@ashryder
LOCATION: the borders of the afterglow compound, following lift on the shelter in place. FOR: ashton ryder.
WHY IS IT THAT her heart lurched in her chest -- when she had seen that he somehow made it in their walls? the very man that called her mom in the center of the town square like they really had known each other all their lives. she had tried to shrug it off as simple memory issues, but as of late, she'd come to wonder if there was something more to it. like there had been wool pulled over her eyes, the very crevices of her life hidden behind a haze. she had to know. one of the first feelings of warmth she had felt in her chest in what felt like a lifetime. it's why she feels compelled to pull him aside, finger rising slowly to her lips. don't say a word. she waits until their solace is ensured. slowly her hand falls back to her side again, wide eyes returning to normalcy before she speaks. " you called me mom. " lenore eventually speaks, something almost breaking in her throat as she speaks -- a far cry from her usual firm and militant speech. if she's honest with herself, it broke something open within her that she hadn't understood or felt for a very, very long time. she knows she's felt it before -- but when? " i don't understand it, i don't know why. but i haven't stopped thinking about it since you did. " her breath hitches, as if she's trying to keep it together. it wasn't just a simple slip of the tongue. it was more than that. if she didn't get an answer, it may just eat her alive. " ....why did you do that? "














