#glysimachia

“ Yeah, take your kid to Disney World they said, it’s easy and precious they promised. ”   Pepper sighed with an exhausted breath, taking a much needed sit on the bench as Morgan napped in the buggy. “ At least I don’t have to worry about getting a workout in... ”

This one was looking for something. 

She had to be, the way she wandered around the wood, paying careful attention to each beat of breath the forest passed through it’s heart. No critter disturbed that needn’t be, no weapon brandished against the wandering doe. It was...odd. Suspicious, but in the best of ways. 

Rawn watched still for a moment more, letting her pass under the tree he was perched in, before making his final decision. It didn’t pay to hide his decent if he meant to greet her anyways, so the branches buckled under his movement as he dropped down, landing in a squat and staying low as to not scare her anymore than the sudden presence would. 

   she had been one of jacob’s, or at least, that’s what he’d heard from one of the other resistance members. taken by someone to the resistance, removed from an environment full of death and broken men, where she was considered useful only for her knowledge and put... right back in the same situation on the other side of the war. he felt bad for her because of that, knowing that the war was shitty on both sides, and that no one was going to escape this unharmed.

   he wonders how she’s dealing with it, but he doesn’t ask. it’s not his place. instead, he slips into her new home, and holds out a backpack full of supplies, things he’s taken from closed down clinics and various other places, things he knows she’ll need if she wants to continue healing and helping them.

   he smiles then, hesitant and unsure, and gives the bag a little shake. she’s pretty, but firm and probably just as hurting as the rest of them, and he knows that she’s been through enough to not trust just anything handed to her. ( even if it was handed to her by a deputy of the sheriff’s office. or perhaps especially because of this. ) so he makes sure to move it just enough to prove that it’s not explosive or otherwise dangerous.

𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 ,  𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 .  𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 :  more than she has ever known anything in this world ,  in a way that perfectly explains why nothing useful comes to mind .  it was the night before school started again for the twins ,  𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞   /   contagious ,  really ,  taking over the quiet mindset tammy had programmed herself into .      ❝    tried  that  before .  the  last  thing  —   𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑  𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 ,  𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆 !   the  last  thing  they’ll  do  right  now  is  pay  attention  to  my  stories .    ❞    a sigh ,  biting down on her thumb as those two little figures jumped their way around her on the couch .  𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧   –   august was the one to go down without a fight that night ,  slipping into sleep as his mother had suggested .  of sudden ,  tammy stands on her feet :  captures the kids’ attention ,  general like eyes starring right into their naughty ones .      ❝    that’s  enough ,  the  two  of  you .  back  to  bed  now !    ❞     but they only really move once they see her heading towards the bedrooms ,  the most serious facade covering such delicate features .

                        ❝    gaea ,  can  you  put  some  water  on  boil ?  a  little  tea  should  calm  these  two  here  for  the  night .    ❞    but her voice comes half cut ,  surprised by the moment ben snuggles himself around her leg .  𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫  on her eyes once tammy looks back at her friend ,  leaning down to release herself from the little boy’s grasp .         ❝    maybe  then  we  can  actually  enjoy  our  movie …  but that’s   –   gonna  need  something  way  stronger  than  tea .   ❞    

                          “  𝐇𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 . . .  ”  Picture  hesitantly  shared  as  fingers  GRIP  the  last  memory  that  he  has  of  his  eldest  son.  “  You  uh              ”  STOPS  as  teeth  dig  into  lower  lip,  and  voice  drops.  “  You  haven’t  seen  anyone  who  looks  like  him  have  you  ?  He’s  my  𝐒𝐎𝐍.  ”  There’s  a  lump  that  gathers  which  Jackson  clears  with  the  sounding  of  throat,  “  We  got  separated  when  the  government stepped  in  with  all  their  HELP. ”  BITTER  laugh  accompanies  words  as  brow  furrows,  “  all  the  fucking  good     𝑻𝑯𝑨𝑻     did. ”