watch out love bites

⋆ keith powers  ,  bisexual  ,  male  +  he  /  him  ―  hey  look  ,  it’s  michael  webb  !  he's  twenty-four  years  old ,  he's  lived  in  shrike  heights  for  one  month  ,  and  he's  currently  working  in  mall  maintenance . i  heard  he's  pretty  bitter  ,  but  i  think  he's  so  independent  at  the  same  time . can  he  make  it  out  alive  ?

triggers  include  parental  death  ,  mental  health  issues  .

“That’s probably the ideal way to live in a smaller town, commuting to somewhere more exciting for work and then getting to return to the quietness of somewhere smaller in the evening.” For Rosario that sort of life sounded like it offered the perfect balance of excitement and stimulation with peacefulness. “Traveling’s fun. I used to do a bunch of it before deciding to stick around this place for a while.” In a lot of ways that decision had proven to be unwise. “I think you can learn a lot by taking the time to yourself and exploring more of what the world has to offer that way.” They often wished their years of traveling had been more about self-discovery than looking for their brother or that it had at least ended with finding him, but there was no changing the past now. At this stage in life she had accepted things for what they were. “Oh yeah, for sure. One of the perks of living in a place like this is the cost of living isn’t anything wild. At least here you can get a decent place without working yourself to death.” Not the best choice of words considering people died because of their jobs here, but it was too late to take it back now.

Rosario let out a small laugh, “I wonder how many kids have ruined the arcade for themselves by working there.” At least a handful if she had to guess. “Maybe that’s why there are some people working jobs they seem so ill-fitted for around here, can’t ruin a place for yourself if you don’t like it in the first place. I can’t say that sounds much better though. Just sort of sounds like a great way to torture yourself.” Maybe they had been right to pick working at a place they were largely indifferent towards. She thought more on his words and quietly wondered if more people around town were commuting elsewhere, even if the pay was less and they had to factor in the price of gas, just to avoid having to work at the mall these days. They wouldn’t put it pass them or even blame them. “Might not be a bad thing to look into, depending on the job. Being a mechanic in the next town over might not be too bad. I couldn’t imagine trying to bartend in the next town over and having to make the drive back home at some strange hour though.”

why anyone decides to stick around in shrike for very long, michael will never understand, though he supposes the thought makes him a hypocrite, as he’s been in town for longer than he ever planned. he likes to think that he’s different, that he has a good reason as he only wishes to sort out his siblings and ideally convince them to leave, but he says none of this out loud as he doesn’t want to make the other person feel bad for their decision to do less travelling and more sticking around. after all, for all he knows, rosario could have a reason to stay that’s just as good as his own. “totally,” he nods his head in agreement, not that he’s as well travelled as they seem. “where’s the best place you’ve visited?” he enquires. “i wonder if this place will keep growing to the point where that changes,” he thinks out loud, not taking too much notice of their poor choice of wording, as even though his siblings have faced the killers, michael himself hasn’t yet, making him less sensitive to comments that could potentially hit too close to home in others. 

Noah chuffed and smiled when Michael said he had a nice nose and decided that maybe it wasn’t so bad, even if he did hate the person he’d inherited it from. He nodded when Michael described his siblings and their appearances in relation to what their parents looked like, and he understood what Michael meant. “Yeah, he always had this big dream that he’d start a practice that I would get get into, but when he realized I had absolutely no desire to get into that, and that I wanted to get into photography instead, he began acting like I was the biggest disappointment of his life. Which was probably true. But at least I learned how to argue circles around him. So that was a win for me, I guess,” he mused.

“Hey, don’t underestimate the number of people who need to get around in a car between the outskirts of town and downtown. I mean, sure, you could walk anywhere, but in the current… I dunno. Climate? Of this town…People aren’t gonna wanna be out on foot too much. I started driving my grandmother’s car to get around after dark after the spring of last year. All I know how to do is change a flat and fluids, but anything else I have no idea,” he said, wrinkling his nose. And to be frank, he didn’t have any interest in pursuing more automotive knowledge when he barely had time for anything these days on account of classes and work.

Noah smiled as he watched Michael finishing up the job. “Thanks for coming out yet again,” he said with a smile. “Hopefully you won’t have to fix this anymore or have to get up on a ladder the rest of today.”

michael shakes his head. “that blows,” he says, putting it lightly and hoping that it doesn’t sound insensitive but instead appropriate for him to not be speaking on something he doesn’t understand. “i’m sorry to hear it; at least you can find some win in there.” michael can’t imagine having parents similar, which he recognizes is extremely fortunate. he’s always been aware of how lucky he got with his parents, and conversations with people who have experiences like noah’s only keep on reminding him of that. “i’ll never understand parents who can’t handle their kids being their own people,” but maybe that’s purely because of his own very different experience. 

despite the way that michael’s life has been altered by the killers and what they’ve done to his siblings, he hadn’t thought of them as a reason for people needing to get around via car even in such a small town. it makes perfect sense now that noah mentions it. “well if you ever encounter any issues with it,” - with his grandmother’s car, michael means - “you can always give me a call,” he offers. even though he has another job that pays, the job that has him there in snapshot, michael does miss working on cars, admittedly. “i didn’t think of that, though, but you’re totally right,” he mentions. “it’s good that you can change a flat. the amount of people who get stuck on the side of the road because they can’t is astonishing.”

own his dream car. working on cars pretty much his whole life (and watching his dad work on them before he was able to get his hands in on it himself) it only makes sense that michael has a great love for cars. he doesn't know what his dream car is exactly (it probably changes in his mind every week or so), but he knows it would be something his dad would be proud of him for getting to the point of owning himself.

have a family. michael can seem pretty rough around the edges, but proof of how important he finds family to be can be found in the way he followed his siblings to shrike heights, and the way he has stayed even after being attacked himself. he's honestly a little embarrassed to admit this goal to others, but michael wants to be married, and he wants children.

michael used to be such a sure person; he could make sense of just about everything he encountered in his life, he was confident in himself and his thoughts, and confusion wasn't something that he had to deal with very much. nowadays, ever since his attack, michael hasn't been sure about a single thing, nor has he been confident about anything.

he came to shrike heights being completely lost as to why his siblings decided to call this place home, and now, since being attacked himself, he can't believe that his siblings didn't leave sooner and before it could happen to them again. there's so much strife inside of him that didn't exist before, so much uncertainty, so many unanswered questions.

Noah grimaced at the thought of his fingers touching live wires. He couldn’t imagine the pain or heat that probably came from those things. Actually, he could, and the mental image was probably something right out of Tom & Jerry or Looney Tunes, where the characters got zapped and you could see their little skeletons flashing. That’s exactly what he thought it would feel like. Noah was no electrician, but he followed what Michael was saying easily enough. He hoped that by the end of this, poor Michael wouldn’t have to keep coming around to fix light bulbs that didn’t need fixing.

He flashed that big smile of his when Michael joked around about pretending to know what he was doing. But when Michael talked about his dad and what he and his siblings were taught, Noah couldn’t help feeling a little jealous. “Wow, that’s amazing, actually. The only thing my dad passed down to me was his nose and knowledge of how to win an argument,” he said, wrinkling his nose a bit. “He was a lawyer. But not a particularly great dad. But wow, that’s really cool about your dad. I kinda wish I knew more about cars, but I don’t think I’m even a little bit interested in learning how to pull one apart and put it back together,” he chuckled. Noah knew how to change the fluids and how to change a spare tire on account of having had to deal with flats a time or two, but beyond that, any other issue would have to go directly to a mechanic.

“Holy shit, your brother got into engineering and he’s working at the RadioShack here?! There’s definitely gotta be a story behind that. But hey, everyone’s got their own story to tell, right?” he said. “Even you and me. Hopefully our stories end up with something good, you know?”

despite the visuals not quite matching up with the cartoons, touching live wires is a dumb decision that can absolutely at times feel like what those tom & jerry scenes look like. it’s a terrible habit of michael’s to not care as much as he should, but at the very least, he knows which kinds of live wires will do real damage compared to those that will only sting - or at least, he thinks that he knows that for sure, and thankfully today he’s not proven wrong. 

“well in his defence, it is a nice nose,” he teases. “i look so much like my mom, not a thing like my dad. my brother is practically a spitting image of him, and even our sister looks a lot like him - but like, in a girl way, i don’t know, you know what i mean,” samantha doesn’t look masculine, but like a feminine version of their late father. “oh so you got the lawyer argument skills. don’t undervalue that,” it’s probably more of a useful life skill than anything michael knows. “honestly, i think knowledge on cars is wasted in a town like this. you don’t really even need to drive anywhere, it’s all in the same place, and it’s all within walking distance,” it’s a bit of an exaggeration, but not totally untrue in such a small town. 

Noah smiled as they moved on from the subject of visiting New York. Maybe someday! It was nice to think about. But for now, he was content in just trying to make the most out of his time in Shrike, especially now that he was back in school and trying to finish up. As they talked about his choice to stay in Shrike, Noah could tell Michael wasn’t all that convinced about how influential people really could be into getting the place to feel like home. Maybe it was in the half-shrug, or maybe in the way he said it, but Noah hoped he would find a reason worth staying if he’d come all the way from someplace like New York.

Shrike wasn’t likely to be the last place he ever visited, though. Noah was sure he’d get a chance to travel and see the world later on when he wasn’t trying to save up money and at least establish some consistency in his life. Especially when it came to staying on track with his photography. That was one thing he didn’t want to let go of. “Yeah, you’re definitely right. I’ve got time to think about it,” he agreed, taking another glance around to make sure no customers had come in without him realizing it and relaxing when he confirmed they were still relatively alone there without interruptions.

The light flickered slightly when Michael was stung and Noah grimaced. “Oh, shit. Did you get shocked?” he asked, unsure of whether he’d actually seen it or maybe imagined it for a second. Michael looked unbothered though, so Noah didn’t worry too much about it. “So, what got you into doing electric work? I mean, you know your way around it pretty well. Well enough that you seem to know how to actually fix shit and not just wiggle a light bulb around and pretend you fixed it.”

michael definitely isn’t convinced of this town yet, not even when his siblings - two out of the three people on this earth that he can confidently say he loves - reside here now. he thinks the other webbs to be complete fools for deciding to stick around this place, and while he understands why it might be hard for them to go home, he really just wishes that they could all make their way out of shrike heights, even if they wind up somewhere completely new. michael has come to town to be closer to his siblings, and to be able to protect them and care for them if needed, but really, his more private goal is for him to be able to convince his siblings to pack their things and leave. who knows, though; maybe one day michael will find something in this oddball town that will make him stay for good. only time can tell. 

“i did,” he answers when noah asks if he was shocked, but he laughs at the same time - proof that the damage wasn’t too bad, obviously. “it was only a little shock, my finger slipped off the cover around the live wires. really you shouldn’t be fiddling with live wires at all, but it’s too much to expect the power to be turned off in the whole mall - or even a small block of it, which is how bigger places usually work. i think that’s why the managers were trying to get me to just replace the bulb again without a proper fix.” he tries his best to explain everything in a way someone outside of the field will understand, and he feels pretty good about noah being able to follow. 

The fact that people hadn’t fled town with all the unsolved attacks and missing persons was shocking, but she supposed she couldn’t judge anyone too harshly considering she was still in town herself. And hey, plenty of them had probably lived in the town their entire lives which added more to not wanting to leave it behind. “I don’t think I could ever do it either, living in an even smaller town. I don’t know how people don’t get restless there and a move.” Rosario was someone who liked to constantly do something or interact with others so maybe that explained why they’d find even smaller towns so unappealing. “Even Shrikes feels too small sometimes. It’s a pain in the ass to pack up and move though.” That, and regardless of whether or not it was the smarter decision, it didn’t feel right to leave their few friends behind in this place with all the attacks. “That and I’m sure the cities have their fair share of their own problems.”

They laughed along, picturing the shock it might’ve been for a few of the employees at the arcade to learn that there was more to the job. “Probably. If I cared more about arcade games, I would’ve done the same as a kid. In hindsight, I should’ve tried to get a job somewhere where I could’ve at least gotten a discount on something I care about or buy frequently.” Maybe that was poor planning on her part, but a gig at a karaoke joint sounded fun at the time she applied. They snorted, “I wouldn’t dream of it, that’s too much work and I don’t plan on putting more than the bare minimum into this place.” The people who ran the mall didn’t care about them so why should they go out of their way to work their ass off for them? She took a thoughtful pause, “I don’t know, these days I think I would rather work someplace outside of the mall even if I didn’t see eye to eye with them.” That was easy to say, but rougher to deal with than they thought.

“i suppose living somewhere doesn’t mean you’re stuck there all the time. i could probably swing a boring little nowhere town if i had a job that took me elsewhere throughout the year, or if it was a short commute to somewhere exciting, or if i didn’t have to work at all and just had the money to travel where i wanted whenever i wanted.” he’s mostly thinking out loud, but at the end of the day, he’s still pretty firmly against the idea of living somewhere even smaller than shrike heights, considering even shrike in its growing state is pushing michael to become claustrophobic. “yeah, not to mention the cost of moving, and buying or renting some place new, especially in places that have anything more exciting in them. i mean, i’m sure the places around this mall doubled in price when the mall went up, and i know it’s the same everywhere else, whenever new developments come in the prices are hiked.”

“Well, if I’m a rich and famous photographer, I’ll totally spend fifty bucks to go see a Broadway show,” Noah laughed. “I love theater, but I don’t really get to watch is as much as I’d want to. Plus you’re right, it can be expensive. But yeah, no, I think it’d be great to visit,” he said. It was definitely something fun to think about while he idled away the few hours he had left of work.

Noah turned his attention back to Michael, listening to him describing his relationship with his siblings. The way he said that they were close without really including himself in the sentiment made Noah realize it was more complicated than it seemed. Not like he would prod the guy, but he certainly caught on to that and nodded as he watched him work to get that light bulb socket working again. Family wasn’t the most comfortable topic to discuss, and Noah was glad that the conversation just moved on for now.

He laughed when Michael teased him, and he shook his head. “No! I’m not saying you should leave! I just mean… I don’t know. It’s unexpected, but you might find something worth staying for. But I understand the appeal of wanting to leave, because for the longest, that’s all I wanted. Until I did, and then found myself back here,” he chuckled. He had to really laugh when Michael had thought he’d be some sort of business major. “No way! I think a magazine or some publication would be fun to work for. Maybe even the newspaper, I dunno! Or maybe I’ll open up my own photo studio. Or both! Who knows? I guess I’m just kind of thinking about my options right now and seeing where life takes me. What about you? Where do you see your life going in the next couple of years or so?” Maybe it was more of a personal question, but it was still something fun to think about and ask.

the more noah speaks, the more michael starts thinking that he sounds like someone who would genuinely love a trip to the big apple. despite finding differences between the two, michael respects noah’s interest; it’s not like michael feels the need to only like or befriend people exactly like himself, after all. “i mean, loads of people save up to go see a show, even if they’re not some hot shot photographer, so it’s gotta be worth going for something.” he figures, shrugging a shoulder the best that he can while his hands are up in the light socket, fiddling with wires - something he shouldn’t be doing while they’re live - in an attempt of figuring out why the light bulb keeps blowing. “i’m just not super into theater, i guess.” 

michael might find something or someone who makes it worth staying in shrike heights, noah is totally right in saying so - clearly, as he expresses having found that for himself. as much as the idea makes perfect sense to michael, however, he genuinely can’t see it happening for himself. his siblings are the only reason why he’s here, and if they stay insistent on continuing their residence here despite everything that’s happening, then michael might have to up and leave them to their doomed fate. “yeah, i mean, that makes sense.” he tells him with another half shrug. “suppose the people i’ve met so far are nice,” he says, though he still isn’t expecting for any of them to help him to stay.

“Beats me. I would’ve thought the place would become more like a ghost town with you know, everything, but it just keeps on growing and growing.” Again, it was probably harder for other people to abandon the town either due to connections here or lack of resources. When it came to Rosario, she was simply tired of going place to place in search of her brother and wanted to stay put in one place to move on with her own life. It was just some of the world’s worst luck that she happened to pick Shrikes of all places. “Guess people really love small towns that offer a bit more than like one general store or something.” A shrug accompanied their oversimplified explanation. 

They laughed, “I’d be willing to bet at least one or two of them is still lost when it comes to fixing those things. The amount of jobs I’ve worked where someone is completely incompetent despite working there forever is kind of alarming.” It almost sounded hypocritical of her, but in her defense, her mediocre to poor work performance boiled down more to not wanting to do boring tasks rather than lacking the knowledge to do them. “I might have to take a page out of the other employees’ book and start learning how to fix this light myself with all the issues it’s causing.”

it’s interesting to gain the opinion of a resident who has been in shrike heights for much longer than michael himself, and surprisingly not hard to find, considering how little amount of time michael has resided here, and even despite all of the other newcomers in town, too. “certainly makes sense for this place to become a ghost town.” it’s likely that it will still happen, michael thinks, though he doesn’t go as far as to voice the thought aloud. “yeah, you’re right there, though.” he nods his head. “the drive down here was the worst. nothing around for miles. if i lived in one of those drab little nowhere towns that i passed on the way here, i’d be moving into shrike heights, too.” though he believes he’s best elsewhere, despite still being here. 

The only fate worse than his two siblings ending up as victims of the same attack was Patrick getting the calls from the hospital admin team, but then being unable to rush down to see them, he’s sure of it. The blizzard couldn’t have come at a worse time, or maybe it was Patrick moving back into his rundown trailer home that was timed so poorly; either way, he’s sure he’s never felt as much distress as he does in the aftermath of this brutal attack. Every attack is brutal, every attack makes Patrick feel a level of distress, but he’s never felt as hopeless and as desperate as he had while slamming his weight against the slightly broken yet frozen shut metal door of his trailer. He makes it out of his home, but the blizzard is too ferocious, and he remains stuck in the outskirts of town without the clear ability to get to the other Webbs. 

Needless to say, the second he’s able to make it down to the hospital, he does, but not without worrying himself to the point of tears and sickness. Patrick knows that it’s the killers who are to blame, but he can’t help but to feel so much guilt. He’s the only reason why any of his family found their way across the country to Shrike Heights, and now they’ve all paid the price for it. If Patrick hadn’t led them there, they’d still be at home, safe, unharmed. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but all Patrick can do now is try to move past the feeling of responsibility in order to show up for his siblings, in order to be there for them appropriately, to help them through the traumatic period, and through their healing and recovery.

He pulls into the first space in the parking lot that he finds, and he moves faster than ever, into the hospital. For a man who is usually quiet and reserved, he asks for directions to his siblings as quickly and as abruptly as possible, once at the admin desk, and once he hears the room numbers, he’s moving swiftly again. He reaches Michael’s room first, breathing heavily, guilt and concern churning his stomach into sickness, and as much as he feels - and has felt since receiving that first call - the entire situation doesn’t feel real to him until he walks into the room, and finds not only Michael, but Samantha by his side, too. They both look to be in rough shape, which only saddens Patrick further, and causes his guilt to grow. 

“I left as soon as I could,” he tells them as he shuts the door behind him and walks in. He’s breathless, and he has no idea what to say, but at least he’s there. That has to count for something, right? “You guys, I,” he shakes his head; truly speechless. He takes his glasses off in order to wipe his teary eyes. “Jesus Christ.” He settles, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of Samantha’s head, then reaching to take and to squeeze Michael’s hand softly. “I don’t even know what to say.” He admits.

michael hates this town. most people already know that, as michael isn’t afraid to voice the fact that he doesn’t understand why people don’t just up and leave - why his siblings don’t just pack their bags and go home, or else literally anywhere else - but now his hatred for this town is more personal. bad things happen everywhere, that is true, but to be in shrike heights for such a short amount of time and end up in the hospital, literally almost dead, it feels like there’s a curse over this place. michael is angry - or he would be, if he wasn’t so doped up on the medication that helps him sit there with his extreme amount of injuries.

he’s finally coming to properly, finally leaving his dopey state and finding more sense and consciousness after the strong medications begin to fade slowly in time. he’s glad samantha is there with him, as soon as he realises what’s happening and whose body sits in the chair beside him; his insecurities made him worry that she might be with patrick, somewhere else, and that he would once again be the sibling left all on his own. he feels reassured to see samantha, not only for his own sake of wanting to feel as loved as the likes of patrick, but because he’s so thankful that she’s safe, and okay enough to be out of her own hospital bed. he wonders if it’s the medication or the trauma that makes him feel so emotional; maybe it’s both. 

he sits in silence with samantha, having no words to exchange as he’s still in such a deep and profound sense of shock, but the silence is broken quickly by patrick, and his big brother being there for him now too makes him smile. it feels strange, to be smiling after the events that unfolded in the mall. maybe it is the medication that’s twisting his emotions. “hey pat.” he squeezes patrick’s hand back, as firmly as he can, though his hand feels like jelly and he wonders if he’s even squeezed him at all. it’s so disorienting, to be in this state, and as the smile quickly faded, so does the second of good spirits he was in. the anger comes back, along with a deep sadness that he hasn’t yet made sense of. he feels nauseous, going from one emotion to the polar opposite so fast. 

Noah leaned against the front checkout counter as he watched Michael working, still holding on to his little feather duster in case someone came in and he had to pretend he was cleaning. There was nothing he hated more than the management touting ‘If there’s time to lean, there’s time to clean’ at them. “Man, I’d love to go someday,” he said, thinking about what New York City must’ve been like. “I’m used to busy, but beach-side busy. I’d love to experience the Big Apple and see things like Broadway and the Empire State building, and Coney Island. See how it compares to LA or San Diego,” he mused. He wouldn’t want to live there, probably, not by himself anyway. But visiting sounded like fun.

As Michael explained how his siblings came to Shrike and how he’d followed, Noah couldn’t help feeling the smallest pang of jealousy. It must’ve been nice to have siblings one could relate to and connect with. Siblings that didn’t feel like they were part of another family entirely. “That sounds nice. Not that you all got hurt, but I mean I’m glad you’re all so close,” he said with a nod. As much as he wanted to say something about the importance of related family, Noah didn’t really know about that. All he had now was his grandmother. What he had now was a chosen family, and that mattered more to him.

When Michael asked about Malibu, Noah smiled. “It’s nice. Like summer all the time. It gets really hot sometimes, though. There’s a lot of people who come from all over, though. Lots of celebrities and stuff,” he said, smiling as he recalled the sunny beaches and crowded boardwalks. “But… my family’s here in a way. Friends and stuff, mostly. I um. I tried to go back, but it didn’t really work out,” he said, shrugging lightly. His crush was here, too. But he kept that to himself. “I don’t think you’re an asshole for wanting to move on, though. I get that. I guess there’s just… despite everything that’s happened, a feeling of community, I guess? That’s the only thing I can think of that isn’t just… we’ve all somehow been brainwashed,” he joked. Noah didn’t wear that kind of tinfoil hat. When asked about his studies though, Noah smiled again in earnest. “Photography. I wanna go into photojournalism and maybe take photos for a paper or magazine or something. I think that’d be really fun.”

“i definitely think it’s worth experiencing at least once - all the touristy crap. not that it’s crap, but you know. i think it’s worth going to broadway if that’s your thing, though tickets are like fifty bucks, which i don’t think is worth it - but i’m not really into that kind of stuff. but yeah, seeing the sights, eating the food, meeting all the assholes on the streets, it’s a cool experience.” he nods his head. “la and san diego, though, i’ve never been, so you’d definitely have to see new york for yourself to see how it compares.” he shrugs, not that noah asked for michael’s comparison, but he would have given him his opinion if he had. 

“yeah, i mean, they’re close.” michael shrugs again. he’s always felt like the odd one out of his siblings, despite still having love for them, and knowing that they love him in return. patrick and samantha have lived in shrike heights together for a while now, they’ve been together while michael has been alone. part of michael resents them for their closeness, and the biggest part of michael is jealous that patrick was the brother samantha chose to follow, other him. he supposes that’s why he’s really here, for the most part, to try to receive some of that familial love that he’s been bitter over missing out on, but he doesn’t tell noah - or his siblings - that. he just shrugs and continues on with the job.