[private rp] Relic & Co.

[䏠xote]

[ "have a little faith in me, okay?" ]

faith took great comfort in the feeling of siren leaning against him, of her fingers carding through his hair. finally, despite the tears and the violent shudders along his spine, he was able to swallow. the pineapple left a sweet tingle on his tongue, just like the feeling that siren left on his skin as she soothed him, and all at once he became aware of how horribly tired he really was. his eyes were shadowed, his face flushed now and cheeks burning from tears as theybslowed, slowed to a steady, small stream. he nuzzled her again, tenderly, before finally falling still, his cheek against the top of her head.

"i missed you." he breathed, not even pausing to look up as relic shifted and moved to leave. he'd promised, but... he'd been waiting too long for this to interrupt it. he needed this. more than he'd realized.

[bailey.t136]

-----──────
------❛ siren lily luss ❜
-----──────
paragraph"faith, i've missed you so much..." the words were a mere whisper, barely audible, but the swelling in her soul- his too, was powerful and she leaned into it.

paragraphgreat fortress

paragraphfamiliar words.

paragraphcrashing wave
paragraphmighty storm
paragraphthundering train
paragraphendless wind
paragraphhurricane

paragraphkeep me alive
paragraphthank you for making my heart beat again

paragraphwords from a distant prayer she had scrawled out only a few weeks before. it had been a rough night, that one. her parents had been fighting - they never did that. something was off in the air. the wind had been calling to her, outside. begging her to drift into the night. faith hadn't known this about her, but she had never loved anyone as much as she loved him. and when he was pulled from her, it left some type of void. a void she didn't know how to fill with anything except midnight scribbles and dark nights - depth deeper than the ocean itself.

paragraphhow she had prayed that night that he would return to her. would he be different? she had wondered that so many times. would he have found some other girl - some other life...

paragraphsteady, little soul.

paragraphshe was reminded. a draft of cool, crisp wind drifted through the little door of the hut and faith's warmth remained around her. she wasn't cold.

paragraphit was the first time in a while that she had felt this way - this warm and this safe and this protected.

paragraph"so much faith..."

[sataraxias]

It didn't take him too long to find what he decided he was looking for. A cluttered assortment of shops pressed together on both sides of the street. He pulled over in front of a small café. "You're not looking too hot," he told the abandoned building seriously. Maybe once upon a time, the quaint little establishment would have been five stars. He somewhat doubted it. Really, it looked terrible. But he supposed it didn't matter anyway, not when the dead were the only patrons. They had no appreciation for the finer things in life.

He heaved a sigh. "Rest in peace, good food." He flung the door open to slam one of those apathetic patrons away from his window after it decided to make a desperate attempt to claw through the glass and eat him. He stepped out of the car to whack it repeatedly with the baseball bat for good measure while it was down. Just in case it got any ideas about rising.

He managed to make his way with minimal trouble into a shop which contained at least some of the things he needed. At least, if the view through the dusty display window he smashed was anything to go by. Backpacks, hanging on the back wall. Exactly what he was needing. He took a red one. And then on second thoughts, he took a black one too, hanging one on each shoulder. Storage².

A soft growl from behind him. "Oh, no thanks. I don't need any assistance," he told it politely. He dropped the bags behind him and turned towards the infected slowly creeping its way towards him. So, so slowly. Someone clearly hadn't eaten breakfast for a while. He glanced towards his watch. It was still broken. It gave him zero indication of the time that it took for the creature to come towards him. Useless thing. He had to step towards it and whack it away with his bat, otherwise he'd have died of old age waiting. "Clean up in aisle three!"

Speaking of cleaning up, he was filthy. He picked the two bags back up, and he wandered towards racks of clothes. He found his way into a comfortable sweatshirt and pants, shrugging his soiled clothes off to the floor and just leaving them there. Not like anyone was around to care anyway. Now, to find Riley some stuff...

Geez, she had nothing, and she called him unorganised. Wait, had she? He couldn't be bothered to remember but it seemed like something she would say. Or maybe he was confusing her with someone else. "You're small, Riley May..." he mused, making an educated guess at her size. She was small, like someone he'd known. He shoved clothes into one of the bags for her. If these weren't her style, who cared. Fashion isn't a priority, geez Riley May, stop complaining.

He considered. Should he get something for those other people too? Nah, they'd kicked him. Well, the girl hadn't. But her brother did... He'd already given them pineapples anyway... "Ah, what the heck." More clothes went into the bag for the other girl. He didn't know her name. Jessica, probably.

"See ya, store." He told the empty building. "Gotta get going, just in case the slumbering dead rise."
Back to the car.

[ethereal .]

After what felt like seconds of a dreamless sleep Riley finally started to wake up. Opening her eyes didn't do much good considering the light of day was nearly nonexistent. The rain and the clouds made it difficult to determine exactly what time it was. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and yawned quietly before sitting up. "Am I dreaming or did Relic stop talking for two seconds?" Riley cringed and cleared her throat after hearing the raspy drawl in her words.

No answer.

"Relic?" She called again, spinning around to search the tree house and the backyard. Again, no answer. "Dammit! Aurelius?!" She whisper shouted, frantically climbing down the ladder and sprinting into the house. Where the hell could he be? He didn't just leave her did he? He wouldn't do that would he? Maybe he would. After all this was a completely different world they were living in.

Riley made her way to the front door, half angry half afraid. Both at the fact that he might leave her behind. She yanked it open and her shoulders fell at the sight. The car was gone. Did he seriously just leave? Her mind was all over the place and so were her emotions. Maybe he just went for a joyride. Maybe he'd be back. Maybe he had changed his mind about going to the safe zone with her. She felt angry, betrayed, and worried all at the same time.

Without thinking she slammed the door shut with so much forced that it blew her hair back over her shoulders. She wasn't even thinking about what the noise might possibly attract. Spinning on her heels she trudged back into the backyard and up the ladder. She knew she shouldn't jump to conclusions, but she couldn't help herself. She could help but think and act irrationally.

Her first thought was to make a mental note to never put her trust in anyone ever again. Then she realized that might be a little dramatic. Should she go out and look for him even if he didn't want to be found? There were so many choices she could make in this situation, and yet she couldn't decide on one.

[䏠xote]

[ "have a little faith in me, okay?" ]

faith continued to hold her, tears continuing in a steady stream as he quieted. exhaustion was getting the better of him, and finally his swollen eyes fluttered shut, the throbbing in his head fading out as darkness set in.

----------

when he woke, it was to the frantic sound of a girl calling out to someone. he jolted to consciousness, pushing through the stiffness in his back and neck and blinking blurriness from his eyes. he could see the newcomer sliding down into the yard, and his heart sunk. that's right, he'd promised to watch after that bloody idiot. quietly, faith cursed himself, before remembering the soft weight in his arms.

he'd dreamed about her, he thought. of simpler times, of being confined to bed, of feeling ill and a pain in his throat. of siren sitting in bed with him, forcing him to eat ice cream from a spoon in her hand as she gushed about their favorite show. the sweetness of pineapple lingered on his tongue, and the warmth of her leaned against him was a comfort that dulled his anxiety as he woke.

the redhead glanced down, half expecting to see siren awake, half not. his gaze fell on her leg, and, though it didn't look any better, he could feel that her skin wasn't so hot, could tell that she wasn't quite so swollen. it was a relief, but it didn't mean they could relax.

flush. clean. dry. repeat. it would probably become a ritual, every few hours, every day until the threat of infection was long past.

"siren? you feeling okay?"

[bailey.t136]

-----──────
------❛ siren lily luss ❜
-----──────
paragraph siren awoke with a start as faiths body simultaneous jumped. the other girl was screaming at the boy who had slipped away and she watched her through foggy eyes as she bolted from the tree house.

paragraphfaith was asking if she was okay... but honestly, the thought of the other two going back into the house alone made her stomach twist and churn. she had hardly pulled from her slumber, and already, the world was ending again. taylor was still up there in her room... a shard of a shattered mirror plunged deep between her eyes. her poems were still in that pink shoebox in the back of her closet. the extra bullets for the pistol were still in her dad's safe. siren swallowed, trying so hard not to let her emotion get the best of her yet again. "faith, we should help her..."

paragraphshe lifted weakly off his chest, peeking out of the window to see the door slam and riley scrambling through the shadows inside her house, "he's all she's got.. you can see it as plain as day, and if i lost you again-" her soft voice broke weakly, the swell of sentiment resounding in her throat, "faith we have to help her."

paragraphanother groan floated painfully from her lips as she rolled over off of him and onto her hands and knees... if she could just get up. she had almost forgotten the gash but it reminded her willingly. baby blues met him, still trying to force the little sleep she had gotten away, "if we can get to the house... there's some food and a little bit of ammunition. there's also..." she couldn't bring herself to say it. if he had been there before, he would already have known from the smell.

[sataraxias]

“Well, this is lively.” The street was churning with the sound of dead people. Now, he was no mathematical prodigy, but there were at least five of them, definitely more, deading their way around this little avenue of the world, turning their focus on to him. Relic wound his window up and continued down the road as he passed the house, humming softly as he considered the situation.

How did he want to deal with this? He had to get back into the house without bringing the horde along with him. What a pain. Who had even attracted all the undead, anyway?

Then he spotted it.

An open garage attached to a house about five doors down, the door leading inward flung wide open. Get in there, don’t die, go backyard fence hopping back to tree-house yard before the dead even thought to keep up. Easy in theory. Easy in practise too, because he’d be open to improvisation.

Relic revved the engine and shot up the driveway of the random house into the garage. He grabbed the bags on to his back and the bat, throwing the car door open and propelling himself forward through that doorway before the first creeper managed to get into the garage. Its body hit the closed door behind him, but he was already headed through a stranger’s hallway towards their yard, ducking low as he raced across the wet overgrown grass to jump the fence. The bat hit mud as he caught his balance. He bent to grab it again and then he was running across the next yard, struggling to hold in an ecstatic laugh. Was this actually working?

The thump of his footsteps against the ground. He leapt over fences with little opposition (although a few times his bags snared, and the bat met the ground quite often), ran through grass that had probably once been a perfectly maintained platform for children to play on. Not anymore... It was a mildly depressing thought, so he pushed it away. And then he was finally pulling himself over the right fence, breathless and overjoyed. There was Riley, climbing up the ladder to the tree-house. So the slumbering dead had risen. Well, more like, she'd descended. And now she was rising back up. Good for her.

He didn't want to sit in the mud, so he crouched instead with the bags on his back pressed against the wooden fence posts, hysterical laughter shaking through him. What a day to be alive.

[ethereal .]

Eyes following Faith and Siren's movements, she sighed softly. She didn't blame them, she really didn't. They were all tired and bound to fall asleep at some point. Well, everyone except for Relic apparently. She should have known better. She shouldn't have let herself fall asleep. She should have seen this coming. She shouldn't have just expected-...

What was that? She instantly straightened up at the sound of laughing. More specifically, Relic's laughing. It definitely wasn't hard to miss in more ways than one. To her surprise, she felt relieved. He hadn't left her and more importantly he wasn't hurt. She walked over to the railing facing him and leaned against it on her elbows, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. A small smile spread across her lips as he continued laughing.

"You do realize there's a front door right?" She stated sarcastically, gesturing towards the house as if she didn't just have a total breakdown over him being gone. In her defense he hadn't even told anyone that he was leaving.

Before she had another moment to think about it she heard movement coming from behind her. It was Siren trying to push herself to her feet. Riley's eyes widened slightly, "Whoa hey," she was quickly walking towards the two, but paused when she reached the threshold, "there's no need for that. He's back and he's fine." Her eyes darted to Faith worriedly. Shouldn't this girl be inside? It had to be more comfortable than a cold tree house.

Riley crouched down so that she would be eye level with Siren, "Look, you don't have to listen to me I know I'm a stranger." Once she caught Siren's gaze she couldn't help but crumble a little inside. It was so clear that she had reached a limit that shouldn't have even existed. She had always heard that the eyes were the window to the soul, but Siren's eyes seemed dull. Yet she still managed to have some fight left in her. It was heartbreaking and reassuring all at once.

"I know this tree house probably feels safe for you guys, but I don't know how well this will end if you stay out in the cold." Riley was pretty sure they'd turn her suggestion down, and she understood. If she had found a place where she felt safe she would never leave. She also didn't know what had happened inside that house that led them to take shelter in the tree house. There was so much she didn't know, but it didn't hurt to try.

[sataraxias]

“Ah, but you see…” Relic’s grin was only widening as he stood up again, wiping some sweat off his forehead. He started walking towards the treehouse, still panting in deep breaths. “Wasn’t feeling like inviting in an impromptu house party. Swear, Riley May, did you wake the dead with your snoring or something?”

Riley had an odd obsession with doors. He wondered if she'd realised it, but for some reason she had been wanting him to open the doors ever since they'd met - including doors that weren't even closed. The front door had been closed. He'd made sure of it when he left, because otherwise they'd have corpses crashing their party, and he wasn't into that. Wait, he remembered why she wanted him to open the doors... He had declared himself the door lord after all.

Relic climbed the rungs of the treehouse in no particular hurry, pulling his weight up on to the deck. The empty can was still there. He pushed it to the side with his foot as he dropped the bags off his shoulders. “While you were dreaming sweetly of sunshine and lollipops or whatever, I went shopping. Well, stealing, but it’s the same thing. Got you and Jessica some warmer clothes. If they don’t fit, I don’t care, wear them anyway. You’re not looking so good, darlin’.” The last part was directed towards Siren as his eyebrows raised. “Try lying down again, it was working better for you. Oh, damn!”

His face twisted in frustration as he turned away. The one thing he'd originally gone to get... “I forgot the umbrella.”
His gaze drifted back over the fence and towards the house he’d parked at as he wondered if he could get back into the car without being nommed to death. Probably not. He wondered if he should try. Maybe. He strained his eyes to see. At least one of the creepers had managed to get into that backyard. But it was wandering aimlessly now, without memory of what it had once been chasing... Gee, without him, people really did lose all sense of direction and purpose. His grin returned as he snorted with laughter.

Sense of direction... Oh, he had one of those.
His bag was still in the living room inside. He figured he should probably go get it. And his calendar too, because if he forgot that… He wouldn't be able to tell the date. Relic turned to look down the ladder, contemplating the drop. Jumping would be a faster way down than climbing... It wasn't that high, but he might slip in the mud. He opted to go the normie way and just climb down.

[䏠xote]

[ "have a little faith in me, okay?" ]

suddenly, siren was trying to move.

"woah, woah, woah, no you don't--" he chuffed, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight, keeping her rooted in place. regardless of what was going on, there was no way she needed to be up on her feet again, especially while she was exhausted. sure, maybe that young woman needed help, but the most important thing to him right now was siren. it didn't matter what was right, because keeping her safe was the only thing that held priority.

then, riley was kneeling in front of them. "whoa, hey, there's no need for that. he's back and he's fine." she said, and faith glanced over. sure enough, that absolute idiot was trotting across the yard, perfectly fine. if he hadn't taken an oath, relic would be the one with a face full of tinned pineapples right then. riley's gaze flitted toward him, and the concern there wasn't lost as he nodded somberly in agreement.

"i know this tree house probably feels safe for you guys, but i don't know how well this will end if you stay out in the cold." she said, and the ginger frowned.

"i don't enjoy the cold any more than you do," he huffed, voice hushed. he had to hold back the annoyance in his tone, his irritation at relic's antics only growing as the young man seemed to make as much noise as physically possible. yell that dinner is hot and ready, why don't you? faith couldn't deny that having siren out in the elements was considerably more dangerous than having her in the house, but...

"...i'm not denying that you're right. but how do you suggest we even get her down there? plus... i don't think she can go back in there."