The Angel of the Odd

june 24th, 2019

This forum contains scenes set off of the island, taking place concurrently with V7 and its broadcast. Please be sure to thoroughly read the rules prior to posting in this forum. If you have any questions, please consult staff.
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Fenris
Posts: 1529
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 5:56 pm
Location: hell probably

The Angel of the Odd

#1

Post by Fenris »

Two weeks was a long time.

Not objectively. Not even to him, most months, most years. Two weeks in the summer could evaporate. There were books to read and things to write and movies to watch and games to play and music to hear and Dolly, always Dolly, with an invitation when he'd stayed inside too long. There were no invitations, anymore. His shelves were still there. He still watched movies, sometimes. Movies and music. He needed sound or he thought the sounds in his head might tear his brain apart. Books, though. They taunted him.

Two weeks.

Two weeks since the world ended.

The sun still rose and the birds still sang and that felt disrespectful every single day.

Artem slept a lot. Still showered too long. He felt guilty, still carrying that trauma with him, but it refused to come off of him however hard he scrubbed. He would keep trying.

He had cried, a lot. He kept crying, in bursts, on and off, bits and pieces clicking into places in his head. Memories. Floating bits. He remembered the scribbles in Amelia's notebooks, wondered if she'd taken them with her, if they were lost forever, now. He remembered Violet's enthusiasm for her rituals, remembered that he'd missed the last one, he hadn't felt well that day, told Dolly to go without him. He remembered Val, and Regina, and Abel. He wondered if they had found each other. He wondered if it was kinder, if they had, or had not.

He read his last messages to Dolly, over and over.

He hurt himself, over and over.

He thought the pain might lessen. At best, he wore himself out. At worst he lay awake at night and hoped something would come and claim his soul.

Two weeks.

Everyone he loved was almost certainly dead by now.
"Well, Fenris, the King of Gossip. We meet again."
[+] v7
the dead:
Image[B040] Dante Valerio - Fell asleep too early.
[V7] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: None Now: [Start] Prom: [Start] Trip: [Start]
Image[G014] Apollonia "Nia" Karahalios - T-R-I-E-D.
[V7] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: None Trip: [Start]
Image[B004] Axel Fontaine - Lost his place.
[V7] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: [Start] Trip: [Start]
Image[G041] Ivy Langley - Together forever.
[V7] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: [Start] Trip: [Start]

the living:
ImageArtem Fyodorov - Desperate.
[Meanwhile] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: [Start]
ImageZen Alicea Feliciano - On vacation!
[Meanwhile] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: [Start]
User avatar
Fenris
Posts: 1529
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 5:56 pm
Location: hell probably

#2

Post by Fenris »

He smoked a lot, too. That kept him alive, some days. Got him to sleep when nothing else would, when the torment was too much. When the souls of the dead were clawing at his bedsheets. It kept him calm, relatively. Kept him sane. He rationed it for the worst moments, he was grateful for the past paranoias that had led him to create a minor stockpile in his bedside table. He had enough, for some time. It had lasted this long.

No longer, though. It was gone. He opened the little box and it was empty.

Amelia had painted the box for him, he remembered.

He... what could he do? It wasn't important. It shouldn't be important. He was selfish, he was weak. He needed better ways to cope. He could find something else, but the things that came to mind were worse. The things that came to mind tasted like iron in his mouth. Maybe that was what he deserved. Maybe he needed that push. Maybe he needed to self-destruct a little further.

He was scared, though. Of himself, maybe. Maybe that was wise.

... Who had gone on the trip? Who hadn't? He didn't know. He only knew his friends, all the people he loved, gone. The dealers at school hadn't been his friends. But he had their numbers.

It felt wrong.

If he found someone who was home he would be interrupting their grief with his own. Did he deserve that kind of consideration? No.

...

> Hello
> Are you there?

He copied that message, as neutral as he could make it, into the handful of relevant numbers he had on his phone. A couple of whom he had never messaged before. He wondered if any of them would care, that he was alive, if they remembered him when the people they loved were dead. He wondered if they would resent him. He wondered how many of them were already gone.

He wished he could take the messages back, moments after they were sent, he was a nuisance, he was intruding, they were all dead, anyway, everyone was, everyone was, every person he'd ever let carve out a piece of his heart was never coming back and

he hugged his arms tightly to himself and curled up in bed. He did not expect an answer, nor did he deserve one.
"Well, Fenris, the King of Gossip. We meet again."
[+] v7
the dead:
Image[B040] Dante Valerio - Fell asleep too early.
[V7] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: None Now: [Start] Prom: [Start] Trip: [Start]
Image[G014] Apollonia "Nia" Karahalios - T-R-I-E-D.
[V7] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: None Trip: [Start]
Image[B004] Axel Fontaine - Lost his place.
[V7] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: [Start] Trip: [Start]
Image[G041] Ivy Langley - Together forever.
[V7] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: [Start] Trip: [Start]

the living:
ImageArtem Fyodorov - Desperate.
[Meanwhile] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: [Start]
ImageZen Alicea Feliciano - On vacation!
[Meanwhile] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: [Start]
User avatar
Pippi
Posts: 1066
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 7:04 pm
Location: I'm from England!

#3

Post by Pippi »

Another body, another lost soul who had locked themselves away within the confines of their own house for two weeks, stirred as their phone vibrated on their nightstand.

((Dean Puchero continued from Spirit Phone))

His hadn’t been a solitary two weeks, at least. Siyanda had come to visit him fairly often. There hadn’t been any schedule to zir visits; ze came whenever they felt like it, or whenever Dean wasn’t responding to zir texts, which was often, or whenever ze needed to be with somebody. He never responded positively whenever his mom informed him that he had a visitor, responding with little more than a grunt. But he always clung tightly to Siyanda whenever ze hugged him, and he was always reluctant to let zem go.

And he could always hear his mom from downstairs afterwards, letting zem know that they were always welcome in the Puchero household, and to take care, and to come back round whenever they wanted to. Please.

Dean was about to slump back into his blanket cocoon, when his phone buzzed once more, threatening to tumble onto the carpet. He groaned, pushed himself up against the headboard, and rubbed his eyes with his one hand. The room was dark, but that didn’t tell him anything. His dark blue curtains were very good at blocking out the light. Coulda been morning. Coulda been midday. Coulda been night. He had no idea. Time flowed around him, and he refused to drift with it.

He shifted once more, a handful of chip packets slipping off of the bed as he did so. There was a lot of empty wrappers and bottles littering his sheet and stuffed down the side of his bed and collecting dust on the floor. His wastepaper basket was already stuffed to bursting with trash. He coulda taken it downstairs with him, whenever he went to grab something to eat or drink or eat with his parents when they asked him to. But it was hard enough forcing himself to even do that.

Dean swiped at his phone, missed, and almost sent it flying, then grabbed it on the second go around, body still waking up and trying to play catch-up. A quick glance at the time told him it was the middle of the afternoon. He shrugged. Whatever. It had happened before, it’d happen again. He’d play a few games of Overwatch then fall back asleep again for another couple of hours.

Two new messages. He tapped the icon, then briefly put his phone down to scratch his chin, feeling the rough, scratchy, short hair that had started growing there. His razor had gone untouched for weeks. Sometimes he glanced at it when he went to the bathroom, but that was it. He picked the phone up again, fully prepared to tap the message, ignore it, then turn his phone off again. It happened at least twice a day. Someone, normally Siyanda, sometimes Kayden, occasionally another friend or family member or vague acquaintance, texting him to see if he was okay or if he wanted to go and hang out or something. They’d all see that he’d read the message. That would have to be enough for them.

This name made him pause, however. It took him a couple of seconds to remember exactly where he knew an Artem from, but once he did, he had an image of the guy crystal clear in his head. He was pretty damn hard to miss, after all. They’d run into each other at several parties, and Dean had given him his number in case he needed somebody to hook him up, but they hadn’t spoken otherwise. The message history was totally bare.

He was still tempted to just put the phone back down again and turn his PS4 on and ignore the rest of the world once more, but he had enough innate curiosity left in him to wonder exactly why Artem had suddenly decided to message him, after months of silence, and after two weeks of everybody in his contact list but him trying to get ahold of him and make sure he was all right.

Dean typed out a short message, then put his phone back on his nightstand, turning his PS4 on with the controller lying next to his pillow, before he slipped out of bed to put his prosthetic on.

> Hey
[+] V7
B006 - Stepney Cruz - DEAD - Dynasty decapitated, you just might see a ghost tonight - Mountain Bike - Localised - Catastrophe - Inferno
Pregame - Chill - Loss - Realm
Trip - Loved

G035 - Katie Agustien - DEAD - There's only two ways that these things can go, good or bad and how was I to know that all your friends won't hold any grudges, I got the final judgment - The World's Sharpest Knife™ - Dread - Skin - ieatnothing - Satisfaction - Tempest - Zero
Pregame - Vend-etta - Flames - Fleet - Monachopsis - Glitter
Trip - G҉ A҉ N҉ G҉

B028 - Aurelien Valter - DEAD - When everything's lost, they pick up their hearts and avenge defeat, before it all starts, they suffer through harm just to touch a dream - Spiked Mace, Glock 19, Min-Jae Parker's Crossbow - Nightmare - Bubbles - Neighbourhood - Tragedy - Make It - Fiend - Sleet - Love - Walls - Friends - Key - Everything - Gotta - Ghosts - Alone
Pregame - Shark - Heart
Prom - Link - Gradation - Ballare
Trip - Inferis - Scusare

B052 - Garren Mortimer - DEAD- Cut up and I can't feel my hands, no need to chase, can you relate, can you keep up the pace like you're dying for this? - Bryan Calvert's SPAS-12, Alligator tooth sword - Sky - Geek - Nation - No - Dilemma - Mauerbauertraurigkeit - Struck - Punishment - Énouement - Pain - Learn - lamb - Moves
Pregame - Rain
Trip - Life

Meanwhile
Lyra Doyle - Let's live tonight like fireflies, and one by one light up the sky - Pop!
Pregame - Evolution - Life - Lo Mein
Memories - Forward - Odds

Dean Puchero - By July you'd made a whole bunch of brand new friends, people you used to look down on, and you'd figured out a way to make real money - Phone - Angel
Pregame - Generation - Prince
Memories - Star
Prom - Sun - Luster
[+] The Past
V6
Bryony Adams - Burning bright until the end, now you'll be missing from the photographs
Astrid Tate - So what became of loving man, and what became of you?
Mia Rose - You can't understand that I won't leave 'til we're finished here, and then you'll find out where it all went wrong

V5
Owen Kay - I fold my tie and ribbon to hide my scars, that's how it starts
Amy Bachelor - Can you whisper, as it crumbles and breaks, as you shiver, count up all your mistakes
Francis St. Ledger - So a day when you've lost yourself completely could be a night when your life ends

V4
George Leidman (Adopted from Blastinus) - Now if we jump together at least we can swim far away from the wreck that we made
Beatrice - Jamie - Pippi - Tim - Ada - Tabby - Romeo - Lissa - Freddie - Trinity - Redd - Natalie - Kendra
[+] The Future
Boyd Adkinson - Ain't no surprise that I can't sleep tonight, my only vice is standing by your side
"bryony and alba would definitely join the terrorists quote me on this put this quote in signatures put it in history books" - Cicada Days, 2017
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Fenris
Posts: 1529
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 5:56 pm
Location: hell probably

#4

Post by Fenris »

His phone buzzed.

He wasn't expecting it. He really wasn't. He felt guilty when he pressed "send" because of a feeling, because of a theoretical, because of a "what if" that could never be. Everyone was gone, he thought. But he wasn't gone. He wasn't gone and other people got sick or couldn't afford the trip or had other plans or just didn't want to go and they still existed and they probably felt guilty the way that ground his soul like sandpaper every time he took a breath and thought of bodies that couldn't anymore.

Of course they existed, but the chances were so low. He had only messaged four people. They should all be dead. He'd felt guilty but he didn't expect his failure to actually hurt someone and now it had and would it be worse, if he just didn't respond, let his words hang in the void? He didn't know. Someone was alive. Someone was still there. Someone.

He looked at his phone.

Dean.

Dean Puchero.

He was alive.

Artem didn't know him well, or really at all, in any way that mattered. They'd been to the same parties. One time, he remembered, he'd stolen his phone. They were both high, in good moods, Artem had laughed, he hadn't laughed in an eternity, Dean gave him the phone back with his number in it, he was laughing too. "Hit me up," he'd said, and in context Artem had gotten the message. He never had, though. He had a few backups in his phone, but Parker had always been there when he needed him.

Parker was dead, though.

Dean was alive.

> I'm sorry

He panic-messaged before his thoughts caught up with him. What did he say? He knew what he wanted, he knew why he'd messaged but it was so overwhelmingly selfish that he needed to say something else but he didn't know what to say, he didn't have things, he didn't know Dean but he was still so happy he was alive because someone was, anyone. He wanted to ask if he was okay or if he needed anything or if he could help him in any way even though he had nothing at all to offer but he needed something and maybe it was something Dean needed too. Maybe. Maybe he was garbage. Maybe. He needed to know.

> I'm glad
> That you're okay I mean
> I know we barely know each other but I'm glad someone's out there
> If that makes sense

Fingers tripping over themselves, typing too fast.

> I'm sorry this is so selfish of me to ask
> My stash ran out
> It's hard to sleep
> Without it
> I understand if you don't want to see anyone
> Or me at least
> I'm intruding
> I'm sorry

He started typing "never mind", but he wouldn't mean it. He'd take rejection if it was coming.

He meant the apologies. Every single one.
"Well, Fenris, the King of Gossip. We meet again."
[+] v7
the dead:
Image[B040] Dante Valerio - Fell asleep too early.
[V7] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: None Now: [Start] Prom: [Start] Trip: [Start]
Image[G014] Apollonia "Nia" Karahalios - T-R-I-E-D.
[V7] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: None Trip: [Start]
Image[B004] Axel Fontaine - Lost his place.
[V7] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: [Start] Trip: [Start]
Image[G041] Ivy Langley - Together forever.
[V7] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: [Start] Trip: [Start]

the living:
ImageArtem Fyodorov - Desperate.
[Meanwhile] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: [Start]
ImageZen Alicea Feliciano - On vacation!
[Meanwhile] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: [Start]
User avatar
Pippi
Posts: 1066
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 7:04 pm
Location: I'm from England!

#5

Post by Pippi »

He walked back to the bed with his prosthetic now firmly attached, yawning and scratching his cheek. He had to take a roundabout route, stepping over and around piles of clothes and litter dotting the floor. Speaking of clothes, he rolled his shoulders to adjust the way his tank top hung on him. The garment barely moved, stuck to his back with sweat. When was the last time he’d changed out of it? Had to be the last time he’d showered, which had been the day before the last time Siyanda had visited, which had been…

A few days ago, now. Christ.

He picked the phone up with one hand, lazily looking down at it as he picked up his PS4 controller with his other hand.

He blinked, feeling himself wake up more.

That was a lot of messages.

He’d kinda already planned out how this was supposed to go. He’d get back to bed and check the messages, Artem would send some generic words of concern or a rote checkup to make sure he was okay, Dean would reply with ‘sure’ or ‘i’m okay’, and that would be that. Phone back down, another day locked in his room with the curtains drawn and the outside world a distant void.

And there was that expected comment, the ‘I’m glad you’re okay’ that so many others had sent him. But this was laced with the fact that it wasn’t him, in particular, that Artem was glad to get a response from. Just somebody. The whole message, in fact, wasn’t about him. It was about Artem himself.

The guy obviously was suffering. Dean had no doubt that everybody he knew was doing just as poorly, but seeing it all written down in front of him, as frank and open as this, messages one after the other all in the space of a minute… somehow, it was refreshing.

He tried not to think about the fact he was finding comfort in other peoples’ trauma.

This whole situation just felt… different to all the other times people had messaged him, asking to see him. He’d let Siyanda in because ze’d been the first person he’d talked to about it, there was some sort of invisible connection there, he felt, and, well, obviously there were feelings between them that neither of them were in any particular state to unpack. He hadn’t wanted to let anybody else in, because he hadn’t wanted to either act like he was okay and coping around them, or to let them see that he wasn’t doing okay, not at all. Nor did he want to see them dancing around everything that had happened, trying to push on through their shattered lives.

But Artem was open with how bad he was hurting, and he was trying to get in touch with anybody, even people he’d spoken to less than a dozen times before in the past.

Fuck it. It had been ages since he’d smoked with anybody else. Maybe that’d help in some way.

> It’s fine
> you’re not intruding

Intruding was asking him how he felt, trying to figure out how his mind was working, trying to make him act like he could just resume life as normal soon.

> Not doing anything right now so
> You can come over
> my room’s a dump atm
> Hope you don’t mind

Dean paused momentarily, sitting on the edge of his bed, bathed in the deep blue of his television screen.

> you know how to get here?
[+] V7
B006 - Stepney Cruz - DEAD - Dynasty decapitated, you just might see a ghost tonight - Mountain Bike - Localised - Catastrophe - Inferno
Pregame - Chill - Loss - Realm
Trip - Loved

G035 - Katie Agustien - DEAD - There's only two ways that these things can go, good or bad and how was I to know that all your friends won't hold any grudges, I got the final judgment - The World's Sharpest Knife™ - Dread - Skin - ieatnothing - Satisfaction - Tempest - Zero
Pregame - Vend-etta - Flames - Fleet - Monachopsis - Glitter
Trip - G҉ A҉ N҉ G҉

B028 - Aurelien Valter - DEAD - When everything's lost, they pick up their hearts and avenge defeat, before it all starts, they suffer through harm just to touch a dream - Spiked Mace, Glock 19, Min-Jae Parker's Crossbow - Nightmare - Bubbles - Neighbourhood - Tragedy - Make It - Fiend - Sleet - Love - Walls - Friends - Key - Everything - Gotta - Ghosts - Alone
Pregame - Shark - Heart
Prom - Link - Gradation - Ballare
Trip - Inferis - Scusare

B052 - Garren Mortimer - DEAD- Cut up and I can't feel my hands, no need to chase, can you relate, can you keep up the pace like you're dying for this? - Bryan Calvert's SPAS-12, Alligator tooth sword - Sky - Geek - Nation - No - Dilemma - Mauerbauertraurigkeit - Struck - Punishment - Énouement - Pain - Learn - lamb - Moves
Pregame - Rain
Trip - Life

Meanwhile
Lyra Doyle - Let's live tonight like fireflies, and one by one light up the sky - Pop!
Pregame - Evolution - Life - Lo Mein
Memories - Forward - Odds

Dean Puchero - By July you'd made a whole bunch of brand new friends, people you used to look down on, and you'd figured out a way to make real money - Phone - Angel
Pregame - Generation - Prince
Memories - Star
Prom - Sun - Luster
[+] The Past
V6
Bryony Adams - Burning bright until the end, now you'll be missing from the photographs
Astrid Tate - So what became of loving man, and what became of you?
Mia Rose - You can't understand that I won't leave 'til we're finished here, and then you'll find out where it all went wrong

V5
Owen Kay - I fold my tie and ribbon to hide my scars, that's how it starts
Amy Bachelor - Can you whisper, as it crumbles and breaks, as you shiver, count up all your mistakes
Francis St. Ledger - So a day when you've lost yourself completely could be a night when your life ends

V4
George Leidman (Adopted from Blastinus) - Now if we jump together at least we can swim far away from the wreck that we made
Beatrice - Jamie - Pippi - Tim - Ada - Tabby - Romeo - Lissa - Freddie - Trinity - Redd - Natalie - Kendra
[+] The Future
Boyd Adkinson - Ain't no surprise that I can't sleep tonight, my only vice is standing by your side
"bryony and alba would definitely join the terrorists quote me on this put this quote in signatures put it in history books" - Cicada Days, 2017
User avatar
Fenris
Posts: 1529
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 5:56 pm
Location: hell probably

#6

Post by Fenris »

Artem was still holding his phone, this time, when it buzzed. Vibrations through his whole body. It was a strange feeling. Representative, symbolic, of... something. It was hard to find words, still, sometimes.

When he looked at the messages, several buzzes later, he was. Surprised? He wasn't sure. He wasn't sure what his expectations were. Had he expected rejection, a flat "no", a "fuck off", maybe, maybe? Maybe. But everyone was hurting. Everyone who'd stayed home carried the heavy burden of survivor's guilt and his pain was not greater than theirs just because it was his. He'd been particularly unlucky, maybe, in some ways, that he'd loved one person in the world with his whole heart and

Everyone was mourning. He wasn't special.

But he hadn't known how much it would hurt to be alone for so long.

He wondered if Dean had friends who were still alive. He wondered who he was mourning, who he missed most, whose old messages he reread on his phone over and over, whose photos he told himself he shouldn't pour over over and over again but he did, anyway. Whose old videos he'd clung to like life preservers. Who he'd called and prayed and begged for a sign, who he'd called again a week later just to hear their voicemail message, their voice preserved in amber. Who he'd loved and who he'd lost and who was helping him pick up the pieces. If anyone.

Artem would have to pick up his own pieces. That was okay. He deserved that, he thought.

A punishment greater than anything he'd been able to inflict on himself.

The thought of going outside made his heart feel tight, but he dragged himself out of bed anyway. His clothes were neatly folded in drawers, he'd let his mother put them away while he'd sat quietly, he'd put on a movie just so that she wouldn't worry. She had anyway. He nodded and smiled tightly and whispered "I'm fine" and she had made some plan for him to do something the next day and when the time came he locked the door and pretended to be asleep.

His father convinced her he just needed time. They left him alone, after that.

That was nice of them.

Underwear, shirt, pants. Simple black slacks, a grey long-sleeved shirt. All the clothing he liked best felt too sacred to touch him anymore. He felt odd in a simple shirt. Out of place.

It was far too hot for the sleeves, but his skin still welted red in patches.

He checked his phone again and realized that he had very nearly left the house without a destination in mind. Embarrassed, he quickly responded with "I don't no I'm sorry," to which Dean responded with his address. Artem's parents were out. That suited him fine.

Dean didn't live too far.

The ride there felt familiar. It went by without fanfare, his mind and body too distant from each other to make much sense of the time that passed. He sat in the front seat and slipped in and out of the Uber in silence except for a "thank you" so quiet he wasn't sure the driver had heard him. The sound of it driving away behind him made his stomach suddenly clench for reasons he couldn't adequately describe and he was

shaking. He realized he was shaking. He'd been shaking the whole time. Something was wrong. Something was wrong.

> Outside

He sat down on the curb before his legs gave out.
"Well, Fenris, the King of Gossip. We meet again."
[+] v7
the dead:
Image[B040] Dante Valerio - Fell asleep too early.
[V7] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: None Now: [Start] Prom: [Start] Trip: [Start]
Image[G014] Apollonia "Nia" Karahalios - T-R-I-E-D.
[V7] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: None Trip: [Start]
Image[B004] Axel Fontaine - Lost his place.
[V7] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: [Start] Trip: [Start]
Image[G041] Ivy Langley - Together forever.
[V7] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: [Start] Trip: [Start]

the living:
ImageArtem Fyodorov - Desperate.
[Meanwhile] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: [Start]
ImageZen Alicea Feliciano - On vacation!
[Meanwhile] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: [Start]
User avatar
Pippi
Posts: 1066
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 7:04 pm
Location: I'm from England!

#7

Post by Pippi »

Artem didn’t respond immediately. A couple of minutes passed, and Dean started wondering whether he’d had a change of heart. Maybe he’d decided he couldn’t face another survivor face to face just yet. Maybe he wasn’t ready to share trauma with somebody else. Could be any of the reasons Dean was telling himself to justify his hibernation.

He swung his legs back up onto the bed, faced the TV screen, and picked the controller up again, just as his phone vibrated once more. He almost frowned, as he checked what Artem had said now. He quickly tapped out his address, not bothering to correct the spelling error in ‘Drive’, then sighed and scooted off the bed again. If he was gonna see another human being, he should probably put on some clothes that were actually presentable, and not, y’know. Stained with sweat.

There were a couple pairs of jeans in his wardrobe, but nothing in the way of shirts. They all lay in various piles, scattered across his room. He foraged through them, looking for something that had been washed semi-recently, or at least, not worn hugely extensively. The best he could find was a green tank top lying on the chair parked next to his desk; creased to hell and back, but no stains or sweat marks. He stripped off, tossing his clothes into one of the many piles, before changing into new boxers and jeans, and the green tank top. Then he sat back on his bed and waited.

Dean was searching for a fourth match when he decided to idly check his phone, and saw that Artem had replied a good few minutes ago, letting him know he was outside. He cursed, quickly canceled the match search, and left his room, padding down the hall in his bare feet. They still hadn’t gotten around to replacing the rug that normally lived there, but the bright light through the windows kept the hard floor warm. He could hear the lawnmower running from the back yard. It was a sunny day. Everybody was likely outside making the most of it. Thank god. He still hadn’t figured out a single thing to say to his parents yet.

He slipped downstairs and towards the front door, opening it to find absolutely no-one standing there. He blinked and frowned, then realised that there was someone sitting on the sidewalk, someone with bright light blonde hair, someone who couldn’t really have been anybody else. Dean walked towards Artem, clearing his throat, preparing the voice he hadn’t used for days now.

“Hey.”

It took another moment for Dean to realise that Artem was shaking badly. He frowned again. He took a step forward, reached out instinctively as if to touch the other boy’s shoulder, then stopped halfway.

“You okay?”
[+] V7
B006 - Stepney Cruz - DEAD - Dynasty decapitated, you just might see a ghost tonight - Mountain Bike - Localised - Catastrophe - Inferno
Pregame - Chill - Loss - Realm
Trip - Loved

G035 - Katie Agustien - DEAD - There's only two ways that these things can go, good or bad and how was I to know that all your friends won't hold any grudges, I got the final judgment - The World's Sharpest Knife™ - Dread - Skin - ieatnothing - Satisfaction - Tempest - Zero
Pregame - Vend-etta - Flames - Fleet - Monachopsis - Glitter
Trip - G҉ A҉ N҉ G҉

B028 - Aurelien Valter - DEAD - When everything's lost, they pick up their hearts and avenge defeat, before it all starts, they suffer through harm just to touch a dream - Spiked Mace, Glock 19, Min-Jae Parker's Crossbow - Nightmare - Bubbles - Neighbourhood - Tragedy - Make It - Fiend - Sleet - Love - Walls - Friends - Key - Everything - Gotta - Ghosts - Alone
Pregame - Shark - Heart
Prom - Link - Gradation - Ballare
Trip - Inferis - Scusare

B052 - Garren Mortimer - DEAD- Cut up and I can't feel my hands, no need to chase, can you relate, can you keep up the pace like you're dying for this? - Bryan Calvert's SPAS-12, Alligator tooth sword - Sky - Geek - Nation - No - Dilemma - Mauerbauertraurigkeit - Struck - Punishment - Énouement - Pain - Learn - lamb - Moves
Pregame - Rain
Trip - Life

Meanwhile
Lyra Doyle - Let's live tonight like fireflies, and one by one light up the sky - Pop!
Pregame - Evolution - Life - Lo Mein
Memories - Forward - Odds

Dean Puchero - By July you'd made a whole bunch of brand new friends, people you used to look down on, and you'd figured out a way to make real money - Phone - Angel
Pregame - Generation - Prince
Memories - Star
Prom - Sun - Luster
[+] The Past
V6
Bryony Adams - Burning bright until the end, now you'll be missing from the photographs
Astrid Tate - So what became of loving man, and what became of you?
Mia Rose - You can't understand that I won't leave 'til we're finished here, and then you'll find out where it all went wrong

V5
Owen Kay - I fold my tie and ribbon to hide my scars, that's how it starts
Amy Bachelor - Can you whisper, as it crumbles and breaks, as you shiver, count up all your mistakes
Francis St. Ledger - So a day when you've lost yourself completely could be a night when your life ends

V4
George Leidman (Adopted from Blastinus) - Now if we jump together at least we can swim far away from the wreck that we made
Beatrice - Jamie - Pippi - Tim - Ada - Tabby - Romeo - Lissa - Freddie - Trinity - Redd - Natalie - Kendra
[+] The Future
Boyd Adkinson - Ain't no surprise that I can't sleep tonight, my only vice is standing by your side
"bryony and alba would definitely join the terrorists quote me on this put this quote in signatures put it in history books" - Cicada Days, 2017
User avatar
Fenris
Posts: 1529
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 5:56 pm
Location: hell probably

#8

Post by Fenris »

"Nuh—"

Artem hadn't spoken to a person who wasn't his parents in weeks. He had spoken to them exclusively in single words and phrases as condensed as they came. Even with the cold, directionless terror creeping down his spine, he wasn't anticipating how his tongue stuck helplessly to the roof of his mouth when he attempted to form a sentence. The first exchange he shared with the near-stranger kind enough to help him was a nothing sound. His empty fist clenched and unclenched reflexively. Something was still wrong. He didn't understand.

"No, I—"

No one was okay. Neither of them were okay. That was the point. He grasped at something imaginary, nails tearing at anything but skin. He checked his sleeves, as though they might have rolled up without his knowledge or permission. They clung tight around his wrists.

He was so ungrateful. He tried, very slowly, to stand. He tried, very weakly, to smile. Neither went well. He stumbled, palms scraping against the sidewalk before he managed to push himself back up to his feet, his expression blank-eyed and terrified despite upturned lips. He was so ungrateful. Why was he doing this? Why was it happening? He'd been getting better. A tiny, tiny bit. Enough to go outside. It had been something. He'd thought it had been something.

He heard an engine growl in his mind. He felt hands. Moving.

"I'm sorry."

He was quiet. His words stuck together in a way that was at least intelligible.

"I just—something happened—"

He couldn't explain. He didn't know.

"Can we go inside?"

Anywhere else.
"Well, Fenris, the King of Gossip. We meet again."
[+] v7
the dead:
Image[B040] Dante Valerio - Fell asleep too early.
[V7] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: None Now: [Start] Prom: [Start] Trip: [Start]
Image[G014] Apollonia "Nia" Karahalios - T-R-I-E-D.
[V7] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: None Trip: [Start]
Image[B004] Axel Fontaine - Lost his place.
[V7] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: [Start] Trip: [Start]
Image[G041] Ivy Langley - Together forever.
[V7] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: [Start] Trip: [Start]

the living:
ImageArtem Fyodorov - Desperate.
[Meanwhile] [x] [x] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: [Start]
ImageZen Alicea Feliciano - On vacation!
[Meanwhile] [x]
[Pregame] Then: [Start] Now: [Start] Prom: [Start]
User avatar
Pippi
Posts: 1066
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 7:04 pm
Location: I'm from England!

#9

Post by Pippi »

Dean took a step back as Artem started moving of his own volition again. He was thankful, to an extent, a very short extent, for that. He was worried that he’d lost the ability to do so, that whatever fear had clearly gripped him had totally paralyzed him and stopped everything bar his vital signs from functioning.

The boy stumbled as he got to his feet, looking like he was about to fall back to the kerb again. His mouth was twisted into… something. Dean wasn’t about to call it a smile. It was a facsimile of such, as hollow and empty a ghost as could be. That was all he could see, as he looked at Artem. Just a ghost. A wandering ghost, aimlessly clinging to this realm.

“Hey…”

Dean couldn’t tell what his own face looked like right now. Nothing good, he was certain, definitely not the sorta expression you wanted to see for reassurance, not what you needed to see to let you know you were in safe hands. He tried to shift his face back into neutral, resisting the urge to place his hand onto Artem’s shoulder. He could tell, through intuition, or a hunch, or whatever, that doing so would be a bad idea.

“Hey, yeah, of course. Let’s head inside.”

Dean turned, walking back into the house. He glanced back over his shoulder, making sure Artem was following, and as soon as he did, a shock of pain ran up his leg, making him wince and audibly hiss through his teeth. He looked down, staring at the pebble he’d stepped on, and the fact he was totally barefoot.

He’d forgotten to put shoes on, hadn’t he? His mind had just been totally elsewhere. Such a simple, instinctive action that his body and brain had completely breezed past.

None of them were doing okay, were they?
[+] V7
B006 - Stepney Cruz - DEAD - Dynasty decapitated, you just might see a ghost tonight - Mountain Bike - Localised - Catastrophe - Inferno
Pregame - Chill - Loss - Realm
Trip - Loved

G035 - Katie Agustien - DEAD - There's only two ways that these things can go, good or bad and how was I to know that all your friends won't hold any grudges, I got the final judgment - The World's Sharpest Knife™ - Dread - Skin - ieatnothing - Satisfaction - Tempest - Zero
Pregame - Vend-etta - Flames - Fleet - Monachopsis - Glitter
Trip - G҉ A҉ N҉ G҉

B028 - Aurelien Valter - DEAD - When everything's lost, they pick up their hearts and avenge defeat, before it all starts, they suffer through harm just to touch a dream - Spiked Mace, Glock 19, Min-Jae Parker's Crossbow - Nightmare - Bubbles - Neighbourhood - Tragedy - Make It - Fiend - Sleet - Love - Walls - Friends - Key - Everything - Gotta - Ghosts - Alone
Pregame - Shark - Heart
Prom - Link - Gradation - Ballare
Trip - Inferis - Scusare

B052 - Garren Mortimer - DEAD- Cut up and I can't feel my hands, no need to chase, can you relate, can you keep up the pace like you're dying for this? - Bryan Calvert's SPAS-12, Alligator tooth sword - Sky - Geek - Nation - No - Dilemma - Mauerbauertraurigkeit - Struck - Punishment - Énouement - Pain - Learn - lamb - Moves
Pregame - Rain
Trip - Life

Meanwhile
Lyra Doyle - Let's live tonight like fireflies, and one by one light up the sky - Pop!
Pregame - Evolution - Life - Lo Mein
Memories - Forward - Odds

Dean Puchero - By July you'd made a whole bunch of brand new friends, people you used to look down on, and you'd figured out a way to make real money - Phone - Angel
Pregame - Generation - Prince
Memories - Star
Prom - Sun - Luster
[+] The Past
V6
Bryony Adams - Burning bright until the end, now you'll be missing from the photographs
Astrid Tate - So what became of loving man, and what became of you?
Mia Rose - You can't understand that I won't leave 'til we're finished here, and then you'll find out where it all went wrong

V5
Owen Kay - I fold my tie and ribbon to hide my scars, that's how it starts
Amy Bachelor - Can you whisper, as it crumbles and breaks, as you shiver, count up all your mistakes
Francis St. Ledger - So a day when you've lost yourself completely could be a night when your life ends

V4
George Leidman (Adopted from Blastinus) - Now if we jump together at least we can swim far away from the wreck that we made
Beatrice - Jamie - Pippi - Tim - Ada - Tabby - Romeo - Lissa - Freddie - Trinity - Redd - Natalie - Kendra
[+] The Future
Boyd Adkinson - Ain't no surprise that I can't sleep tonight, my only vice is standing by your side
"bryony and alba would definitely join the terrorists quote me on this put this quote in signatures put it in history books" - Cicada Days, 2017
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