#deathstrickens

[lon3rs]

@deathstrickens for: sohee

"are you up for some scrabble?" it's not that drew wasn't aware of what was going on outside the safe zone. they were so casual because despite what was out there, they were now safe. sue them for wanting a bit of normalcy after surviving a hellish two weeks alone. now they had approached a stranger who seemed friendly and held the board game out with a smile. "i'll even let you go first. i think that puts you at an advantage, but i can't really remember? i'd say google it, but." they shrugged. "figure that it's better than waiting for the sun to go down doing nothing."

[dead1s]

Despite the conversation, Kai found himself a little amused. It was clear Adam was trying even though it took him a minute to get there. He couldn't be mad at that (even if a part of him wanted to be). He looked over at him and allowed himself to smile slightly despite the weight of everything. "It's alright. I appreciate that, actually." Nice to know he wasn't the only one who cared. "We just... disagree, and that's that. When you get back, I'm obviously going to be glad." It was a 'when'. It had to be. Kai was hesitantly going with that conviction even though an annoyingly persistent voice in the back of his mind reminded him this could be the last time they ever saw each other.

He didn't want to think about it.

"Anyway, I really am going to try to get to bed. We have the curfew now. Did you need anything else from me before you left? Make sure you have everything because it's going to be a cold night." Kai wanted to fuss more but decided not to. Surely, Adam had thought this through enough to be prepared for the worst of situations. And weather-wise he doubted New York was much different from here. "My only request is to bring back any food that's different from what we already get here. I'm starting to get tired of it."

He didn’t necessarily like Kai’s resignation, but it was easier to navigate than whatever else had just happened. He wouldn’t call it a fully-fledged argument, more like a tense disagreement. “Fair enough. And I’m not ill prepared,” Adam insisted, “Just missing something to fight off those bastards.” This was, of course, not considering that a knife would be practically useless in the face of one of those things. Close combat was not ideal, and it fell squarely into the category of reckless that he’d just assured Kai he would avoid.

Adam decided he had packed sufficiently for the night and set aside his things. All that was left was to wait for Jean to gather everyone, and a goodbye he most definitely did not want to partake in; the other man wasn’t the problem, in fact he was the only person here that he considered giving parting words to aside from his sister, but Adam could tell his guard was still up and didn’t want to leave on a bad note. “You gonna be mad at me forever?” he asked without thinking, then quickly clarified, “Not that I’m telling you how to feel or anything. What I meant was, I’d feel a lot better leaving knowing you weren’t pissed at me.” Still not quite right. Adam pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, knowing how bad he was at this. “What I mean is… It feels weird leaving when I know you’re upset, and I don’t wanna leave things like that.”

[rottisms]

closed starter for: @deathstrickens

timing: right after announcement ( plot drop one! )

there were a lot of talks about some members leaving the safe zone, to sneak out in the night without anyone noticing. some were planning to come back and others were planning to stay away - but there was a part of her that wanted to leave with sohee, to see whether they could make it on their own or not. hyejin made her way back to the makeshift room that they shared among others to seek out her love, reaching a hand out for her to grab onto their wrist with a gentle gesture to turn them toward the bed, speaking in their native tongue softly. "there are talks of people want to leave tonight, and some wants to come back while others get further away.. where do you stand on it?" she spoke in korean to keep the conversation between them, as there wasn't anyone else around that seem to understood what they were speaking about. another perk she enjoyed noticing this far in advance. "i want to leave, to see what the world is like out there before we make our decision." she admitted after hearing sohee out, showing her concern when searching her gaze.

[gothamstreets]

hey sorry I haven’t been active on here. I’ve actually been focused on remaking at @deathstricken

[ao3feed-klance]

one day

read it on AO3 at http://ift.tt/2lcEnOX

by DeathStricken (douchebagmcpickle)

“One day,” Katie whispered, burying her nose into Keith’s neck. He held his arms around her protectively, pulling the blanket on his bed up around them both. “I want to leave here and never look back.”

“One day,” Keith promised, resting his chin on top of her head, absentmindedly running his fingers through her long hair."

After finally uncovering Keith's past, he and his best friend, Pidge, leave home on the night of their prom on an epic road trip to California to meet Keith's birth father.

Words: 2096, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Keith (Voltron), Pidge (Voltron), Lance (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron), Allura (Voltron)

Relationships: Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith/Lance (Voltron)

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Keith and Pidge are orphans and basically siblings, shiro is Keith's biological dad, lance doesn't come until later, sorry - Freeform, Trans male! Pidge, Keith Is Gay AF

read it on AO3 at http://ift.tt/2lcEnOX

[ao3feed-voltronlegendarydefender]

one day

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2lcEnOX

by DeathStricken (douchebagmcpickle)

“One day,” Katie whispered, burying her nose into Keith’s neck. He held his arms around her protectively, pulling the blanket on his bed up around them both. “I want to leave here and never look back.”

“One day,” Keith promised, resting his chin on top of her head, absentmindedly running his fingers through her long hair."

After finally uncovering Keith's past, he and his best friend, Pidge, leave home on the night of their prom on an epic road trip to California to meet Keith's birth father.

Words: 2096, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Keith (Voltron), Pidge (Voltron), Lance (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron), Allura (Voltron)

Relationships: Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith/Lance (Voltron)

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Keith and Pidge are orphans and basically siblings, shiro is Keith's biological dad, lance doesn't come until later, sorry - Freeform, Trans male! Pidge, Keith Is Gay AF

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2lcEnOX

[ao3feed-taakitz]

Housewarming

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2zAMmL8

by DeathStricken (douchebagmcpickle)

“Are you alright?” He asked.

“I’ll be fine,” she muttered with a shrug, setting her own glass down. “Meeting people is hard. Though, I mean, silver linings, I did meet a handsome carpenter guy with, hang on, let me guess- a soft spot for animals?”

Julia Waxmen is just trying to meet new people.

Magnus Burnsides is just trying to find his friends' new house.

Words: 3463, Chapters: 1/3, Language: English

Fandoms: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Magnus Burnsides, Julia Burnsides, Kravitz (The Adventure Zone), Taako (The Adventure Zone), Lup (The Adventure Zone), The Director | Lucretia, Merle Highchurch, Barry Bluejeans, Angus McDonald

Relationships: Julia Burnsides/Magnus Burnsides, Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone), Barry Bluejeans/Lup

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, brief mentions of violence, magnus is a v good boy, mentions of drug use, just weed tho

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2zAMmL8

[decad3nce]

               patience  was  a  thing  alana  has  learned  to  cultivate  with  time  and  effort,  under  the  oppressive  thumb  of  a  father  who  never  gave  her  anything  without  her  earning  it,  under  a  roof  that  always  made  her  work  for  things  even  though  they  barely  needed  any.    thus  when  it  takes  the  woman  in  front  of  her  a  while  to  describe  what  they  are  both  now  looking  for,  she  simply  waits,  unhurriedly,  eyes  sharp  yet  gentle  on  her  countenance.                  “  okay,  so  …  a  pendant  with  a  heart  and  small  white  pieces  on  it.    got  it.  ”     alana  repeats  the  description  in  a  murmur,  looking  around  on  instinct  when  sohee  does.    she  reaches  into  her  things  to  get  her  flashlight  after  a  moment,  after  the  woman  reminds  her  of  her  offer.     “  i  light,  you  search ?  ”     she  proposes  when  the  object  is  clutched  in  her  hand.  her  eyes  land  on  the  woman  for  an  instant,  searching,  and  sympathy  invades  her  slowly  as  her  gaze  studies  the  distressed  expression  on  her  fair  face.     “  it’s  okay,  i’ll  bet  we’ll  find  it.  ”     or  so  she  wants  to  believe.    regardless,  the  reassurance  comes  easily,  simple  and  gentle.    and  then  her  functional  side  kicks  in,  pushing  emotions  aside,  soaking  alana’s  expression  in  a  soft  type  of  determination.     “  we  should  start  close  to  where  you  last  had  it,  though,  so  …  where  was  that ?  ”  

She had been about to just nod and move on to the next person when there was an offer to help, and Sohee let out a small breath of relief. "Thank you. That would be nice." But now that it came to explaining, she was a bit unsure about her English skills since her abilities were more conversational than that of a jeweler. "It has a pink heart," she began, certain about that part. "And small white pieces around it... And it is a little long." There was no way for her to know how to explain the word pendant, so hopefully the initial explanation was enough.

She looked at the ground to see if she could find it glinting off the last available light, but of course it wasn't going to magically appear. "It's important. It is my mom's." Sohee found herself nearly saying that it was her mother's, and that only added to her distress; if she herself was alive, maybe her parents were too even if they were on another continent. "I'm sorry." She really was trying to keep it together. "You said you had a flashlight?"

[endtimcs]

It's hard not to envy the man, for a moment. Wes admittedly hadn't stopped to think that much about what his brother was going through - he was in Chicago, way too far to even consider getting there (at least, without a vehicle and a better plan). If anything, at least, the way back to the house would have different problems than the usual bumper-to-bump of the after work traffic hour. Cars would be abandoned in the roads, which left it unviable. "Who've you got in New York?" He inquired curiously. "Every big city's got to have a safe zone like we do." That was all that he could hope.

"I hope not. I live about an hour from the city, on an average day's commute. The distance shouldn't be that bad, even taking back roads." Wes didn't have another option other than to assume that would be enough to try to avoid the worst of it. If he was on a bike, he'd have the speed to avoid those things on foot, but... if, no when, he reached his family, there'd be a new set of problems to find their way back. "Yeah, exactly. Making it through all this - what's the point without them?"

It was noble of Wes to go out into hell’s way to look for his family, and Adam was sure he would’ve done the same if he had a kid of his own; however, for better or worse, he didn’t, and was venturing out anyway out of pure curiosity and restlessness. The question caused him to chuckle. “Nothing as honorable as looking for family. My sister’s already here, and New York’s too far away to even try.” He’d resigned himself to that fact the moment he barely reached the safe zone with his sibling in tow two weeks prior.

“You got a long trip ahead of you?” Adam asked before pocketing his gloved hands in an attempt to warm them against the chilly night. “Heard some people were leaving permanently to other states to look.” Wes struck him as a smart guy, so hopefully he wasn’t one to be that stupid. At least he had plans to return as well. “Then again, I guess anyone would cross even an ocean to be with someone they loved. Why bother facing any of this otherwise?” He didn’t mean to get philosophical, Adam simply had a tendency to just talk, and whatever came out of his mouth was the luck of the draw.

[endtimcs]

Even though Taylor did not feel fully settled with her decision to stay inside of the safe zone, she knew that there was no way that she was stepping back out there and risking the danger that came from it. She had no strong drive in either direction, and had settled on starting to think about her own survival. It was what Seth would have wanted for her. She knew that, despite the guilt that laced the thought, that he hadn't made inside and she had. But she knew that if the roles were reversed, she would have wanted him to do everything possible to survive and keep going. So that meant staying.

"It's okay," she responded without thinking twice as she looked up to see who spoke. "I should've had it out of the path. That's my bad." There was something familiar about the other woman, like she'd seen her in a photo before. Taylor did not place it immediately. "No, it looks like it's fine. I'm glad it didn't break your ankle." She offered a tight-lipped smile. "Sorry, have we met before?"

location: in the safe zone for: @endtimcs

It was tough to make friends, especially in current circumstances. Sohee always felt like she had a reputation to uphold, even outside of Korea and away from the pressures of her very public career. But, she couldn't simply cling to her girlfriend for the entirely of however long they were stuck in the safe zone. Sohee had to be her own person as well, not wanting to be a burden or someone who smothered their partner. It was the same evening of the announcement of the curfew with some time left before it was instated, so she decided to venture a bit.

Lost in her thoughts as always, not really paying attention to where she was going, she got caught on the strap of a bag on the floor passing some of the sleeping quarters. "Ah sh—" Sohee stopped herself just before cursing in her native language and quickly reverted back to English to apologize. "I'm sorry, I was not looking where I was going. I hope I didn't break your bag..?"

[dead1s]

All Alfie knew was that he had to get the hell out of there. Go back, stay, explore alone, stay with the group, whatever… They hadn’t thought that far ahead. A night out escaping just sounded like fun and he was tired of the stressed atmosphere within the safe zone. He turned to look at Adam when he was addressed and quickly shook his head. “I’m not sure what to do from here to be honest. I’m down to stick together though.” They grinned slightly; at least there was somewhat of a plan now.

“Yeah! DC born and raised.” It was always a point of bragging for him. He wasn’t just some tourist. “Maybe not Georgetown specifically but kinda around here. I’m pretty great with directions.” Time to conveniently leave out the reason why: his occupation. Alfie hugged his coat more against themself to fight the cold and then nodded upwards to the man. “What’s the plan? You heading back to the safe zone later or did you wanna find some new place to wait it out? The food sucks. We could probably find something better at least.”

location: just outside the safe zone for: @dead1s

Jean sounded somewhat crazy to him, but she did have a point: why not let people come and go as they pleased? Adam imagined some people still wanted to try to find loved ones or friends out in the city, so it seemed fishy to him that the restriction existed. He didn’t want to permanently leave, though, just take a look around; only an idiot would give up free food and protection at a time like this.

“Can’t believe we actually made it,” he said to no one in particular once they were past the barricade. He kept his voice low, but was clearly pleased at pulling off the escape. Adam grinned and turned to one of his fellow rule breakers. “You heading off on your own now, kid?” While he wouldn’t say it aloud, he’d prefer to have someone to watch his back. Alfie seemed capable enough. “If not, maybe we could stick together for a sec until we better know the area. You from around here?”

[dead1s]

Kai simply nodded, not finding any reason left to argue about it when clearly nothing was going to change. It would be a waste of energy. "Yeah." All he could do was hope. He didn't believe in a higher power but understood now why some did: it would've been comforting to think that praying hard enough could guarantee a wanted outcome. Unfortunately no such thing applied here. "I don't have anything like that. TSA would have sent me back on the plane or put me in a cell." He had mostly clothes. Some things from work and something to write in every so often, but that was it. Luggage.

He rubbed his eyes and sighed. "I'm sure someone in your group will have one. You can't all be that ill prepared." God, he hoped not. Jean better have had a solid plan and then a backup emergency plan on top of that. Kai opened his mouth to voice his concern but then decided against it. Again, nothing would change. Adam was still going to risk his life and leave the safety of the barricades even if he explained how he thought the woman was not completely there. Instead he said, "It's probably better to be stealthy or run than to try to fight one anyway. They seem pretty strong."

Feeling tension at Kai's surprising distance, he tried not to think too deeply into it. The two had talked for hours on end before, not butting heads a single time, even when they disagreed on something, but clearly this matter was beyond just food preferences or childhood stories. "Alright..." he sighed, not sure how really respond at the moment and knowing a lighthearted joke would only make things worse; but sincerity was hard, and Adam usually opted for the easy road when it came to personal matters. It was so much easier to just act oblivious or carefree instead of talking about feelings and working through them.

"I'm not taking back my promise," he finally said. "But yeah, I won't do anything too stupid. I still wanna make it back. In fact, I should probably finish getting my stuff ready." Adam turned to the backpack at his side and began to double-check he had what he needed— which wasn't much, just some saved food and a book for entertainment since he couldn't find a weapon. "You don't happen to have a knife or something on you, right? Somehow forgot to pack one of those when I got my first bag ready to come here. I'm not trying to fight anything, but." Just in case.

[dead1s]

He couldn't help but faintly scoff. Everything else Adam said was fine for standard reassurance, but promising something he had no control over was another thing. Kai needed a moment to get his thoughts together. He simply looked at the ground for a short while before finally bringing his gaze back to Adam and sighing. "You shouldn't make promises you can't guarantee keeping, you know." There was no chastising. Just exhaustion. He knew he already lost this fight before there even was one and that Adam made up his mind the moment the idea of leaving was brought up. Besides, they owed each other nothing.

"You're an adult," he added flatly. Kai was now forcing a distance and nonchalance. He knew and recognized what was a defensive mechanism but did nothing to stop it. "You can do whatever you want. You don't have to promise me anything." What he really wanted to do was grab Adam by his coat and shake some sense into him, but of course he wouldn't. To act like that would be to admit he'd gotten too attached these past two weeks. No one fretted so much over a random stranger. "Just... don't do anything reckless, that's all I'm asking."

Well, that wasn’t what he expected. Even Adam knew when he was being iced out, regardless if it was from annoyance or worry, or whatever else— he could only guess Kai didn’t want him to leave, based on the lack of reciprocated jest. It wasn’t like Adam was looking to get injured or bitten, but, he could only stay stuck in a tiny safe zone wondering what was out there for so long (and two weeks was plenty). "Come on," he finally said after some debating whether or not he should say anything and simply go. “It’ll be fine.”

Should he assure him of that? Of course not, but he would’ve hated to leave on such a cold note just in case. Adam took a seat on his own military-issued bed and kept his eyes on the other as he spoke. “I get it, you’re worried. And I appreciate that, but we’ve got no idea what’s out there. It could be over and they’re holding us hostage for all we know.” Unlikely, but he never trusted authority anyway. “It’ll be one or two nights and then I’m back, and we can go back to talking away and eating shitty canned food like nothing ever happened.” Should he say it…? It was probably a bad idea, but he did anyway, because he felt that strongly that nothing could possibly go wrong. “I promise.”

[lon3rs]

the woman seemed a little distracted, and drew wouldn't blame her if she would rather not partake. but she seemed up for it so they smiled and held the board game now against their side. "really? i guess not everyone's into board games, but it's totally easy. you just make words and stick 'em together. it's like reverse crossword? i can show you if you're up for it," they offered while giving her a chance to decline if she was just being polite in showing interest.

Sohee looked up in surprise at being addressed, having been lost in her own thoughts after a particularly tough conversation with Hyejin about her leaving the safe zone to see what it was like out there. "Hm? Oh..." She listened to them, managing a small smile at their friendliness. "I would say yes, but I do not know how to play." The board games in the crate were unfamiliar to her, especially any of the ones based off words or American trivia. "Is it a hard game to learn?" she asked, willing to try it to get her mind off everything else.

[decad3nce]

               sleep  has  been  an  elusive  thing  for  alana  since  the  outbreak,  always  slipping  through  her  fingers  at  the  last  instant,  keeping  her  eyes  wide  as  saucers  in  the  middle  of  nights  that  are  still  too  dark  for  her  liking.    but  how  could  it  not  elude  her,  when  the  world  as  she’s  known  it  has  ended  painfully  in  front  of  her ?   when  her  father  was  somehow  dead  but  still  lurking ?   when  her  brother  regressed  in  time  and  pestered  her  as  if  she  was  again  five  years  old  and  too  young  and  full  of  energy  to  be  left  alone ?   a  sigh  escaped  her,  unavoidable,  dry  hands  finding  her  face  to  rub  at  her  eyes.    they  found  the  source  of  an  unfamiliar  voice  after  a  moment,  still  unfocused  but  clear  enough  to  respond.

               “  i  haven’t,  ”     even  to  her  ears  her  words  sounded  strange   ⸺   too  rough,  too  detached.    she  cleared  her  throat  and  tried  again.     “  how  does  it  look ?  ”     she  asked,  genuinely  interested.    if  she  couldn’t  sleep,  distracting  herself  with  something  like  this  seemed  like  the  next  best  thing.     “  maybe  …  i  can  help  you  look.    i  think  …  i  have  a  flashlight  here,  somewhere.  ”  

location: in the safe zone for: @decad3nce

"Where is it?" It was not long after her girlfriend left to meet up with the group sneaking out that Sohee began to get ready for bed, hoping that her worry over the other wouldn't be keeping her up all night, though she knew better already. Everything was as routine as it was nowadays (minus the night time skin care routine she desperately missed), until she realized she was missing her necklace. It wasn't just her own, but belonged to her mother.

Sohee tried not to immediately panic, standing still in the middle of the sleeping room and trying to remember when she fiddled with it last; things were so emotionally charged today that she remembered very little. But, maybe someone else had seen it? "Excuse me," she began to the first person she could find, trying not to sound as stressed as she was. After all, other people were getting ready for bed and she didn't want to cause a scene. "I am sorry, but have you seen a necklace on the floor somewhere?"

[dead1s]

Stubborn. Flippant. Attachment-avoidant. Overly blasé. Kai thought all these things of Adam, and yet he was still worried to the point of faint nausea at the idea of him going out there. It was a stupid idea. There was no great reward for risking one’s life just to ‘look around’. The woman leading the charge didn’t exactly seem the most level-headed either; would she care or even try to help if the worst was to happen to the people she was leading out?

Kai was uncharacteristically quiet in the face of Adam’s jokes. What could he say, really? Finally, he cleared his throat after a noticeable silence and attempted to joke back. “I’m sure. I don’t think you can talk your way out of encountering one of those. I’d just slow you down.” So much for joking? There was no joke to be had. He averted his eyes and decided to stop pacing and just take a seat on his own cot not too far away. “You know already, but be careful.” Words, words, words. Again, he felt there was nothing he could say. It felt like he was simply allowing Adam to walk out into his own gruesome death. “I’m tired,” he said suddenly. “I think I’m going to try to sleep.”

location: in the safe zone for: @dead1s

“You gonna miss me when I leave? Don’t be too sad. I’ll be back.” Having settled in the same sleeping area, Adam and Kai became fast… friends? He hesitated to use the word, mainly because the last thing he wanted was to get attached to anyone while here. Connections were fleeting, and whether the best or worst case scenario happened with those monsters outside, it was lose-lose: form a bond and go back to their respective homes across an ocean when things were back to normal, or do such a thing and forever worry about the other person in this new normal.

So, Adam did what he did best and kept things light.

“Might be a day or two depending on how things go, but I’m not planning on giving up food and shelter for nothing,” he continued as he packed a small bag of essentials. “You sure you wanna stay? I’m sure Jean would be happy to have an extra person join in. You could counsel those biters to death. Ask them how they feel,” he teased.