; this is not a dream

     Jessica sat on the ground in the middle of the foreign city, pulling her knees up to her chest. She bit her lip and looked around with wide eyes. She had bitten her bottom lip so hard that she could already taste the copper of her blood filling her mouth. She was shaking, she noticed when she raised her hands. She clenched her hands into fists and held them to her chest, trying to calm herself down.

     It was cruel. Being pulled from one drastic situation into another one. She didn’t even have the chance for her wounds to heal before this started– She didn’t even think she made it out of the police station. 

     She stayed in her place on the ground for a few more minutes, ignoring the looks she was getting from the others around her. They didn’t matter. All that mattered was finding her friends. If she was here, they had to be there too. She carefully stood, having to take a moment to get steady on her legs. She looked through the crowd, getting on her tiptoes.

“Matt? Sam..? Mike? Are you there?”

         As unlikely as finding anything of substance was to him when he arrived, seeing someone he knew from ‘before’ was out of the question. It didn’t cross his mind at all... until today. She was just sitting there, covered in blood and bruises and dirt. The crowd seamlessly parts around her – it looks so unreal that he second guesses whether it is or not. Jess shouldn’t be here. She shouldn’t look like that. Mike should be standing next to her with that cheeky asshole grin he always wears. They should be laughing and talking, but she looks ready to break with a strong gust of wind.

          He pushes one – two, three.. four people out of his way,  weaving against the flow of ‘blanks’ that never seem to react to anything, “Jess?” He calls, hesitant. It’s got to be her. It’s got to be REAL. There’s no fucking way this isn’t real. The space between them continues to shrink. “Jess!” Louder, clearer. His pace falters and slows as he comes up within arms length of her. It’s worse than he thought. The wounds, the look of desperate confusion, did he..? “What.. what happened to you? How – what are you doing here?” That was a stupid question. Did anyone know what they were doing ‘here’. “Did.. do you know what happened? Jesus..” ‘You look awful’ goes unspoken. He looked infinitely worse even still.

          He wanted revenge and it looks like he got it, but it didn’t feel like he won anything.

There he was. Passed out in the middle of the sidewalk once again..it’d been a full 4 hours since he ate and he’s literally dying. People pretty much just overlooked him and stepped over him, some even going as far to step ON him.

     While the scientists may have stripped him of nearly all his power, Sauron could nevertheless take solace in one thing: his innate abilities of deception. They’d allowed him to achieve great things in the past; he could only hope that would remain true for the duration of his stay in Hive City.

     This was the one thing he kept in mind whilst making his way to their meeting point. He’d already examined the list of possible employees, and while they were altogether far from ideal, a particular individual had still managed to catch his eye. The boy had a gruesome appearance. Naturally, that only made Sauron all the more interested in meeting him. If he intended to collect a suitable team of allies, average simply wouldn’t cut it.

     He’d specifically requested that they meet in the second sector, a place of filthy industrialism. At least it was something the fallen Maia could appreciate, if not understand. The scraping of metal could be heard faintly in the distance, though it hardly distracted him. Sauron slowed to a halt. Unsurprisingly, the human was easy to identify, and it was as he came closer that Sauron began to realise precisely what he would be working with. His own powers, contained within the Ring on his finger, may have been dulled, but he nonetheless sensed the human’s very essence.

     He was simply a Man – and yet.. it was as though he’d been touched by something entirely different, as evidenced by the cruel teeth showing through one cheek.

     “Josh Washington..” he uttered, recalling the other’s name. It seemed strange upon his tongue, foreign to his ears. Seeing the boy up close only intensified his curiosity, golden gaze focusing upon the other’s teeth – before darting back to Josh’s eyes. Barely a moment seemed to pass before a kind smile curled to Sauron’s features, eyes brightening almost innocently.

What little information he had was reviewed; he’s going to be approached by someone in sector 2 and ‘given instructions’ - something to that effect. That’s it. The short and long of it. He stretches his legs out across the bench, lighting a cigarette he’d snagged at one of the local shops. At the very least, he didn’t have to leave the sector he was ‘assigned to live in’ or whatever. It was awful, yeah, but he found the scenery comforting in a strange way. Maybe it was the fact he didn’t feel like he stuck out here. The possibility of radioactive sludge seems like a bigger concern than some guys face. 

“Josh Washington.”’

Josh’s head swivels to make eye contact; he’s got an interesting pigment. It’s almost molten, he notes, taking a long drag and being considerate enough to exhale the smoke from the corner of his mouth, “That’d be me. So I’m guessing you’re the guy I’ll be working for today? Didn’t catch your name, I was just told to wait for you here.” The guy’s got... an ‘exotic’ look to him, and Josh offers his hand out to shake, “Has anyone ever told you that you’re good looking but in a ‘you’d probably reach into my chest and squeeze my heart for fun before crushing it while maintaining eye contact’ sort of way? Because you’re definitely rocking it.”  

send me a “✎” and ill draw your muse ( still accepting!! )

@midjin

“Dude,” you call when you notice the slide’s first (willing, compared to the rest of the accidents) victim trudging his way back up the steep hill the three of you had decided to set this deathtrap up on. “I’m gonna show you somethin’ sick. Get back up here,” you’re already looking at this thing from all different kinds of angles and perspectives.

You could do this.

You’re gonna fuckin’ surf down this thing.

It takes him a little longer than he likes, but he’s next to Dirk before he knows it and gives him a curious stare, one brow raised, “What’s up? Going to go down head first? I wouldn’t recommend it, bro.” He’s just.. got that.. ‘time to do something dangerous and reckless’ vibe.

He’s at a loss as to what to feel as he warily wades through the crowds, eyes narrowed at the sight before him: his own partner in crime being the ring leader of it at all. Huh. He may have robbed the trunk of some dickhead’s car alongside him and watched him pass out in his stupor 3 hours afterwards, but still–he squints initially. But then his expression falters, and he feels some offense (jealousy…it can’t be.) at the fact that his one and only actual friend hadn’t invited him.

…Then comes the awe–because it’s an impressive stunt, truly, he thinks with rosy cheeks and wide eyes. Fuck it all. He phases through all three at once. He watches that asshole tear through the air and land against the dumpster, and he fails to repress his laughter. He approaches Josh, crouching over him and leaning back on his heels as he does, his nose crinkled and a brow raised. Sighing, he extends a hand in some selfless gesture of…gasp! Loyalty. Take it, you…jerkass!

“First of all: what the fuck. Second of all: I’m kind of impressed and I wish I wasn’t. Third of all:”

Oh? A hand, and a flash of a red sleeve. Green eyes follow from the fingertips, all the way to Nathan’s face. Suddenly, a grin spreads from cheek to cheek, an ecstatic look in place, “Nate!” He chimes, voice livelier than anything the other boy would’ve heard from him in their time together. With a steady grip on the hand offered to him, he manages to stand and starts shaking off the excess. There’s way too much and jesus fuck it’s pretty cold.

“What? Never seen another guy covered head to toe in lube before?” A JOKE, which he puts his hands up in mock defense for, “Oh, dude, you have no idea. So there’s this sex shop over in one of the other sectors, right? Well I decided to head in there because I was going to buy some gag gifts, you know?” Josh, calm down, you’re too happy to talk about this. “Anyway, this was just out in the open so I took it. Now we’re here.”

          And every once and awhile, fresh meat shows up. And Ayato is always quick in sizing them up with how easy they’ll be. This guy is no exception, but there’s something just a little creepy about those jagged teeth on the side of his mouth. And he doesn’t exactly look like the most down the earth person in the world. But that really doesn’t matter, the teeth are creeping Ayato out. So, he’s just got to ask.

          ❝ Dude,❞ it’s said rather loudly as he walks up on him, ❝ The fuck is up with the teeth on the side of your face? You a monster or somethin’? ❞

The words are sharp and dig into his skin - he doesn’t flinch. Josh wonders just how old this kid is. 12? 2003 called and they want their edge back. He’ll refrain from saying ‘that was so funny I forgot to laugh. to apologize why don’t I buy you a one way ticket to go fuck yourselfville, the bus drops you off on the corner of suck my dick and eat my ass lane’ because that would be rude. Not that people gave a shit about manners. Definitely not Skrillex over here with his goddamn unbrushed hair and bargain bin hot topic clothes. It takes him a few moments to pull on a smile, cheeks straining, “Oh, yeah. You know. I’m the reason parents teach you not to talk to strangers. What’s up, kid? You lost or something? Not a good place for you to be hanging out-,” a vague hand gesture, “-you could get shot. Or stabbed. Or eaten.” He’s joking and he doesn’t know just how close he hit home.

…But he’ll let it slide for the meanwhile, because his own heel is idly bouncing against the ground, hand twitching against the fabric of his jacket.

.. Despite being so well-practiced, the careful facade is like crystal right now, fragile and threatening to shatter at the slightest touch. But it’s alright - it’s okay - it’s fine. No one’s going to pick at the open wound. Not now. Not here.

The last one wasn’t eaten… Mod oo4 just can’t read…

Welcome!

You’ll be staying in district Alpha!

You will be given a plastic shovel!

Enjoy your stay!