#partloss

daniel's phone goes off at the same time that there's a rapid knock on the bathroom door. danny, we're going in five minutes! i'm not waiting on you to do your hair again, me and bijou are hungry!

i'm on my way! give me five minutes! yes, he's doing his hair, but he's also multitasking to smirk and tap away at the phone that he's not supposed to have anymore.

[outgoing sms: stupid man] god, you're old. do you know you don't have to sign these? your number is saved on this phone? [outgoing sms: stupid man] you should be careful. watching my speeches? checking me out in the papers? i'll get the impression you miss me. [outgoing sms: stupid man] but what's that stupid expression of yours? not in a month of sundays? i'm a busy ken doll, now. just like you said: everyone wants to play. [outgoing sms: stupid man] x or whatever. dick.

jacob throws the tequila down his throat, eyes shutting only briefly as the alcohol slides down like liquid fire. somewhere down the street, someone yells out in spanish, and jacob picks up a few swearwords and little else. his attention is focused on the small blue screen of his phone.

"i'm fine,"

only, he's very not fine. that attack didn't give any permanent damage, but it reverberated throughout his body, shaking and hurting the nerves that connected to the prosthetic. she tries to catch up, tries to stop them, and at first? he doesn't stop. not until she gets in front of them, and...

she's. shaken. they can tell that much. her grin, the coo of snark in her tone, it's gone. her eyes don't dance with mischief anymore, they look about as wide as saucers. he stops, finally, and his left arm raises, right hand rubbing the area that was hit. he looks down, and sees the fabric of his suit is ripping open. glint of nickel and steel shines through. he sighs, and reaches for the glove that always covers his left hand. leather is pulled off, revealing the copper-plated digits underneath.

"... we can't stop now, coco," they sigh, flexing their metallic fingers. "we stop now, the target gets away, and they're free to continue doing the things they're doing. you know we can't afford that.

you... you can go. i won't stop you, and i won't hold it against you. but i'm -" invested. it's almost personal, now, the image of the blunt weapon coming down at coco replaying in his head.

@partloss​ sent:  “I hate to say it, but I think it’s going to hurt.” for cas & joss >:)

Cas slumped. His head sat in his hands, gaze pointed at the ground. 

“I know,” he said, “but no matter what it’s gonna hurt. If we find him alive, if we don’t find him, if --”

He stopped. He knew that Joss knew what was unsaid. He couldn’t bring himself to speak it into existence. He was already on the brink of tears just thinking about their son, but he had to hold himself together, especially now that he was reunited with his spouse. Cas had to take the burden on for both of them, he thought. His thumbs stroked the backs of his hands, anxiously, as if eager to peel his flesh off like a snake restricted by its old skin.

@partloss said: “I warn you, I’ll break your heart.” from kaj ofc >:)

mercy didn’t doubt that much. not from kaj. not after all she’d been through and had to fight for. if anything the redheaded woman did got in her way, she could understand why she’d say such a thing to her. but... it wasn’t as if she planned on doing anything that could compromise any of kaj’s goals, or contradicting anything that she stood for. mercy was just along for the ride, ready to support when she needed to. 

and she was damn glad to do so.

she didn’t shy away from violence. she wouldn’t allow kaj to carry the burden of all that she’d been through alone either. otherwise... what kind of friend would that make her?

“kaj... i kinda... know that already.” her lips curved into a smile as she reached over and took the other woman’s hand into her own and gave it a gentle squeeze. “’cause if ya didn’t hurt me... it means that ya weren’t tryin’ at all. so. i’m kinda. okay with it. maybe i want ya to. maybe i’m just a fuckin’ sadist after all, who knows? but all i know is that, uh. i like ya. i wanna be around ya. an’ no matter what, i’ll be here. even if ya do end up breakin’ my heart. it ain’t like it’s never been broken before. least this time it’d be by someone i want. try as much as ya want to push me away. i still ain’t fuckin’ goin’ no where. so get fuckin’ used to me.”

what an odd thing to say... she knew it was weird even before it left her mouth. but it was fucking honesty, full disclosure, because mercy owed kaj that much. after all they’d seen together, done together, and after all they’d been through... she couldn’t imagine lying to her now. not that mercy ever would. she valued trust too much to do something that stupid.

               “Listen  ...  I promise he’s not going to mistake you for a chewtoy this time. I swear on literally everything, okay? I taught him ‘leave it’ so that he wouldn’t get the wrong impression!”  It’s a borderline plea and he wonders what it would look like to passersby if they caught him poking his head into the sewer with his elder dog wagging his tail expectantly by his leg if they happened to be out. Thankfully, most people stayed in when the weather looked like it was going to get so bad later in the day.

               He’s not sure exactly what he’s even trying to get out of introducing Dusty to Krobus, honestly. There’s literally no personal gain. He can’t talk to his dog about it. It’s not going to make him look less stupid. And yet!

               “ oh, sweet! ”

               gun and ripper still smoking from their latest slain gatorclaw gargling at their feet, neo passes the oversized lizard to approach one of the many wrecked souvenir stands. there are plenty of torn plushies and broken dishware, but she extracts a single little item that appears to be in good condition. a yoyo, marked with the worn image of cappy, with its string still decent attached. delighted with her prize, she kicks aside the body of an unfortunate wastelander who attempted to find sanctuary within the stand.

               “ check this out, i always fuckin’ wanted one’a these, never saw one back in nuka town. know what it is? ”