#buckincowboy

she giggles as wyatt scolds her, as if she of all people doesn't know the risk.

despite the hair rising on the back of her neck and the chill that settles into her bones, she's more at home in haunted houses than she is amongst the living most of the time.

" oh, please, " she says, falling into step behind him. " don't you forget, first time i accompanied you on a job, i was the one who solved things. "

the floorboards creak and groan their familiar tune. the attic above them shifts and showering them in age-old dust. she coughs and taps wyatt on the shoulder.

@buckincowboy //from here

a smile slowly tugs at the corner's of willow's lips. wyatt stands before her with one hand outstretched in her direction.

she uncurls her legs, crain hopping down from his cozy nest of blankets in her lap as she does. she leans to leave her tea on a coaster on the nearest end table.

willow rises and gingerly places her hand in his, her skin smooth against his rough callouses.

@buckincowboy || from here

" then it's a good thing i'm not staying long, mon cher, " she assures him, resting a palm against her cheek. he's still recovering from his last tussle with lucy and dante, the vampires responsible for... everything... and willow knows he's in no shape to travel.

" beau finished renovations on the house after the storm. vi and i are just going down to look at it and make sure everything is still in order. we'll be there less than an hour, and we aren't even staying in baie de brume. "

to prove it to him, she fishes her phone from her pocket and pulls up the reservation from her email. " see? the hotel we're at is new orleans. you know that's a long drive from home. we'll be gone long before it gets dark. "

she knows why it worries him, but this was her life for years before they met, and it was going to continue to be her life for years to come.

⟡ @buckincowboy | for every "👤" [alternatively: "NPC" ] sent to my inbox, i will introduce you to ONE NPC relevant to my muse's lore

FC: Alex James

Name: Elias

Backstory: Elias is simply the latest in a long line of Armand's blood dolls, and while he's like to say that his life was something exceptional, it's more just that he got lucky, and then unlucky in turn. He'd like to say he got to survive the apocalypse, and in some ways it's even true! He made it through Akasha's purge, only to soon after, be diagnosed as terminally ill.

He gets the call while he's a tourist on Night Island, and less than an hour later, Armand finds him on the roof of the shopping complex, debating if it's better to end it now, or in a few months, after working and just getting sicker, and sicker. They're both terrible options.

Armand finds him on the roof and offers him a third: he'll stay on the Night Island, and let Armand take his blood. It means that a few times a week, he lets himself be jabbed with IVs and bleed into bags, while the vampire attempts whatever the vampire equivalent of gastronomy is. Pudding, coffee, bread, whatever else it is that strikes Armand's fancy to try and make vampire friendly. As far as Elias can tell, he's getting closer.

In a few months, or a year, or whenever it is that the illness would consume him, he'll get a peaceful death. When he isn't acting as a vampire's blood tap, he's spending his remaining time writing and illustrating a children's book, the proceeds of which he wants donated to charity, or enjoying the Night Island.

⟡ @buckincowboy | BARE BONES.

Denis has moved around enough times, including to university doms, to have a fairly decent idea of how best to retrofit a space quickly for the needs of a vampire! The first step is always dealing with the windows: thick curtains, tape, blinds, the whole nine yards. Ideally, he'll be able to open them at night, but sometimes sun-proofing them is more important.

And, despite having spent the better part of his teenage years sleeping in a coffin, he doesn't actually prefer it! More often, he uses an actual bed. If he's sleeping outside his own room, such as napping on campus, he finds a tiny little room, often in the library, or some other closet in the centre of buildings without windows, and wears a sweater with a big hood.

Beyond seemingly nocturnal and sun averse, Denis tends to be fairly adept at keeping the veneer of humanity! He has normal toiletries, including a toothbrush. Sure, he's more likely to use his sewing kit for makeshift piercings rather than clothes, but he is perfectly capable of sewing. Over the years, a few clubs have tried him to join their drama clubs because he does know theatre quite well, but he always refuses.

from here | @buckincowboy

something about the confession hits him like a brick in his stomach and for a moment jeremy just sits with it. it's a rare moment for quinn to become somber, and he knows how easy it would be to screw up his response.

" i think -- " he pauses, mulls over his words. " i think maybe we all are, y'know? "

" i think maybe we all feel that way. just pieces. waitin' for someone to come along and figure out where we fit in for us. let us know there's a spot, a purpose, and we aren't just doomed to ... "

he trails off. he loses track of his metaphor. chuckles nervous, shrugs. casts his gaze out away from quinn, towards where the cows graze in the west pasture and the winds rustle the plains. far, far in the distance they can just make out the peaks of the rocky mountains over the horizon, hazy from days of wildfire smoke.

from here | @buckincowboy

" and what's your kind ?? "

eyes roll and he nudges his old friend with his elbow.

" cocky bull rider with an ego who don't know how to quit ?? "

he sips his coffee and watches out over the plains from the bed of his rusty blue pickup truck. wyatt's helping him on the double j again after having driven up from angel plains the night before to hang out. wyatt knew that jeremy struggled this time of month. to take care of his ranch chores, to take care of his mom. just to stay afloat in general.

to the east, the sun is just cresting over the fields of dry plains grass.

jeremy smirks.