#hearttsck

[thvndrstorm]

`         ❀         CLOSED  STARTER       [  . . .  ]       written   for   @austinparker  ,  @hearttsck  &  @joshxmorgan     /     in  the  middle  of  the  woods  ,  right  after  the  main  sacrifice   .   ft.  austin  parker  ,  poppy  sterling  &  josh  morgan .

               the picture surrounding them was both unsurprising and a fever dream for rowan,   the screams and the terror were distant,   even when they were happening right by her side,   right in front of her.   it was the crackling of the bonfire what stood out,   what invaded her ears and washed her with the calm she needed to deal with this.     "  where is austin ?  "    so serenely it was unnerving,   she directed the question to a poppy who seemed out of herself.   the last time she had checked they were together,   why wasn’t she saying anything ?   she looked at josh for a second then,   eyebrows raised,   and just by the time she was ready to run into the mess right in the middle of the event to look for their missing boy,   she saw his silhouette approaching,   a sigh of relief tremulously falling from her lips.     "  what the fuck,   dude,   where the fuck where you ?   we need to get out of here.  "

[asa--holland]

Asa's endeared by Tillie's answer - and he nods in agreement. "Honestly, you're right. I've never even gotten to have a Dippin' Dots before. But I know what you're talking about, I think." She asks about pandas too and he leans on his arms, which are settled on the bright red food court table. "Pandas... you know, love, I don't think I have. Not in person, at least. Were they big?"

Then a mom seems to be coming over and he gives a shy little smile. "Oh no, we were having a lovely conversation. Dippin dots, pandas. I was about to ask what else you both saw at the zoo. Never been, myself."

Tillie’s been growing like a weed, Poppy swears they bought new shoes before leaving DC. She hates the mall, and there’s a tiny part of her that fears her daughter looking anymore like her father – there’s no way anyone will think Tillie gets the height from her. There’s nothing in the food court, even though her daughter insisted they stop by. Poppy gets a call – the 202 area code has her answering with a mouthed apology to the five year old. It’s maybe three minutes, something stupid she clears up and then finds her daughter is no longer beside her. Panic drags out the fleeting seconds where Tillie is out of sight, until Poppy locates her speaking with the only other person in the food court.

“Cause there’s nothing here,” Tillie responds, so reasonable, “not even a dippin dots and the zoo has a dippin dots, we went there to see the pandas before they left. Have you ever seen a panda?” Poppy rushes over, catching the tail end of the conversation. “I’m so sorry, Tillie, love, you know better than to talk to strangers.”  

[havntedhouses]

setting: outside the bowling alley location: @hearttsck

More often than not, Wells often found himself walking past the derelict bowling alley on his way home from the college, not that it was directly on the route but he couldn't help himself. He hadn't meant to disturb anyone else, honestly he hadn't expected anyone else to be around until he saw another figure not too far away. "It's hard not to stop by here, isn't it?" He asked, only vaguely knowing that Poppy also had a tie to this town similar to his own...even if Wells' still remained a mystery to himself.

[ghcstlimbs]

for: @hearttsck 

location: the summer solstice

Jude gave thanks that summer dictated the sun would not set for some hours -- he would fail to quell his fears, should the sky begin to blacken to a death scene now. He wished to move as freely as the other attendees, to make them his comrades in joy; but Jude stood at a distance, merely observing them yield to the solstice's affection. He was gladdened to see another figure approach, even if it was refreshments they sought and not his ghoulish company -- Jude was further brightened by the familiar face that studied him, and quickly found meagre language to offer her greetings. "You wouldn't happen to see the mayor, would you? I've got this unpopular theory about him, and I feel like this would be the place I'd finally be proven right." Poppy had been two years ahead of him in school, and thus in difference to her perceived wisdom to a younger child, he had thought of her as a heroine. He knew little of her know, beyond her well-placed desire to leave -- and that so eerily like his fabled return, tragedy had brought her home. "I've seen you and your daughter around town; while I'd love to meet her, I'm glad she isn't here. I'm not entirely sue what here is." 

[helltownohiohq]

 ❛ there is NO exquisite b e a u t y… without some strangeness in the proportion … ❜

please follow:

@hearttsck — poppy sterling

[thvndrstorm]

CLOSED  STARTER        ›        written  for  @hearttsck     /     near  the  bonfire ,  close  enough  to  feel  its  roaring  warmth  with  poppy  sterling .

               of all the things that could’ve happened in her return,   at this event,   in this town,   meeting poppy sterling once again was not among her cards.   she’d been away from their mind for so long,   such a repressed memory,   one of the forgotten ones,   the instant they clumsily stumble into her,   running up the hills is their first instinct.   immaculate and glorious is the way she looks,   as she’s always been,   and the only reason rowan doesn’t physically run in the other direction is that her feet are glued to the spot with the same force her breathing is stuck in the middle of her throat.     "  i—   uhm,   i—   i’m sorry,  "     she stutters stupidly,   and the fingers of her right hand find the back of her head,   lightly scratching a spot more in a nervous habit than a real need.     "  i…   didn’t see you there,   i was—   i wasn’t looking,   sorry.  "     the words fall from their lips awkwardly,   and they know their tone is too soft, too low to be properly heard above the chatting and the crackling of the fire and the beating of their heart.   her gaze bores into poppy,   then,   tracing the lines of her lovely face,   and rowan can’t tell how long she’s been without breathing,   but she feels dizzy and lost and utterly dumb by the time she manages to speak again.     "  long time no see,  poppins.  "     is the final murmur,   collecting herself at last,   inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly,   inaudibly,   the only evidence of her turmoil the deep,   fast rise and fall of her chest.

[havntedhouses]

setting: new york deli tagged: @hearttsck

Rafael didn't particularly care about whether Poppy and their daughter were in town, neither one held much of an affect on his life and she was more than capable of taking care of Tillie without him. But, the fact remained that the resemblance between himself and his daughter was quite obvious and it was only a matter of time before the truth got out. "Wish I had better news," he started as he walked toward the booth Poppy was occupying. "But my father has been preoccupied since the whole sacrifice thing and his name being on one of those voodoo dolls or whatever they were."

[thvndrstorm]

               to say everything was a mess would’ve been an understatement because everything around them undoubtedly was.   what put rowan’s nerves on end,   though,   was the fact between the four of them a mess was unraveling too   —   austin was too drunk, too focused on poppy and josh for a reason rowan couldn’t pinpoint.   and poppy,   a few seconds ago silent and lost in the shock,   was now screaming for tillie,   making it harder for josh to drag her away,   to compel her to move along them.   tillie,   rowan thought,   right before processing the rest of her words.     "  tillie ?  "    she asked,   confused,   although still managing to drag austin’s bulky body along.     "  wha— what—   poppy,   who’s tillie ?  "     they already knew who tillie was  (  my daughter!  ),   yet the question fell nonetheless,  almost at the same time their gaze did on josh.     "  what the fuck is she talking about ?  "       /       @austinparker .

She’s in two places at once, half here and half gone. She feels someone pick her up, concerned voices – Rowan, Josh, “Austin?” She asks for him out of habit, but it's not his eyes blinking down at her. They are out of the woods, near a gravel lot rarely used for anything other than teenagers hooking up, and she supposes an event like this. All those screams, are they still screaming? Still burning? The effigies, and then – the effigies.

“Tillie!” She snaps back into the moment, twisting in Josh’s arms as Poppy struggles. “Put me down, I have to go home! My daughter, they know, somehow they fucking know and I need to get to her, help please!” @thvndrstorm

[thvndrstorm]

               rowan watched the chaos around her,   the chaos her friends were in their own way,   and she felt a void in her core that turned off every emotion within,   leaving only the rampant need to make things better,   to make sure her friends were okay and far away from this shitshow as soon as possible.   she observed poppy being out of this world with anxiety and panic,   and her heart clutched to nothing between her lungs   —   she had never seen her like this,   so lost and afraid,   and for a moment,  only for a moment,   her weakness for the woman filled her void with desperation.   yet josh had her,   she saw it,  how in a swift second he was with her,   so rowan closed the distance between her and austin,   grabbing him gently by his biceps,   trying to stabilize him  (  a truly arduous task considering he was significantly bigger and stronger than her.   still,   she managed,   her determination unwavering,    the goal in her mind unmoving  ) .     "  hey,   hey,   buddy,   i need you here,   okay ?  "     she pleaded,   brown orbs boring into his as she heard josh trying to compose poppy,   so tranquil and put together a wave of relief washed over her   —   two out of four keeping their wits together was good enough.   at the youngest boy’s words,   rowan nodded,   letting go of austin’s arms to grab his hand and tug gently,   careful not to unbalance him.   she couldn’t afford him tripping over his feet if they wanted to make a smooth exit.     "  yes,   yes,   we need to leave.   are you okay to walk ?  "     she addressed austin.   then,   to josh and poppy,   as her heart shrank once again at the panicked,   far away sight of her,     "  drag her if you need to,   we have to take her away from this mess.  "       /       @austinparker .

As Josh stood quietly watching everyone around them, the chaos that was unfolding as people ran around looking for help or an exit, his eyes darting from those to the people in front of him and then back to the bonfire which seemed to be roaring.. he felt uneasy. Of course what was happening was insane but he felt uneasy because he felt as though he didn't feel panicked enough. Was he in shock? Or was there something just deeply wrong with him? For now he had to push those insane thoughts to one side, the people he loved the most were here and they needed him to be present.

Poppy's voice snapped him back around to the group in front of him, eyes darting to her before placing moving to stand more in front of her with his hands resting on her arms. "Hey, look at me." Crouching down slightly in an attempt at being more eye level with his friend, "you're fine, I won't let anything happen to you okay? I just need you to breathe in and out slowly for me." He had no idea if that was even the correct advice but he was sure he heard it in a movie or something. Looking away from Poppy for only a moment he looked towards Austin and Rowan, "we need to leave. Now." @thvndrstorm

[thvndrstorm]

               the ache between her ribs is familiar,   frustratingly so.   it’s something unexpected,   the feeling she thought long ago forgotten,   hitting her like the wild weaves of a storm in high seas.   its presence now is not only unwelcomed but make her feel so vexed she wants to scream and stomp her foot on the floor in exasperation.   they don’t,   of course,   they can barely move in poppy’s scorching presence,   yet they recoil anyway,   as if the touch would’ve burned her,   when she reaches for them.     "  sorry,  "     the apology stumbles immediately from dried lips,   face contorted in regret at the way her body had responded,   but she doesn’t explain herself further   —   poppy doesn’t need justifications for her behavior,   she’s not allowed to.     "  same reason as you,  "     she replies then,   eyes on poppy’s face a second before they dart away,   finding her siblings among the people having a blast is this strange event.     "  family.   rián and riley kept bugging me about visiting them and…   well,   twelve years is a long time,   i guess you can imagine.  "

Poppy doesn’t do guilt; she doesn’t do shame. She will not apologize for what she did to survive, nor will she make excuses for what survival made of her. But maybe something like shame cracks her façade, the echo of what might be guilt has her reaching for Rowan. She takes another sip of her drink and looks down – is it heat from the fire or something else that paints her cheeks crimson? “Thank you,” it's the most genuine thing she’s said all night. “I think you’re the first person to actually say that to me, maybe she’s just been dying for so long everyone else has already used up all their condolences.” The blonde shrugs, her grief for the woman who gave birth to her was long ago wrung out. All that remains is a hollowness, some absence she can’t quite place. “What brought you back?” Are you staying, she wants to ask, but knows better.

[thvndrstorm]

               rampant are the feelings invading them at the sight in front of them,   memories of a past time flow through their mind,   settling a lump in their throat,   wetting their eyes only a little,   something they attribute to the intensity of the blaze near them rather than to the reminiscing of the brief time of elation she lived when poppy was theirs for an instant.   yet you can’t control a fire when it is wild and roaring,   and rowan never wanted to,   but she naively didn’t think she was gonna get burned in the process.   the words falling from poppy’s lips only fuel the knot in her throat,   a knot that soon becomes a rock,   making it hard for her to swallow.   i’ve missed you, it resounds in the walls of her mind with an echo that makes her bite the inside of her cheek,   although she ignores the feeling,   even when the i missed you, too hangs painfully on the tip of her tongue.     "  i was,   but…   well,   considering you’re also here,   you should how home calls for one sometimes,  "     the reply is curt yet soft,   her eyes darting to the flames.   then,     "  i’m sorry, by the way. about your mom.  "

The veil between this world and the next is said to be thinnest on the solstice – or maybe she’s got that backwards. It doesn’t matter, Poppy’s never struggled to see her ghosts. No, it's the past that haunts her now, echoed in the look in Rowan’s eyes. And maybe she’s twenty-three again, stumbling back into their New York apartment, face flushed from the November chill and tasting of him. So she did was she does best and ran. This Rowan is not a ghost, they are real and lovely and exactly as Poppy remembers them but somehow better. She’s still Poppy, but older and somehow colder, even as her reckless choice that one night blossomed into the very best thing in her life.

“Hi Ro,” it's whispered and full of more emotion than she’d generally let show; and maybe it's the alcohol or the heady fumes of the bonfire, or perhaps how this night doesn’t quite feel real – as if they’ve entered some pocket world between worlds. But she smiles and something cracks open in the frozen part of her chest. “I know,” a hand reaches tentatively for the other’s arm, Poppy’s always craved touch to make her feel grounded. “I’ve missed you. I thought you’d still be off traveling the world.” They are both experts in running, she reminds herself. “How have you been?“