( okay, here’s the deal. I still have a lot of muse for most of these characters, but I don’t have the memory or attention span needed to be jumping from blog to blog - I thought I did, but turns out that I was wrong. so for now, until I either a.) get my shit together and get back into a rhythm, or b.) think of something better, this is what I’m gonna do:

this blog is going on a semi-hiatus. I’ll still be here, just not often. all the muses from here are going to be added to my multi that’s been stealing my attention for like three weeks now, @triumphantmuses. I’m gonna refollow everyone from here, over there, and we can continue threads here or there is you want. any of my unanswered asks will still be replied to here, but we can do the thread there instead if you’d rather. some muses might end up in the request only section if I don’t have enough inspiration, but I’m still up to continue threads with them.

if you’d rather keep interactions here, that’s okay, because I will still be over here every now and again. it’ll just be very slow, is all.

TL;DR: stennie is dumb and doesn’t have any semblance of an attention span so all of the muses here are going to my other multi (triumphantmuses) until further notice. we can still do stuff here, it’ll just take a lot longer for me to reply.

          Gob’s heart skipped a beat‒‒‒‒     forgot, for a single moment, how to beat, and left him without a pulse until it realized its mistake and resumed its pace. And he was left dizzy in the aftermath, because surely that must be why he found it so hard to breathe.

          ❝ You, you mean that ? ❞    he was ringing his hands. He’d been so afraid ;    the moment the words,    ❛   you’re important to me,   ❜    had left his mouth, he’d felt a chill as if he was letting a piece of himself be exposed, or taking it out and giving it to her, only to see what she’d do with it.

          He didn’t want Nova to be repulsed by him. Everyone was repulsed by him. But she wasn’t the same as    ❛   everyone‒‒‒‒   ❜    she was special, she was kind to him when she didn’t have to be, she was…    oh, she was more than such a simple Ghoul had the words for  (  hard to call himself a man, these days ;    he’d quite forgotten how, he was so used to being called everything but  ).   He just hadn’t been able to resist saying what he really meant this time, in the moment, when it seemed like she needed to hear it and goodness knew he needed to say it, risk though it was.

           But she wasn’t repulsed by him. And that shook him right down to the bone.

           ❝ It’s OK, just‒‒‒‒      don’t worry about it.  Really, you don’t know how much that means to me,  I’m,   I’m happy to be your friend,  ❞    he said earnestly, completely ;     no matter what else he might think of at night, might secretly wish for, he was. It wasn’t just the fact that she was the only person who’d have him‒‒‒‒     it was that there was a reason she did, same as she’d said. That she was such an amazing person. That she knew what it was like. They were in the same boat, alone there, and neither of them had the paddles, but they kept on floating anyway, and it was because they had each other.     ❝ I’m lucky to have you, um…     to have met you. No matter what, even if I’m stuck in this dump th’ rest of my life then, well, I’m glad that I met you. ❞

Nova couldn’t help but notice the tightness in her chest, an emotion she couldn’t quite place tugging at her heart. It was a funny feeling. It didn’t really match anything she’d felt before - but that wasn’t to say she disliked it. Her head dipped slightly to the side, a smile growing across her lips and eyes soft with appreciation.

She’d never trusted Lady Luck. Trusting fate alone had never done her well - except for with Gob. It was chance that the two had met, that they had crossed paths. And without him, she wasn’t sure where she’d have gone. Nowhere good, that much she knew.

 “ That... Means a lot t’ me too, Gob. ”

The bottle was pushed to the side, and Nova brushed bangs away from her eyes.

 “ It’s just that- I mean, I’m not gonna come out an’ say that I never had any friends. That’d be a lie. I had ‘em, once,” she tapped a finger on the surface subconsciously, eyes drifting down towards the counter top, “ But they’re all gone, now.”

She paused, looking up again, to meet Gob’s gaze. She didn’t talk about her past, not a lot, at least. Nova preferred to learn about other people. And besides, she already got enough weird looks for being the local hooker, she’d only get more if they knew how she’d spent her childhood, and the people she’d associated with. But she felt that, maybe, a little explanation was owed. He’d told her so much about him, already.

 “ Hey, back off, bitch ! I’m alive, that proves somethin’, right ? ”

Yes, it did prove something. That he was smart enough to stay out of the damn way when the zombies starting swinging. Snake hadn’t earned his name for no reason - he was a snake, in every meaning of the word. He hadn’t shot anything yet because he hadn’t had to yet. And, to him, that was something to be proud of. Sure, he might have left his squad to die in the process - just a necessary evil. And besides, it was easy enough to say he couldn’t have done anything.

Slowly, the gun he held was lowered, and he turned his gaze to the stranger.

 “ Maybe someday, my friend, ” The King leaned back in his seat, maintaining eye contact with the Courier across from him, “ Play yer cards right, and who’s t’ say what’ll happen. But I’m thinkin’ the proper question is, do YOU think that you could be a King ? ”

The King’s expression changed slightly, curiosity touching his features through a raised eyebrow and a widening smile. The Kings were a a gang set strongly in values, and to promote values, you had to believe in them. If you couldn’t believe in yourself, then how could you whole-heartedly believe in anything else ?

He could see in Blinkie’s stance, and hear in her words, that she wasn’t a confident person. And, as sure as he was that he knew her answer, he was still interested in hearing what she had to say. He didn’t get the chance to meet many people like her, not in his profession.

 The Wanderer sighed, examining the water bottle as though, maybe, just maybe, there was a secret slot on it. She knew full well that there wasn’t, but she liked to dream.

 “ Yeah,” came a mumbled reply, “ Thanks for keeping track, big guy. Maybe we can make it to Rivet City, or Megaton. ”

Charon had been, in Camilla’s opinion, a great help in- well, just about about everything, really. She had more than once forgotten that he was more than a common mercenary, something that she was reminded by with every reference to “ the contract ”. The idea of being bound to a piece of paper, for your entire life - it seemed like a nightmare. But Charon didn’t seem to mind. And if it wasn’t a problem for him, then she figured it shouldn’t be a problem for her, either.

But, unfortunately, Charon and the contract both were no Project Purity. Fresh water wasn’t going to magically appear, just because they wanted it to. But, always the optimist, the Wanderer knew they had options.

Irradiated water was, while not ideal, definitely there. The Lone Wanderer was fairly certain that alcohol wouldn’t be of any use here, unless she was dying, an wanted to feel good while doing so. And Rivet City- How far away was it? It couldn’t be that long of a trip.

Right?

 “ Huh, I dunno, ” the smirk on Veronica’s face was stark against the hardness in her eyes, “ I thought that I was the girl who just saved your life, but when you really ask me, I’m not sure ! ”

The sarcasm in her voice was more than apparent, dripping from every word she spoke. However, her smile dropped, along with her sardonic tone.

 “ Look, bud, I was just trying to help. In case you somehow haven’t noticed, the bugs around here do a lot more than bite. ”

Veronica made no movement towards the Ghoul, though she glanced over him from where she stood. It didn’t look like the Cazadors had hit him - not enough to cause any real damage, at least. And besides that, she wasn’t really sure she wanted to help someone so rude.

With that out of the way, she held the pneumatic gauntlet out for inspection, slowly running her gaze over pistons and metal surface - not that Cazadors usually caused a problem for the gauntlet. It was just nice to check.

There’s no hint of hesitance in his stride, or in the way he swiftly lifted her off the ground. He’d already made his decision that they’re leaving now. Staying in one place too long was dangerous, especially a place that he wasn’t acquainted with. And, besides that, he was just sick of answering questions.

The enthusiasm that Madeline displayed, although definitely a breath of fresh air, was childish. He hated the fact that he’d be the one to tell her that the world wasn’t a fairy-tale - or, that he’d have to deal with it when she finally figured it out.

Although it was a difficult movement, Snake kept one arm around Maddie’s torso and bent down to snatch up the fruit she had dropped.

 “ Well, you have a point. ”

Haylen flipped over the Radroach meat cooking over the fire, giving more thought to Princess’ words. By Brotherhood logic, the “ two monsters ” were literal monsters, and those who sympathized with said monsters. But, as she turned her attention towards the Sole Survivor, Haylen got the feeling that Princess wasn’t referring to Ghouls and Synths when she said that.

 “ Out of curiosity, answer this for me. Do you think it matter what kind of monster it is ? At the end of the day, whether we’re talking about Wasteland creatures, or humans that may as well be ones, they’re still monsters, and they still need to be dealt with appropriately. But, on the other hand, every monster is a little different, and has to be approached differently. So, what do you think ? ”

【🔧】— “Fair ‘nuff warnin’ fer th’ ghouls y’all come across, Ah sp’ose,” she said, half-joking but half passive-aggressive. While she hadn’t witnessed any of the soldiers attacking any sentient ghouls, she had heard talk of them wishing to do so but unable to due to their current focus being on synths and the Institute. 

       Kind of scary to think about how bigoted some of these people were, it made her appreciate Haylen’s company all the more. Too bad Veronica wasn’t with her, the three of them could have formed their own branch of a Brotherhood – or a Sisterhood, more like.

        “So this ‘Archimedes III’ thing… s’posed t’ be some solar-powered super weapon?” She asked as they walked. She remembered another super weapon by the same name being at the Solar power plant in the Mojave, but never got to see it in action, thankfully. It seemed that Helios One, the company that made the energy plant and designed the weapon, had also built one here, somewhere within the ruins of the Commonwealth.

       “That kinda technology would come in a lotta handy if it was broken down n’ made fer resources instead ‘a being used as a weapon,” she said. The Commonwealth Brotherhood of Steel were much different from their cousins in the west, in that they made their presence known much more and actually recruited wastelanders, but their views on technology seemed pretty much the same: if it wasn’t a weapon, they weren’t interested in it.

      “Bein’ able t’ reflect sunlight wherever y’ wished would be a great help t’ growin’ crops.”

 “ We believe it’s original intentions were of mass destruction, ” Haylen responded, her voice taking on a matter-of-fact tone, one that every Brotherhood Scribe had used at one point in their lives, “ To eliminate large groups of enemies in a single beam. In essence, it’s a death ray. ”

The Scribe peered from side-to-side. She then leaned forward, as though she were sharing a secret. In a way, she was. Her voice lowered ever so slightly, before she continued.

 “ If you ask me, I think the same as you. I mean, we already have Liberty Prime. Have you seen what it can do ? ”

Haylen had always held the belief that technology, in every form, was to be preserved. Replicated as well, if need be, but the priority was to conserve what was left of the past, and to rebuild the world from what they could learn. She had never agreed with the notion that the Brotherhood of Steel should use technology against their enemies, not like many soldiers seemed to believe now. The Brotherhood, in her opinion, was born to remake the Old World, not to monopolize what was left of it.

Of course, she wasn’t foolish - there were some enemies, such as the Institute, that couldn’t be destroyed without such power. In cases such as that, she understood the use of every weapon on hand. But - despite the respect as she had for Maxson - she had begun to see the error in his ways, especially after what happened with Danse.

 “ Rise an’ shine, Sleepin’ Beauty. ”

John threw his guest a crooked, semi-sardonic grin. He’d found the man at the door to the Spitoon nearly 24 hours ago, now - at first, he’d taken the stranger as just another black-out drunk. After the first few hours, he’d realized that it was probably a little more serious than that.

The Cassidy set down the glass he’d been cleaning, wiping his hands off on his jacket as he turned his attention fully onto the newcomer.