VICTORY / VIOLET

——————  ❝ I’M BUILDIN’ A FENCE AROUND the perimeter of the trenches to avoid that. I figure if it ain’t your ass fallin’ in, it’d be someone else’s. ❞ On a rainy day, he kind of felt like everyone here was pretty much capable of dying from it. ❝ It’s…not really set in stone yet, but I was thinkin’ of – okay, it’s gonna sound fucked up… ❞ Knife set on knee, he glanced over, watching her reaction with a steady gaze. ❝ I was gonna line our walls with walker corpses to keep walkers away. Clem talked about this one community that did somethin’ like that – ‘m not sure what their fuckin’ idea was, but it worked until someone turned on the inside. ❞

——————  A TWINGE OF GRATITUDE FELL upon his mind as she dropped the previous topic. Speaking too long on that would have led down a rabbit hole he wasn’t sure she’d actually desire to go near…or really care about. Deep breath, in and out, he calms his nerves ; her new topic would cause a brow to raise but nothing stated against it.

    ❝ I guess…I’ve been doin’ this double-sided trench idea. ❞ The trap scenarios were may more centered on those stupid log and boulder traps that were too inconvenient for his taste. ❝ I wanted to put spikes at the bottom so…any walkers or fuckers try to sneak in, there’s a huge fuckin’ chance they’re impaled. But also there’s this OTHER idea I have… ❞

——————  MITCH’S GAZE HOLLOWED OUT AS he listened to her, not because of why she might miss her relatives, but because of the last part. If she didn’t miss her father, then why couldn’t he feel the same way about his own? Weakness. That’s what he classified it as, leaving his mouth to become dry with resentment toward himself – a bit of gratitude she couldn’t see him (awful as that might sound). With an inhale, he’d nod, head lowering toward his knife as a simple lie leaves him: ❝ Yeah, don’t miss my dad either – fuck ‘im. ❞ 

     Throat cleared, hand that held knife dropping it to let palm rub against it. ❝ Shit…this topic’s depressin’ as shit ; ya know a better one? ❞

she  tries  to  read  his  tone  ---  take  in  that. . .  maybe  he  did  miss  his  parents.        she’d  never  been  very  good  at  that  --- relating  to  peoples  emotions.          she  shifts  in  her  spot    ,  wishing  she  could  see  him  to  get  a  better  judgement.    

   THE GLINT IN THOSE GREEN EYES PROMPTS HER OWN BACK, victory vi wining more than the round that turn.  her reign ends, and her own begins as she pulls a king of diamonds, highest card on the table; she wins.          ❝ –   oh, look at that.  ❞  she chimes, her eyes skim the table for her victim the lowest card.   and it’s violet.          ❝ –   sooo, violet.  ❞ clementine starts, pursing her lips in thought, juggling many embarrassing questions in her head before she selects the winner.      ❝ –    when did you start having a crush on me?   ❞

    ❝ –   as much as everyone would LOVE to hear it…    ❞     let them bite, let the ones also gathered around the table for this supposed ‘love-triangle’ that would of sent a high-school courtyard wild lean forward in their chairs in anticipation. 

          ❝ –   no. i haven’t.  ❞    there’s a rather bashful dip in her hues for a moment before coming back up.      ❝ –   you were my first.  ❞    

——————  ❝ PARENTS ARE FUCKIN’ STUPID. ❞ No one here exactly had a pleasant childhood, not that he could recall ; it primarily stemmed down to the parents and how they raised them, though, which he got – and it sucked the life out of him every time he rehashed his memories. A single swipe across branch, he’d give a scoff. ❝ Either they care about themselves or they don’t care at all. ❞

     Eyes lifted, glancing toward the iron bars back toward the courtyard. ❝ Ever miss ‘em? ❞

    ❝ –    oh, wow.   ❞    the corners of her lips are pulled upward at a rather amusing thought to come to her mind at such a straight-forward question; her brow quirking at the victory violet.      ❝ –   i didn’t take you as the jealous type.   ❞    

——————  ❝ SOUNDS MORE FUN THAN IT was ; most of my nights were eatin’ cold leftovers my dad brought back and bein’ alone – days were spent fightin’ the neighbors or gettin’ screamed at if I didn’t get one hundred percent on the quizzes my dad made that were for, like, college level students. ❞ Switchblade snapped out, he’d press it to the end of his stick, sliding it across the end. ❝ Ya know, I prefer the warmth ; my last birthday was a bust, but…now that we don’t got all that depressin’ shit goin’ on, maybe this year’ll be a party. ❞

mitch. 

——————  ❝ THAT’D OF BEEN A WEIRD narrative for me: meth lab kid likes to blow up product more than sell it. ❞ Luckily he was just the failed kid of some important dad in a white Christian neighborhood. ❝ – ya know, I came from a place where moms would jump up on chairs over rats or faint ; I didn’t fit that mold. ❞ 

     A soft chuckle, fist hitting her shoulder. ❝ Asparagus tastes bad, too, but apparently that shit’s healthy – what? Should I suck, like, Aasim’s blood out? Nah…his probably would taste borin’. Omar’s probaly tastes perfect. ❞ These days, warmth was coming to a close, but they’d managed to find a day that housed some remaining tinges of heat ; it wasn’t unwelcome – especially considering what was coming for them soon. Arm dropped back to side, he’d head over to his small stash and retrieve a spare knife and two branches, tossing branches to beside her before heading over himself. ❝ You’ll get tired of it soon out here ; there’s so much light around this side of the school durin’ this time of day. ❞

——————  ❝ PSH! When I first made a bomb on campus around you, ya totally lost your shit ; I’ll hold on to that memory even if you’re not impressed anymore. ❞ A momentary hesitation from his side, but he decides to bump her back, grasp tightening to keep her from flailing over if she stumbled. ❝ I bet you were impressed with my handy work durin’ the raid ; if I’d had more time, two would have been effective in blastin’ those motherfuckers to Hell. ❞

    She had a point there ; he really should have died YEARS ago – from when he was eleven and killed his first human to the throat excursion. ❝ Don’t tell anyone I am or I’ll have to sacrifice ya – drink your blood to keep this handsome face. ❞ Finally, though not without a little yank back from him just to keep her from falling in a massive trench he’d dug, he’d let her go, only to cluelessly place edge of hand to forehead to gaze upward. ❝ What? What’re ya squintin’ at? ❞

❛    i  came  from  a  trailer  park  ,  mitch.      bombs  only  really  happened  that  one  that  meth  lab  went  up----      ❜          she  snorts  &  shakes  her  head  as  she  closes  her  eyes.       odd  to  be  able  to  walk  without  looking  ---  more  or  less.   

——————  ❝ YOUR’E WAY MORE INFLUENCED BY other people than I thought. ❞ A hand leading a gentle rub of index against his chin, he’d tilt his head this way and slightly that. ❝ Wonder what I ingrained into that head of yours. ❞

     He’d ignore it ; his mind made up that mourning them a second time wasn’t worth the while. Even if they were friends, moving feet forward meant better outcomes than trudging through quicksand named emotions. Then again, even as he thought this, passing the grave with a name upon it he couldn’t bring himself to glance toward brought the same grief. Forced onward, though, he’d add: ❝ I’ve been stubborn my entire life – been in way more harrowin’ scrapes than a knife to my neck. Like, remember that time we got overrun by all those walkers inside the gates? ❞

❛    how  to  make  bombs.      well  --  at  least  the  need  to  know  stuff.        all  the  flares  &  fangirling  doesn’t  stick  around.    ❜          she  smirks  a  bit  ,  hip  bumping  his  gently.     it  was  easy  to  make  fun  of  him  for  his  love  ,  but  at  least  he  had  something  to  be  passionate  about.  

——————  HE’D CATCH HER STUMBLE WITH a tightening of his arm to keep her steady, lifting it slightly to ensure her feet weren’t slipping further downward. ❝ Yeah, well, Batman didn’t have anythin’ else but money. ❞ It’s a casual statement with a hinted smile at the nostalgia of remembering these outdated heroes. ❝ You’re lucky, Vi ; ya don’t gotta see that stupid smirk he does when he knows he’s bein’ a nuisance – ya know the one. ❞

     Hand pressed against gate, he eased it open, letting the full extent of that iron give way to acknowledgement that they were headed out toward the greenhouse – or beyond that. ❝ Speakin’ of hearin’ shit, Clem told me about the boat – about how ya thought there wasn’t a bomb ‘cause ya thought I was dead. Hah, bet ya nearly shit yourself when ya got back here to find out I was defyin’ death. ❞

❛    oh  ,  please.      i  can  always  see  that  stupid  smirk.    it’s  been  burned  into  my  damn  brain.       i  find  myself  doin’  the  smirk  ------  like  how  i  used’ta  say  god  bless  you   after  someone  sneezed  because  soph  beat  it  int’a  my  head.      ❜       

——————  NORMALLY HE’D OF LEFT SOMEONE behind (at least in the case of working WITH him) who couldn’t serve a purpose, yet this wasn’t like all the other times. Palm upon the top of Violet’s hand to keep her steady against his naturally brisk pace, he knew that this was different ; while the others who’d decided not to help out or were prone to getting in trouble kept to some moral obstacle of theirs, Violet had no say in her eyes. ❝ Psh…ya can do way more than just sharpen weapons. There are blind superheroes in the comic books, ya know? ❞ A pause granted before he’d add: ❝ It’s a start, though…❞

——————  ❝ YEAH, so I’ve been workin’ on buffin’ defenses and shit up recently. ❞ Palms are pressed to table as he forces himself upright. It wouldn’t be much work for her, but sometimes he can’t tell when it comes to the others. ❝ I’m just makin’ spikes. Should be easy work since all ya gotta do is sharpen a stick until it’s pointy for the stabbin’. ❞

——————  ❝ THAT’S IF YA ACTUALLY GET hangovers, Vi, which I don’t. ❞ No longer being able to look right, losing one of his best friends, losing more friends than he could manage, waking up feeling more…and more…and more exhausted… All of it felt like too much when he sat down and thought. Eyes dart over, then back toward the gate to the garden. ❝ Wanna help me with somethin’ today? ❞