#hubrisdivine

He inhaled at the mention of food, letting out a soft noise when the smell of it hit him. The world they lived in, he knew they should just appreciate that they had food to eat at all, but it was always an extra treat when the food was good. And Noah's always was. "I mean....if you insist," he said, teasingly, following him through the living room to the kitchen.

The wind blows, the sun shines, the wildflowers still bloom.  Despite how it may feel, the world hasn’t ended and time hasn’t stopped. Then why does it feel like it has. People are free to come and go as they please. There was nothing keeping Noah here as much as Paul wanted him to stay. This county is CURSED and he knows that so expecting the man to stay was never something he was prepared to voice. 

Of course Paul wanted him to stay and if he’d asked?  Then Noah probably would have obliged, but this place is poison. If he’d stayed then in the end who knows where they’d have ended up. So much chaos and destruction all for what? Entry into Eden’s Gate?  He loves his brothers but there has to be another way to accomplish the mission set forth by GOD.  With all that he’s seen he’s afraid what might happen to Noah in the coming weeks and months so when he said, “I gotta leave this place.”  Paul says nothing but nods. His heart bursts into pieces letting  him  leave without saying anything but what choice did he have? 

“Hey, do you need any help with that?” Gracie asks though she walks over and reaches up to grab what Rosita had been reaching at. “You know you’re welcome to come to eat with my dad and I. He always makes too much on spaghetti night.” She says before giving Rosita the cans. “It’s also way better than that stuff trust me.”

“Humiliating yourself? Tob….” Was he being a little dramatic? Maybe, but Lorna wasn’t going to come out and say that to him. They’d both been under a lot of pressure lately, what with running for their damn lives and starting over (yet again) in the middle of nowhere to keep all of SHIELD’s enemies from knocking on their door. He got to be a little bitter if he wanted. Besides, no matter how well they got along, he was still stuck with her pretending to be the perfect happy couple twenty-four/seven. That was enough to get on anyone’s nerves.

Lorna stepped up to him, giving him space when he shirt was discarded, and then rested the palm of her hand against his upper arm. “You’re a trooper, you know. For all this. You coulda just walked off the grid and not looked back, but you decided to stick with me.” It was dangerous both of them being in the same place, given their history of working together and all the enemies they’d made, but she wasn’t going to mention that if he didn’t. It made things easier having someone around that she knew and trusted.

She pulled back her hand and moved away to finish the make-up that went with her costume – some generic fairy thing, but it was on sale and decently cute enough. “You should know how much I appreciate that. Now, climb into that costume, come to this stupid block party, drink way too many drinks, and let’s bob for some damn apples.” Smiling cheekily, Lorna picked up a brush to dust way too much glitter across her face. “You know, I hear they’re giving away a wal-mart gift card for the best costume. You know you wanna be there for that.”

     Sure, he was being dramatic but in his mind, he had good reason to be. He didn’t thrive in situations that called for play pretend and dressing as someone that wasn’t himself. If it hadn’t been for Lorna he might have fought his way through their enemies until someone took him out with a bullet. Because of her, he felt more confident that they could actually play this out and come back from it all. She might be his partner originally, but she was more than that now.

With pirate shirt in hand, his hand clenched a little tighter around the cheap material. His head moved so he could see her hand from the corner of his eye. Then he nodded just barely as she encouraged him and changed the motion to shaking his head instead.  “We’re partners. I never leave a partner behind. Doesn’t matter what the cost is.”  There was no doubt that the danger only became more so with two agents together, but between the two of them they could probably hold the worst off for a good while. Tobias had no one else to seek out and he truly cared about what happened to Lorna.

Once she pulled her hand away from his arm, he lowered his head again and proceeded to put on his costume shirt. A white pirate shirt with a sewn-on vest that was made to look tattered. He had never been a pirate boy as a child, maybe because he hadn’t been allowed to indulge in any hobbies or interests, but it was definitely one of the most common costumes to be seen on Halloween. Anything to blend in with the crowd.

❝𝐍𝐎‚  𝐈  𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐖𝐄  don’t.”  They had a daughter; they had one another; they had a life that was without too much folly.  Klaus would always have a list of enemies, some of which would love nothing more than to take away any happiness the hybrid had.  It would always be in the back of her mind, that small voice that told her to be wary of any happiness that befell them and consider it fleeting.  At times like those, she would look to their daughter and the journey they had been on together, and know that the two of them would face them head-on, together.  As their daughter stomped her tiny feet around, running towards Klaus with babbled words and hands reaching above her own head to dictate she wanted to be carried, Hayley couldn’t help the grin that crossed her lips when she began to whine for his attention, demanding it almost with more tiny stomps.  Hayley held her hands up when their daughter glanced over her shoulder towards her, as if asking with one look, why her father wasn’t paying attention to her demand.  It seemed as if she would try another tactic, beginning to turn towards Hayley and ready to make a dash towards Hayley before she was hoisted in the air by Klaus.  She didn’t have a moment to squeal or whine or cry for attention then, reaching out to cling to hi once she was adjusted to face him once more.  “You know, you might be wrong. There might be something else we could use.”  Waiting until he turned his stare to her, she smiled from her spot upon the couch, legs crossing beneath the opposing thigh as she straightened in her seat.  “We could use another child? Add a little sibling for our girl. She might enjoy having a playmate that’s more her size.”

“Or maybe I just wanted to a buy you a drink?” Noah smiled, hoping to turn some of the skepticism around. “And actually, I’m not drunk; I’m not that big of a drinker. I just came in because of the game.” He gestured toward the television above the bar, indicating the basketball game. “But I can leave you alone, if you’d rather. No pressure.”