#everyroute

@everyroute asked: " there is no shame in being afraid. " + from carley / prompt.

he's alone. he's thinking about his next piece. having witnessed one of the team, that he's currently passing the time with, torn to pieces earlier — he intends to go back tonight when it's dark and get to work. feels inspired! they're too fucked up to be roaming and thus ripe for the taking. it causes tears to brim and leak down his cheeks. sheer excitement. he feels giddy, biting the corner of his lip roughly to ground himself. that's when there's a knock at the door. " c-come in... " he responds, blinking away the tears.

carley manifests through his blurred vision and he offers a smile. she asks if he's okay and he nods. " just a little shaken up after earlier. " a lie. she believes him. there is no shame in being afraid. he could laugh. wildly and maniacally. it bubbles in his chest and threatens to bleed out regardless of his efforts to contain it. his lips curve and he has to duck his head, rubbing the back of his neck. " yeah... " pull yourself together, dammit! without vigilantes, his apocalyptic work has taken on new meaning.

i have died many times, or at least i have seen death way too close to my face, and it has kissed my cheeks to no avail and left its scent on my skin like perfume. curling its spectral fingers around my flesh, it remains seeping into the marrow of my bones. i don’t really tremble beneath its gaze; no, i welcome it, i yearn for the cool embrace of its shadowed arms. oh, to be cradled in its eternal stillness! then i remember i’ve been cursed with knowing how to escape from it as well. am i afraid of it? no, not at all . . . but do i crave it? that changes like the seasons. i cannot answer this in absolute certainty.

« why do you care about me, мелина? » on the surface, i display a facade of indifference, a carefully crafted mask of apathy that shields the aching vulnerability beneath. i carry myself with the air of one untouched by longing, but my solitude is a quiet fortress, its walls built high with feigned ease. within, something restless stirs. beneath the still waters of my indifference, a silent wish ripples— unseen, unspoken, but ever-present. i tell myself I do not care, but in the quiet of my own mind, i know the truth: i do.

@everyroute asked: " my face is my warrant. " + madison.

irritable, ghost gives a restrained sigh. " that's not gonna work, 'round 'ere, " he informs bluntly. not going to work with him, especially. granted, madison is intimidating — without a doubt, but he remains unphased. he's seen the worst in women, he's not in at the deep end here. " you lose your armed guard? " and not because she's any kind of vip, either. no — madison is undergoing a transition period, wherein bill carver is testing her and her people, seeing how they fair under strict command and order. she's failing. " you know, if you wanted t' keep your family safe you're goin' the wrong way about it. "

@everyroute asked: " why are you willing to help me? " + sadie.

a husky chuckle — mostly to himself, because the answer is simple. chaos calls to him. and he doesn't know if this woman deserves his help or not, but twelve against one is hardly a fair fight and if a woman is stuck in such a predicament then she's certainly worth his attention. in the same vein as misery loves company, he's intensely attracted to trouble. cyn whinnies beneath him, stomping hard hoof against the ground in anticipation. he calms her with a firm pat to the neck.

               it   is   a   particularly   difficult   day,   one   where   sophia   is   heavy   on   her   mind.      it   happens   sometimes,   the   memories   of   her   smile,   of   her   adorable   laugh   when   she   was   just   a   baby…      she   swallows   hard,   having   to   remind   herself   that   she’s   gone.      there   is   no   hope,   no   possibility   of   finding   her.      maybe   if   she   had   never   seen   the   body,   if   she   had   just   been   missing   she   could   fool   herself   into   thinking   she   was   still   alive   out   there.      but   no,   she   had   witnessed   the   fatality   and   remained   a   broken   woman   because   of   it.