"Not Stupid. Just An Unfortunate Honest Answer."

"With a lot of practice," Adrien says. Then adds, "Unfortunately."

He unconsciously matches her tapping fingers with his own on his knees.

"I know it sounds a little naive, but trust me, it's taken a lot of experience to think like that. Experience I wish I didn't have."

Catie stares at him. Free? She lets out a short, hard laugh, but it fades quickly as she considers the honesty behind what he’s saying. 'So, that’s it?' she asks. Her fingers drum against the plastic cup, her mind racing against a wall she’s only just realising might never come down.

She looks away, biting the inside of her cheek. The idea that everyone here had already gone through these thoughts, that they’d all made peace with something that to her felt like an endless cage—it’s unsettling. 'I don't know how you do that,' she mutters finally, almost to herself.

Adrien sets the wrapped tech aside and stands.

"I mean, I'm not an expert, but I know how to handle them. I'm sure it's easy."

He wipes his hands on his jeans and follows Cam.

"Where to first?" he asks with a grin.

"that's good, stick by them and you'll be set in this place." el was always the best at getting new comers settled in. she understood why they would rather work in the shop than be a welcomer but they were the great at it.

"well, you never know, you could get it working and if we find the other one, it could be useful around here." she liked adrien's attitude, he always seemed to look in the bright side of things. they needed people like that around here. "how good are you with a hammer and saw? want to help me board up a couple windows? a couple cracked in the storm and i gotta get them patched up."

Finally. It had been a long day. Survive the storm and night, get the run down of the town, meet El, see the Chop Shop, and now, finally, being shown where he's going to be living. It's a cool place. Big, a little fancy, and it's buzzing with energy even with quiet somber air. So different from his aunt and uncle's place.

Cameron showed him his room and where the supplies he might need are kept. Then he's let loose to wander and see what he can find.

He finds a common room with some couches and chairs. And books he steps in to see what kind of books might still be here, but then he freezes because someone else is already in here.

Adrien blinks because there's no way this guy is real.

Adrien's seen cute guys back home. But this guy? He's handsome, beautiful.

Adrien licks his lips. Then, he realizes the guy is looking at him. Talking to him.

"Oh. No, not mine. I don't have much that's mine anymore. Just my mini-tool kit. No books. Uncle Don didn't let us bring books on our family hikes. So it's fine if you read that."

He's feeling breathless under the guy's gaze.

"Hi, I'm... I didn't mean to stare. I just... well, you're..."

He shuts his mouth and swallows hard. Get yourself together, he tells himself.

He steps forward, wiping the sweat from his hand, then holds it out to the guy.

"Adrien. I'm new."

@patroclusblossom

LOCATION: colony house

The storm passed. Some were hurt, and a few went missing. Less died than he expected, but the gruesome sight was enough to send many into somber silence.

Sangjoon had finally settled into the Colony House thanks to Cameron and was clearing out a spot to sit. There was a book in his way and after a moment of deliberation, he picked it up. He wasn't completely sure what the rules were regarding property in this house and wondered if he was going to upset someone just by flipping a few pages. Still, after all the horror, it felt nice to read.

Escape for a moment to a safer world.

What pulled him back to the bleak present was a pair of eyes. Sangjoon, having lived the way he did, was always hyperaware of any attention on him.

Fortunately, the gaze did not seem unfriendly.

"Is this book yours?" Were you looking at this, or looking at me? "I should have not touched it without permission, sorry."

Lucas gives him a dubious look, not really believing him at his word but not really able to call him a liar either.

Then he eyes the bench, wary. If he sits, he's not sure he'll stand back up any time soon. But getting off his feet sounds so nice.

He sighs and settles down next to Muz.

"If I fall asleep, you better wake me up," he says with a relieved sigh.

'Lucas, baby, what d'ya mean, man? Full twelve hours, me. Sleep the whole night through.' Twelve hours total in the four months since landing in this town, a bit more likely. But he lets a smile slip. 'Need your beauty sleep, man. Come sit for a bit. Gimme company.'

Adrien glances at the crowd, then back to Muz.

"Okay. So we don't dance with them."

He steps away from the crowd and closer to Muz.

"And I don't need a partner to dance. Just thought you might wanna join the fun."

He starts swaying his hips and stepping in a personal circle. He tilts his head back and closes his eyes, feeling the music.

"What's your favorite kind of music," he asks without looking.

Muz stumbles a bit as Adrien pulls him into a spin, feeling a mix of surprise and something very close to enjoyment. He can’t remember the last time someone dragged him so effortlessly into their orbit, and it’s funny how he almost goes along with it before his instinct kicks in. He gently pulls back, just slightly, taking a step as he raises both hands in mock surrender. 'Alright,—you got your spin,' he says, giving Adrien a playful side-eye. 'If you’re looking for a full-on dance partner, I’m the wrong guy. Besides,” he adds, nodding toward the swirl of people, 'I’ll probably end up trampling someone.'

Lucas laughs. "God, I'd love some real Tabasco."

He nods at the suggestion.

"I'll run it by Jim, Cam, and Santi later. Nothing's gonna be perfect."

He looks at her, studying her body language.

"When did you last sleep? Do I need to lock you in a cell so you'll take a nap?"

Anastasia forced a half-smile at Lucas’s grimace, the weight of Cameron’s name still lingering between them like a storm cloud that refused to pass. “Yeah, she’s still here,” Anastasia echoed, her voice softer, more resigned. “Lucky might not be the word I’d use, though.”

She folded her arms, glancing at the supplies between them. The mention of Kina sent a flicker of something painful through her chest, but she pushed it down. There wasn’t room for that now—not when so much needed doing.

Lucas’s weak chuckle at the old joke gave her an unexpected sense of warmth, though—a sliver of something familiar amid the chaos. She allowed herself a real smile this time, brief but sincere. “If one ever does show up, I hope it has coffee. Real coffee, not that powdered crap.”

She crouched down next to him, her knees protesting the movement. “We’ll figure out the rations. We always do. Maybe we set up a system—rotate who gets what, make it feel like less of a gamble.” She paused, exhaling slowly. “Not that anyone’s going to love that idea.”

adrien tags:

《 ★ adrien ritchie ★ 》

《 ★ visual ★ 》

《 ★ thread ★ 》

《 ★ moods ★ 》

《 ★ NSFW ★ 》

Adrien shrugs it off.

"You're probably the least scariest thing I've seen in the past 24 hours."

He steps aside and let's the woman — Erin — in.

"So how can I help you, Miss Erin? I'm not fully trained in where everything is yet, but I do know how to fix things."

He moves to a desk and tries to look all official, even with his ear-to-ear grin.

seeing someone she doesn't immediately recognize sets her on edge. maybe because of the storm, or because it just spells newcomer - neither of which she's particularly thrilled about. more people meant more people to potentially loose to them. so her face isn't exactly one of cheer when he answers the door for her; instead, its probably the exact opposite, stuck in some kind of look of sympathy and pained. "sorry for scaring you," her voice is quiet, as it is most often, and remains sympathetic to his plight. she was plenty scared her first days here too... doesn't like to think of it. "i'm erin."

RAFAEL SILVA — via Instagram (2024)

Lucas actually looks up to who he's talking to. He vaguely recognizes the face as someone semi-new. Seeing a child helps. Larry? Lauren?

Lucas stands. "Sorry. We just encourage people not to get too close to the woods. Sheriff Lucas Miranda."

He steps forward, offering his hand.

He glances over and smiles toward the kid playing.

Reaching out toward a plant, Lainn delicately brushed the tips of his fingers on his outstretched left hand against the stem, before moving it to glide along the leaves. Frowning a bit, he remembered what his classes told him about the type of tree in front of him. Before he plucks a leaf right off and moves to stand in on the quick succession of moves.

Glancing over, he could see his son, playing and brought the leaf up to his nose, sniffing it before absently twisting it between his fingers and turning to move away a bit, spotting someone a moment or so later. He quirked an eyebrow at the other's assumption that he was looking to hunt, taking note of it, he gave a nod of his head.

Lainn turned his head, keeping Tali in his view, who remained close to him still before saying, “Well, I don't really hunt.” Holding his hands out, he gives a lazy shrug at this, before continuing to toy with the leaf in his hands and going on, “Do you?” Lainn inquired before turning his head back away from the stranger, listening to Tali come closer as he explained the type of plant he was now holding. Lainn gave a nod of his head, commenting gently toward his son, “That's correct. It's a pretty cool find, Tali.”

As Tali grinned at Lainn's words, before he moved a little ways away once more, to look at more of the plants in the immediate area. Lainn looked toward the stranger again, then around the wooded area before them, “It's pretty, this place. This type of biome is great for all kinds of discovery. There's probably loads of strange bugs here.” Lainn commented offhandedly. He had always found swampland and the like to be almost mystical.