-when dead walk | open+accepting-

[bigwig.]

𝐒𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐙
X ✧ female ✧ group 1 scout ✧ location: camp ✧ tags: sebastian
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Sophie smiled warmly at Sebastian as he greeted her. "As well as I ever do." She joked in response to his sentiment about her sleeping well. He was always very nice to her, and she appreciated it - it felt like they had something in common to that extent. Or maybe he was just reciprocating the energy she gave? Either way, she still felt the connection between them, and friends were hard to come by these days.

She felt his eyes linger on her and her heart fluttered a little bit. She groomed her hair with her fingers and flipped it back, conscious of being looked at. Sophie could tell when someone was staring - at least, she thought so. Maybe she was just self-conscious. She at least hoped it was for good reasons, that he was admiring her genuinely rather than just...staring. Or did she have something on her shirt? Sophie adjusted her clothes, trying to look casual.

"Yeah - it'd be nice to go out for a little." Sophie chuckled, trying to defuse the awkward feeling. She liked going on scouting missions, even if it was dangerous. She got to get away for a little while - and spend time with Sebastian. "I'm sure there's plenty of stuff we need. It's almost winter, so we're gonna need to be stocked up." She remarked, slightly dampening the mood. She was a little bit worried about it getting colder - but Romeo and Nash and everybody else would know what to do, right? Everybody just needed to do their part.

[senna_]

𝐒𝐀𝐖𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐒𝐒𝐎𝐍
↳ 25 , she/her , lone hunter , loc: outside group 2 camp , tags: dash (mentions teddy)

Even though Sawyer knew it wouldn’t take her canine companion long to find Dash, she still felt like time was passing astronomically slowly. The young woman had never stepped foot within the camp her friend lived in, with respect to the leader and other members of the gathering, but she had managed to conclude that wherever Dash had settled himself wasn’t too far away from where she came out of the bushes. Either that or he walked really quickly. Truth be told, that wasn’t not a possibility; the length of Dash’s legs was almost equivalent to her entire height. He could easily find her in two steps.

She found herself picking at her nails as she waited, scraping the dirt away. She undoubtedly looked like a mess. She spent her days in the forest, or close by, so naturally, it only seemed like a matter of time before she would begin to look like it. It was an embarrassing comparison to someone like Dash, who had enough support to keep himself tidy. Appearances never meant much to Sawyer; it was more just an increase in awareness of the difference in security between herself and those comfortable within a group, such as Dash. That said, Sawyer had managed on her own for so long that she wasn’t sure she even wanted a group. And she had yet to figure out if the group leader Moxie wanted that, either.

An echo in the distance snapped her head up, a doe on high alert, and Sawyer prepared to crouch down. Sure enough, it was none other than Dash himself, whose grin was so big, it surely had some sort of energy connection to the sun. Her eyes flitted towards Kaiser, who looked as if he had an equally large smile. Letting out the softest of sighs, Sawyer shook her head gently at her dog. Kaiser was funny; he was a wolf on the job and a puppy when off duty. Sawyer knew Kaiser enjoyed his visits to Dash, too. He was spoiled by that boy. Sawyer showed him affection, as a dog owner would to their companion, but he was her work partner. To Dash, Kaiser was a plushie.

“Dash,” she greeted, feeling a small smile make its way onto her face, shuffling away some of the tension that had been acting as a placeholder. She stood upright, knowing very well that Dash would scoop her up before she could even take one step forward. “I’m glad you found the gift. As soon as I saw it, I immediately thought of you.” Her hazel eyes remained on his features, then she let out a sigh of relief and opened her arms. It was no exaggeration by saying that Dash was the only one she’d let in for a hug. “How’ve you been? I missed you. Are you eating enough? Feeling okay?”

Sawyer wasn't even ashamed to say she went mom on him. At this rate, doing check-ins felt like part of her routine. She enjoyed doing it; it never felt like she was stepping away from who she was. And she knew Dash appreciated it, too.

A ghost of a smile continued to linger as she watched Dash interact with Kaiser, who was eagerly sniffing every last inch of his face. The smile vanished the second she heard a voice in the distance, and she shot upright so quickly that it even startled Kaiser. “Dash?” Sawyer voiced in a very cautious tone. “You didn’t have any followers, did you?”

[ꜱᴀʟᴇᴍ.]

────── 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒓𝒐𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒉𝒚
age thirty-two tagged adrian location in her bakery
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𝒎onroe waited for adrian’s response, and gave him a warm, forgiving smile as he blurted his words out. ”alrighty, two croissants coming up! and i assume you’d like them warmed up?” she said, getting a couple of the pastries out of her fridge and placing them into the oven. when she looked back over at him, she noticed he was away in his thoughts. he looked sad, she thought. ”hey, is everything okay dear?” she asked softly. ”you seem like you’re just in your own world right now.” her face was still baring a big, warm smile.

────── ʙɪʟʟɪᴇ ᴍᴜʀᴘʜʏ
age twenty tagged bodie+peyton location in the square
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ʙillie listened to the two boys talking, her eyes every so often drifting upwards to look at bodie. she let out a laugh at peyton grilling the other boy about his ‘your mum’ jokes. when silence fell on the three of them, billie cleared her throat and looked forwards once again. ”alright bodie, you can have a look around while i’m sorting out the shelves, okay? you can tell me things that you can remember about the book; i may know of it.” they said, before looking over at peyton. he looked.. uncomfortable. sad.

billie couldn’t help but dwell on the fact that her friend looked so unhappy while with herself and bodie. what was the matter? was it something she said? when they had finally arrived at the library, she took the key to the door out of her pocket and unlocked it. the three of them were the first in the building; it was very quiet, apart from the subtle creaking of the giant wooden doors they entered through. ”i’ve gotta get a cart from the office, we got some new books in. i made some soldiers find some when they went on patrols outside the walls,” they began, ”i’ll be right back okay? can you two start switching the lights on please?”

awkwardly slipping away from their friends, billie couldn’t even bring herself to look over her shoulder at them. she couldn’t help but feel like something was wrong with peyton, and she was never good with.. emotions. as much as she loved him, billie just didn’t want to risk saying or doing anything that may make him feel worse. ’bodie will be able to figure it out.. i hope’ they thought as they walked through the hallways.

────── 𝘴𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘢
age nienteen tagged sophie location camp
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𝘴ebatian gave sophie a warm smile as he listened to her words. he noticed that she seemed a little off. 'crap, she must've noticed me staring..' he thought. seb cleared his throat, readying himself to talk once again; "okay, cool! i don't think romeo's awake quite yet- i'm sure he and nash would be fine with us leaving for a little while though. it seems quiet today." he stated, subtly shifting his feet beneath him. "i just need to grab my flashlight; i forgot to put it into my backpack before i left my tent- meet at the treeline in five??" seb suggested, slowly backing towards his tent. he made sure sophie understood what was happening before turning around and jogging back to where he slept so he could double check that he had everything he needed.

[borahae.]

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𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐍𝐄 ! ! ───────────


lone survivor ✩ twenty-four ✩ cismale ✩ pansexual ✩ tag: kaitlyn ✩ location: exploring/woods

Wincing as the other boy flinched away from him, his immediate defensive stance making Boone feel guilty for startling him, the blonde boy once again raised his hands in a surrender stance in an attempt to ease the stranger; he knew there was only so much he could do to make the other feel less afraid of him, given his sudden appearance and the boy's vulnerable state, but he hoped at least that at the end of this conversation he'd trust Boone enough to know that he had no intention of harming him.

Listening as the stranger spoke, slowly lowering his hands back to his side but maintaining his distance to not startle the other off, he nodded where appropriate before frowning to himself as the boy stammered out that he had a home to go back to. Looks like this is a bit more complicated than I thought...should I just take him back with me? I don't think it's worth dying for, whatever place he has set up. I don't know if he'll be open to it though...seems like he's pretty attached to this place.
Just as he was about to open his mouth and offer an alternative solution, not one to risk himself for others ─ especially strangers, no matter how pitiful ─ the teary-eyed boy cried about being alone and asked him for his help, making Boone's morals waver. I mean...it can't be that dangerous, right? And if I rope Tobias into this...

Seemed like pretty boys, even when crying, would always be his weakness.

"Hey...just...breathe a little, okay? I'll help you. It'll be okay." Unsure whether or not he was reassuring himself or the other with the last statement, Boone took the opportunity to step closer to the boy, cautious as he crouched down and offered a hand to him. "I've got a friend, a mile or so that way, who could help us. Is it okay with you if we go get him first? Then we'll help you get your home back. Together." Gesturing with his other hand behind him, he smiled softly at the boy as he continued, nodding towards his outstretched hand "Here, let me help you up. We gotta get moving before the walkers find us."

[lush]

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𝑩𝑶𝑫𝑰𝑬 𝑲𝑨𝑵𝑮! ! ───────────


commonswealth medic ✩ eighteen ✩ cismale ✩ demisexual ✩ tag: peyton & billie ✩ location: library

bodie was observant. he always was. he noticed the little things about everyone. the way vi would play with his hair when he was nervous, or whenever peyton was upset he'd get more quiet or start zoning out more. he'd even notice things about weston, the girl he saw once in a blue moon. even when he barely saw her, he knew her well enough and saw her enough to see the little things. like the stupid way she looked at peyton. it was nasty. and bodie was not ever gonna admit it, but he was mad jealous of it. he wished he could find someone to look at him the way she looked at peyton - and bodie knew he had his options,

but he never knew if they were right for him.

chewing on his lip nervously, bodie only leaned his head into peyton slightly for a few seconds before pulling away, smiling at him gently to try and make him feel a bit better. noticing he went quiet and his eyes lost a few sparkles, bodie felt bad. he didn't know what he or billie did - maybe it was something he said, or maybe bodie was interrupting something between the two before he showed up. or maybe he interrupted the boy - there were so many things that could have went wrong in the past few minutes, bodie didn't know what to put his finger on. he didn't know how to solve the problem without asking directly. which, he might have to. as much as he hated confrontation, peyton meant so much more to him than his comfort.

"i'm the most handsome bodie, and the present one, so the past ones can wait. seeming as i'm the most important after all," he teased, sticking his tongue out at the male before he moved his hand off of the two and ran his hand through his hair before placing his hands in the pocket of his hoodies. it was cool out - but not too cold. but enough he just wanted to make cuddling jokes and then end up cuddling billie's cat or something.

"wow, it might actually be that!" bodie teased back, his jaw dropping to make an o shape with his lips. smiling at him with a stupid teasy grin, bodie shook his head. "no but it was a scary book? thriller, perhaps. it was like an impossible crime. it was by stephen king i know! this guy died in maine? i don't know," he rambled, finally sighing before keeping his lips shut. sometimes when bodie got too excited he let himself go - talk too much and annoy those around him. it was one of his biggest insecurities, which often caused him to getting quiet and upset around those easily. not even from anything they've done, but if it felt like he was too much or talking too much, and being too annoying.

whatever. he overthinks alot.

turning on the main lights in the library for billie, bodie just nodded towards them as they left the room to grab the cart. bodie quickly turned around to face peyton. grabbing his wrist and pulling him after him, bodie quickly placed him on the tables in the main room and sat in front of him - facing him. "okay. cut the crap. what's wrong?" bodie confronted - a worried look plastered on his face as his lips curved into a frown. "are you doing okay? what's going on? you can tell me anything, you know."

[.gray_bones.]

★ L O R C A N ⏵
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◄24｜male｜irish｜pan｜tagged; open n/a ►

indentation
Lorcan let a small grin slip onto his face at the sight of the dog running up to Moxie. Such a cute little thing. He crossed his arms and listened to Moxie speak, nodding along to the well-stated points. Worry flashed through his mind, and it made his palms sweat. Sooner than later, they would have to move somewhere else and moving means possibly dealing with walkers, and god forbid something goes wrong.

His mind came back to reality when food was mentioned. Food was a large concern nowadays, now that they were alone in the woods. Natural Foliage and Fauna had been able to support them over the past few weeks somewhat, but during the winter, all of the resources they currently were using will disappear, and they would not only have to face the cold but the hunger that winter would bring. The thought made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

Lorcan waited for Moxie to finish, and he nodded quickly. " Alright, I'll try and see if I can wrangle one of them up, I'm sure they are around here somewhere. And good morning Zoey" Lorcan nodded to the dog, smiling. " Well, Im going to go look for those two, holler if you need anything, I shouldn't be too far away." He tipped his head, uncrossing his arms.

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★ A D R I A N⏵
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◄19｜male｜caucasian + british｜gay｜tagged; Moxie - Mentions: Bodie - Open ►

indentation
Adrain flushed at the store-owners words.
" Thank you, and yes..please, that would be great." He watched Monroe prepare the pastries, zoning out. He blinked as Monroe spoke again, and he smiled a tad.
" Oh I'm fine, I'm still just getting used to...all this." Adrian waved his hand around. " It's just so crazy, you know? It's hard to wrap my head around it sometimes, that's all. It's nice to have a place like this, it makes this whole thing seem like it's not even happening, you know? Like I'm back before everything went to hell." Adrian shrugged, his head whirling. It was nice-ish outside today, maybe he would go out to the park and enjoy the fresh air for once. Get new ideas for his sketchbook. Maybe Aether would be running around, playing with the birds. All he knew was that he needed to start coming out of his little shell before he curled up and died inside of it.