didn't even know angels existed and the guy was walking round the house blessing things earlier!"

"Really not going to be frowning upon blessings." Oz said. He was a little less thrown by the prospect of angels--which he'd also not known existed until earlier. Of course, there was a part of him that wondered where the fuck the angels were when all of this bullshit decided to go down, but that was his own little bitter thought that had nothing to do with anything else. "We'll get Billy to the hospital tomorrow. I'll take him in, or you can, whichever works. First thing. And we'll wait until he can be discharged, and bring him right back here, so we can continue to protect him." he added. "Dean'll be alright. I think he's shaken, but he's holding together pretty well, and...we've been there. So if absolutely nothing else, he's got us. And we'll do everything we can to protect him too. The gun thing'll be less of an issue tomorrow because I can teach him better how to use it." He was being as insanely reasonable as he could possibly manage at current, trying to lift some of the burdens off of his wife's mind. "The girl who's not dead...from what Dean was saying this was done to her." he added. "Which. We know all about that too." He moved to look at Sophie, and reached out to tilt her face towards his. "There's people who need us right now. We can do this." And he was making sure it was the both of them, so she'd remember they were in this together too. "And we're always here for each other." Or...they were now.

For once in his life, Oz managed to say exactly the right thing and that much was clear in Sophie's body language as she perceptibly relaxed a little, nodding, tension leaving her frame. "I'll take Billy," she said, quietly, focusing in on what needed to be done again. "You shouldn't be driving, remember? And you'll be more use here. I'll take Billy - you take care of Dean. And the others... We'lll - I guess we'll come up with something."

"I have to go into town anyways. But yes, you take Billy. I'll be fast. You take the car, I'll...see if the truck is still going to run. Get some more supplies..from the list you're going to make sure I have so I don't fuck up." Oz gave her a little light smile. He was actually amazed. He'd done something right. Mark that on the calendar. "We'll figure something. We've got the room right now...it's a better location than anywhere in town." And as long as no one hurt anyone else under his roof, they wouldn't have to be finding out who would win in an angel vs. werewolf fight. Which he wasn't even putting into Sophie's head right now in any sort of fashion. At all. Upon pain of death. He leaned over to kiss her cheek, and put both of his arms back around her again to pull her to him.

She let herself be pulled, but she lifted her head a little. "You're not allowed to drive," she told him, firmly. "You can take one of the other's - since they're here, they can help out. One of them must be able to drive. And they might be wanting to go home in the morning anyway. If they want to, we can't exactly keep them here." Which was as close as she was coming right now to saying it was okay for the houseful of strangers to stay. And Oz was right, they had enough room. And this was a good location for what they were facing.

He had to smirk a little at that. "I drove last night...did well and everything." he said, even if he wasn't really arguing with her. Part of him just found it silly. That she'd nitpick that even after last night he'd driven into town run over a vampire and got everyone else back safely. "But fine, fine." he said. "Dean should learn to drive anyways." In theory. He kissed the side of her neck as he nuzzled it a tiny bit, drawing in her scent again.

"That was different and don't push it - just because you did it once, doesn't mean it's all okay and the last thing we need right now is for you to wrap yourself round a lamppost," she admonished, but her tone wasn't entirely serious, even though she obviously meant the words. "And yes, Dean should drive - and he'll learn the basics over the next few days, once we're prepared. I'll teach him," she added, in case Oz got any ideas into his head.

"You physically can't bring Billy to the hospital, wait for him there, and teach Dean to drive in time for me to go into town and get us fully stocked up." Oz pointed out. "I love you, you're superwoman half the time, but it's physically impossible. I want this place as fortified as it possibly can be by dark tomorrow, love. I won't get myself into an accident. If someone else can drive--perfect. But if not..."

"Dean's not the only person here," she countered. "Joshua - he looked old enough. And the angel... Sean? he can probably drive. One of them can take you. And then tomorrow - the day after? Is it tomorrow already yet? Anyway - then, another day, I can take Dean through the basics of how to drive a car. Today-tomorrow Dean can stay here and work on fortifying this place. I'm sure you can find him work enough to keep him busy."

"We're pretty well into tomorrow." Oz said. "And I already said--if anyone else can drive, no issues at all. And yeah, I can." he said, just letting the argument slide. Because really, if it happened no one else could drive, he'd just go anyways. She'd be at the hospital. And she didn't need to know that, either.

"Right. I'm... I want to get a print out of sun up and sundown - don't let me forget. Anyone who's staying here needs to know their times, make sure they're inside for that. And we should go over with people the hospitality rules - or, well, I guess it's just Dean that needs to know that, since the others are only guests."

Oz nodded. "We'll go over everything for everyone late afternoon tomorrow, make sure everyone knows everything we do." he said. "Cover it all, just so everyone's on the same page, knows everything they need to...all the basics." He thought it sounded good. It would just be prudent. And they'd have slightly less to worry about if everyone knew everything they needed to.

Sophie shook her head, looking across at the curtained window. "What do you suppose it's like out there? How many do you think there are?" There'd seemed to be thousands last time, they'd just seemed to keep on coming. She'd had nightmares about them when she'd got back to England - or, well, she'd had the beginnings of nightmares, until the bond kicked in and brought Oz to soothe them. Sophie never had bad dreams for long.

"I saw a lot of lights, heard a ton of sirens, and I saw lights and smoke from fires." Oz said, rubbing her back lightly. "I think it's just as bad as it was back home. I can't say worse, at least not yet. But...we know it could get that way. So...I'd say enough to fuck this town up, and you know they breed like rabbits." So there would be more. They'd lose some tonight, he knew, but there would always be more.

"Those poor, poor people," she breathed. It was tempting to flip on the TV, to find a news channel and see what was out there. But at the same time, she wasn't sure she wanted to know. And in the back of her mind there was that fact. The fact that they'd only been stopped last time because someone had destroyed the town, literally. After everything, they'd burst the dam and drowned the damn town. Was there even any other way to stop them?

Oz's mind was along similar lines, though he didn't share it quite yet. He knew that right now, Sophie wouldn't be hearing anything that had to do with him going out there. Even if that was what he was thinking about doing. He didn't know when, but there was that internal drive in him to fight shit like this. It was why he'd run the vampire down, and had to kind of fight not to go finish it off. But yeah. Not saying that now. A few years ago? He would have. He'd learned slightly better by this point. "We'll figure something out." he said lightly.

She took hold of his hand and squeezed it lightly. "We will - and, I promise, no leaving this time," she added, kissing him softly. No, this time she was staying right here with him - nothing could get her to ever leave him ever again.

He kissed her back, and smiled a touch. "Sunshine?" he asked, voice soft, quiet, just for her, even if the rest of the house was resting, and they probably wouldn't be overheard. As someone with incredibly good ears, he was more aware people could be listening. "When we get out of this..."

She curled up a little more against him, believing in those words - that they would get through this, despite the fact that they'd not all survived last time. "When we get through this," she agreed, softly, resting her head on his shoulder.

He held her, breathing in the scent of her hair. "When we get through this...will you marry me?" he asked. He couldn't not. He absolutely couldn't keep himself from really asking right then. How many years had he been asking her on and off, and she'd always turned him down, or not given him any sort of agreeable answer? But, he kept trying. And tonight, things felt...different to him. Even if he fully expected to get shot down as usual, he couldn't help but ask.

She stilled, her eyes ticking up to rest on his jaw. He'd asked her before, of course. He'd been asking her to marry him since this all began, since the spell, since they'd been bonded. Since she was sixteen and far too young to be able to emotionally cope with everything he was asking of her. That had all culminated in her running away - something she probably would have done even if vampires hitting town hadn't sealed that for her family. And then, once she'd found her way back to him, he'd started asking again. But it had been a while now. Somewhere, some time, without saying anything, he'd just stopped asking. And it felt different now, she no longer felt like she had to give him the automatic brush-off, non-answer she'd been giving him since they had started. That in itself was a thought that scared her, because the brush-off was the easy answer. It wasn't a question of love - she loved him with everything she had. It had never been a question of love. But, for them, there was so much wrapped up in that that she, at least, had only recently been able to come to terms with. And the residue of fear and uncertainty of what had happened to them - what had been done to them remained. It didn't matter so much any more, but the habits it had left behind lingered. And so she hesitated, not sure how to answer that.

He wasn't sure why, but it hurt that she didn't say anything. He'd been prepared to be turned down. She always turned him down. And it had even been...probably months now since he'd even asked her again. But there was something that hurt there, a pang in his chest. Maybe he had been holding out some hope that she would say yes this time. While he wouldn't give her shit about her decision--he also wasn't sure he could sit there with her and pretend he was fine. So, he gave her a squeeze, and a kiss on the top of the head, and started to kind of extract himself from her and the couch. "I'll go check on Billy." he said quietly, and he gave himself points for having a steady if quiet voice.

She stopped him as he started to move, hand on his arm, pulling him back down again. "J, wait," she told him. She didn't want him to walk off like that, like this. What was she so afraid of? For all intents and purposes, they were married anyway - she'd been referring to him as her 'husband' since they got back together. What difference would a little piece of paper actually make? She looked up at him. "Ask me again," she said, softly. "When this is over. Ask me then." It was as good as she could give right then.

He couldn't quite look at her. Ask again when it was over. Right. He wasn't sure he could. At least, he didn't know right there, in that moment if he could. He'd asked countless times in their years together, and...it was never quite enough. But, he wasn't saying it. Not right now, probably not ever, and it might just...never get brought up again. If she had her way--it probably wouldn't. And this was so incredibly not the time to be depressed about his relationship with the woman he was soul bonded to. It still hurt, though, and he couldn't help that. He gave kind of a bare nod, acknowledgment that he'd heard her. "You should get a little bit of rest before everyone wakes up again...lay down in here for fifteen minutes or so. I'll check on Billy." he promised.

She looked up at him and realised that he'd completely misunderstood what she'd meant by that, that he'd taken it as just another brush off. And it was only then that she realised that, really, there was no reason for him not to think that. But she hadn't meant it that way, she hadn't at all. She'd just meant... What had she meant? That she needed time to get used to the idea that she wasn't going to turn him down? To stop herself from panicking at the thought of something so insanely stupid? that she wanted to have a proposal that wasn't attached to hiding in the dark from vampires? That didn't feel like it was something that would only happen if the world didn't end? Or, possibly, all of the above. "Promise me you'll ask me again," she said, trying to put as much encouragement and reassurance in her eyes as she could.

He heard it, it just didn't do a whole lot to help his mental state just then. He couldn't even have begun to explain why. Maybe it was because all at once, he'd felt tired. And while he'd always given chase with her before--then tried to curb every instinctual tendency he'd had towards that when she'd finally gotten back--he didn't know if he really had it in him again. He'd stopped for a while due to that. And because of Dean's presence. He stood up, and quietly picked up the shotgun, the barrels still pointed down at the floor, where he usually kept them if he was carrying it. "We'll talk about it...another time, okay?" he asked, and there was the very light undercurrent of pleading on that. He really needed to walk away right now, but didn't want to leave her until...he didn't know. She was okay, or something.

She'd fucked up again and they'd been doing so much better at communication recently. She looked away. "Okay," she agreed, quietly. It wasn't, not really, but she caught the tone of his voice and she knew she couldn't really explain in any event, so what choice was there? It would have to be okay.

He nodded again, half glancing at her, and he hesitated, then started for the door. "I love you." he said, right before he walked out. "More than anything." And he knew he didn't really have to tell her that, she knew, but he felt like he needed to then. That said, he headed out, to do as he promised, and check on Billy again. He planned to sit with his friend for a little while. Just sort of...being there. Then he'd make rounds around the house.

"I love you too," she told him, but he'd already left the room and she didn't know if he'd hear her. She sat there for a few minutes, staring at the wall, then got up, taking a breath and pulling herself together. There were things to be done and she couldn't let herself get in the way of that.