#bredrogues

where he finds him, is the edge of the world. it’s unintentional, but every straggler has potential. for what, is yet to be disclosed. a way out, however, is what he’s searching for. hector keeps his pistol ready, circling the man like a vulture. his crew keep their distance. “where is the door?” 

  ‘ it has not been my night, bill. that’s all i gotta say about it.  for now. ’  even with the edges of his vision clouding up from drowsiness, curtis holds billy in warm regard. tonight’s overtime leaves him showing up an hour late to their barbecue and beer night they’d decided upon together.  the rain makes the frayed nerve endings of his leg ache,  protest against the sensation of his prosthetic after all day of keeping it on with no breaks,  so he ambles carefully to the seat in the booth beside billy. 

today could’ve been better,  but it won’t stop him from enjoying this time at least.  as if on cue,  their waitress comes to take his order too,  and he takes a long sip at his beer before exhaling in pleasure, closing his eyes to savor the taste before opening them to take billy in,  hair shining from pomade and all the sharp angles of his features pronounced under the fluorescent lights of the pub. 

curt clears his throat,  offering a small smile as he pats billy’s palm,  affectionate and fond as he is whenever they get a chance to meet up these days in the ebb and flow of their civilian lives.  his civilian life,  anyway. 

‘ i appreciate you waiting up for me.  guess i’m a shitty date for showing up so late with only a vague text’s notice, huh ? ’

     ❝   felt more like an OBLIGATION than anything,  i’ll be honest.  took a damn long time to get past the sour grapes taste but you get used to it.   ❞   curtis lets out a hearty laugh at that,  sipping at the glass between his fingers.  it’s a few steps above boxed wine,  better than the shit ma and pops used to keep around the house that he used to sneak sips from when he could,  and this is what life should be about.  smoking and drinking wine and whatever.  it does feel like an obligation,  a civilian rite of passage.  no more mad dog 20/20,  no more watered down shots in filthy shot glasses in even filthier bars ------  this is it.   red wine from walgreens and sports games on sundays,  nine-to-five,  all of it.   routine’s always been soothing,  even as it slips into mundane territory.  it’s the life he talks about to the guys at group,  it’s the DREAM.

he cracks his neck,  chancing a glance at the man beside him when the red sox hit a home run.  

                  By now she’s gotten used to the bright lights, big city, big deal triple package that comes with protecting Logan Delos on a day to day basis. Her body’s adjusted to the five-in-the-morning dashes, the continually booming playlists, but she’d be damned if she didn’t say it was a good job. But to actually BE A PART OF IT? Yeah, that’s weird. Because she can’t say no to him, Echo’s shuffling and positioning her dress in the elevator to the lobby of her apartment complex --- only to find him waiting outside. 

u rly trying to go there huh

It’s the surge back that knocks her breath away for a mere few seconds, but it’s enough time to see the face she’s not seen in months. Maybe years. They’ve all forgotten time, a construct so useless when you’ve felt the very body of the love of your life dissolve into dust. Everyone is dust and mayhem and pain and she doesn’t quite register that this Kennedy’s forearm holding her back against the wall. Eyes so tired that she sees double of every figure she walks across, it takes several blinks until the dark haired woman comes to view.

Dust. They’re all dust, at the end of the day, and Echo Galaeus is another fool ready to play martyr at any chance she gets to forget the feeling of anything between her fingers. She wants to reach out, run a finger or two against a strand of her old friend’s ponytai just so her senses can register that she’s real ---- but is she? After everything, is she? She could’ve been killed for acting so recklessly, sure, but Echo isn’t truly convinced she wouldn’t be okay with a demise at this stage of the End. Her body is too defiant to let her die out with the rest.