#if you ever meet me and you're allergic to dogs I'm so sorry it just doesnt stop

[miguelmeiai]

Life is Strange - What if Esteban hadn't died? - Part III

Esteban drives towards Mount Rainier National Park. Sean looks lost in his thoughts while Daniel plays Minecraft on his phone. ─ Sean, are you okay? You've been quiet, hijo. ─ I'm fine, dad. It's just… a lot has been going on my mind recently. I'm thinking about some things, but I'm okay. ─ If you ever need to talk, I'm right here. ─ Thanks, dad. He decides to stop by a gas station. ─ Okay, hijos. We are having a quick stop to use the bathroom and buy something. He gives Sean twenty dollars. ─ Dad, what is this for? ─ You can buy something for you and Daniel. But please, choose wisely. Money isn't infinite. I wish it were, though. Daniel and Sean enter the little store. ─ Buy some Choc-O-Crisp for me, please, please!!! ─ Come on, Daniel, we need to buy something healthier. ─ But I want… ─ Okay, okay, Daniel… I'll buy one bar of Choc-O-Crisp, okay? ─ Okay… Sean looks at the price. It surprises him. ─ What the f-… this costs seven dollars! Are you sure you really want it? ─ Yeeeah, please, bro…

Sean sighs and takes the bar. ─ Do not ask me for anything else! Sean looks at the food while Daniels walks around the store and meets a man. Sean hears his brother talking to someone and goes after him. ─ Fuck! He approaches Daniel. ─ Daniel, what are you doing? He looks at the man. ─ I'm sorry. He can be annoying sometimes. ─ Annoying? He is quite friendly. And I kind of got carried away. How old is he, by the way? ─ He is nine. ─ I'm almost ten. ─ Still not ten, Daniel. ─ Is his name Daniel? It is a nice name. My name is Brody, by the way. I' am an online traveling journalist. ─ My name is Sean. Oh, if you don't mind me asking… what is an online traveling journalist? ─ Basically a fancy name for someone who drives around in a car and writes about people and stuff he sees. There are a few websites that pay me for it. Nice to meet you both. Are you traveling with your brother? ─ Our dad is with us. ─ Sean! Daniel! ─ Esteban calls them. ─ I think I will go back to work now. I'm already working against a deadline, so... ─ That's okay. ─ Oh, you're here ─ Esteban says as he finds his sons. ─ Look, I found a marshmallow bag. We can't camp without marshmallow. ─ Oh, yeah, dad! ─ Sean agrees. They go to the checkout to pay for what they've bought. The cashier is an old lady. ─ Good morning, guys. ─ Good morning, ma'am ─ Sean answers. ─ Seventeen dollars. Sean gives her the money. ─ Here is your change. His brother hears a dog barking. ─ What is that? ─ He curiously asks. He sees a cute dog. ─ That dog… she needs to find a new home ─ the cashier explains. Daniel looks at his dad and begs. ─ Dad, can we adopt him, please? ─ Wow, I wish we could, but you know I'm allergic to dogs. I wouldn't stop sneezing and coughing. He keeps begging. ─ Pleeease! Sean looks at him. ─ Daniel, come on. Don't you care about our dad's safety? Esteban surrenders. ─ Okay, we can adopt the dog. But you'll have to promise to me that you'll keep everything clean and keep that dog at a safe distance from me. ─ I will, I will! ─ Daniel jumps in joy. ─ I think we are going to need to buy her some food. You can wait for me in the car. ─ Okay, dad. The cashier gives the dog to Daniel. They go outside the store and wait for their dad inside the car. Esteban comes back two minutes later. ─ Great! Now let's get back to the road. He sneezes. ─ Daniel, I told you it wasn't a good idea to… ─ I'm fine, Sean. It's just a sneeze. My allergy isn't actually that bad. I think… He sneezes again.

It's almost 6 PM. Shaun, Daniel, and Esteban are walking through the forest to find a place to camp at. ─ It's getting dark ─ Esteban says. ─ Dad, when I look at those signs, I remember the time when you taught me to read them. Those memories are so important to me. ─ For me too, son. Daniel runs with his dog. ─ Slow down, Daniel! ─ Esteban requests. ─ We are tired of walking already. ─ That enano never runs out of energy. ─ He reminds of me when I was his age. I was unstoppable. I miss those times, when life was easier. ─ Sometimes you just have to slow down and rest a bit, dad. ─ It's hard to find an opportunity to do this, you know. I have a family now, two sons to raise… ─ I appreciate how much you try to be a good dad for Daniel and me, but sometimes you need some time to yourself. Why don't you go out with your friends? You can even go out alone. Sometimes it helps us reorganize our thoughts and… Daniel interrupts them. ─ I need a name for the dog. ─ The dog is yours, so… you choose the name, hermano. ─ What about Mushroom? ─ That's what I call a creative name, son! I'm proud of you ─ Esteban laughs while he hugs Daniel. They find a place to stay the night. Esteban unpacks things and Daniel and Sean go find some wood for the fire.

[alwaysananxiousmess]

I literally put her bed on top of mine so she’d stop laying on my pillows, and yet she still lays on my pillows. 

[fleshangell]

{Warnings} Death, Blood, Gore

This is my first time posting my writing anywhere and I just hope this is good. I've been trying to get this right for a while now. Thank you also to my friend who was my beta reader you really are so amazing! Well enjoy and hopefully I'll make more parts to this soon.

If I can be called anything but a scoundrel I would like to be called darling, love, or, most of all, worthy. Though, I suppose I wasn't even worthy enough to have a nice, fast death. No, no, instead, there I was bleeding, my guts ripped open for the world to see in disgust. I swear that I could hear the dogs near my dying form gag. Speaking of dogs, I should probably say how exactly I even got like that. Well,  that's the thing.... I don't remember. I just woke up like that. I woke up in a dirty celler, guts out, with two dogs chained to the walls next to me. I don't even remember my life before that, nor my name. How I'm able to remember how to write is a miracle.

I laid there dying for who knows how long before the darkness finally took me in their sweet cold embrace. It was a fleeting embrace, like the softest of kisses before my lifeless form was dragged back to the land of the living where I laid on a bed of silks, myself changed out of the bloody clothes and bandages around my injuries.

"So it wasn't a dream..." My first words came as a shock to me honestly. I had only heard my groans and whimpers of pain before this moment. My voice was low yet slivery. I saw a mirror on the side of the bed and looked into it.

That couldn’t be me.... I don't look like that. My face. Was it always this deathly looking? My eyes and cheeks were almost sunken in. My skin was a sickly gray with hints of red. My hair was curly a nightly black so long I swore it could be a cape. My body was masculine, thin, and very tall; was i always like this and didn't see it? I swear my feet reminded me of a bat’s. My hands were long, with sharp claws. My eyes were the worst I believe, yellow and reflecting in the soft light of the room like an animal. Human eyes don't reflect like that, so am I no longer human? If so, then what the hell am I?!

I was stuck looking at myself for a long while, studying and trying to answer that very question with what little clues I had, until I heard a soft knock at the door to the room. I jumped a bit when my trance was broken. My first instinct was to hide, if even possible. I threw the covers over myself and curled up under them. I felt like a child.

I listened to the door opening and someone walking in. Even from their footsteps I could tell they were small. Then they started to hum softly the voice was feminine. The voice and the steps got closer to the bed and I hid more.

"Hello there, Mr. Lavigne. Are you going to keep hiding, or will you let me give you breakfast?" The soft, honey-like voice sang.

Slowly, I peaked out from my covers to see a short, slightly chubby woman. Her hair was that of light waves, and she had freckles on her soft face and hands. Her kind, brown eyes looked gold in the light of the window. She was holding a plate of food in front of her. I slowly got out the covers and sat up. Even sitting down, I dwarfed her.

"Mr. Lavigne, I'm Madeline Harry, but you can just call me Maddie. I'm sure you have many questions, so feel free to ask anything." She smiled softly to me, setting down the food in front of me.

"Um, yes, questions.... First one: um, what's my name? You've called me Mr. Lavigne, but is that really what it is?" I asked quietly, looking down at my food. It's almost all meat.

"Yes, that's indeed your name. You had your full name stitched into the collar of your jacket. Elias "Bo" Lavigne to be exact. Thankfully, it was still intact when you were attacked," she informed as she sat on the bed, not getting too close, though I didn't blame her with my appearance.

"Killed, you mean, Mrs. Harry," I snapped a bit, reminded by the slow pain.

"Yes, unfortunately, that is what happened," she consoled me, nodding a bit.

"’Unfortunately....’ I was laying, bleeding, guts out, not knowing my own fucking name or life, and it's unfortunate.... ‘Unfortunate’ is a cake going bad, Mrs. Harry. Not death," I growled. My emotions were finally getting to me. For a bit, I thought I was numb. At least that was something.

"Well yes, maybe that was an off choice of words. Forgive me, I guess being here and seeing others like you makes you numb to somethings," she said softly to me, her eyes filled slightly with guilt.

"Where exactly is here, and what do you mean ‘others like me’?" I questioned, my brow furrowed slightly.

"Well, others who have died and in a cruel manner of fate and have been brought back, just not in a human from. As for here, this is the house of the displaced. We help those like yourself get ready for your new lives, Mr. Lavigne."

“New lives....” I couldn't even remember my first life. I ate a bit, but the meats honestly didn't taste like anything. It was like chewing on paper.

Madeline must have seen my confusion before giggling a bit, comforting me with an answer. "You may not have your sense of taste for a few days, unfortunately. It takes a bit for your own body to get used to everything."

I nodded before eating a bit more, and maybe I was in a bit of shock from everything, but I stopped after only a few bites.

"Can you tell me everything you remember? I need to get as much information as I can so that you can be comfortable here. Maybe something like your favorite childhood memory?" She got out a notebook and pen, waiting with a soft smile on her face.

"The only thing I remember is my guts opened up in a dirty, shit filled cellar with starving dogs chained to the walls. Madeline, I couldn't remember my own fucking name. I don't even know if I had a life. Maybe it wasn't worth remembering." I chuckled nervously and held myself a bit. This was so much. Who was I?

Madeline just softly rubbed my knee from under the blanket, her eyes soft on me. She didn't say anything for a bit, but in a way, I think she understood.

"I have a small question, though. How was I found?" I finally got the strength to ask.

"A little boy found you. Apparently you were in his family's cellar. Scared him half to death, poor thing. He called the police, and next thing I knew, we were getting a call for a bat person stealing the street cats." She giggled softly.

"But I don't remember that. Or the cats....do I still have the cats?" I asked, surprised and looking around to find any felines in the room.

"Sometimes, when someone comes back like this, they sleepwalk in a way so that your mind clouds and you don't remember anything. Mostly, this sleepwalk helps others see what you were like in your previous life. Apparently, you liked cats. And no, unfortunately, we couldn't let you have any animals. The owner of the house is allergic to fur." She took the rest of my food and got off of the bed. "Speaking of the owner, you're going to be meeting them soon so we can work everything out."

I nodded, watching her clean up a bit, still thinking about, well, everything. She answered my questions for now, but more would come for sure. I waved bye to her as she left the room. I looked at my claws in a trance. Honestly, the way they shined in the light of the room was very pretty.

I sat there for a while before getting the courage to try and walk on my new feet. I will admit, I fell back on the bed the first seven times trying to stand alone. A good four times more making my first steps. Walking was a nightmare, holding onto the dressers and cabinets for dear life. I’m sorry to Madeline for the multiple scratch marks on the furniture. This destruction truly wasn't my intention, and you already seemed like nice woman.

I was holding onto a small vanity like the last life saver in Titanic as a small meow got my attention. I looked to the window to see a small kitten stuck in the tree by my room. I walked over, opening the window, looking at the small creature. It was a black cat with blue eyes, only a month old most likely crying from the height. I was looking around for the mother of the kitten, but no dice. I wanted to help the poor thing, but of course the lord of the house was allergic. But then the kitty looked at me with the softest of eyes and I caved. It was easy to scoop them out of the leaves, holding them close to me as I pet them. I was scared that my claws would hurt them, but it didn't happen.

The kitten was a girl, and due to her black fur I named her Midnight. She sat with me before going to sleep in my arms. I think that this was the first time I'd ever thought that maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

[shiro-0197]

I'm so sorry for the late reply 😭😭😭 I was so busy yesterday and then when I was finally free I was so tired and just ready to collapse somewhere— and I woke up with the worst cramps so I was just grouchy this whole morning and afternoon 😣😭😭 I'm sorry!! But I'm feeling better now, so don't worry!!

Gloves are handy haha. Unrelated, but do you like fingerless gloves?

You're such a great friend, honestly. Also, I meant to ask, do you two share a birthday too?

AKDJSKJSKS ‼️‼️‼️😿😿😿😿😿 hmm okay fine🥺🥺🥺🥺, bUT IT'S SO FUN :DDDD

your mom is literally superwoman, she's such a strong, brave, person, I can see where you get all your good traits from, now. 💖💖 And I'm really glad you told me about her. 😆

🥺🥺🥺🥺Uno reverse tho, you're way cuter 👉👈

that's understandable tho hahahah, I think it's an acquired taste. Crabs probably do taste good :D I should try, in the future. But I'm allergic to shrimp, so that's also why I stay away from seafood in general. Are you allergic to anything?

yes please omg I'm melting 😭😭 something specially made by you?? Perfection ‼️‼️‼️✨

oh I see!! I love using chopsticks because they're so compact and easy to keep. Plus most people use them the wrong way, but my grandma is Chinese, so she always made sure I used them the right way, and like, knew lots of stuff about our Chinese culture xD sorry for going offtopic!! How about you, are your grandparent big on stuff like that?

thank you so much bae. The fact that you understand me, even if I'm a bit salty at times means the world, and I hope you know I'm here for you if you ever wanna cuss at the world too >:) always ✨

I definitely did smile :D I saw fireworks last night, with a friend. My brothers called a couple of their friends over— and I ended the year with a smile, and started one with a smile too!! I hope you did as well? And I can't wait to see what memories we'll make this year 😼😼💖 do you have any plans for the first day of the year? Abigail is coming in a few minutes to pick me up, but she won't tell me where we're going, so I'm excited about that! What about you?

I love you Shiro. I really am so glad I met you. And even though 2020 had it's ups and downs, it was precious because we found each other :)

It's alright!! I've been busy (and asleep till 12, ahem) too, so it's fine hehe. I'm glad you're feeling better but I'm vv sorry your morning was like that:(( Not the best start of the year😭

I do! I think they're badass, and even though I usually forget about thei existence, I get an aesthetically pleased feeling whenever I look at them :D

Yeah, that's basically how we found each other, tho he had a different insta page at the time. It was on someone else's post, where it said "comment your birthday and find your twin" and I took a look at his posts and stories and I was like "we are one", that's basically it. Now I'm his dog or something😭

Sunshine I know it's fun but breaking your spine or getting a bruise if were talking no exaggerations isn't, so better be careful😡😡

She totally is and I always feel like an absolute asshole when I dont appreciate her or raise my voice at her because of my anger issues LIKE SIR YOURE THE WORST hopefully I'll learn to be calm😭

Nonononsense, you're the cutest there is, no comebacks🤭

Ohhh, I've never tried shrimp😭😭 Someone told me it feels like moist fishy cake which sounds bad on it's own but they love it so ehh XD I'll try it if I can, hopefully I don't waste my money when I do.

Well, not that I'm aware of? I havent tried everything in the world yet, so I dont know, but I dont think im allergic to anything~

Ohh, that's so cool! I havent really met any of my grandparents in a while, but as much as I've visited them, none of them were really into culture or anything😔 all they knew is to curse at their exes and children qkdkwkkd Dont worry about going offtopic!! It's actually nice to know something about your family and etc, it's pretty cool !!

Theres no need to thank me!!! That's what friends are for, ay? I'll surely keep that in mind, and I'll totally message you if I wanna rant^з^

Ik so glad to hear that!! I did as well, I had some very nice snacks during the countdown and it was wonderful xD I also had some random guy message me saying happy new year, and were probably never gonna talk to each other again but it was fun knowing him.

I dont really have any plans for today, just a walk, a call with Kuro and another sandwich XD

I'm looking forward to our new year with each other as well! Im so glad I got to meet you<33 I love you lots, hope your day is going well!❤❤