#bonding babey!

[laudsimogen]

This Hunger, It Isn't You (Ch. 7)

Read on AO3

Laudna paced the campfire’s edge like a caged animal. She’s gone back to her realm for a while, knowing it would be some time before Imogen was ready to speak to her again, but the brief time she’d spent with the survivor had left her aching and desperate for more contact.

She didn’t have to wait long for it. As soon as Imogen woke up, she headed for the edge of the shadows, and Laudna hurried around to meet her.

She arrived just as Imogen peered into the dark and called, “Laudna? Are you out there?”

“I’m here!” Laudna said. She could clearly see Imogen in front of her, so close she could make out the freckles on the girl’s face, but it must have been difficult to see into the dark from the other side. Imogen’s eyes couldn’t seem to focus on her, but a smile spread across her face when she heard Laudna’s voice.

“Hi,” she said. “I have news!”

“Sounds like good news,” Laudna said. Her sluggish heart beat a bit faster at Imogen’s excitement. It was the most beautiful thing she’d seen in a long time. “What did you find?”

“Well, I went up against the Plague earlier—I didn’t last long, but that doesn’t matter. She seemed like she didn’t wanna be sacrificing us. She said a prayer or somethin’ when she hooked me, and she said she was sorry. That’s something, right?”

Laudna wished she could break through the campfire’s barrier and hug Imogen. She didn’t know what to think, whether there was actually some hope of the Plague being willing to strike with them against the Entity, but Imogen was so happy. When was the last time she’d seen someone happy?

“It could be,” she said simply.

“This is kinda weird,” Imogen said. “I can’t really see you. Do you think we could talk back at your place?”

Laudna paused. “…My place? Wouldn’t you rather stay here by the fire?” It wasn’t as if she were much to look at, anyway.

“Well, I just thought—I mean, I don’t wanna impose,” Imogen said. “But that’s a safe place to talk where we can actually be face-to-face, right? And a little more private.” Imogen glanced over her shoulder and Laudna followed her gaze to a group of survivors watching them.

“Of course,” Laudna said. “Yes, of course you’re welcome there. But we might run into others like me on the way, and, well…” She felt the hint of a blush beginning to form on her cheeks. She hadn’t even known that was possible anymore. “I can’t defend you like this. I would have to…change. I don’t want to scare you.”

“You mean how you looked the first time I saw you,” Imogen said. “It’s all right. I’ll know it’s still you.”

She held her hand out into the shadows, and Laudna stared at it for a moment. She couldn’t fathom why this girl trusted her so much, even after helping her before. She was still a killer. She still had blood on her hands.

But they were clean enough right now, and Imogen looked so expectant. Laudna took her hand gently, almost afraid Imogen would recoil at the cold touch of her skin or the boniness of her fingers, but she didn’t. She gripped Laudna’s hand and stepped out of the light.

“Thanks,” Imogen said with another soft smile. “I know all this must be weird for you. I really appreciate you takin’ the time to talk to me.”

“Oh, no,” Laudna said, “it’s no problem! It’s my pleasure, really. It’s so nice to have someone to talk to after so long…but let’s keep quiet until we get back to my woods. I don’t want to attract attention.”

Imogen nodded, and she kept her hold on Laudna’s hand as she was led through the Fog to the black woods. Laudna almost stopped for a moment to pick a buttercup from a small cluster of blossoms she spotted and give it to Imogen, but that would be weird, right? It would definitely be weird. The flowers were so pretty, though, and Imogen deserved something pretty. Maybe later, if they managed to remain friends.

Did they count as friends? Laudna wasn’t sure what qualified anymore, and it wasn’t as if she’d really had friends in the real world. She may have been mistaking simple amiability for friendship; after all, they had only spoken once before. But still, it was more than she’d ever had before.

Laudna offered Imogen the bed when they arrived. “The chairs are a little uncomfortable,” she explained. “Not that the cot is great, either. I’m sorry I don’t have something better for you.”

“It’s all right,” Imogen said, the hint of a laugh playing on her voice. She sat down and patted the spot beside her. “You should sit down, too.”

“Oh…are you sure?” Laudna stood awkwardly beside the bed. “I’m not—I mean—I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to be close to me. I know I kind of smell like…like death. There’s not much I can use to try to wash the scent off.”

“It’s all right,” Imogen said again. “Honestly, I’m not sure I’ll ever think anything smells bad again after being near the Plague.”

“She does smell awful, doesn’t she?” Laudna said, hushed, as if she could be overheard gossiping. She sat down next to Imogen. “Her whole realm smells like that. Poor thing. I’m sure she’s sick of being sick.”

“I’d imagine so,” Imogen said. “I couldn’t even handle it for five minutes.”

“At least I can be grateful the Entity didn’t ‘bless’ me with that particular power,” Laudna murmured. “Small mercies.”

She could see Imogen watching her out of the corner of her eye. The girl was silent for a moment, and then she said hesitantly, “Can I ask you about yourself, and your life before? Is that all right?”

Laudna hummed. “I don’t see why not,” she said, but her gut twisted a little at the thought of saying those things out loud to another person. It would be good to share it with someone, though, like a therapy of sorts.

“I wasn’t always like this,” she said. “I suppose that’s obvious. But Iwasalways…I don’t know…different. Too weird for the folk in town. They never understood me; they all called me names and kept away from me, and so, when I grew up, I said, ‘your loss,’ and I left!” Laudna tried to play it up, tried to pretend she was above it all and that she really hadn’t minded leaving, but the pretense fell flat. Imogen’s brow furrowed as she spoke, but she didn’t interrupt.

“I just wandered after that. I couldn’t find steady work, so I stayed in abandoned huts along the road and scavenged most of my food and supplies. It wasn’t bad sometimes, but I admit it was a bit lonely.” She looked down at her lap and fidgeted with her fingers. “Then, one day, I was out gathering mushrooms for supper and…well, I suppose I was robbed. I’m not sure what they expected to find on me; it’s not as if I had nice things. But they left me there in the woods with my throat slit, and that’s when the Entity came.”

Laudna subconsciously rubbed at the skin beneath her jaw. It was so long ago, but she’d never forgotten the feeling of her body emptying itself through her neck, the confusion, the pain. She hadn’t thought she’d be scared of dying, but she was. The wrongness of it all had been terrifying.

“The fog rolled in and its voice spoke in my head, telling me it could save me and take me away from that life. It sounded so kind at the time. It even felt like it was holding me with that fog, petting my hair, soothing me.” Laudna gritted her teeth. “It never even lied. I just trusted it too blindly.

“And so, I accepted its offer, and I woke up here. And immediately, it made me kill for it.” Laudna sighed. “I looked like this, too. Like I died back there, anyway. And when I realized it, that’s when my new form took over. It happened when I got upset or angry at first, but now I can control it. And I use it to hunt your kind to avoid punishment. That’s all life is here.” She bit her lip. “I’m sorry if you were expecting something noble. I hate to admit it, but I do have a choice in my actions. I just gave up on resisting my orders a very long time ago because it was easier that way. I know that’s rather cowardly of me.”

"No,” Imogen said quickly. “No. Nobody could blame you for that. It doesn’t sound to me like you have much of a choice at all.”

Laudna blinked, taken aback by the ferocity of Imogen’s statement. She’d expected disappointment, maybe even anger, but the girl just looked…sad. Sad for her.

“I think you may be the only one who feels that way, darling,” Laudna said quietly. “I’m not sure the others would forgive me for the pain I’ve inflicted on them. Not that I would blame them.”

“Still.” Imogen took her hand and squeezed it. “I’m sorry you’ve had to go through all that. It sounds awful. I hope I can help you escape this place.”

Laudna smiled sadly at Imogen. It was sweet how much hope she had, but Laudna couldn’t share it. Maybe—maybe—there could be a way out for the survivors. And for all the kindness Imogen had shown her, she’d do her best to help find it. But she couldn’t help but imagine there was nothing left for her. She’d been changed, mentally and physically, and she didn’t even know what she was anymore. If the real world hadn’t accepted her before, it certainly wouldn’t now.

She wouldn’t say any of that to Imogen, though. She simply gripped the girl’s hand back, desperately grateful for the touch of her skin, and nodded. “I hope so, too. But that’s enough of my silly little sob story. I want to learn about you.”

[vebokki]

i present to you for your consideration: luo binghe and sha hualing as roommates. also they're both going to be late to their respective dates

[nemesispixie]

behold, my son, Burger

[waitineedaname]

not romantic or platonic but a secret third thing (bonded pair)

[starfish-spencer]

Jules and Lassie's friendship has me feeling soft y'all. Shawn and Gus have their own traditions and inside jokes and I bet that Jules and Lassie start to develop the same things. They go out to eat together and have movie nights at each other's places every week. Jules lets Lassie infodump about US history and guns as long as he wants and Lassie (begrudgingly) lets Jules paint his nails. They chat about all the latest gossip in the SBPD and gush over their crushes together. They tell each other (almost) all their secrets. Lassie stays with Jules 24/7 after the clock tower and comforts her when she and Shawn temporarily break up. Jules is one of the only people to see Lassie truly break down and cry and she holds him for as long as he needs and tells him that they're going to be okay. They have their own jokes that nobody else gets that they whisper to each other and giggle at. They laugh until neither of them can breathe. They hug each other every morning when they arrive at the station and when they leave, and casually hold hands. They started out as just coworkers but by the last few seasons they are basically platonic soulmates, parallel to Shawn and Gus. And I love that. I love them.

[syrupsyche]

🎡fantine (1817 or with cosette!)(/enjolras)

🎡: character at a fair

—imma be real; i saw that ferris wheel emoji + fantine and cosette, and immediately downloaded a rollercoaster ref. didn't even read that it was a general funfair prompt, i just wanted to draw this 😭

ty soo much for the ask hehe, sorry i got to it so late!

[llitchilitchi]

[ Part 1 ] Part 2

[fluffs-n-stuffs]

That's the thing about dreams. They all come to an end - once we wake up.

>>> Next (Coming Soon!) <<< Previous

(Destiny Bond; a Pokémon fancomic --- pt.1, pt.2, pt.3, pt.4, pt.5, pt.6, pt.7, pt.8, pt.9, pt.10, pt.11, pt.12, pt.13, pt.14, pt.15, ???)

[soft-girl-musings]

i have spent 2 hours fine-tuning these vampire playlists, this wasn't meant to be a family affair gd

[sinnabee]

anon i am so sorry.

THIS IS ATTEMPT NUMBER FUCKING FOUR. at answering an ask about my star projector. except this time tumblr DELETED THE ASK. anon i hope you see this im so fucking sorry, ive tried everything. it fucking hates me. luckily this time i was able to save the text so i don't have to re-type it. ANON. ANON I LOVE YOU. WE'VE BEEN THROUGH THE TRENCHES TOGETHER FOR THIS POST OKAY???? IM SORRY I FUCKED IT UP.

THE ASK:

ANON(my beloved): your star projector is really cool! do you have a link?

i do! i bought it off amazon. it is pretty pricey, but iirc, i was treating myself to a nice bday present at the time. it's the Sega Toys Homestar Flux! like i said, pretty pricey. but imo it was worth it! i know me, and ive had other star projectors of lower quality that i didn't use because i was unhappy with them. (probably due to the autism) :P

here's some of the pros/features of the thing!

comes in a SUPER pretty box that has an insert so you can transport it safely, without the projector rattling around inside willy-nilly. honestly the box is pretty enough you could display it.

high image quality

has the ability to rotate the projection at 2 speeds

has a shooting star function - it's just a thin trail of white light that slowly moves across one portion of the projection, but it's REALLY cool, despite it's simplicity, and adds a lot to the experience

has a timer that will shut off the projector automatically after either 15, 30, or 60 minutes. (it will shut off even if you don't set the timer after a few hours)

has an easy to remove tray for you to swap out out image discs comes with two discs of the night sky! just black and white stars, but one of them has constellations drawn over them :D

compatible with more image discs you can get on amazon! the one from my video was an extra i bought!

has a ring around the lens that you spin to focus your image and get a nice, crisp picture :)

but! if that's WAY too far out of your price range, here's the cheaper model! (slightly cheaper) i thought about getting this one, but there's a really good review video included in the first link - it shows someone trying out both models, and there's a visible difference in quality.

i had more typed up on the last two attempts at making this post, but this is the meat of it, honestly. only other really important bit is that if you order more discs on amazon, the images are probably gonna be a bit lower quality, just because u know… they're space photos being blown up super big. AND - if you see some scratches on a disc when you load it, no worries - once the projection is moving and you've laid down, it's pretty much invisible. (bet you didn't notice any scratches on my video, huh?)

final notes - here's the playlist i was listening to in my last video! and (if tumblr will stop FUCKING HATE CRIMING ME-) another video i took of my projector last night! :D

[pisshandkerchief]

me and my general manager from work should have been at the fall out boy show tonight we're both huge wattba defenders

[xnaderblog]

You hesitate, hiding behind a column, with your pistol ready. The man who has Mark in his grasp threatens him, a knife to his throat.

“One step closer, and I’ll kill him!” He yells, and you shut your eyes.

“Please… allow me.” You whisper, before you try to take a shot.

[clowningaroundmars]

the way that i am now downloading stock market news apps......... and squinting at these crazy ass news articles and learning finance terms n shit.... trying to read these number and graphs........

i am morphing into a middle aged dad of 3 kids. 🧍‍♂️

[infinitetrainss]

i guess it's good i had started to re-gain my zest for life and enjoying my life in my body before this happened lol

[courtillyy]

oh god i cannot look. im physically closing my eyes ew ew ew

[fluffs-n-stuffs]

'Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise.' What happens then, when the line separating that knowledge blurs?

>>> Next <<< Previous (Destiny Bond; a Pokémon fancomic --- pt.1, pt.2, pt.3, pt.4, pt.5, pt.6, pt.7, pt.8, pt.9, pt.10, pt.11, pt.12, ???)