keep on howling.

                                                         Threw my wishes in a fountain,                                        Deep down under where I found them.                      Three, two, one, but who’s countin’ ‘em ?

   Semi-selective Sean Diaz from Life is Strange 2. Independent and Mutual Exclusive.

  the few raps at her front door are nearly missed by the running water coming from kitchen sink, quick to dry her hands as soon as she hears the little jingle coming from her phone. eyes scan the message and clementine couldn’t help but chuckle, appreciative of sean’s efforts to keep her worries to a minimum. it had been a few days since they last seen each other in person, though his texts or calls eased any additional concern for his well being. thankfully, there wasn’t anything dangerous going on as of late—  except for some strange valentine fiasco? as long as he was safe, that was all she could ask for.

  making her way to the entrance, it takes only a few seconds for her to open the door, welcoming him with a growing smile on her face.“ hey sean. i didn’t expect to see you so soon. “ glancing down at the screen of her phone, her lighthearted expression falters, realizing what time it was. “ or… maybe i just lost track of time. no work today? “

    He should be used to seeing her by now, but he still isn’t. It takes him a second to collect his thoughts, feeling like he literally dropped his marbles and has to scramble to scoop them all up again. It still hits him, the memories of the forest, the sketches of her and Finn and Cassidy and AJ that are still in his sketchbook are old memories, but clear as the sun in the sky. “Oh, my bad I’m a little early, it didn’t take me as long to find a car as I thought it would.”

“It’s bigger in my home city.” Bruce says with a small shrug as he gives the building a brief glance before his sight lands on the awed expression of the teen. The look of wonder brings a small smile to his face, it makes him think of the first time Dick laid eyes on the Batcave. Bruce slips his hands into his pockets as he walks Sean around the lobby area. 

“Only if you want to, it would pay much more than where you work now but it’s more important to feel comfortable in your place of work. It’ll be a place you have to spend a lot of time in.” Pausing, he looks down at the boy and pulls his hands out of his pockets. “You may want to put a little more on your resume than running errands and hot-wiring cars though. What would you feel comfortable doing? What do you want to do?”

    Of course it is. He doesn’t vocalize the thought, though the look on his face and the sigh he looses almost certainly give him away. How do people even get this rich? If only he’d had a fraction as much as Bruce, he and Daniel would’ve been set for life. 

    Sean has already been here for over two months, and nothing’s changed. Not really. He’s still the same mess he’d been back in Arizona, Daniel isn’t here, neither is anyone he knows aside from Clementine. And Clem is... an entirely different subject, one that he barely has the energy to focus on. He finds himself sat at the park, deep in thought as he sketches. His hood is up, headphones are in, and he’s created a sort of makeshift safe space. Tempted as he is to hole up in his room, there’s still work that needs doing, designs that need drawing, and hundreds more places to tag.

    He’s in the middle of a tag idea when he feels something... off. He looks up from his sketchbook with the fifth or sixth sweet treat of the afternoon halfway to his mouth only to find himself with somewhat of an audience.

     ah, he did look like quite the cop. lars said it himself—maybe he should wear some more of his plain clothes. it was hard to break from his typical uniform. ❝ oh, i’m sorry, please carry on. i’m much more interested in the art than the—crime. ❞

     it makes him think of his trip to jericho, matching a map on his hand with sprawling art amongst ruins, scanning for the evidence of deviants [ and the corpses those who had failed ] along the way. he wonders who the first deviant was to create the path to the android safe haven. the glimpses of graffiti in his memory felt different now. something about the boys urgency made him think this might be some kind of a  message, too. connor steps to the side slightly to look past the street, as if keeping watch. no threats in sight. yet. this location was a little bit courageous. 

     ❝ what does it mean? why do you need to finish it? ❞ he questions with a quirked brow, hands knitted behind his back. he occasionally peeks back around the corner. connor was a fairly good judge of character—and this kid didn’t seem like a threat. they were all hostages [ or simulations, connor hasn’t decided which is more probable ] under this strange city, after all. pending a decent explanation, connor could easily keep an eye out for him.

    When he speaks, Sean blinks a few times in surprise. Is he being genuine? He relaxes just slightly, still prepared for things to go south and not at all prepared to turn his back to this stranger, but he’s marginally less stressed now than he had been. Certainly doesn’t mean he trusts this guy, though. But... if he is a cop, and he hasn’t recognized Sean by the eye patch and hoodie, maybe he doesn’t know about Seattle or Arizona.

    Honestly, he’s nervous as can be. He’d made it a point to be busy on Valentine’s Day because he’s still not certain what to do about his feelings. Sean isn’t exactly over Finn, he’s not sure he’ll ever fully be over Finn, but he knows that how he feels about Clementine is similar. it’s way more real than Jenn; and, truthfully, it’s scary. What if something happens again? What if the law catches up to him and he ends up back in jail? But then... what if he never says anything and loses his chance?

    It had been far too long since Sean did anything, and even if he had been stuck here months, he wasn’t giving up hope on finding Daniel. That’s why he’s ended up here at the police station. What better place to tag than where Sean would’ve ended up? He’s halfway through a graffiti wolf when he gets the feeling someone’s watching.

Her eyes never leaves that brown one. His eye, despite him being alive and all, it looked so….sad. Like he was exhausted, the world was on his shoulder and he was just COMPLETELY tired. He held himself together though. No matter how heavy those boulders were on his shoulder, he managed to stay strong. She wonders how, wonders what keeps him moving. 

“Pirates break the rules all the time,” She says agreeing to him. 

Yeah, this guy was a big brother. That gave her the assumption that perhaps this little sibling was the one that kept him moving no matter how tough things got. 

“Sean. I won’t call you Mr. Pirate, so you can call me Mirae.” She had encountered a few people who pronounced her name awfully wrong and so here she goes saying, “Mee-Reh.” 

  “Mirae.” He tests the word, making sure to follow the example pronunciation she had given, then nods in a silent sort of confirmation. “It’s a really pretty name, it suits you.”

  He looks at Clementine for a moment, then at the box in surprise. Truth be told, Sean had done his best to avoid Christmas aside from work - it’s tough celebrating the holidays without his family. “I… Can I open it now ?” Not that he waits for an answer before carefully pulling at the twine and doing his best not to rip the paper. He’s definitely putting that up on the wall by his bed later. 

  When he finally gets to the present inside, Sean’s empty hand moves to cover a soft gasp for just a moment, then immediately takes the bracelet out of the box. “Clem, this is…” Truly, he doesn’t have words to describe just how much it means to him. It’s a miracle he can hold back tears of joy. “I love it, and it’s perfect. Thank you.” A wide smile grows on his face, and he makes no effort to hold himself back from hugging her. “You’re stuck with me now, if you weren’t before. I’m never taking this off, and even if I find a way outta this city, I swear I won’t go without you.” He pulls away from the hug, all but beaming with slightly reddened cheeks.

  “Really, for me ?” Shock is clear on his face as he takes the gift, and upon examining it further, surprise turns into a sort of embarrassed joy. He’s going to be wearing glitter for a month, but it’s worth it for such a great gift.