#oc: abby brùn

[thecryptidenthusiast]

I love this so much. but also I can't believe that she got this BEFORE meeting the vampire love of her life lol

(-wayhavenots in case you didn't know haha)

Abby, when she realizes the adults in her life were right and yes, she does regret some of her tattoos, but for the most unforeseeable reason:

[thecryptidenthusiast]

Late to this, but I got tagged by @serenpedac and @sustainably-du-mortain to make my ocs with this picrew. I decided to make two detectives from the wayhaven chronicles, and two of my Sidesteps!

Here’s detectives Abby Brùn and Kira Langford!:

And here are my Sidesteps, Erin Becker and Ace Mitchell:

I’m super late to this, so I know a lot of people have already been tagged. If you haven’t had the chance to do this yet, consider this a tag!

[thecryptidenthusiast]

OC’s as Planets 🪐

I was tagged by @sustainably-du-mortain and @wayhavenots to take this quiz for my oc’s and I am Very Late doing this.

It’s an open tag for anybody that’s interested because I don’t know who all as done this already!!

Abby Brùn - Mercury

clever. intelligent and witty. wisdom, sharpness, anxiety and indecisiveness. you are the comedian. the "make someone laugh if they are crying" kind of lover. you dont want to think too much about anything because that stops you from just having fun, but your brain doesn't ever shut off. you are curious and never ending. forecast and shadows. the smell of clean sheets.

This is kind of 50/50 for Abby. I wouldn’t say she’s the ‘witty funny one’ but she’s definitely a mess with her own anxiety. Every decision is makes is one she either stresses herself over, or makes in a knee-jerk panic moment.

Kira Langford - Earth

nurturing, generous and caring. introverted, tolerant, honest and trustworthy. you are "my phone is always on, call me any time." you are "i feel like i'm everyone's therapist." you are impressive with your stability and and peacefulness. you are wallpapers of cows and fields of ever-growing seeds. you are the best friend. mother nature. ice cold water and the smell of rain.

This fits for Kira! She’s the soft, gentle one. The one that puts everybody’s needs above her own, because that’s how she thinks she needs to be to get people to stay in her life.

Sam Rodriguez - Neptune

mercy. kindness. sweet. forgiving and compassionate. you are second chances and sometimes third. you are "its ok because everyone makes mistakes." you are "i forgive you as long as you are learning." you are not held down by the demands of your ego. you believe and right and fair. open mindedness and friendship. you are mystical and magical, observant and the smell of warm bread in the morning

This is an interesting one for Sam. So much of their attitude with everything is just…laid back. I guess they’re one to forgive, because it really takes a lot to get on their bad side to the point they cut you off. They also are one that is going to make anybody and everybody be their friend no matter what (exactly how they basically forced all of UB to be their friend lol). I can’t say they’re sweet necessarily because they’re kind of a menace.

BONUS: Sidestep

Erin Becker - Mars

passion. energy. drive. determination. you are sexual and it doesn't always have to mean what it so blatantly is. you are in tune with yourself and your body and if you don't already feel it, please try to tune into it because it is so powerful. you are at war with yourself and life and it doesn't always have to be so hard. anger is not a useless emotion but do not let it control you. love is more powerful than sex will ever be. you are the smell of fresh cut grass and a satisfied job done.

Oh, this fits her almost perfectly. She’s in tune with herself in the worst ways at times (wrapped up in her head and body, unable to let herself just exist), so she needs to find a healthier balance there. So much of her is just anger and fighting: life, others, herself. She’s terrified of love, so sex is the best thing she thinks she can provide

[thecryptidenthusiast]

Happy Valentine’s Day, lovely person 🌹

Your writing is so so amazing! I always get excited when I see you posted something. Especially your fic with Abby and Nate, I really like the way you write the two of them together.

Here’s a romance-themed OC question for any OC(s) of your choosing (no pressure to answer on Valentine’s day itself, or at all):

What is the most romantic thing your OC has done for someone else? And the other way around, what is the most romantic thing that someone else has done for your OC?

Aw anon 🥹 thank you so much for the message! I hope you’re having/have had a wonderful Valentine’s Day!!!🌹

I’ll answer the first one for Abby, and the second for my FHR OC Erin!

Most romantic thing my OC has done for someone else:

Pre-UB, back during her younger days, Abby wrote a song for her girlfriend at the time. It actually wasn’t awful! But her girlfriend (jokingly) teased her over it and she shredded it afterwards lmao. As of now she…kinda isn’t great with romantic things anymore? She’s very anxious, and how do you impress a vampire that has been around for centuries?

Most romantic thing that someone else has done for my OC?

This would’ve been back during Erin’s sidestep days! She never figured out how, but Ortega got wind that she liked music, and during one of their evening hang-outs he took her to a music shop. He also somehow managed to use his ridiculous ‘Marshal Charge’ charm/connections to get it to where he could take her after hours, since he knew she got weird in crowded spaces. This is also when he bought her a record player and some LPs!

[thecryptidenthusiast]

Trick or treat! For any of your OCs:

TRICK: Is your OC gullible?

TREAT: Does your OC have a sweet tooth?

No pressure to answer this! Sending lots of love!

Aw, thank you anon!! I’ll do a treat for Abby since I haven’t done much with her lately:

🍬: Abby would vehemently deny it, but she does have a really bad sweet tooth lol. She doesn’t indulge it very often, but when she does it can quickly descend into ‘snacking on candy at midnight’ or ‘buying icing just to eat’ territory

[thecryptidenthusiast]

💐 for ace, 🍄 for erin + 🌲 for abby?

💐 How does your OC handle being unwell or forced to rest in bed? Who cares for them and in what ways? Does your OC enjoy being doted on or are they a terrible patient? Reversed: is your OC good at taking care of others who are ill or in need?

Oh Ace is probably the worst when it comes to being forced to rest lmao. He’s got one mode and it’s ‘go until you collapse’, and if he’s not well, he just ignores it. Also hates being told what to do, so that makes dealing with him an absolute pain. Ric tried (and still tries) to take care of him, especially because he knows that he won’t take care of himself, but Ace got really good at starting arguments over nothing so Ric would forget what he was initially trying to do. Nowadays, it’s usually Chen that can get Ace to settle a little and rest! He doesn’t fall for the argument baits like Ric does, and he figured out pretty quickly that Ace just isn’t used to feeling like he can let himself be taken care of, and can work around that most of the time. Overall, a nuisance of a patient who is lucky Chen and Ric like him as much as they do.

As for caring for others…he’s not the BEST, but he gets an A for effort. All of them have bad days, mentally and physically, so Ace does what he can to help out and make things easier. Taking Spoon on walks for Chen on really rough days, hanging out and watching movies with Ric to force him to quit pushing himself for a little bit. It doesn’t feel like he’s doing much most of the time, but he tries.

🍄 What are your OCs favourite snacks? Their favourite comfort food which always cheers them up when they’re down? Favourite meal to make? Do they enjoy baking and cooking and are they any good in the kitchen?

Erin has a really messy relationship with food, honestly aslkjdasl. At least now she does, it wasn’t so bad before Heartbreak. Favorite snacks pre-Heartbreak were sour candies and anything spicy (really had a thing for hot chips). Now, it’s whatever snack she can stuff in the pockets of her stupid cargo pants.

Favorite comfort food is anything breakfast related! Back when they still barely knew each other, Ortega liked to use food as a way to get her to stick around so he could get to know her (kind of like luring a feral cat akldasl). And the first thing she remembers him buying her was a breakfast burrito, so she’s got a soft spot for those, not that she’d ever admit to that.

She can’t cook to save her life and she doesn’t have the patience to try baking, but she’s not bad at being a co-chef, so she likes helping Ortega out in the kitchen for their not-date dinners.

🌲 How deeply does your OC feel? Are they typically empathetic or do they have a hard time connecting with others in this way? What are they like when offering support and comfort to someone they care for?

Abby’s somebody that feels a lot, all the time, but is REALLY good at burying things. Having a lonely upbringing and an absentee mother kind of trained her to put her own emotions behind others, so on the outside she seems pretty put together besides her anxiety issues! But internally it’s…all a mess lasjdad. Years of repression actually make things worse in the long run, she’s finding out! So it’s actually easier for her to be empathetic and provide support to others, latching onto how they’re feeling than to try and accept/acknowledge her own feelings.

She’s not big on physical comfort in most cases, but she’s great at being a shoulder to lean on. Very good at letting somebody vent and will do what she can to help/give advice, but feels like she’s better at just being a sounding board.

[thecryptidenthusiast]

sometimes i miss these two

Late to the trend, but I had to throw out my losers and their various partners

Erin/Ortega // Erin/Chen

Ace/Danny // Erin/Wren

[thecryptidenthusiast]

She settles back in her chair, eyes roaming towards the kitchen, taking in the fridge that she knows is more stocked than it has been in months, the open bottle of wine on the counter. She looks back at him, brow quirked. “Do I even want to know how much you spent tonight?”

He pauses, gaze flicking up to meet hers before back down at his plate. Takes another bite, slow to chew as he clearly mulls over the right way to answer, and immediately Abby knows she definitely doesn’t want to take a guess. “This was a gift from me to you,” he says finally, picking up his wine glass and leaning back as well, mimicking her relaxed posture, “The price point isn’t something to concern yourself with.”

“If it’s not a concern then tell me what it was so I can pay you back.” She tries again. Nate, as loving and doting as he is -more so than she deserves- knows she hates the thought of him spending money on her. Their bills on their previous dates were always split, and her disdain for spending money had long since kept him from actually buying her anything.

“Your company this evening is repayment enough,” His praise is paired with a charming smile that, if it was months ago, would have worked on her. But she’s long since learned his deflecting tactics and they only work about half the time nowadays. “And in my defense, the dinner that was postponed all those months ago was also supposed to be a gift. It just carried over.”

“Nice try, Sewell.” She takes a sip of her wine, eyes never leaving his, “Dinner was the gift. You went grocery shopping, I don’t think that falls under the ���gift’ category. That’s very much a ‘pay you back’ kind of thing.”

“It’s a gift when I know you won’t go shopping yourself.” He grins at her faux-offended expression.

“Excuse me, I do go grocery shopping!”

He leans forward, arms resting on the table, hands clasped. “Jaanu, the last thing you bought for yourself was a box of cereal that had been opened.”

She mimics his pose, rises to the challenge. “Yeah and that made it less than a dollar.”

“It was stale.”

“You put enough milk on it you don’t notice.”

He’s actually silent at that, and she swears she can see a rival of terror and amusement on his face, making her grin in triumph. “Then, consider it a repayment to give me peace of mind that you’ll actually use what I bought before it becomes a new lifeform.” He smirks, “Or, you could allow me to come and cook for you more often.”

“Is that a promise?”

“A guarantee.”

[thecryptidenthusiast]

Ahhh so I was tagged by the amazing @thenshe--appeared , @nataliehsewell @sosolenoo​ & @vienocalledmebuddy to make my OCs in this picrew

So! The TWC kiddos are all here!

1: Abigail ‘Abby’ Brùn - just a tired, anxious giant trying her best. Really loves Nate even if it takes her awhile to stop being afraid of that feeling

2: Kira Langford - Small with a heart of gold and just wants to be Good. Started a fling with Mason that she’s still trying to tell herself is still just something fun.

3: Emma Dayal - Another sweetheart of the group. Loves music, the gym, and Ava’s arms. ‘Tu Omnia’ lives in her head 24/7

4: Sam Nesset - Menace to society. They have two settings: ‘chaos time’ and ‘loving their girlfriend Farah’. No in between.

5: Lauren ‘Lori’ Batten - Stuck in LT hell and straight up Not Having a Great Time

Tagging (only if you want! and as always im late to this so im sorry for anybody that gets double-tagged)

@agentnatesewell​ @bisexualdumbassstuff​ @amlovelies​ @pearlsandsteel​ @evilbunnyking ​@ejunkiet​  and (>:D) @peggycaarters​

and anybody else that sees this and wants to give it a go!

[thecryptidenthusiast]

💬 and 🍺 for Abby please ? 😊

Ahhh, thank you for the ask!!!

💬 - Is your OC much of a talker? Do they only speak when spoken to? (Or not even then?) Do they ever talk over others?

First meeting her, Abby is a REALLY quiet person (especially in groups or around people she isn’t close to). She does a bit better in one-on-one conversations, since her line of work sort of forces her to talk to people, but for the most part she’s pretty content just being in the background. She tends to stammer over her words, so she’s usually the one to be talked over by others - especially Ava, which...doesn’t help their friendship any laksjlakdj.

🍺 - What kind of drunk are they? (e.g. talkative, sleepy, flirty etc.)

Oooh boy. Abby is a stupid drunk kajsdlkasjldask. She’s talkative and so much louder than she ever is sober, and down for literally any dumb suggestions (dancing on tables? Racing down the street in shopping carts? She’s up for whatever). She’s flirty and definitely a handsy drunk with Nate once they’re together. So she’s just....an overall handful lmao. A happy drunk! But also a nuisance aslkjdsalkj so knowing how she gets, she doesn’t ever really drink.

[thecryptidenthusiast]

Abby 10. Do they like children? Do children like them? Do they have or want any children? What would they be like as a parent? Or as a godparent/babysitter/ect?

Sam 26. How do they act when they’re happy? Do they sing? Dance? Hum? Or do they hide their emotions?

Kira 46. Do they make a good first impression? Does their first impression reflect them accurately? How do they introduce themselves?

Please and thank you! 🥰💕

~ tracing-freckled-constellations ~

!!! Thank you for the questions!!!!

Abby: She does like kids, and kids usually really like her! She sort of naturally slips into the caretaker role, so taking care of children is kinda second nature? That being said, she doesn’t want kids because she’s convinced she’d be a terrible mom. As far as she’s concerned, taking care of them for a weekend is one thing, actually being a role model/parental figure, and that’s something she never had growing up (she’d be a good mom tbh, she’s just...really hard on herself). But for now, she’s content being ‘Auntie Abby’ to Verda’s kids.

Sam: They actually are pretty open with their emotions, and it takes a lot to rattle them?? They’re happy a lot of the time, they don’t like dwelling on the bad of things. So a lot of laughing, sweeping people (aka Farah) into hugs. Good natured teasing and really dumb jokes lol. If they’re happy, they want to make other people happy too -or at least get a smile out of them.

Kira: She makes a great first impression! She’s good with people, and comes across very bubbly and friendly (lives by the motto ‘you catch more flies with honey than vinegar’). Problem is, this overly optimistic/friendly approach to everything has the tendency to give off the idea that she’s naive, or a bit of an airhead. This...isn’t really the case. Get to know her and the bubbly persona falls away a bit. She wears her heart on her sleeve and cares so much, but she’s really down the earth and more serious then people give her credit for.

Super detailed OC questions

[thecryptidenthusiast]

Hello! 🧸🌋🌅 for Abby, please. And thank you! ♡

Hello!!! Thank you for the ask!! And sorry it took so long to get to!!

🧸 - On a scale of 1 - 10, how ‘soft’ is your OC? 1 being the edgiest of edges and 10 being a literal teddy bear that cries at everything? (Bonus questions, where on the scale would your OC place themselves, and where would they like to be on the scale?)

Despite her layers of weird and awkwardness she has, she’s probably a 7/10 on the soft scale. She’s like, 78% heart lol. She cares, she’s just REALLY bad at showing it.

She’d probably put herself at a 5, she thinks she’s too weird to come across as soft, and would probably wish she was like...a 2/10 lol.

🌋 - What’s your OCs temper like? Are they a slow boil, or an instant explosion?

In book 1? SUPER slow boil. By book 3? Closer to an instant explosion lmao. As the series progresses, her control over her temper is getting weaker and weaker alskdldkd

🌅 - What is your OCs favourite time of day? Are they a morning person or a night owl?

She likes midnight! She’s a night owl and has sleeping problems, so she’s come to like nighttime

[thecryptidenthusiast]

🎭 🎁 (about all of them if it's okay!!)

Alkjdlas that’s totally fine, thank you for letting be ramble about these three!!

🎭 - Does your OC show different sides of themselves to different people?

Abby: Abby definitely does! She’s a lot more tense around new people and large groups (she has a high friendly stat but more in a sense of...she’s very Professional and tries to keep things stable). Growing up the way she did and spending so much of her time alone, she’s sort of built walls around herself because, as far as she’s concerned, that’s the safe thing to do (and definitely has herself convinced she’s happy that way when uhhh, she definitely Is Not Happy like that). It isn’t until book 2 that she’s actually loosened up around most of Unit Bravo and they got to see her more laidback/goofy personality - and has YET to do that with Ava because those two do Not get along.

Kira: Kira does...in the complete opposite sense of Abby lmao. She’s all charm and smiles around new people, coming across as a literal ray of sunshine to everybody she meets. The closer she gets to people thought, the more she starts to drop the ‘happy-go-lucky, aloof’ attitude, and they get to see she’s got a stubborn streak and is a lot more serious about things then people realize...or give her credit for. Her initial attitude is definitely a double edged sword kind of thing: it’s easy to get her job done when she’s charming and nice, but new people tend to think she doesn’t take things seriously and is a bit of an airhead

Sam: Definitely does NOT. What you see is what you get with them lmao. They’re....a lot, and they know that, and they ENJOY being a lot to deal with (their top stat is sarcasm, and the second is a tie between stubborn and charming aklajsdlas). You will either Like Them, or they won’t rest until they get you to ADMIT that you like them - which...is how Ava became their closest friend on the team, because Sam made it their personal mission to make her Like Them aslkdjasdlk. (Or, in the Mayor and Bobby’s care, they just won’t care enough about them to care that they don’t like them).

🎁 - What kind of gift-giver are they? Do they give thoughtful gifts? Expensive gifts? Practical gifts?

Abby: Definitely a thoughtful gift giver! Anything she gives someone is going to have some sort of meaning behind it (she’s a big Softie deep down and very nostalgic). She’s also really just, awkward about giving gifts askljlkasd so she just usually leaves it where she knows the recipient will find it and then hide from them for the rest of the day lmao

Kira: A mix between expensive and practical, honestly! She’s more likely to give expensive gifts, but they’re going to be things she knows the person will want or use - she’s bought Mason a new leather jacket after his got messed up after a mission, Adam a nice set of aviators (mostly because she just straight up didn’t Like his first set and they drove her crazy aslkjdsalkj), those kinds of things!

Sam: You’re more likely to get a joke gift from Sam then anything else aslkjdsalkj. BUT, if they do take it seriously, they’re more likely to get somebody something thoughtful...and then refuse to admit it meant anything lmao.

[thecryptidenthusiast]

🖊 immediately here to ask you to gush about Abby? 🥺

Ahhhh, thank you! Here’s some ~sad backstory~ rambling abt Abby lol.

🖊 - Abby was in an accident the day following her 19th birthday. She doesn’t remember much from it (she remembers getting into the car, and waking up in the hospital four days afterwards). Outside of Rebecca, who reached out to her after she’d already been released (a sore point for her she DEFINITELY doesn’t like thinking about), she’s never told a soul what happened. This is also the cause of her severe claustrophobia, and the reason why she panics if she’s in a car as a passenger.

[thecryptidenthusiast]

who will be there for you when you fall apart

Pairing: Nate Sewell/Abby Brùn (non-detective OC)

Rating: T?

Wordcount: 2814

Summary: A solo mission Nate is sent on goes south, and Abby takes it upon herself to take care of him (also known as, I wanted to write soft content for these two)

Four weeks.

An entire month, since Abby had last seen Nate. He’d been sent out of the country for a mission that was only supposed to be two weeks, at most. A mission that, apparently, outranked her clearance level to know any specifics about. He was somewhere in Europe, and he was needed for negotiations, research, and translations, is all she’d been told.

A month. And she’d only heard from him a handful of times. Wherever he was, wherever he’d been sent, was isolated enough that cell services were spotty. Everything about this mission made her antsy - anxiously pacing, checking her phone. Checking with the others. It was weeks of being trapped in a whirlwind of worry, unable to do much else besides think about him.

What if he got hurt? He’d been sent with other agents, a different group. This was supposed to be simple -not a month, only two weeks at most- and they didn’t want to leave Wayhaven unprotected. To leave Maeve and Abby unguarded, not with the Trappers bounties looming over them.

Nate is strong. Smart. Capable. She knows this. And yet, knowing that did nothing to quell the fear.

Then, the few and far between messages stopped entirely by the end of the third week.

The silence wore on them all, putting the rest of them on edge. Farah did her best to keep a brave face, to smile and lighten the room whenever possible, but it was obvious she was putting on a face for them. Her own worries, and the worries of everyone else, weighed heavy in her eyes whenever she thought no one was looking.

Morgan’s temper was short - shorter than usual, even with Maeve by her side. A piece of her family was missing, and the stress was wearing on her. More time on the roof, more cigarettes just to keep her hands busy.

Ava was stony, stoic in a way they had never seen her. Either making calls -to Rebecca, to other agents, to anyone that could give them answers- or destroying training dummies in the gym.

It’s Rebecca that finally calls them all into the common room, to fill them in. When Abby felt as if the ground had tilted beneath her feet.

‘The mission...failed. The treaty fell through. No information on what set the group off. There were some casualties. Nate was hurt, but he’s recovering and set to be on a plane back.’

There were casualties

Nate was

Hurt.

Abby didn’t sleep for a full 24 hours after the meeting.

The others checked in -quiet, careful around her. None tried to make any sort of conversation, aware that she was too lost to give more than one-worded answers.

(Farah gave her sad smiles. Hugs and quiet promises of ‘he’s okay’ and ‘we’ll be alright’)

She wished they worked. She wished the reassurances eased her worries.

She’s in his room when he finally comes home, late into the evening. She’d taken to staying in his rather than her own - being surrounded by pieces of him provided at least a small bit of comfort. Made the loneliness a little less all-consuming.

He comes to her like a ghost.

She stands from her seat at the desk as soon as the door opens - she’d been trying to read, trying to give herself something to focus on besides the clock hands that didn’t seem to be moving fast enough, waiting for him to come back.

He looks - two dimensional. There but not, almost terrifyingly hollow. His hair is a mess, clothes wrinkled, clearly the same ones he’d been wearing for some time now.

He looks exhausted, worn too thin. Her heart aches at the sight.

Still, she hovers where she’s standing, almost too afraid to approach him. As if, by breaking the silence of the room, he’d vanish into thin air.

Dropping the bag slung over his shoulder with a dull thud, his eyes finally focus a little, finally coming to the here and now, and he smiles at her -(it’s a strained gesture, too heavy to be genuine, something for her sake rather than his). His voice is airy, a whisper nearly lost in the space between them. “Hello.”

With the trance now broken, she’s across the room in just a few strides. Throwing her arms around his neck with a shaky laugh, it’s less of a hug and more of her just crashing into him; she tries, tries to be mindful of how unsteady he seems, how he sways on the spot, but the urge to hold onto him and never let go is overwhelming. “Nate,” She tests his name, sighs it into his shoulder, as if seeing if this was all real. He’s hugging her back with just as much force, as if he’s trying to lose himself in her. “I was so worried about you.”

“I’m sorry,” His voice is muffled, head tucked into her neck. He sounds so small, fragile and uneven. Splinters - spiderweb cracks in glass, and she’s terrified he’s close to shattering.

“Don’t be,” She draws back, just far enough to be able to look at him, only as far as either of them are willing to be apart. Runs her hands up his sides, along his shoulders, finally coming up to cup his cheeks. Her eyes sting, but she does her best to will the tears away, instead trying to focus entirely on him. Him, alive and here again. Reaching up, she brushes his hair from his face, watching as his eyes flutter closed, leaning into the touch. “You don’t need to apologize.”

Nate signs then, breathing heavily through his nose. He doesn’t open his eyes, and she doesn’t push him to. Not when she can see how clenched his jaw is, or the way his brows are pinched. Heavy thoughts are hanging over him like storm clouds, threatening to drag him under.

One hand still holding his hair away, she brushes a thumb along the deep wrinkle between his brows, a small effort to try and smooth it. “Let me help,” She whispers, tracing his cheek, his jaw. Safe, he’s safe. Running through her mental checklist of what she can do, what needs to be done. “Let me take care of you.”

With his hand in hers, she guides him towards his bathroom.

She flips the light on, keeping the dimmer as low as possible, more for the sake of his eyes than her own, before letting go and heading towards the bathtub. She’d teased him once about his, in her opinion, overly extravagant bathtub. Something large, old-styled - a claw-footed tub she hated thinking about how awful it must’ve been hauling into the Warehouse. But now, as she’s turning the water on and getting the temperature right, she’s grateful for it.

As the tub begins to fill, she turns to find Nate still standing where she’d left him. He’s unfocused again, eyes miles away, drifting off. She takes deliberately careful steps until she’s in front of him, giving him a gentle smile. With the better lighting in the bathroom, she can see just how exhausted he really looks now - dark circles under his eyes, looking almost like heavy bruises. She knew he didn’t need to sleep much, but also knew it wasn’t good for him to go days without it.

Taking a hold of the edges of his jacket, she tugs lightly to get his attention. “May I?” He blinks, before finally nodding.

They’re quiet as she helps him undress, the only sounds in the room the running water and their own breaths. It’s comfortably intimate, carefully peeling the layers away, folding them and setting them on the nearby counter with care. They’d need to be washed, but that’s a problem for tomorrow. Nate, and his lost expression, is her only focus right now.

Bare from the waist up, her hands wander again. It’s more out of habit and for her own peace of mind -he’s really, truly home- than anything else. It’s during this impromptu check-over that she sees the bruises mottling his right side, terrifyingly dark even in the low light of the bathroom.

“Nate.” The air feels knocked from her lungs, his name a rushed whisper. She traces the yellowing edges with a featherlight touch, trying to see how far it went.

He takes her hand, dropping it limply to his side. “It’s alright. It’s healing.” He’s tense, in voice and posture now, clearly ending the conversation before it can start. Again, she doesn’t push any further. She doesn’t - can’t dwell on the thought of what caused such a wound. That with his healing ability, for the bruise to still be so visible, points to the fact that his ribs had likely been broken at one point. If she dwells on that, the sting in her eyes and the lump in her throat gets harder to push aside. So, she brings herself back to the now. He’s here, and he needs her.

She only leaves him when she realizes the tub is nearing full, going to turn the tap off while he finishes undressing. He just kicks the rest of his clothes off to the side, clearly not having the energy to deal with them.

“Go ahead, the water should be fine.” She whispers, touching his arm as she passes, grabbing his jeans and folding them for him as he goes and gets in the tub. He’s still tense, hands curling and gripping the edge of the tub, even as she comes over and settles on her knees behind where he’s leaning.

She’s gently gathering up his hair when he finally breaks the silence that had fallen over them again, quiet and tired. “You don’t need to do all this, love.”

“I know,” And she does. She knows she doesn’t have to dote over him like this, “I want to though, as long as you’re okay with it. I can- I’ll leave, if you want me to.” She’d understand if he didn’t want her there, if he wanted space right now. It wouldn’t be easy, but she wouldn’t impose on him.

“Don’t,” His answer is rushed, almost panicked, and her chest aches. “Please, don’t go.”

So, she doesn’t. She shuffles around, grabbing what she’d need - his hairbrush, first. Something wooden with boar’s hair bristles, heavy and expensive and entirely him. Slowly, gently, she starts to work it through his hair. It’s long, longer than the last time she’d seen him, and it’s an almost unruly mess of knots and curls. He’d not been dealing with it while he was away, probably just tying it up again and again to keep it out of his face. She tries to be careful, working from the ends up, she does what she can to keep from tugging too hard, and any tug is followed by a soft apology and a kiss to the top of his head.

After she’s done and she can brush her fingers through it without snagging, she’s shuffling around again to gather his hair products. Multiple steps, all expensive, and some with labels she doesn’t understand. Another habit of his she’d lovingly teased him about. She’d called it all excessive, at one point, when he managed to talk her into allowing him to wash her hair with his own products. It was a long standing battle between them: she thought anything beyond a single step was too much effort, and he hated her cheap shampoo that she kept filling with water to get as much use out of as possible - a battle she lost, since her own shampoo had mysteriously vanished from his shower when she left it there.

Still, while she might not understand all the labels, she knew the routine, unintentionally memorizing it. Just as she knew how he preferred his tea, and he knew how she took her coffee. A little piece of him she carried in her mind.

Actually washing his hair is a slower process now, seeing as there’s so much of it to deal with. The quiet blanket over the room interrupted only by soft requests, ‘lean up’ and ‘tilt your head back for me’. Working the shampoo through, her fingers rub his scalp, earning a quiet hum from him that has her smiling. Conditioner is after, then an oil that leaves her hands slick and smelling of something almost like cinnamon.

It isn’t until the oil is left to sit that she scoots over, moving into his line of sight, resting her chin on the lip of the tub. He’s watching her, expression hard to read in the dim light.

“Hello.” His voice is a low mumble, not as strained but still so tired. She smiles, idly trailing her fingers down his cheek.

“Hey.”

“Thank you, habibi. You didn’t have to go through all this,” She thinks there’s a tug of guilt in his voice, even though he’s smiling -a weak, shadow of one, but a real smile nonetheless. “I don’t mean to have you fretting over me.”

“You do enough fretting for the both of us, it’s only fair I get to take care of you every once in a while.” Her teasing earns her a soft laugh, gentle kisses to the tips of her fingers, still settled on his cheek. She doesn’t want to push, doesn’t want to break the bubble of comfort over them, but worry still weighs heavily on her mind. “Do you...want to talk about it?”

He sighs, shaking his head before taking her hand in his own wet one. “I don’t.” Intertwines their fingers, pressing a kiss to each of her knuckles. He’s deflecting, she recognizes the pattern now. Avoids subjects he doesn’t want to dwell on with affection. It doesn’t ease her worry, but she doesn’t push him, certain that he’ll open up when he feels comfortable.

(It will eat at her until then, she also knows this. Her Nate, with his bleeding heart and a penchant to want to help everyone. Whatever happened will loom, following him like a shadow - whatever loss and death he saw will not leave him, and all she can do is hope he’ll share the burden with her some day)

Instead, she just uses her free hand to trace the gentle slope of his nose. Down, up, and down again, until he’s scrunching his face and smiling again, until she’s smiling too. “Let’s get your hair rinsed.”

This is faster than washing had been - it only takes a few minutes to rinse the rest of the product from his hair, and after she grabs a few towels for him, leaving him to dry off.

Getting ready to lay down is a familiar routine, a comfortable song and dance for them by now. A single set of his pajamas: the pants for him, the shirt for her to steal. Their rhythm is only interrupted by the quiet exchange of words, stolen kisses. Neither drifting far from the other for long, being drawn together once more.

(She offers to help with his hair for the night, tie it up somehow so it won’t bother him, but he turns her down with another kiss, a murmur of ‘I’d rather just rest’)

In bed, she draws him to her without a word, and he gladly takes his place at her side (a place that had been too empty for too long). With his head on her chest and his arms around her, they become a comfortable tangle of limbs. She’s hugging him, probably a little tighter than necessary -he’s home and safe and her’s once more- running her fingers through his still-damp hair.

Almost immediately, any lingering tension drains from him, relaxing in her hold. His voice is low, already getting heavier, and she knows her concerns about his lack of sleep were valid ones. “I love you,” She feels him grip her shirt, as if to make sure she doesn’t go anywhere, “Thank you, again, for...everything.”

She wants to promise that she isn’t going anywhere. That he’s safe, that she’ll be here to chase any night terrors away. That she won’t let him go. But the words don’t come, because she can’t make those promises, not truly, no matter how much she wishes she could. The nightmares will still come, she can only be there for comfort after the fact - the balm to an ache he won’t share with her. She can’t promise to never let him go, just as he can’t make that promise to her, not with the lives they lead.

So, instead she settles for pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “I love you too,” Another kiss, as close to his forehead as she can manage with their position, “Sleep, a chuisle.”

It isn’t long before his breathing is steady and slow, leaving her to silently watch the ceiling well into the rest of the night.

[thecryptidenthusiast]

6, 10, 17, and 20 for the OC questions!! whoever you want to talk about!! <3 --nataliehsewell

So you asked four questions, I decided to semi-cheat and pick one for each of my detectives. I hope that’s okay!

(Kira Langford) -> 6. What were they like at school? Did they enjoy it? Did they finish? What level of higher education did they reach? What subjects did they enjoy? Which did they hate?

Kira’s always been a really good student! She was friendly, but a little on the shy side growing up (so she had some rough patches early on dealing with bullying. She’s a sensitive little bean so every mean comment stuck with her even if she tried not to show it). But as for her grades, she’s always excelled. She might have gone through periods of not liking school itself, but she’s always loved learning. She graded in the top percentile of her high school and went on to double major in psychology and sociology before pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

Her favorite subjects in college were definitely her psychology ones – anything having to do with the human mind and thought process and the like was fascinating to her. She went for a Bachelor of Science, so while she knew she was going to have to go through science classes, she didn’t enjoy them, especially her labs.

(Abby Brùn) -> 10. Do they like children? Do children like them? Do they have or want any children? What would they be like as a parent? Or as a godparent/babysitter/ect?

So, in the main AU I usually have Abby in, she’s the older sister to Maeve Brùn – after they lost Rook, she became the mom figure in Maeve’s life that Rebecca wasn’t around to be. This kind of gives her an edge, so by default she’s really good with kids! And kids like her; she was able to raise Maeve still being a kid herself at the time. Now as an adult? She knows she doesn’t have to hover over the kid. They get freedom as long as they’re safe, she knows where they are, etc.

Despite all this though, Abby thinks she’d make an awful mother, so she kinda swears off the idea of having kids her own. She didn’t have a mom, so she feels like she doesn’t have a clue how to actually be one. She’s worried she wouldn’t be a good mom. Very much the thought process of “Sure I know how to keep a kid alive, but I can’t be the emotional figure they need?? How do you be a mom???” So, no kids….yet.

Across the board she’d be good at taking care of kids though. Her own, somebody else’s, she naturally falls into her caretaker mode.

(Sam Nesset) -> 17. Do they like to take photos? What do they like to take photos of? Selfies? What do they do with their photos?

Until meeting UB/dating Farah, Sam wasn't really one to take pictures! They don’t have an issue with them, or have a problem being in photos, it just wasn’t something they did much. 

Now? They’re right alongside Farah taking photos of UB. They say it’s because it annoys Ava and Morgan (and that’s absolutely part of the reason), but it did kind of triggered a more sentimental side of them they won’t ever admit to. They found a family in UB, they want to remember them. 

With Farah, the pair of the MASTERS of couple’s photos. Romantic? Cheesy? Silly? They’ve taken them all. The sillier ones get stuck all over the living room of the Warehouse. And the kitchen. The hallways. Morgan and Ava’s doors. Because Sam lives to be a menace. 

But the more serious ones? Actual cute ones of them posing with Farah, or just candid ones of Farah by herself? Those get tucked away in their wallet.

(Emma Dayal) -> 20. Do they like musicals? Music in general? What do they do when they’re favourite song comes?

Emma loves musicals! She’ll listen to whatever musical soundtrack she can get her hands on, but has yet to get the chance to actually go see a musical (something she hopes to get to do one day!)

She really just loves music in general, and has a playlist for just about anything imaginable. Work? She has a playlist. Gym? Workout playlist. Shower? Playlist of songs she doesn’t have to worry about wanting to skip. She’s even got playlists sorted out into different moods depending on whatever she’s got to deal with throughout the day. 

She’s used to spending a lot of time cooped up in her office doing paperwork, so she kind of got used to having at least one earphone in since being in complete silence makes her uncomfortable. Being alone listening to music means she’s also gotten into the habit of singing to herself whenever her favorite songs come on - a habit that she actively had to try and break/remember not to do when UB became part of her life.