A Text
After a week of no work, Darcy had done a lot of reading, a bit of exploring her neighborhood, and some cooking, among a few other things around her apartment. She was hanging around at home more than anything else, though that morning she did finally venture out to the Winter Market in Bryant Park that she'd heard about. It was pretty cool. Going there was just like taking the train to work, except she walked out of Grand Central and headed a few blocks west to the park, instead up heading up into the Tower. Sitting at a little table drinking a hot chocolate and munching on some really awesome food from one of the kiosks her phone buzzed. A text message from Steve. She was definitely curious about it since it had been two weeks since she'd seen or heard from him.
"Hey, Darcy. I'm asking around to people who attended the Halloween Party if they recall seeing or noticing anything odd that evening or the next morning. We've gotten several reports of people waking up feeling a little fuzzy even when they hadn't had much, or anything, alcoholic to drink the night before. Some people have also reported feeling otherwise off that night, and even some memory issues. I don't really remember the night at all. Sam said he thought he saw us talking, do you remember if I said or did anything strange?" Darcy's brow furrowed and she, for a moment, pondered walking back over to The Tower and talking to him. But she also had a lot of little questions ringing in her head.
"I didn't think anything was strange at the time. I did wake up feeling kind of fuzzy, but I don't remember drinking that much. You don't remember anything? We did talk for a while, at least if I'm remembering the night correctly. Cause Halloween and the next day definitely felt pretty strange." That didn't make Darcy feel any more sure of if she recalled the night correctly or not, nor was she sure she should mention anything he'd said to her. Maybe it was strange because maybe he wouldn't have said any of those things if whatever was happening hadn't been happening. After that sleeping with her eyes open thing at the lab and the subsequent strange dreams she was having, she was questioning everything. Maybe it was also strange because maybe he'd merely made small talk with her at the party and she'd imagined everything else.
"I remember arriving to the party and going for a drink, seeing Sam there, and that's about it. I'm not really even sure what Sam said to me that night, I just recall seeing him. Everything is kind of blank until the next morning." Darcy read the text, wondering if that meant that he'd woken up fuzzy but when he did, he didn't notice anything weird. Maybe she had dreamt the rest of the night. Maybe she'd blacked out on memory too, and her brain had simply supplied her with some dreams to replace them. Even with her spotty at best recall for her dreams prior to Halloween, she knew she'd had a couple of dreams that featured Steve. And given the weird dreams she'd started having, about a place she'd never even seen, a sex dream about Steve seemed pretty normal. It wasn't like her recall of that night was perfect, especially as it wore on. She was into Steve, she wanted Steve, she maybe loved him, but she wasn't sure that would have equaled having sex that night. Not without some kind of conversation over the matter, and she didn't remember any such thing. All Darcy's mind could play for her was going from making out on a couch to in bed. She'd never had sex before, things didn't get that heavy with Ian after three months together, mostly because of her. And she wondered if that wasn't why he'd felt like he was drifting on her at the end, before she left to come back to the States, with Jane. And while she certainly did feel more strongly about Steve, she wasn't sure it would have meant just jumping into bed with him. She felt very confused.
"That night definitely felt weird to me, but I'm not sure why. I'm not sure if I really recall everything right, or if maybe I just filled in some gaps with something I dreamt or something." Darcy took a long drink from her hot chocolate, letting the warmth momentarily soothe the creeping nerves she had.
"That definitely sounds like it qualifies as strange. Bruce told me to ask for some details from everyone, like how much you remember drinking, and what you drank. Would you say you feel like you maybe don't recall parts of the night? Do you feel alright now?" Was he worried about her, or was that just one of Bruce's data collection questions? She wasn't sure, she wished she could see Steve's face while he asked. Then maybe it would tell her something.
"I had one cocktail, that I remember. And I'm not certain I even finished it. I'm honestly not sure what I remember and what might have been a dream or something now. It seems like things just keep getting stranger. Physically I feel okay though." She hit send, and then after a minute or two of nothing, she sent another, "maybe I could come by and we could talk about it more? I'm curious about what's going on, about what other people have felt about that night?"
It was another minute or two before the reply came, "I really can't right now, things are a little crazy. And I thought Jane was away doing research? But if there's anything else you can think of, that you recall, or might be useful, text me and let me know."
"Oh, okay. Jane is, but it's all classified or something, so I didn't qualify for clearance. I'll let you know if I think of anything else about the night." Darcy sighed and sniffled, and she knew it wasn't just from the chilly November air.
Then her phone buzzed again, "I do want to talk to you sometime. I'm just not sure when I'll have free time. But maybe in a few weeks, we could hit the gym again, or try crossing something off my list. If you want. I can text you or something when some of this mess has calmed down."
"Sure, that would be good." Darcy still had to wipe her eyes, only now she was unsure if it was a one-hundred percent sad tear, or something a little more bittersweet. At least he still wanted to be her friend, she hoped.