the hunted

OTTILIE MORRISON & RŌNIN HENDERSON & ROMULUS DAVIES & TIMOTHY BEDDINGTON, current residents of SHRIKE HEIGHTS, COLORADO.

learn more ottilie here ;

learn more about rōnin here ;

learn more about romy here ;

learn more about timothy here .

it was so intense, talking of what she had gone through that day at the welcoming parade. aera had done a lot of thinking about it ever since the events had transpired, but she was realizing now as she was finally speaking aloud about it that she hadn’t been able to properly process the severity or the intensity of the traumatic experience. seeing the seriousness and the fear on romy’s face told aera a lot about what she might really feel and think about the entire thing. “i should probably tell… someone,” it was extremely disheartening for aera to realize in the moment that maybe the cops weren’t the right people to go to, considering how they had fared thus far in their investigation - but without them, who was she to turn to? “it’s…” she exhaled an enormous breath. “i haven’t known what to do; i wasn’t really hurt, so i haven’t really…” she shook her head purely because she was struggling to find words when her mind was buzzing with all of these intense realizations. “i think i’m only just now coming to realize what i went through. i might not have been hurt or attacked in the ways that they usually happen, but… this is bad, rom…” she trailed off, more afraid now than ever, though at the very same time she still felt an incredible sense of relief due to finally telling somebody. this burden was no longer hers and hers alone; it was nice to know that even while they were actively working to avoid the killers that tortured this town, aera wasn’t alone in it.

“Oh.” Ryanne frowned a little at the unfortunate news. At one point, car trouble or even a complete lack of a car never seemed like a huge issue. The town was small enough that walking from place to place was only a pain in the colder, snowy months or when it was raining. These days however, it always filled her with a sense of dread, especially as it got later into the evening. “I kind of get it. I’ve been meaning to save up for a car myself.” It wasn’t mandatory if she ever wanted to really leave Shrikes behind, but it would certainly make things a lot easier. “Over the holidays I was doing some extra photography gigs and whatnot for it, but in the end didn’t make as much as I would have liked.” She shrugged it off though and looked to find a small positive in the situation. While she wouldn’t classify herself as an optimist, she’d rather not deal with the guilt that came with being overly negative around anyone. “It’s okay though, a lot of what I made went towards getting better equipment, so the next time most of what I make can go towards a car fund hopefully.” It was hard to say for sure though in Shrikes. Whatever money she saved up could quickly become backup funds if an attack left her out of work for a bit or if a friend needed help in a similar situation. “And besides, finding side gigs like that beats picking up more shifts around here instead.”

blue has met people with intensely different opinions on their hometown in comparison to timothy’s feelings, so it’s interesting to hear that even while there’s a connection there, it’s not one like they’ve heard of before. “that’s really interesting,” they tell him honestly. “i appreciate the insight,” they say once they’ve thought about his feelings for a little longer. “i think i might have thought that more people were super attached and connected to their hometowns because they’re the ones who speak up about it, or something,” they shrug their shoulders, at the end of their thought. “one can only hope,” blue smiles. they don’t know if the attacks have come to an end, hardly knowing all of the details about the attacks in the first place, but they’ve noticed a larger gap between horrifying events, and for the sake of the town - even if they don’t end up staying here for very long - they definitely hope for the attacks to come to an end. even if every sign pointed towards them not stopping, blue would still want to inspire a little positivity when they can nonetheless. “you’re not wrong there,” they nod, trying to slowly move on from the talk of the trauma this town has faced. “this mall has so many stores; it’s not the biggest i’ve been in, but i think being in a small town outside of this place makes it feel all the grander, you know?”

“please, as if i’d share something to precious with another person. this one is just for me,” she assured her with a wink. “you know you might be right. he could be looking for an ally. he’s pretty smart.” viola had honestly been amazed at the ways her life had shifted by becoming a dog parent. it had been hard at first and there had been a moment where she had been afraid she wasn’t cut out for it. but now, she was really appreciating the chance to live this part of her life with stevie in it. and everyone around her loved him as well. viola beamed at the compliment to her cooking, bouncing a bit in her chair before going back to her food. these were her favorite little moments of joy. being able to cook for someone she cared about. hearing about how ottilie was doing. she was invested and she really didn’t want the best for her in every way. “you’ve been worse, you’ve been better. what else is new? somewhere in the in between, i got it. even if you do sound like a leprechaun speaking in riddles,” she teased. “is there anything you’ve found fun in doing lately? i was thinking of trying to have a little beach day soon before the summer is completely over. the weather hasn’t been too bad. stevie would probably enjoy it. now could i get rune out of his room? we’ll see,” she said with a shrug, her expression shifting a bit before she cleared her throat. “how’s your sister?”

ottilie appreciated the way that viola handled her, she always had. ottilie wasn’t an easy person to handle; it wasn’t something that she was proud of, not a fact she would ever brag about, but it was the truth. the girl had been hurt time and time again, disrespected, betrayed, let down, all too many times throughout her life in a way that caused her to build higher walls and a thicker shell. it took a very specific kind of person to be able to get ottie’s defences down even only a small amount, and perhaps it was because of viola’s own past filled with trouble and mistreatment that she just knew how, but either way, ottilie would always be more thankful for viola than what viola could ever know. “i can’t promise you that i won’t take him up on his offer of allyship, vi,” ottilie joked. at viola’s teasing, ottilie actually laughed out loud; viola was one of very few in town who got to hear such a sound. “i have a lot of talents, viola, but speaking about how i’m actually doing is not one of them. suppose that’s why i’m a songwriter,” she shrugged. “and for the record, i think i’m totally too tall to be a leprechaun,” she teased back. “i can’t picture rune on a beach; skateboard wheels don’t spin in the sand, you know?” she teased rune this time, but affection was laced in her tone. she understood rune’s importance to viola, having a sibling of her own who she would do anything for, too. “i think ozzy’s been alright, all things considered,” she frowned a little, the concern she felt for her twin so very obvious in the moment. “she’s getting out a little more, now, still taking a lot of photos, so that’s a good sign. she’s also got this new friend - scott. i’m trying to figure out if there’s more happening between them, but maybe i’m just making it all up.”

“No problem at all,” Ian insisted. It would be a little thing in Ian’s life but one that he assumed would make quite the improvement in Romy’s (and Ernie’s) life. Having an actual functional kitchen was important and Ian would be sure to raid his own cabinets for any extra cooking items he had doubles of from the various purchases he’d made to improve his own kitchen. Even if something was second hand it would still be better than nothing in Ian’s book. 

Ian felt sad for Romy. He knew what the man meant by not knowing what to do with his nights. While Ian was happily with Bo now he knew all too well what it was like to spend a night alone and it was a situation Ian was not fond of. He wasn’t the most social of people over all but he made exceptions for partners he had and it was hard for Ian to fall asleep in an empty bed so to speak. He couldn’t imagine the loneliness Romy would’ve felt having been so close to someone that they’d been married all for that to be ripped out from under him. It was a fate that Ian hoped to never experience in his own relationship. “Yeah, the night life in Shrike’s still pretty weak even with the mall,” Ian commented not trying to hit on what Romy was actually speaking of. “There’s always the movies though. That’s a good way to spend the evening,” Ian suggested even though Romy was already preoccupied with his job during that time. Going to the movies had always been an activity Ian didn’t mind doing on his own because there was intentionally the need for silence in that situation and it didn’t feel as lonely in a room full of people. 

“Yeah, exactly, they could totally come up with some corporate alias to work under,” Ian agreed with a smile. They were mainly joking about the conversation but Ian was sure the band wouldn’t be opposed to helping some friends out. “I think they’re always looking to scrape up more funds for Chokehold. I’ve been wanting to see them make up some new shirts, personally. I’ve wanted to rock a a new Chokehold piece for a while now,” Ian stated. Ian always supported his friends when he could by buying tickets to their shows and merch when they had it. It was really the least he could do in the grand scheme of things for all the good times he’d had with their music. Ian always tried to support his friends when possible. Even though Ian didn’t usually have the money for brand new handcrafted furniture he still tried to help out Romy too in a similar fashion. His most recent purchase was a new side table for his bedroom not long after Bo had moved back in and he realized he needed another place for stuff to land. 

“probably weaker because of the mall, i’d say,” romy commented, trying to tread lightly on a topic that they knew was a sensitive one for the both of them, albeit for their own different reasons. in an alternate universe where there were no killers plaguing their small and once sleepy town, romy was positive that the mall would have boosted the night life in shrike- hell, the life in general, even, both night and day. it was a real shame that things had turned out the way they had - to use the word shame putting it extremely lightly, too - but after seeing the horrors unfold over the past few years, and having their life intensely changed for the worse because of it, romy understood why it all was the way it was. he’d never be able to understand the killers, or why they did what they did, but he could understand why the residents were more inclined to hide away in their fear. having a business to support, romy had unfortunately found himself in a situation where he couldn’t hide away safely each night, though even if he found a better way to keep himself afloat, he wasn’t sure that he’d be able to take up the offer, the feeling of an empty bed and lonely night a fate so terrible to him after what he once had. “the cinema has to be my favorite place in the mall- probably,” romy easily could have been overlooking other places as his mind fell to the escape of the different worlds that he found himself in when they played up on the silver screen, but either way, the cinema was rightfully at the very least one of his favorite places in shrike.

“I really don’t see you caring about the job that much to be so self serving,” Ian stated. While he’d had a lot of fun working in a kitchen, especially with Ottilie once upon a time, the service industry wasn’t the be all end all for anyone. It’d have to take too much effort to have such a vendetta against the place to be like that and he didn’t see that really being in Ottilie’s character. 

“I’m usually the one behind the camera more but I wouldn’t consider myself much of a photographer either,” Ian explained. Being the less outgoing out of him and Bo it only made sense that it was him who often captured Bo’s moments. Still it’d been a long time since they’d done anything memorable or been to any parties worth capturing. “I’m just usually too lazy to head in myself. So it’s often Bo who manages to get things developed,” he went on. It was also Bo who was often shameless when it came to things that might be on their undeveloped rolls of film as a couple that Ian wouldn’t have the courage to drop off or pick up the developed pictures from. “Shrike’s pretty scenic in some people’s opinion,” he said deciding to be the devil’s advocate on the matter. “Still I feel you can only take so many mountain sunsets before they get repetitive,” he added. He didn’t know what Ozzy drew inspiration from for photography but that was the only thing he’d think people could find fascinating about Shrike was the nature that surrounded the small mountain town. 

once upon a time, ian’s thoughts would have been correct. not necessarily about ottilie, as to have such a vendetta against anything - no matter how extreme or petty - was absolutely in ottilie’s character, but about how the service industry wasn’t the be all end all for anyone. ottilie quickly decided to leave the conversation there, not wanting to bring so much brutal honesty up in ian’s presence, but in the current state of the tortured shrike heights, ottilie believed that her worries were valid; if anyone thought she might betray them during this time of needing people to work together and keep each other safe more than ever, it could easily lead to her being asked to leave the team. if an employer thought that their employee would only hinder the rest of them should the very worst happen - another attack - ottilie could understand cutting ties. 

“yeah i call bullshit on that, you just don’t want to agree with me,” he replied with a laugh, having to respect her dedication. “doesn’t that get exauhsting? letting everyone piss you off so much? i mean don’t get me wrong, got a lot of idiots running around out here. easy to be pissed off but everyone ? i mean not even i care enough for that shit.” he almost spit out his water and it occurred to him that if ottilie hadn’t hated him so much they could have actually been friends. two salty people hating on the world one joke at a time. “because it comes in an old school mug, it’s vodka, ginger beer and lime which is simple and yet complicated cause it packs a real punch. The mint at the end helps with that. Seems like it’s up your alley,” he told her with a shrug, happy she had even asked but anticipating her telling him he was wrong even if he was right. “i mean who enjoys burnt bacon all the time but this one? delicious, just cause you served it to me.”

ottilie rolled her eyes because hector was right. she really didn’t want to agree with him, she was extremely stubborn like that, and she hated that he could apparently see right through her enough to know that to be the case. the comment was annoying, but his next comment struck her quite differently. it was too real, hitting too close to home, and while she didn’t exactly agree with everything that hector was suggesting, it was close enough to the truth and to the root of her behavior for comfort. “what makes you think i’m the one letting people piss me off?” she questioned, wondering if she really came across as the sole reason why she encountered so many issues in her life, wondering if she really appeared to be the problem. “i don’t think i’m at fault for caring; i’d rather care too much than to be a heartless bitch,” something that ottilie had been called plenty throughout the duration of her life, despite the extreme mistake in assuming her to be as such. hector was right again suggesting the drink to her; it sounded right up her alley, and to continue the streak of him being so correct, hector just thinking that ottilie would tell him he was wrong even if that wasn’t the case was completely true, too. “i don’t know,” she shrugged, as if not thinking of much, and she sighed as he commented on the bacon again. “you’re really something, reyes, and i don’t mean that affectionately.”

“I don’t think he has. I’m not sure if he loves dogs that much,” Ian insisted or maybe that was throwing his own biases onto his partner. As much as he loved Bo he didn’t exactly want him coming home every day smelling like a dog. Ian saw far more benefits of Bo working at Showtime than he did him becoming a professional dog walker. “Are dogs usually scared of haircuts? I honestly don’t know much about them,” Ian admitted truthfully.  He knew little kids hated haircuts so maybe dogs were similar. He often saw dogs treated like four legged furry children. “Yeah, he’s a pretty happy cat,” Ian agreed. They took good care of him and spoiled him with pets and treats there was no opportunity for him to be anything but happy with his current living situation. It sure beat the soiled cardboard box they’d found him in in the dumpster after all. “He hardly ever hisses too or scratches,” he went on. There wasn’t much more he could say about a cat. It wasn’t like Stinky knew any tricks. 

avery didn’t miss the way his cheeks flushed and she found it endearing that he could even feel embarrassed in her presence. he was endearing overall which of course only made avery overthink and create walls for herself. but she deeply appreciated his friendship and she knew she wanted to keep him around. “actually it’s the best thing you can do. i love complaining. i could probably do it as an Olympic sport. and glitter is terrible. it’s never ending. it’s only cute for like ten minutes. and yes! exactly. it’s not like i’m trying to make us do something crazy just like..our job. anyway, i can’t wait til i’m out there. which i don’t know when it’ll be but,” she shrugged,not actually making any effort to leave the station but she knew that she had to do something else. she wanted to write and it was killing her not to be. “eh he’s like moderately old. late 50s  almost 60 so getting older which kind of makes it even more frustrating. oof, really? he sounds like..an ass. sorry. families are..something. i had to talk to my mother on the phone this morning and i almost threw the whole thing out the window.” she shook her head as she thought about it and then got their food plated finally. she cut up some bread, set the salad down (that she had gotten already prepared from the supermarket) and refilled their drinks. “ta-da. i’m basically a Michelin star chef,” she teased, actually pretty proud of herself but she’d never say it out loud. “okay so what’s your favorite meal to make for yourself? follow up question, was cooking something you always liked to do? and no this is not an interview but lately i’m starting to learn my conversation style can sound like the mostly lovely interrogation you’ve ever had.”

“nah, i think you could get away with it for more than ten minutes,” timothy risked being a little too flattering, risking it by letting his crush show just a little bit - not that he was hiding it, per se. hiding a crush wasn’t a very easy thing for timothy could do; while he was afraid of rejection and fucking up friendships, that leading him to not always be up front when he found himself attracted to someone who was a friend rather than a mere stranger, one of his greatest values in life was relationships, so he put himself out there as much as he thought was appropriate in hopes of finding himself in a relationship with someone he was attracted to. he wasn’t sure what would happen with avery - if anything even would - but the crush had lingered for long enough for him to be able to express it through a little light flirting, at least, at the same time that the friendship was strong enough for him to be able to endure the reality where nothing ever happened between them. it was kind of exciting, he would suppose upon thinking about it, to wait and see what might or might not happen between the pair. “you’ll be outta there before you know it,” timothy didn’t actually know that his words were true, but he did hope that they were for avery’s sake. 

he appreciated avery’s apology when he shared the little fact about his step father, but he shrugged his shoulders in response, because he had given up on trying to remedy the situation before it had even begun. “they don’t bother me too much anymore, it’s alright,” he reassured her, not wanting to burden her by making her too aware of what his family dynamic was like. it wasn’t that they didn’t bother him, only that he had separated himself from them enough to protect himself from a lot of their issues. “sorry that you know what families can be like,” he added lightly, trying to avoid sending her down the path of thinking about it too much, but not wanting to ignore her comment about her own situation and her call with her mother completely. 

once the entire meal was completed and set down in front of him, timothy’s smile was wide on his face. being a chef himself, he had come to really appreciate having someone cook for him, and his upbringing made him really appreciate anyone doing anything for him, to be completely honest. “ave, this is amazing,” he praised her. “i really can’t thank you enough - you’re spectacular,” he admitted. “it does sound like the most lovely interrogation i’ve ever had,” he agreed with a laugh, but he welcomed the questions. “my favorite meal is probably something super boring; when you cook for work you don’t always have the desire to do it for yourself, you know? but i’d probably have to say something like a really fine steak, like the kind that i’d never afford myself if i didn’t work in the kitchen,” he chuckled. “and to answer your second question, i guess i kind of just found cooking by chance. someone had to cook growing up, you know? we had to be fed somehow, and i kind of fell into that role a little easier than some others,” others like his brother and his cousin, though he didn’t feel it right to name them when speaking of the less ideal circumstances of their upbringing - not even when he knew avery was smart enough to figure it out. “so later on when it came time to do something for money, i had a whole lot of experience to pull from, and knew what i was doing, and i liked that i did, and then i liked cooking. plus, apparently girls love it,” he laughed, half joking at the end there.

“hey!” sonnet begins in defence, her grin shining brighter than ever. “mothy is a perfectly acceptable name, or just moth, if it would make you feel more grown up,” she offers through laughter, thinking that if timothy isn’t a fan of timmy, due to childhood associations, mothy might be too close to the same cutesy energy. “actually, the more i look at you, the more moth you seem to me. i like it,” she nods her head, like she’s made the final decision on the matter. “you know, with a name like moth, you’d fit right into the commune. i’m not sure that a name like tim would cut it,” she jokes, able to make such jokes about the names of those in the commune because after being made fun of for a name like sonnet, she’s learnt to reclaim such comments. “only joking, of course. people act like we all have really bizarre names, but that’s the last of our concerns. it’s all about the people, not the names - or the appearances or anything like that! someone’s ideas and aspirations are far more important than their physical aspects.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever noticed them skipping stops.” Ryanne assumed that like most people the bus driver would love to go home early, but wasn’t cutting corners to do so. She imagined they’d probably feel bad if they left someone stranded somewhere and something happened to them as they tried to make their way to their destination, or at least she hoped they’d feel bad about that sort of thing. While she held onto the belief that the majority of the town was trying to look out for each other these days, the authorities and Sweeney made her question who else was just looking out for themselves. “No problem.” Her voice was noticeably less nervous than it was then the conversation initially started. While the small bus trip probably wasn’t ideal, considering it was necessary after car issues, she was glad the other wouldn’t be stranded in the mall or stuck walking home in the winter conditions. “I hope the issues with your car are resolved soon so you don’t have to worry about the bus or how to get around in general with the weather.” Or a timely means of transportation out of here. She knew it wasn’t the most comforting thing being stuck here.

“a god send? wow, wow wow i think you might have won compliment of the week!” she was grateful for it, especially the bit about her wardrobe which made viola look at herself and feel pretty good. especially since she knew that compliments weren’t always things ottilie gave out off the cuff. “as if, i’d be hard pressed to hear he fired you. he’d probably do something much much worse, lecture you,” she joked, getting a kick out of it and laughing probably more than was needed. she was also sure ottilie was too hard on herself and imagined there were some real characters who went in and out of late riser. “mm well then maybe he’s the only dog with good taste. i wouldn’t be surprised. he has incredible intuition.” viola was afraid of a few things but one of them had never been people feeling their feelings and expressing themselves. she had learned that both through her relationship with rune and in her relationship with parenting herself. sure ottilie had a temper sometimes but so did viola and she had turned out just fine. in fact she had come to find that anger was useful in a lot of ways. “not at all!” viola was glad to be able to provide space for ottilie to enjoy herself and have what she needed. she slid her the can of soda and then finished serving herself so she could join her at the kitchen table. “is the food good cause damn it tastes good. compliments to the chef,” she joked as she took a few bites. “okay not to be annoying but how’ve you been doing? on a scale of like the usual done with the world to fucking terrible. great scale, i know.” 

ottilie laughed at viola’s reaction to her compliment, and while she laughed, she did feel a little more bashful - thankfully not enough to scare her off, though. “tell anyone i said that and i’ll deny it,” she told her, mostly joking, but also using the humor to remind viola in the most ottilie way to tread lightly in that direction - the direction of sincerity. at the thought of apollo lecturing her, her laughter came out through a loud snort. “that would be right,” she shook her head. “and that would be far worse than getting fired, in my honest opinion,” ottilie wasn’t the kind of person who responded well to a lecture, not even one with the best intentions. “if it’s his intuition then he’s probably just sniffing out the fact that i’m a trouble maker, and sucking up to me so that he can have a human accomplice to his nonsense and shenanigans,” ottilie suggested, fondness in her voice and in her face as she looked at stevie. “thank you,” she said, for the soda, but also a little bit for everything else again, too. once viola sat down, she wasted no time in taking a sip of the soda before going back to the meal. “it’s delicious, i agree, compliments to the chef,” she smiled. before she could answer viola’s next question, ottilie sighed largely, as if preparing to think of the right or the true thing to say. “well,” with pursed lips, she moved her mouth side to side as she thought. “i’m probably in between feeling my regularly done state and the world is ending terror. i’ve been worse, i’ve been better,” it was a vague answer, but it was hard to get into the details for ottilie.

“Kitchen angel,” Ian repeated with a laugh. He hadn’t been called an angel since he stopped letting his grandma put him in church clothes. “Next time I’m over I’ll have a look and see what I can do,” he responded. Even if he couldn’t buy Romy everything they needed for the kitchen he could at least point them in the right direction of what they needed. Ian liked to be helpful where he could and the kitchen was one place he could be of assistance. 

Ian hated hearing that Romy worked nights at the mall. It only made sense with their schedule but still having heard them confirm that was the case sent a chill down Ian’s spine. There hadn’t been any activity from the killers for a while but that didn’t put Ian at ease. Any time he thought that the town had finally seen the last of them they came out of nowhere to cause havoc in the community yet again. “As long as you’re safe,” Ian cautioned. “I couldn’t imagine working nights again. Bo and I both work morning shifts if we’re at the mall,” Ian explained but didn’t go into any detail as to why. Romy already knew why neither he or his partner wanted anything to do with the mall after dark. 

“Awww come on, I’m sure they’d get a kick out of it. They wouldn’t have to put the band’s name on it if they didn’t want to,” Ian joked. “Everyone gets their start somewhere and some of the best money comes from jingles,” Ian went on. There were infinite amount of jingles that played constantly in his head from the amount of TV he watched that was why he knew Bo would be great at writing them. He was always sat beside Ian on the couch watching commercials right alongside him and singing the tunes well after the TV was turned off. 

“i’d appreciate it, man,” romy laughed. he genuinely found it funny, thinking about ian coming in to save the sorry situation in his kitchen, and though he didn’t realize it while there, it showed a tremendous amount of growth considering the situation was only so sorry due to the divorce romy had gone through. his life had been so much better when his marriage was still thriving, back before the mall hadn’t yet been constructed. romy still had a lot of great things in their life, a lot of great people especially, but it would have been a lie to say that they hadn’t suffered in the past few years. finding one small thing to be funny wasn’t a sign pointing towards romy having their life together again, but it was a step in the right direction. 

the failed marriage was another reason that had romy at the mall so late; it was hard to grow used to being alone, particularly when nightfall accentuated the intense feeling of abandonment and loneliness. romy was concerned about being there at the time of an attack, but he didn’t feel like he was more at risk than anyone else who worked there, and he was grateful to have something that could help him both support his business and keep his mind preoccupied when it would have otherwise gotten lost in terrible sadness. “i’m being as safe as i can be,” he reassured ian, though he didn’t know if he was telling the truth or not. the safest thing might have been calling it quits and moving out of town - the choice his ex-spouse had made - but romy didn’t want to go that far yet, it didn’t feel right. “i don’t know what i’d do with myself if i didn’t work nights,” he was glad that bo and ian didn’t hang around the mall so late, but like ian, he didn’t feel the need to go into details about why. “ernie doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who wants someone to hang out with each night,” he chuckled.