ofdevburroughs

[ofdevburroughs]

yanabortniks​:

.

The rain came down in sheets. All chance of conversation was drowned out by the sound of the downpour. Yana could feel the dampness leaking through her worn sneakers; her toes grew colder and colder as they walked, the wind whipping against their cheeks. She pulled her hood tighter around her face. Though she tried to keep her footing stable, her heart still jumped a couple of times she felt like she had been about to turn the walkway into a mud slip ‘n slide. Eyes squinted, she kept them ahead. Already unfamiliar with her surroundings, the weather made her feel even more uncertain of how long they ought to keep walking. She was glad, once again, that Dev was with her. She wished she could say it and be heard. An undetermined amount of minutes passed when something started to take shape up ahead. Yana wiped at the water dripping from the brim of the hood and onto her face. It loomed largely across the road. Yana’s breath hitched. “Shit,” she hissed out and quickened her pace. A tree. It was a tree, wasn’t it? No, she thought. No no no no shit shit shit. When it was finally in front of them, Yana let out a noise of frustration, then kicked at the trunk. It was cracked and split, fallen during the storm. Struck by lightning, or old and knocked over by the wind. “Shit!” she repeated louder and spun to look at Dev, both hands dragging down the front of her face. She felt her skin stretch, her eyes pulled and obscuring Dev’s face for a moment before she let go. Yana reached into her pocket for her phone. “Classic! Sooo classic,” she bemoaned, but whether or not Dev could hear her was both a mystery and useless. She dropped into a crouch by the tree, her elbow resting on the trunk, as she hunched over the screen so it wouldn’t get drenched. Her wet fingers struggled with the touchscreen as she jabbed harshly and entered her password. It took her three tries. She squinted up at Dev. “Do you have service?” she asked, raising her voice to be heard.

-

For a split moment the tree in their path felt something like a dream. Dev thought a moment she could be sleep walking again, but no – that couldn’t be right. She was so focused on her steps, and she was so awake with the wind and rain whipping at her face. And still, it felt like a some sort of walking nightmare. Or maybe that was hope. Hope that she would wake up and the storm would have passed without a tree blocking the only road away from the cabin. Her mouth hung slightly agape and suddenly she stopped thinking about making sure her feet didn’t suction to the muddy ground. Instead making her way as quickly as possible to the tree. As Yana kicked at it, Dev reached out. Fingers against wet bark, looking towards the base, for the remaining trunk and roots still stuck in the ground in the woods beside them. “ No, no, no, no, ” She felt the panic settling in a little, not helped by the weather, as it was confirmed it wasn’t a dream. This was all horrifically real. She was standing up on her toes, trying to look over when Yana spoke. 

Right. Phone. “ Um, ” Her heels hit the ground again, turning away from the tree slightly as she fumbled to pull her phone from her pocket. Fingertips obviously didn’t work against the screen and she switched to her knuckle after a quick moment of frustration. “ A little, ” She answered as she flicked through contacts, searching for her cousin. “ I’ll see if I can get through to Amon. ” She said, pressing his name and pushing phone up into her hood beside her ear. Other hand going to block her other ear, blocking out the sound of rain so she could listen to her phone ring. Ringing that would hopefully soon turn into her cousin’s voice. But instead, after a moment it went dead silent. Brows furrowed with confusion. “ Hello? Amon? ” Nothing. She pulled the phone out, to look at the screen ad saw that infuriating dead battery on a black screen. No. But wasn’t that ... “ You’re kidding, that’s impossible. ” She clicked repeatedly at the home button, desperate, frustrated, and scared. Hoping for an SOS call at least but it refused. “ It’s dead, it– it can’t be dead it was, like, fully charged just before. I checked, I looked and I had plenty. ”  

[ofdevburroughs]

yanabortniks​:

.

“Out and back again, quick as we can,” Yana repeated, nodding in agreement, and reached for the doorknob. The force of the storm made a slightly more difficult task than she anticipated, and she had to hold it open for Dev to step out so it wouldn’t immediately slam back closed. The heavy door that led out to the garage back at her parents’ house always acted the same way, with a sudden, resounding bang of noise that always made Yana jump out of her skin. Always on edge and perpetually nervous around loud noises, she tried not to let the thought alone of them tense her further. The wind whipped at her face and she did up the small button at the chin of her coat, cinching the hood closed tight around her face. In any other scenario, she might’ve enjoyed the ridiculousness of how she looked. It was so much darker outside, and she had to wonder how much longer they’d have power. Quick as we can, she thought again, closed the door behind them, and stepped out onto the porch. The walkway already looked muddy and liable to make them slip and fall. She steeled herself and started the trek down. The ground squelched under her feet. Over the growing din, she continued in a louder voice: “Don’t place your foot, like, entirely flat as you walk. You’ll get suctioned in and lose a shoe.” Storms of all sorts were not unfamiliar to the Upper Peninsula. On more than one occasion, her dad broke out the mud pattens he constructed himself. He’d probably laugh at the image Yana made right then, desperate and clumsy and ill-prepared. 

-

Though they were all well aware of the weather, it’s sounds echoing off every corner of the cabin, it didn’t quite prepare Devlin for the feeling of actually being in it. The chill was the first thing she felt, followed quickly by the wind. Then smell of rain and mud and gravel mixing. The sound of the rain so much louder than inside without the walls keeping it out. And finally, her eyes adjusting to the sensation of brittle wind and hard rain. Squinting for a moment to make it easier as she pulled her hood up. Tucking hair into collar before she tucked hands jacket pockets, feeling the coolness of phone screen against her knuckles. Pulling jacket taught by pressing fists down against the fabric. She saw Yana’s movement out of the corner of her eye instead of hearing it. Head turning instinctively towards it before she quickly but carefully followed after her. She wasn’t unaccustomed to storms, but in suburbs. In a planned out town. Where the rain drained easily and the walkways were cement and not mud. “ Mmmhmm, ” She hummed at first, nodding her head, but added a more audible, “ Okay, yeah, ” a moment later, making sure she adjusted her stepping to follow her advice. It wasn’t easy, as a flat foot was instinctively the most stable position. She fell silent in concentration, not that much conversation could be had in the conditions, her eyes and entire being instead focused on ground beneath her. 

[ofdevburroughs]

romyowusu​:

“Not freaked out.” Romy assured, only lying a little bit. “Just worried.” It wasn’t spooky then, just something odd she figured they could laugh about at breakfast, but then things got worse. “It’ll be okay, maybe we’ll all shack up in one bed or something, buddy system to the max.” Romy looked around the room, biting her lower lip as she tried to decide just how honest she really should be to Dev about her her thoughts on Dev’s state, and her beloved relative’s cabin which Romy did think was beautiful, but the energy was something else. She took a few steps towards Dev and looked up at her, eyes and tone soft"I think, it’s possible that being here, you know you’re grief all around you like this, could be causing sleep disturbances, maybe it re-awakened some sleepwalking.“ It didn’t feel good to try to analyze a friend to her face, but Romy really did want to help Dev face and overcome whatever she needed. "That being said…this cabin has this energy that’s like…” There wasn’t anyway Romy could describe it, but she wanted to figure it out so badly. “I was in my room, and this book fell and the pages turned and I can’t really explain how or why but one of those names on the list, was circled and it was Mary.” She let it sink in for a moment before she spoke again. “It just seems like too much to be coincidence, right?”

-

Right. The big G. That was another reason she might be sleep walking again. Dev couldn’t help the sort of disappointed feeling that came when that was pointed out to her. Because yeah, it made way more fucking sense than it being because she took her hands off an Ouija board. But when she’d believed it was the Ouija board, well that meant the board worked. And that was something too. She tried to keep disappointment from her features as she gave a nod. “ Yeah, no, totally. That makes more sense. ” She said, but she’s too tired to actually put her heart into those words. And she’s ready to dismiss talking about it entirely but then Romy draws her back in. Her brows furrowed slightly, she vaguely remembered the name and the book being mentioned the night before but she had been too in it to really pay it much attention at the time. “ I mean, maybe it’s coincidence but, like, you didn’t even have your hand on the thing, ” meaning the planchette, “ so it couldn’t have been your subconscious or whatever. ” As far as she knew, no one else knew someone named Mary to do with this house. “ What was the book again? ”

[ofdevburroughs]

yanabortniks​:

.

Pockets. Right. How did Yana forget about pockets? She nodded, half-trying to rein in her thoughts from anxiously moving ahead: picturing herself walking out the door and into the rain, to traversing through the weather and down the road, to waterlogged shoes and numb fingers. She stared at Dev’s face, and tried to stay in the moment. Step-by-step. Gimme a sec. “Of course, take your time,” she said, a little on autopilot and fully hoping Dev wouldn’t take her time and sort of just grab her stuff as quick as she could. When Dev turned and left, Yana didn’t know where her head went while she waited. It was like she hung it up on the mostly-empty coatrack, leaving her body behind to stand listless and still until she finally heard Dev’s footsteps come back down the stairs. Her shoulders dropped at the sound; her brain buffered back online. She blinked slowly. It all felt like it’d gone by in a second. “That’s a good idea, and I was thinking… if the roads get all muddy and basically impossible to get down, then maybe we can ask him if he knows anyone with one of those all-weather trucks who’s willing to get us out of here?” she suggested. “We can come back for our cars, obviously. Because I don’t know a ton about cars, but I do know backroads like these can get really shitty really fast. And even if the rain lets up by the time we planned to leave, it doesn’t mean the roads will be ready to let us go.” At the very least they needed to get out, even if that meant sitting around in a Motor Inn in the meantime.

-

Fingers fumbled a little trying to tug laces tight, making sure her sweatpants were tucked in so hopefully it would avoid the rain getting her socks too wet. But she pushed through, with far more ease than she had other tasks that morning. It held an importance over the others that gave her drive. She nodded in agreement as Yana spoke, humming a soft, reassuring note of agreement with it. They were so often on the same page but she liked hearing Yana’s plan out loud as much as Yana probably appreciated Dev letting her know she was listening and she was on board. “ He probably does, ” She said, though she almost regretted it once it left her lips. Was it false optimism? She’d said probably, and it was a safe assumption, right? “ He doesn’t live that far and people away from cities usually have those sorts of cars, right? Or know people that do, for, like, this exact reason. ” She explained, both for herself and Yana. That if they could get in contact with Amon, their chances of getting out of here safely had to be reasonably in their favour. Validating the optimism she’d shown. 

With a final tug tight of her shoelaces, she stood, making much quicker work the zipper on her jacket than she had the laces. She patted the pocket of her sweatpants, her phone tucked in the pocket from even before she ran into the other. She pulled it out to double check its charge, still mostly full from the night and the fact she didn’t have much access to her fingertips. “ Alright, ” She pocketed her phone again as she moved towards the door, looking through the window beside it to look at the rain. “ It doesn’t look like it’s gonna let up any, so, let’s just do it. Out and back again, quick as we can. ”

[ofdevburroughs]

emkhalil​:

…

em thought nothing of the way dev moved away or how she dismissed her theories so easily. dev had a strange morning, she could only assume what was going on in her head and even then, she wouldn’t understand. instead, she kept her arm on the back of the couch, shifting slightly so she wouldn’t be touching dev at all if she were to move back. she watched as dev flipped to the back of the book and started pointing out different pictured from the same day this picture was from. her eyes narrowed as she took everything in, silently trying to piece together the puzzle that she truly knew nothing about. it was the last thing that dev said that had em consider something, something unrelated and far away from this cabin in the woods. seeing amon’s name crossed off the picture and hearing dev talk about her gammy taking pictures down, she wondered silently if her own family has done that. not that her father even bother to take pictures of her growing up after what happened. she shook the thought away, wanting to give dev her attention. “can i ask-” she started slowly, looking up at the other girl, “did something happened between amon and the family?” 

-

It doesn’t occur to her that her uncle’s story, especially the vague details of him she knew and was also willing to give, might feel familiar to Em. Or anyone else. To her it’s just another thing. It’s another thing that’s almost always been that way. Another thing that was family business, not for everyone else. This weekend was the first time she’d ever questioned any of that. She’s still looking at the photos on the page (maybe the photo had been stored behind another, she thought) when Em spoke. Her first thought was that she had already said something happened. He didn’t talk to them any more. That was something. To her it was. But a brief moment of thought on it and like ... she got it. Begrudgingly, but she got it. “ Yeah, but I don’t really know what. ” She explained, eyes staying on the photos, her fingers tracing down the edge of the photos. She had’t known him well enough before he left to question why he was gone. “ He left when I was little, my aunt took my cousin in, and that was it, I guess. ” She knew her family missed him. It had really been obvious in the events surrounding Gammy’s passing. But that was private. A beat passed and something seemed to click in her, “ I’m sorry, this is totally boring, ” She apologised, closing the album. Leaving loose photo inside for now. Looking over at Em again. “ Did you wanna, I don’t know, play a game or something? ” She suggested half heartedly, the only thing coming to mind inspired by the boxes brought down by Yana from the storage room the day before.

[ofdevburroughs]

romyowusu​:

—

A nod, lips turned up into that sort of polite smile when trying to hide concern. The way the group rushed to her aid, a panic amidst the crises was an unwelcome reminder of the fire. People didn’t mention how uneasy, how slow things were with the chaos rested. Now it seemed they could only wait for the heaviness of the events to ease up, or descend even further into mayhem. Sleep, Romy almost forgot about how she didn’t get any when Dev asked. “Pretty good, I mean, a little tossing and turning, but that always happens when i’m in a new bed. It’s cool, the horse kept me company.” She smiled, hoping to downplay the fact that it was actually a sleepless night and the horse was a little weird. “I actually, I ran into you, in the hallway. I took you back to bed but, you’re a stubborn sleepwalker I guess.” Her tone was light, an attempt at a joke but mentally, Romy was annoyed that she didn’t do better at getting Dev to stay in bed. If it happened again, she would do better, she swore it, maybe stopping at having to tie Dev in bed. “I’m just really glad we’re here.” It wasn’t a popular sentiment at the moment, but it was much more of a nightmare to imagine Dev, scared, bloody and half asleep all by herself. “I’m glad we’re all together and you’re ok, maybe we’ll just put the oujia board away closer to bedtime.” Protecting Dev was priority one, but finding out the truth about Mary was a nagging one for Romy.

-

Devlin felt a small relief with Romy said she slept pretty well, though sparingly it sounded like. A slight smile tugging the corners of her lips, even a soft exhale of a chuckle through her nose when Romy mentioned the horse picture. “ Quite the conversationalist, I bet, ” She mused. She wasn’t feeling 100%, she wasn’t feeling anywhere close, but she could still try to be light. Crack a joke for the sake of making things feel a little less haunting. Her brows raised slightly to hear that Romy had put her back to bed. Or tried to. Not that it was surprising that Romy would, just that it was also news to her that she had been so determined in her sleep. “ Oh, weird. ” She commented first, she wasn’t sure if it was a common thing to have to be put back multiple times and unfortunately couldn’t google it right now either. “ But thank you. ” She added on, really that should have been the first thing but she too was distracted by her own actions. “ I hope it didn’t, like, freak you out or anything. I know it can be kinda weird to come across. ” Though admittedly not as weird as waking up to the person you thought had been put back to bed screaming in the basement with bloody hands.

 She was touched by what Romy said. It was borderline delusional, Devlin thought, but sweet. Very sweet. Warming the cool feeling in her chest as another soft smile tugged at her features. “ Yeah, I think that’s probably a good idea. ” She agreed, nodding her head a little.  It was weird, she felt as much of a call to try it again as she did to destroy the thing any way she could think of. She allowed a beat before she spoke again, speaking a question that came to mind. “ Do you think the board had, like, ” She hesitated, because the part of her that believed in logic and science and the things she could prove and record thought it was totally insane. But there was an ever present part of her that believed in things beyond explanation to encouraged her to push through. “ Do you think the board had something to do with me sleep walking? Maybe? ” She asked. It wouldn’t be much of an explanation but it was one which was more than she had without it. Amari had said taking their hands off was what let demons in and ... well, Devlin had done that. 

[ofdevburroughs]

joxevans​:

-

If sorry wasn’t enough, and promise of changed behaviour wasn’t enough, then Jo was out of her depth. She wondered if Dev was really pissed at her or if this was one of those situations where others could see something she couldn’t. “What do you want from me Dev?” a shrug passes her shoulders, and her expression is serious. “I won’t do it again so, what else? You want me to feel bad? Is that a necessary step in all of this? For me to see why it’s wrong for me to like, smoke inside? Why can’t it be enough that I just won’t be doing it again?” 

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t getting frustrated. But one look at Dev’s hands and she was reminded of her place and managed to remain calm. Something that was a lot easier to do when high. Thankfully. “I didn’t nearly cause a fire just now, Dev…” she practically whispers but then, as calmly as she can she pinches the top of her nose and sighs. “So what it’s not even midday? Do you know how much I slept? Not at all. I’m tired Dev, I’m tired and frankly, ever since I got here I feel like I’m losing my mind. There’s doors closing on their own, there’s random giggles, messed up polaroids, everyone’s freaked out over some thing or another and you’ve…” she gestures at her hands, no need for an explanation.

“I don’t want to argue, and I doubt you want that either so…let’s just – I won’t smoke in the house again Dev. I promise, alright?” 

-

Devlin didn’t immediately forgive Jo for a shitty thing after getting the world’s laziest apology, and now she was the bad guy or something? If Jo’s intention was to calm Dev with that approach then she’d certainly smoked too much. “ Yes, I want you to actually be sorry when you say it. That’s, like, basic shit. ” Her tone was cold, just like her features, just like her entire body. 

A few years younger and she probably would have rolled her eyes, given some extremely sarcastic remark. But, it was more complicated than that. She and Jo were friends, despite this betrayal. When her hands were pointed out, she felt a ripple of something. Anger? Discomfort? Embarrassment? She didn’t know. To fight it she folded her arms over her chest, hiding hands under her arms in defensive position. A small sigh coming with the shift of her body. No, she didn’t want to fight. But that didn’t erase the fight from her. She didn’t want to wave it off when everyone was dealing with shit and managing to not smoke inside an old, meaningful cabin. “ Whatever. ” She ended up going with, stubborn. There’s a brief pause where she’s not sure if she’s going to say something else. Maybe if her hands weren’t scratched up, maybe if she had’t been hearing haunting voices, maybe if she’d actually felt the connection to her gammy that she so desired she wouldn’t have. “ You’re such a child sometimes, it’s embarrassing. ” She stated, that cruel, bitter coldness to her tone as she turned. Abandoning Jo in the hallway to go make herself some sort of snack to calm down.

[ofdevburroughs]

joxevans​:

-

“Okay, okay…you’re right.” she says, not because she means it, but because she knew that explaining to Dev how smoking was a process – that it wasn’t smoke itself that got her so relaxed, but the whole thing. The rolling, the sitting down, the quiet – it was that which made her high. Made her calm. Either way, her lie was harmless, because she did not intend to smoke inside again after seeing how disrespectful the other had seen the act of smoking it in the first place.

It was difficult to tell where people stood with weed sometimes, to Jo, it had no morality attached to it. It was just a thing, one of many things, that didn’t matter. Like taking photos, or advil, or whatever…reading. But boundaries, she understood boundaries. And she understood when she crossed them. “I won’t smoke inside again, I promise. And I’m sorry if…like, I offended your grammy’s memory or, spirit or…I don’t know, it was never the intention.” and for that she was sorry. 

When Dev mentions dropping it, the fire, she can’t help but connect the dots. “Is this about…the fire, back in college?”

-

Angry bewilderment took over her features, because Dev’s not sure if Jo is like actually sorry, and she thought that was why Dev was mad, and was just being high and delusional or whatever – or if she was just refusing to see the true shittiness of her actions and making fun of Dev in the process. “ Her memory? Her spirit? ” She repeated in frustrated confusion. “ That has nothing– ” Why the fuck was she having to explain to Jo that smoking inside an old cabin was disrespectful beyond who had lived in it? She wondered, unsure of how exactly to put that frustration into words. Sure, the smell might not linger but the smoke would. With enough exposure it would tarnish the wood. And it was just plain old inappropriate. “ It’s not the fifties, Jo. You can’t just smoke inside someone’s house because you fucking feel like it. ”

In this moment, Jo’s attempt at tenderness only pissed Devlin off more. As if a traumatising event might be the only reason she’d be scared of an important piece of her family history burning down. And more so, as if she’d want to discuss that trauma with Jo right now to dismiss the legitimate danger her actions could have put them all in. “ No, it’s not about the fire, Jo! It’s about a fire. ” She emphasised the difference, “ That you nearly caused just now because you couldn’t go two seconds without a hit! ” Maybe that was a bit mean, but wasn’t Jo being mean too? Mean in her disregard? In her carelessness? “ It’s not even midday!”

[ofdevburroughs]

yanabortniks​:

.

Yana felt torn. On one hand, she desperately wanted Dev to come with her. But on the other, well. The other hand was both of Dev’s bandaged ones, and the reminder they served. Take her. The words were on a loop in Yana’s head. T-A-K-E H-E-R. “Dev, you—” she started, then stopped. She wanted to tell her everything. She didn’t want to bother her further. Yana just wanted her friend to be okay. She wanted to not feel crazy, and for everyone to be safe. And God, she wanted her damn weather app to load. “Okay. Sure, okay, but first can we just—” Coat still half-zipped, Yana stepped forward to swiftly envelop Dev in her arms. It was a quick, tight hug. She tried to squeeze in what she felt, all her feeling, all the things she wanted to say but couldn’t or didn’t know how or felt deranged for having stored up in her. “Thanks,” she said, quiet and seemingly-nonsensical.

Clumsily, she pulled back. A little embarrassed, a little comforted by the warmth of Dev’s body—a solid, living thing. And still Dev. “I broke my wrist in second grade and had to put a trash bag over my arm when I took a shower. Should we, like. I don’t know. Put sandwich bags over your hands? I don’t want your bandages to get ruined.”

-

Dev’s brows furrowed slightly when Yana uttered her name and then quickly stopped her sentence. Confusion, concern, a little bit of a silent ‘go on, I’m listening’. She would listen to anything Yana said, she hoped she knew that. Before much else was said arms wrapped around her and she quickly unclasped her hands from behind her back and return the hug. Chin poking into Yana’s shoulder, her fingers soft against the weatherproof material of her jacket.

She wasn’t sure what the hug was for, but it was welcomed. And missed once it was over. She gave another soft smile. A quick tug up of the corner of her lips before her attention was directed down to her fingers. She looked down, stretching out her fingers in front of her. Though practical, the idea of putting her hands in plastic bags might hinder more than it might help. If she slipped, she wanted the grip of her palms at least. “ I can ... put them in my pockets. ” She suggested instead, sliding her hands down her sides like she was slipping them into imaginary pockets. “ They’ll be fine. ” She said after a beat, and silently she meant that she would be too. “ Gimme a sec. ” She said, reaching out to give Yana’s shoulder a quick squeeze before she turned to go up the stairs.

It only took her a couple moments to pull her weather jacket from her bag (that, yes, was still hanging out in the hallway), tugging it on as she grabbed her docs and headed back down the stairs. Taking seat on one of the bottoms ones she started tugging shoes on, tying them quickly. “ So, you check the weather and maybe I should call Amon? ” She suggested, “ He knows these roads better than any of us, and I don’t know how much longer we should stay here in this weather. ” She blamed the weather with ease, much easier than acknowledging the growing fear from simply being here. That this cabin was having some sort of effect on her, pretty directly opposite from the effect she’d hoped for.

[ofdevburroughs]

yanabortniks​:

who: open @phantasmhq​​ where: entryway when: day 2, mid-morning

With her phone white-knuckled in her hand, Yana stood shift-eyed by the front door. She quickly figured her worn sneakers weren’t exactly suited for the heavy rainfall, so she layered up two pairs of socks and now her toes felt a little pinched. And no matter how many times she looked down at the screen, the facts didn’t change: she couldn’t make any calls, she couldn’t check the weather report, she couldn’t frantically google for answers. Not that she thought there could be any real, solid answers for the questions she had—but at least there’d be ideas, theories, unhinged reddit threads. Something.

With her free hand, she grabbed for the raincoat she’d hung on one of the wall pegs the day before. Back when they first arrived, back when she liked the thought of settling in and making the cabin homey and familiar to her. Yana caught movement from the corner of her eye, and she turned sharply. Then she let out a sigh of relief. “Hi,” she breathed out, and started to pull on her coat. “There’s no way in hell we’re going to miraculously get reception in here anytime soon, so I’m — Yeah, I’m gonna head out.” She stuck her second arm through, then shrugged it over her shoulders as she tucked her phone into her pocket. “You don’t have to come with me or anything.” Yana fumbled with the zipper for a moment before it finally caught. “I just really need to see if this rain’s going to let up.”

-

She didn’t mean to sneak up on Yana, but the events of the morning did have her trying to be a little lighter footed. Just so people didn’t cast a glance her way every time she moved. Friendly or concerned, it didn’t matter. “ Sorry, ” She held up her hands when Yana spun so quickly and sighed in relief– she offered small smile with her raised hands. Reassuring, she hoped. Though a moment later she remembered the state of her hands, and let them fall. Holding them behind her back as Yana explained what she was doing. It made sense, and Dev was grateful but she shook her head when Yana suggested that Dev didn’t have to come with her. Sure, maybe Dev going specifically wasn’t an awesome idea but she didn’t think Yana should go alone. And selfishly she wanted to get out for a moment too. Even if it ended in her being completely drenched. “ No, I’ll come with you, ” She said, “ Just let me grab a coat, get some shoes on. I’ll be two seconds. ”

[ofdevburroughs]

joxevans​:

-

Before Jo lit a joint, she was always filled with feelings of various kind. Today, she felt guilty of sorts. Guilty for even wanting to smoke in the bathroom. But you see, Jo also knew that the very second she smoked up, she’d relax and all those pressures and guilt would lift off and none of it would matter. And Dev, with her sudden onset of perfect timings, came just as things stopped to matter. Not that she could show it, of course, the last thing she wanted was to talk or argue or discuss….anything.  “Whaaaa? No…” she’ll deny, but the look on Devlin’s face indicated now was not the time to act stupid. 

A sigh and she leans back against the wall, rubbing her eyes back to focus. “I’m sorry, alright? I…I didn’t know where else to -” she was bracing herself for a lecture or some sort of violent outburst, it was warranted, especially with everything going on. “Are you mad? You, you seem mad…”

-

Bullshit. Dev wanted to spit that word in Jo’s face. Because it so, so, so obviously was. But instead she held it in, lips pressed together in a line that bordered between angry and upset. It wasn’t more hurtful or upsetting that Jo would lie right now, try and play stupid, whatever than the fact that she would do it at all– but it definitely didn’t make Dev any more inspired to be forgiving of that fact either. “ Outside! ” She butted in with exasperation, overlapping the end of Jo’s slow words with a frustrated flinging of her hand in the direction of the front door. She didn’t care that it was raining. If Jo needed a hit that fucking bad then she could spend the two seconds in the rain like any smoker did outside a club in winter. Are you mad? You, you seem mad ... “ Yes, I’m mad, are you kidding? ” She asks again because yeah, she’d still be infuriated if this was a shitty joke but it’s an out that she desperately offers regardless. “ This is my fucking Gammy’s cabin, it’s important to my family– it’s important to me! ” She’s upset, she’s angry, she’s frustrated, she’s tired, she’s moody, she’s all of those things and she was most of those things before Jo had opened the door. This had only heightened it, and given excuse for release. “ And it’s dangerous. What if you dropped it and it hit a towel or the shower curtain and it caught on fire, Jo? Like, jesus, do you even think about things? ” 

[ofdevburroughs]

closed starter: @joxevans​ where: level 1 hallway, outside bathroom when: day two, morning

It was a stupid little thing, but stupid little things seemed to be perfect for occupying her time. Stupid little things weren’t wondering about her dream, or about her sleep walking, or about her scratching at the walls, or about the weather, or about all the things she’d been hearing, or about who carved that sigil into the table, or whose blood was on it, or about all her friends being worried or scared. So yeah, stupid little things were fucking awesome. Stupid little thing Devlin had currently moved onto: the downstairs bathroom sink. The day before Levi had mentioned it was leaking. She helped him find the tools to fix it but she never checked on it again. And if something was wrong, she needed to know so she could tell her cousin, right?

So, there she was. Waiting for whoever was in there to come out. She could hear water running, but it had been running for a little while. Whoever was in there was sure to come out soon. But they didn’t. It seemed forever. Dev leaned against wall behind her as she waited, but she was feeling especially impatient that morning. So, couple minutes passed, she’d caught herself picking at bandages at her fingers again, and her impatience grew frustrated. With a sigh she pushed herself off the wall, tired of waiting, and knocked four times against the door. “ There’s, like, limited hot water out here you know that, right? ” She called through the door, but the wasting of hot water wasn’t even the worst of it as she would swiftly find out.

When the door opened, the pieces immediately fell into place. Steam masked some of it, but Devlin wasn’t an idiot either. She’d used that trick back when she lived in the dorms too. Back before the fire. “ Are you kidding me? Were you smoking in there? ” Her tone was accusatory, she didn’t bother to hide it. She didn’t even think to hide it. Sure, everyone had their way of dealing with things. Devlin’s ways weren’t the healthiest either– but smoking up inside someone’s recently deceased beloved grandmother’s home felt like crossing a line. Even if it was pouring buckets outside.

[ofdevburroughs]

emkhalil​:

…

emerson looks at the other girl for a second before she started pointing at the picture, she shifted closer to her, letting her arm drape over dev’s shoulders on the back of the couch as she listened. it was kind of weird to think that this kid in the picture was the same man they saw the day before when they arrived. em at the time was more focused on lighting up a cigarette than staying around and making conversation with the man who already seemed slightly uncomfortable with them being there. she hummed in acknowledgement to show dev that she was listening as she found another picture, pointing out her own father and his siblings. “it’s kind cool that your family has all this to keep track of the time,” she mused softly. picking up the loose picture with her free hand, she flipped it over, wondering if there was a year or something written on the back that could help them place it. “maybe it’s from another album? or one of the frames from the walls? someone could have just slipped it in this one so it wouldn’t get lost and that’s why there’s no place for it,” she thought out loud, holding the picture back out to dev. 

-

“ Mmmm, ” Devlin hummed in agreement, looking over the photos in front of her. Her family members all younger than she’d ever know them. The happiness in their features, even if it did seem a little begrudging in some that Gammy had pulled out her camera again. Feeling the arm lightly across her shoulders, she leaned forward a fraction. Away from it. Without even thinking about it, really. Just instinctual. Habitual in a way. Not to be contrary but Devlin didn’t think either of Em’s suggestions could be true. She shook her head as she took the photo back, looking at it herself to be sure before she spoke. “ It’s not, it’s from this one. ” She said, setting it down on her lap again before she turned pages of the album again. Looking for one day in particular. Towards the back of the album, she found it. A series of photos in the garden on a sunny day. Summer 2001. “ It’s from this day, ” She said, holding the photo up again as she pointed out the same young boy in the same outfit in a different photo. Amon II. This time in a photo with an older woman and a toddler in a pink dress. Devlin. The photo was labelled: Gammy and her babies. The older man was on this page too. Another photo of the three siblings, but this time Amon’s name is crossed out. Devlin didn’t point that one out. Instead she looked up briefly, to Em. “ And he’s only in one framed photo I’ve seen. In the dining room. ” She didn’t need to look around to notice that. It had been one of the first things she noticed when she walked in. Only she didn’t know if it had been her cousin’s work or her Gammy’s. It occurs to her a beat late that perhaps a tiny bit more elaboration was needed. Usually she wouldn’t, but considering it was distracting from everything else ... fine. “ He doesn’t, like, really talk to us any more. Gammy probably took all the other photos of him down years ago. ”

[ofdevburroughs]

romyowusu​:

who: @ofdevburroughs where: living room when: day 2, a few hours after the chaos.

it had been a disturbing episode finding dev in the basement, bloody and in distress, something that nagged at romy for the remainder of the day. a restless worry, she fidgeted in front of the large window in the living room.

the rain pounded down and had she not turned her head to adjust the sleeve of her shirt, romy might not have noticed dev close by. despite her best efforts to conceal the worry but her knitted brows and pursed lips gave it away. “hey, how are you feeling?” after what might have been the freakiest sleepwalking episode in history, she thought.

she planted herself down on one of the couches, foot tapping on the floor. “did you ever sleepwalk before, that you know of?” was it the stress of grieving and being here? was it school or something more?

-

Similarly to Romy, Dev was’t really paying attention to her surroundings. Too lost in her own head with all the things that had happened. She fiddled with one of the bandaids around her fingertips, irritated that she couldn’t pick at the skin beneath. She tried pushing against the plaster with her another bandaged nail, hoping the pressure would satisfy where she would usually scratch in this sort of ... worrying, anxiety inducing, weird, unexplainable situation. Though, nothing about this was usual. So maybe it was appropriate she couldn’t reach for her usual comfort. She looked up when she heard Romy speak, but she didn’t know how to answer. Her fingers were literally bandaged up from her night, she couldn’t say she was okay. “ Been better. ” She went with, a soft shrug and tired smile accompanying her words as she abandoned attempt to scratch at her cuticles and instead let hands fall back down to her sides. “ How are you? Did you sleep okay? ” She asked, completely unaware that Romy was someone who had guided her back to bed during the night.

Dev was a notoriously private person, so the second question wasn’t any easier than the first. She’d only told Yana about her previous sleep walking experience freshman year in case she did it again. Stress from the change or whatever. But, considering the night’s events, she didn’t want to freak anyone out any more. “ Um, when I was little I used to do it a lot. ” She admitted, though quickly realised a stark difference and added on, “ Not like, ” She held up her hands a little sheepishly. Meaning she didn’t scratch at walls until her fingers bled when she was little. “ I haven’t done that before. Just, like, walking around. ”

[ofdevburroughs]

levitowsley​:

-

Levi’s stare had zeroed in on the work bench in front of him, wondering if the toolbox on it had everything he’d need. He hoped so. Any self-respecting homeowner with a shed set-up like this, it’d be a shame if there were basics it lacked. His focus was slow to switch, staggering to Dev when she questioned her cousin’s honesty. Looking around on the ground, he didn’t seem to spot anything that said a-possum-was-totally-living-here. But then Dev spoke again, a repeated touch to his shoulder to get his attention. He turned to the direction she was pointing in. “Huh.” Levi’s mouth pushed into a pout. So Amon wasn’t lying. “Guess Amon’s a truther after all.” Drake and Josh reference. He hoped Dev would get it. Seeing as the possum didn’t seem to be home, Levi strode over to the work bench on the northernmost wall to retrieve the toolbox. There were some other things on the table. A mess of twigs, dirt or whatever. Junk. A big believer in leaving things better than how he found it, Levi gathered the clutter and chucked it into the toolbox to toss into a bin when they got back inside. Toolbox closed shut and secure now, he started back towards Dev. “Ready to head out?” He asked.

-

Her head tilted as she observed the nest. A faint smile tugging at corners  of her lips. Maybe it was a pest, and maybe she’d feel differently if the creature were actually present – but she liked the idea that something had made a home here. That this place wasn’t completely wasted over the years. She gave a soft huff of a laugh, glancing over at Levi with approving smile at his joke before she looked back up again. She wondered what would happen when it rained. Was the nest protected or was it hiding a hole that she couldn’t see from where she was? All thoughts that ran through her head as she stood with pot and wooden spoon still in hand in the doorway to the shed. She left Levi to gather what he needed, she wouldn’t be much help beyond identifying the absolute basics and in the small space would likely just get in the way. She looked back to him when he spoke again, “ Yeah, for sure, ” She nodded, stepping backwards so she was no longer blocking the doorway. “ You got all you need? ” She hoped so. The shed was so full of junk, she had to assume the right stuff was in there with it all.

[ofdevburroughs]

emkhalil​:

…

when dev didn’t pushed her embrace away, emerson let her hands linger for a moment longer as she listened to the other girl explained what she was doing. she knew she wasn’t the best comfort like some of their other friends, but she hoped dev found some comfort in her until someone better came along. “hmm,” she hummed lightly, looking at the picture. her hands moved up to dev’s shoulders, giving a light squeeze before finally letting go and walking around the couch to take the seat next to her. “do you recognize them at all?” though, based on the look at dev’s face, she could guess the answer to that. obviously, they had to be related to dev but as someone who personally didn’t know any of her extended family members, em didn’t know what it was like to have such a large family and if they all knew each other like tv and movies made it seem. 

-

As Em moved, Dev allowed herself the moment to observe the photo. She wondered if the people in it knew it was here. If they remembered it even existed. She doubted it, and she wasn’t really in a rush to tell either of them. But she still liked it. It was a happier time. Back when this cabin made sense. “ Yeah, ” She answered, nodding her head. She pointed to the boy in the photo, “ That’s my cousin, that you guys met yesterday, ” She said, though that felt like a complete lifetime ago. She pointed to the man. “ And that’s his dad. My uncle. ” She let that sit for a brief moment before she put the photo back down. Against her stomach again, so she didn’t lose it in the pages. She flicked back a few pages, towards the start of the album for a photo she’d seen and also rather liked. Again, it was a different time. She pointed it out when she found it. The man, though a little younger in this photo, a girl in the middle, and another young man on the other side. Their arms around each other’s shoulders. “ See, ” Related, you could tell just from the look of them. Their features all the same, dark brown hair and brown eyes. And their smiles. They all held them differently but they were undoubtedly similar. She pointed at the new man, “ My dad, ” The girl in the middle, “ My aunt, ” Then the man that had been in the other photo. “ And my uncle. ” The writing beside the photo read Silas, Georgina, & Amon. October 1995.