yahnaa-padney

[yahnaa-padney]

soloharper​:

Harper slowly shook her head from one side to the other while a tutting sound emerged from her lips. “Not at all,” she added. “Pesky indeed. But some of us risk our lives every day to make sure we have them. It would be unfair to let people believe we are, somehow, gambling with their lives, right?” Because, in the end, that’s what they were doing by wasting more than they could put their hands on. “I don’t know… All this awful singing,” she sighed. “Doesn’t it put you off?”

Yahnaa nodded. “You are a runner too?” she asked. She felt like her new role was important, but she wished the community could be more self-sufficient, at some point there would be nothing left outside to pick clean. Yahnaa chuckled. “No, it doesn’t. I think it is adorable. Singing is a great way to relax the body, everyone should be allowed to do it, whether it sounds good or not,” she said. “Even if they could also not do it on stage.”

[yahnaa-padney]

victorbakker​:

In the middle of this storm, Vic had a feeling the walkers would be the least of their worries. The wind was fairly significant - not flip the car over at any moment significant, but enough that he could feel the pressure of it against the sides of the car as particularly strong gusts blew through. Even if they could drive the car in this it probably would be a foolish attempt - just as much as he thought standing out in the rain on ‘watch’ in something like this was. He could barely see to the end of the hood of the car with the pelting raindrops and there was enough noise to block out just about anything that might attract a walker in their direction. 

Nope, waiting it out was probably the best bet. 

He slumped down in the seat a little further as the gust of wind and rain entered the cab until the door was slammed moments after the person slid into the seat. He acknowledged their words with little more than a hum. They had no where to go and nothing much to do. How wonderful. 

“Great…” He murmured, absently folding his hands in his lap. At least they had the truck for the sake of shelter if nothing else. But just as that thought passed through his mind something skittered across the highway and slammed against the windshield, sending a fissure of a crack across the glass. 

Maybe that wouldn’t last so long. 

“So nothing, you said?” He remarks, sitting up a bit and glancing towards the map in their hands. “We may not last too long sitting around in here, either, at this rate.” 

Yahnaa yelped when a crack appeared on the glass, muttered a prayer and sighed. “Any better plans?” she asked. She knew there was barely a building out here. The States was one of those countries where so much road stretched between places that at times the country seemed deserted. Having grown up in places with a large part of the city sprawling out, Yahnaa knew for a fact that she didn’t like this. She hid the map away again. “I still think staying seated is our safest bet, at least until the rain ends. Moving away from a safe space in weather where you can barely see ten meters ahead means far more trouble.”

[yahnaa-padney]

thehollyxwood​:

“my last name is wood, so when you put it all together…” she chuckled a little with a shrug and a roll of her eyes (one day when she found her mother they were going to have a serious conversation about the name she’d been cursed with and the repercussions of naming your child after your own forgotten  aspirations) “the funniest thing is, my mothers last name was merrick before she married my father and it’s also what she chose to name my sister so it’s not exactly an acceptable alternative for me.”

there really wasn’t an alternative out there she could think of (well there was one but that was mostly just the fanciful wishes of her inner romantic) so for now she was stuck, even if it was such a small thing in the grand scheme of things to be stuck on.

“mx. padney.” she corrected herself with a nod “i’ll remember that for the next time i ask you to take a spin with me.” and she would, remember that is, it would take more than three or four glasses of foamy magic to fuzz her memory up enough to forget something she’d been specifically told. 

and speaking of foamy magic, it was surprising really that the more she’d sipped, the more she’d liked it - ray had definitely made a believer out of her at least with this batch.

she led yahnaa out on to the makeshift dancefloor, spinning her a little as they got there, the music wasn’t exactly in line with the move but she’d always been more of a fan of the classics then anything else, which was why she adored nix so much really, he was always willing to indulge her when she felt like returning to her training “ i have a friend who loves to dance probably more than i do - he’s always on the look out for new partners, i’ll introduce you if we come across him, that way you’ll never be stuck without a partner.”

“Hollywood? Is that a porn star name?” She made a face. “Your parents could’ve learned a lot from mine,” she said with a laugh. “I say change your name, nobody will notice, I lost my passport months ago.” Which was probably for the better because her old picture was horrifying. She had made some make-shift ��identity cards” with the kids on the road one scary Saturday, but she didn’t think she would ever need them again.

“Please do,” she said with a grin. “On both of those promises,” she added, hoping Holly got the joke. 

She allowed herself to be dragged to the dancef loor, giddy at the thought of dancing and threw the crowd a smile. “Oh, who is this fellow of yours?” she asked, throwing her hips around like in the bollywood dances she had grown up loving. “I have been keeping my eye out for a couple of people that I know will take my hand if I offer it,” she suggested. But so far she hadn’t spotted Kaz or Yami yet.

[yahnaa-padney]

victorbakker​:

when: July 26th, midafternoon where: bumfuck nowhere Georgia Outside Athens, Georgia somewhere who: semi-open [ @yahnaa-padney​, @rehabilitatedhero​, @charliechomsky​ ]

To say he took the first opportunity he could get after his head cleared to disappear from town for a little while was an understatement. Vic had wanted nothing more than to pretend the events of the previous day or two hadn’t happened at all, would go so far as to pretend he couldn’t remember it if he needed to in the haze of a drunken stupor. But he remembered enough of it - and running from his problems had always been his signature move, so what was to change now?

He’d been feeling the slightest bit better once they’d put an hour or two driving distance between themselves and the town, when he’d had something to focus his attention on rather than how he’d royally managed to fuck something else up in his life. But with the darkening skies opening wide overhead and their only ride home deciding to betray them with a drained battery leaving them stranded in the middle of a deserted highway - well. 

Life’s a bitch. 

But they were going no where fast, so Vic had simply accepted the fate and took shelter in the cab of the truck, watching absently as the rain pelted the windshield and the flashes of lightening illuminated the sky every few minutes. He certainly knew nothing of Georgia storms and whether or not they’d go on for hours or minutes, but there was no use trying to work on the car - or much of anything - until it all died down. That was his opinion, anyway. Certainly the others could do whatever the fuck they wanted.

He wasn’t in any rush.

The slam of one of the doors brings him out of his head though, rubbings hands over his face and glancing towards the other. “Probably best to just wait for it to clear a bit, unless you’re seein’ something I’m not.” Shelter, or somewhere else they could lay low for a while. Though shelter could very well also mean walkers - or a handful of other problems they didn’t need beyond just a dead battery. 

Yahnaa had been eager to put Kaz’ plan into action, writing down the first parts she still remembered, and trying to jot down as much as possible as she followed the runners outside. Certainly she hadn’t considered getting stuck on the highway in a storm. She figured keeping a perimeter and making as little noise and movement was their best bet until the rain cleared. She put herself on watch until her form was completely drenched. Surely the zombies too would keep themselves dry in this weather. She couldn’t remember when last she had seen a zombie movie in the rain.

She pulled herself back into the car, smiled at Vic and sat down with her damp map. “I see nothing,” she said with a smile, pushing her wet hair back under her hijab. “I also cannot be trusted around vehicles,” she informed him. She smoothed out the map and drabbled some things down. “Pretty sure the worst thing to look at car batteries is when it’s raining. Water damage and all that.” She was still only looking at her map as she spoke.

[yahnaa-padney]

soloharper​:

Harper’s eyebrows wiggled ever so slightly, and she pushed her lips into what she believed to be a semblance of a smile. “That’s not how I would put it,” she couldn’t help but disagree. And as Yahnaa continued to gush about their setting, Harper had to bite into her lower lip not to say something that could have come across as ridiculously inappropriate.

After a pause for Harper to collect all the strength she could muster, she shrugged towards her companion. “Every week? I don’t think that would be practical,” she shook her head. A circus such as that happening every week was a beacon to their enemies and the wanderers outside the gates. She couldn’t think of anything less logical to do. “Besides, we must ensure we have some of these resources on reserve, right?”

Yahnaa inflated a little, sighed and nodded. “You are right, that wouldn’t be practical.” When the stranger beside her noted why, she nodded once more. “Pesky resources, but how can I disagree, we don’t have the ability to indulge ourselves anymore. Still, to have something like this, I think it is good motivation. A nice bonding experience,” she suggested.

[yahnaa-padney]

rinamunroe​:

a mistake, then. for it appeared rina had picked the bubbliest and most talkative girl from the crowd. cute as she is, she’s already overbearing and while the door opens and rina makes to leave, she can’t help but shy away from her enough to keep her goods to herself. 

“the door’s good enough,” she tells her with a small nod, a small smile. “i don’t need anything else.”

Yahnaa’s eyes glazed over a bit with sadness. “Sorry, I am way too overbearing, aren’t I. But please, let me buy you a drink, I swear I don’t need anything in return for it, everyone just deserves some random acts of kindness. Especially drinks from random weird strangers,” she suggested. Yahnaa was almost exploding inwardly at the thought of not being allowed to help. She saw the sling and just had to. 

[yahnaa-padney]

leonadams​:

as cruel as it might be, leon didn’t foresee her words doing much for him in the upcoming days. by no fault of her own, of course. it’s just the way he is; choosing to do things by his own book and his own word without any influence from others, if he could help it. safer, he thinks, to follow his own gut. easier, maybe, for when things went wrong. he’d be the only one to blame.

or the only one left to blame himself, anyway.

“do you have family?” he asks, touring the spotlight back to her.

She narrowed her eyes a little when he deflected so obviously, but didn’t comment on it. He would see. Humanity liked to think they had free choice, but they could still be affected by those around them. Maybe she was just too much of an old wise grandparent. “I do, my brother is here with me. You won’t see him very often, he’s very… shy. The rest of my family is in Nepal, I can only hope they’re doing well,” she stated. “How about you?” 

[yahnaa-padney]

mischiefmaxed​:

max allows yahnaa to drag her anywhere. hell, if yahnaa took her outside to dance around some streetlight pole, she’d follow without question, a smile on her face and a fuzzy feeling in her chest. she needed this, she thinks. a moment where she could let go and enjoy herself despite the drama and all of the things she worried about around town.

“oh, look at you, ma cherie!” max swoons, “all these moves!”

She extended a smirk at the compliment, not really sure what she was doing. She had always danced in clubs, followed those around her, while not knowing the finer details of the dances. She had grown up on Bollywood movies, and tried out those dance routines frequently, not knowing what style it was or later on where it was from. She just shook her arms up high and moved her whole body around some imaginary pivot point. She moved Max in her arms, laughing as she used Max’ arm to do a little twirl. “I have no idea what I am doing!” She called over the music.

[yahnaa-padney]

liamhart​:

“yeah. he’s on the council.” from where they stood, liam nods towards his older brother with a small and sad smile, still observing how he spoke to different members of the town, how he put on a front to support them if he could. not that either of them wanted to be there but, jesse would always take the duty he’s given seriously, wouldn’t he?

hearing the word hero brings liam’s cheeks to glow an embarrassed rose and he shakes his head with a passion. “no — no, i  — i didn’t do it alone. jimmy and addy were there. they’re more hero than i am — i just — no, not me.” 

Yahnaa looked in the direction Liam pointed, looking for an older version of Liam, thinking she found him, but certain she had not met him face to face before. She turned back to Liam then. “You look sad,” she noted, but her face suggested it was all alright if he felt sad.

She raised an eyebrow and shook her head. “Team effort doesn’t make you less of a hero, Liam,” she said, maybe a little too forcefully. “I know this, reading about heroes used to be what I did on my downtime.” Aka mythology nerd.

[yahnaa-padney]

thehollyxwood​:

her nose crinkles up a little even as the smile remains fixed on her face “not really, at least i don’t think you do - i on the other hand don’t…generally introduce myself by my full name.” or at least she hadn’t since vic had given her half a complex about it, still refusing to refer to her as anything other than hollywood (one word, no space, still infuriating) “when your full name makes you sound like a cheap 1970′s porn star it’s honestly not something you jump to divulge.” she shrugs a little “yours is super pretty though, wanting to say it as much as possible is not even the slightest bit weird.”

“now that that’s out of the way though…” she holds out her hand with a flourish, the beer floating around her system causing her to indulge the silly, dramatic side of herself she usually kept firmly under wraps around strangers, or maybe it was the fact that yahnaa didn’t really seem in the least bit intimidating, just lovely in a way that was rare to find these days “may i have this dance ms. padney?”

Yahnaa narrowed her eyes with a grin still stamped on her face. “Now you have to indulge me. Porn star name, I need to hear it,” she stated. Of course she would never joke about other people’s names. After all, she had grown up in different cultures where someone else's language was often the but of a joke.

“Thank you,” she said, smiling brightly. “My mom wanted to name me something she had never heard before, and my father said it needed to sound well with our last name. My brother is named Aashish, Aashish Padney. It just sounds nice, I am a sucker for it, I blame my dad.” Her dad, her whole family back home. She could only wish and pray and hope that they were okay.

“Mx,” she corrected her new dance partner with a wink. “I use the enby term,” she added, but still smiling brightly took Holly’s hand and made a little bow.

[yahnaa-padney]

losing-faith-in-what-you-made-up​:

“You know my weakness… a challenge, I really can’t resist one.” It was probably the best way to get Yami to do anything, precent it as a challenge and it wouldn’t be a hard sell. “Depends who hard your going to go with Cardi B. Like if I’m not in love with you by the end of the song you didn’t go hard enough.” Yami kinda of did already and them both finding each other through all of this made the fondness stronger, because Yami had no one but her friends, no hopes of family walking through the door here.

“Oh, I plan on going hard,” she promised Yami. “I know all my verses, and I will forget all the words easily, but I am a pro at improvisation.” She offered a grin, settling on Cardi-B. To her it made no difference, she would rock out to any singer, no matter the range of their voices or whether it was singing or rapping. Bruno Mars had all the good parts of the song in her opinion, but she would enjoy herself regardless. It wasn’t about how well she did the song, but about how much fun she had doing it.

[yahnaa-padney]

incendiarious​:

“sloppy socks,” logan repeats, putting on a faux serious expression as if he’s giving the name serious thought before nodding decidedly. “i like it. sloppy socks it is.” done with his impromptu theatrics, he laughs, brushing the condensation off the side of the glass with his fingertips.

“i was going to offer you a tour, but i think you might know the place better than i do,” he admits with a soft laugh. “maybe you could give me a tour sometime instead?” if he tried hard enough, he could pretend that the world hadn’t ended, and he was still back in ohio, making friendly conversation with a pretty girl at a bar—but what was the point in that? denial wasn’t going to bring his sister or his parents back. he takes another long swig of the beer to clear his mind of the creeping hysteria, his features relaxing again afterwards. 

“no pressure though. i know some people prefer not to make new friends during these times. the less people you’re attached to, the less you grieve i suppose.”

She grinned, nodding at his agreement to the term she’d created. Sloppy Socks really did sound like something one could drink on a night out, have fun with. She wouldn’t unless if there was a non-alcoholic version of the same drink. Maybe in the old days there would’ve been. Now it seemed to kind of beat the purpose of the activity.

“What really? I do not know those people and I am certainly not like that,” she assured him. She had always jumped right up at the idea of giving him the Pokemon tour she’d gotten, and even better she was entertaining the idea of actually giving him a pokemon tour. Complete with stones instead of pokeballs. 

“I would love to give you a tour with my disastrously lacking knowledge. Also, as much as I agree that the smaller your world, the smaller the hurt, I think it goes against our nature. We’re social animals. People always say war is part of our nature, but I disagree. Deep down, what we really want is to be liked, to belong. So making a lot of friends will make us stronger. If we all banded together through all of this, we can figure out how to return to a normal life.”

[yahnaa-padney]

kaz-raval​:

“I don’t think it’s all so different. Yeah, we can breathe. We can make noise, we can… sit here by the pond all day if we wanted.” A gesture to the water. “Doesn’t matter how high those walls are. It creeps in. Maybe it can be hidden better, but did we not just have several deaths from contaminated water? That shit should’ve been sorted months ago.” 

And yeah, it was better than waking to hear the shuffled drag of feet close enough to reach. His nightmares only gained new demons to deal with.

“See, I disagree. We’ve seen the worst of humanity out there. This here, this is rare.” Fleeting. “I’m not fucking trusting anyone for my survival except me.” 

Kaz knew Yahnna wasn’t going to get bent out of shape by the conversation. Clearly, their personalities too influenced the talk. One was glass full, the other glass half-empty. Maybe all the way empty for Kaz. 

Share it with the runners? Fuck that. But whatever Yahnaa wanted to assume… “I figured you’d be good at it. Maybe I can tag along and help you out?”

Kaz showed how different they were with a few words. She wasn’t worried about it ‘creeping in’, at least not because she figured it would be weeded out as well eventually. She couldn’t imagine it holding out for very long in a town intent on survival. “It’s easy to say that in hindsight,” she commented. “I like to enjoy what’s good about the world before falling into the void of worry. Enjoy the little things.”

She nodded, she wasn’t about to try and convince him to trust anyone. She just gently placed a hand on his hand and smiled at him, and left it at that. Trust was won, and clearly nobody had done anything to win Kaz’ yet. She understood, even if she couldn’t imagine. 

“That sounds good, we can do that,” she agreed. In her thoughts she added: ‘I’ll protect you out there’, even if she wasn’t so sure if she could.

[yahnaa-padney]

mischiefmaxed​:

she’s so incredibly endearing that max can’t help but find a soft spot for yahnaa building a place inside of her heart. maybe it’s about time she had little princess among her boys. it’d been a while since she’d made a friend in a girl.

“dance wit’ me,” the thief tells her, pulling her towards the dance floor.

She was already giddy, but the question of a dance almost made her shoot out of her shoes. She loved to dance, and dancing with people she liked was such a huge thing to her: she only ever held great memories of it, her mind long after recalling specific moments of the night. First Holly now Max, she was in dance heaven. She had to thank the one who organised this because she felt like she had made many new friends. “Absolutely!” She called, already dragged towards the dancefloor, using all her little dance moves she’s picked up at clubs over the years to swing to the music, and all the while keeping Max’ hand in hers.

[yahnaa-padney]

kaz-raval​:

He smiled. Normally Kaz would protest the ‘sneaking’ accusation. He found himself less argumentative then. Rough edges softened, at least for the night. “Hey, someone has to keep an eye on you.”

Yahnaa tossed out suggestions. “I only like murder ballads, so that’s probably out of the question.” A typical, over the top and over-performed karaoke standard wouldn’t be so hard to find. But. “Something sexy?” He turned his head enough to see the rose on Yahnaa’s cheeks, heated up by the suggestion. “Oh, you’re flirting with me now? Think you’re even blushing. Alright. We gotta go with ‘sexy’ then. Something with a groove.” Another grin from Kaz. “I want to see how long I can keep you blushing.”

It was nice to be kept an eye on by someone who wasn’t her brother. She looked amused for a moment. Wondering if he really had kept an eye on her specifically.

“What are murder ballads?” She asked, raising an eyebrow at the statement.

The heat in her cheeks only intensified when he zoned in on it and totally agreed with finding a sexy song. Her heart was beating loudly. She chuckled. “Shhhh,” she noted with a light slap to his hand, the hand she had held to lead him to the stage earlier. “I’m going to go with The Weekend,” she suggested, hoping it wasn’t sexy enough. Though she knew the truth: she would not mind singing a sexy song with Kaz Raval if all people.

[yahnaa-padney]

love-you-with-my-eyes-closed​:

At the mention of the animals Jaime smiled warmly “ I think they are…” he tried to think back to when he had gone to the Zoo with Livia when they were younger, when there was time for them to bond as siblings and not trying to act like a father and mother wrapped into one. 

“Yeah It’s a joke, sorry I should make it more clear… most of the things I say is with humour, if that helps.” he had always used humour to hide his pain, he had used it to get through the loss of his parents, to help him with the what had been the weight of taking on looking after his sister, now it was used to hide, convince himself that losing his leg was something he could over come. “There’s only so much I can take being looked after. I appreciate those in the clinic but it’s nice to breath differnt air.” 

“You mean I should think of everything you say as a joke?” She asked with a grin. Her own attempt at a joke. She was more known for making jokes without meaning to, perhaps a little too quick with her words at times. “Oh, that’s fair. Sometimes getting looked after can feel a little suffocating,” she stated. “It’s good though, that they keep a good eye on you, but it’s very human to not want so much attention when we’re in need of care. Always people who need it more.”

[yahnaa-padney]

rinamunroe​:

where: common grounds who: @yahnaa-padney​

try as she might to keep with this whole independent and needing no one shtick she’d decided on the moment she’d entered the town; it wasn’t working. not with an arm in a sling and the overwhelming feeling of being around people again. people who took the time to acknowledge her, who didn’t just see her as a passing face. funny, how terrible it is to go from being unknown to suddenly have folks wanting to know your name. 

undesirable, to say the least.

and this morning is no different in her battle to keep to herself, how she stands before the entrance of the cafe ready to leave with her breakfast sandwich tucked under her arm and her free hand filled with a cup of tea. the struggle is silly, how she isn’t sure how she’s going to get out by herself and it’s with defeat that she turns towards a girl finishing up her own breakfast, her voice quiet and annoyed.

“could you get the door for me, please? since, you know — “ rina gestures to her arm. “i’m useless.”

With eyes widening suddenly, and her mind brought out of her cloudy thoughts, Yahnaa sprinted forward to help with the door. “Of course, of course!” She called, smiling at the face of the stranger whom she hadn’t seen around town before - and normally she would for Yahnaa kept an eye out for anyone she hadn’t met before, planning their first interaction. 

“Here, come in. Dear, you must be new, did you get any tokens yet? That’s how they pay for things here. No wait, it’s on me, I can carry it for you. You’re not useless, you just need a little help,” she insisted.