❝ Pleasure, ❞ Thomas Replies Easily. The Initial SHOCK Of Seeing Hope Had Begun To Wane,

i want a ‘you’ve been dating my brother, but he clearly doesn’t appreciate you, so ive come to save the day even though i’m entirely sure i’d be worse for you’ kind of plot.

vira'ter tag drop.

     she was NERVOUS to take the gun - he could see it. her hesitance reminded arthur of a winter's day a long time ago, when he was still a boy. dutch pushing a rusty cattleman into his hands & showing him how to hold it. how to aim. how to squeeze the trigger. the memory seemed so far off - like it belonged to someone else.

     arthur attempts to MIMIC dutch from those years back. ❝ any fool can shoot a gun. the fact that you actually hit the bastard already puts you way ahead, so try not to worry. ❞

     he reaches down to grasp her forearm, bringing it up straight & pressing the cool handle of his revolver into her palm. arthur does so slowly, as if hope were a wild mare he was trying to win the trust of. CAREFUL movements, showing no fear, eyes straight.

     ❝ don't point it at nobody you don't plan on killin'. keep your fingers tight 'round the handle. er ... little more than that. nah, it's just gonna go FLYIN' if you try to shoot like that. christ ... ❞

               her hands were much smaller than his.

     arthur circles around hope's back with a sigh, reaching for her other hand & bringing it up to the first. ❝ alright, let's try ... ❞ his voices falls off, his FOCUS on the positioning of hope's fingers.

     his thumbs guide hers, one atop the other. fingers curling over hope's around the handle, making sure her left covered her right. & with his hands still covering hope's, shadowing her own grip on the revolver, he squeezes. making sure she knows to do the same.

     ❝ now that ain't goin' nowhere. ❞ to prove his words, one of arthur's hands detaches to grip the barrel. jerking it once & twice, it doesn't budge.

❝  i  wouldn't  exactly  call  us  the  𝒍𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒚  sort  ,  but  i  catch  your  meaning  .❞

she  follows  his  lead  ,  allowing  him  to  herd  her  toward  the  appropriate  spot  for  target  practice  .  watching  &  waiting  patiently  while  he  preps  ,  hands  remain  clasped  behind  her  back  -  almost  as  if  she's  still  a  little  uncertain  about  the  whole  thing  .  regardless  ,  he's  right  .  with  so  much  ground  left  to  cover  before  reaching  their  destination  ,  it  is  𝑰𝑵𝑬𝑽𝑰𝑻𝑨𝑩𝑳𝑬  they  will  run  into  more  trouble  in  some  form  .  it  would  be  nice  to  know  a  thing  or  two  ,  in  the  case  of  something  else  going  sideways  .  .  .  as  it  often  tends  to  do  when  hope  is  around  -  &  arthur's  equally  turbulent  life  just  about  triples  that  probability  .

somehow  ,  still  ,  she's  never  felt  𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒓  than  she  does  by  his  side  .

❝  okay  ,  ❞  she  nods  ,  eyes  catching  the  way  the  firearm  glints  in  the  light  of  the  steadily  setting  sun  .  clearly  𝑵𝑬𝑹𝑽𝑶𝑼𝑺  of  the  weapon  &  what  it  can  do  ,  she  keeps  being  drawn  back  to  it  .  as  much  as  she  tries  to  deny  it  ,  the  events  from  earlier  that  day  have  certainly  shaken  her  .

hope  had  never  thought  herself  capable  of  shooting  someone  until  the  heat  of  the  moment  necessitated  such  an  action  .  it  is  all  still  so  𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒉  in  her  mind  -  the  surprising  weight  of  the  gun  ,  the  kickback  nearly  causing  her  to  lose  her  grip  ,  watching  the  bullet  impact  her  target  ,  seeing  the  man  go  down  .  .  .  should  she  regret  it  more  ?

hope  keeps  to  herself  that  she  feels  as  though  it  all  should  bother  her  more  than  it  does  .  maybe  that  is  just  what  happens  when  someone  intends  to  kidnap  &  ransom  you  for  all  that  they  can  extort  from  your  husband-to-be  .  it's  hard  to  feel  all  that  𝑺𝑶𝑹𝑹𝒀  ,  which  disturbs  her  quite  a  bit  .  especially  when  arthur  points  out  that  what  she  had  done  was  merely  a  half-measure  .

swallowing  hard  ,  she  tries  to  shake  those  worries  off  &  focus  on  the  𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕  lesson  .  ❝  so  ,  how  am  i  supposed  to  hold  it  -  'cause  i'm  pretty  sure  i  was  doin'  it  all  wrong  .  .  .  ❞

jack daniels tag drop.

part of arthur expected hope to reject his idea. scoff at the idea that a high-society girl like her should DEVOLVE into the hobbies of an outlaw like him. but that was just a brief flash of a dreadful fantasy - one arthur had partly hoped would come true before remembering who hope baxter was.

& even if she said no .... well, arthur couldn't quite rid his mind of the image of her holding his revolver with quivering hands. he'd looked over to her as soon as the shot rang out, half-expecting to see her body crumble to the dirt. instead, hope was quickly regaining control of the gun - eyes wide & chest heaving with FEARFUL adrenaline.

arthur would much rather see the latter, should this happen again.

❝ a'ight ... well, good. you gotta be able to PROTECT yourself. we had a close call - next time, we might not be so lucky. ❞

his voice rumbles out - as hard & serious as looming thunder. all the girls in the gang knew how to shoot, at least. he'd taught tilly himself. it should be no different.

with a jerk of his head, arthur leads away from camp & the river toward a tall, thick oak in the middle of a clearing. he makes his way over, pulling out his hunting knife & a rag as he goes. in one quick move, he impales the rag against the trunk of the tree at head height.

❝ there's your target, ❞ he says, unsheathing his revolver as he returns to hope's side. ❝ now, a shot in the shoulder is a good start. but if your life's in danger, you gotta give 'em somethin' more permanent. ❞

finally  he  looks  up  ,  &  if  her  heart  had  been  straining  before  she's  pretty  sure  it  just  𝑺𝑯𝑨𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑬𝑫  .

she's  not  an  idiot  ,  hope  knows  that  her  hired  chaperone  isn't  remotely  like  any  of  the  pious  law-abiding  gentleman  from  back  home  (  &  despite  herself  ,  that's  exactly  what  intrigues  her  so  much  about  him  )  .  he's  seen  things  ,  certainly  done  things  she  can't  even  imagine  .  even  so  ,  she  just  can't  ignore  her  instincts  .  there's  𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆  to  mr  .  morgan  than  his  circumstances  dictate  ,  &  the  tragedy  of  it  all  is  that  he's  so  damn  sure  there  isn't  .

hope  isn't  exactly  known  for  her  𝑹𝑬𝑺𝑻𝑹𝑨𝑰𝑵𝑻  ,  &  as  much  as  it  pains  her  ,  now  isn't  the  time  to  get  into  it  .  still  ,  she  tucks  away  his  reaction  to  her  reassurance  ,  choosing  to  voice  her  convictions  at  another  time  .

allowing  him  to shy  away  from  her  absolution  ,  she  quickly  picks  up  what  he  is  putting  down  &  visibly  perks  up  at  the  offer  .  it  shouldn't  excite  her  so  much  ,  but  the  prospect  of  learning  something  new  ,  something  so  𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚  contradictory  to  everything  she's  ever  been  taught  to  be  .  .  .  just  the  concept  has  an  eagerness  bubbling  up  inside  her  chest  .  ❝  -  really  ,  y'mean  it  ?  ❞

realistically,  when  would  she  ever  get  an  opportunity  like  this  again  ?  in  a  couple  of  weeks  she'll  be  stuck  in  this  role  that  has  been  written  for  her  .  her  whole  life  she  has  felt  caged  ,  wings  𝑪𝑹𝑨𝑴𝑷𝑰𝑵𝑮  under  the  desire  to  spread  them  wide  &  fly  far  .  soon  they  will  be  clipped  forever  ,  &  she's  never  even  gotten  off  the  ground  .  a  tightness  forms  in  her  throat  that  she  tries  to  ignore  ,  to  shove  down  &  bury  deep  .

this  is  all  for  her  family  ,  she  has  to  keep  reminding  herself  of  that  .  they  have  so  little  left  .  this  marriage  is  the  only  way  forward  .  the  only  one  she's  ever  known  ,  anyway  .  never  once  has  she  veered  from  the  path  laid  out  before  her  .  .  .  𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈  her  own  had  never  occurred  to  her  ,  it  wasn't  even  a  possibility  .

until  now  .

❝  that  would  be  -  i  mean  ,  just  .  .  .  ❞  now  it's  her  turn  to  babble  ,  she  stops  herself ,  shaking  her  head  at  her  own  overzealousness  .  don't  make  him  regret  this  ,  hope  .  ❝  -  yes  ,  ❞  she  finally  manages  , offering him a grateful smile . 

❝  that  sounds  like  a  𝑮𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑻  idea  .  ❞

ooc mun posting | memes | promo | wishlist | asks

jonathan archer visage | musings | headcanons | aesthetic | desires | audio open starters

barrett torbon visage | musings | headcanons | aesthetic | desires | audio open starters

arthur morgan visage | musings | headcanons | aesthetic | desires | audio open starters

will riker visage | musings | headcanons | aesthetic | desires | audio open starters

jack daniels visage | musings | headcanons | aesthetic | desires | audio open starters

vira'ter visage | musings | headcanons | aesthetic | audio open starters

bayek visage | musings | headcanons | aesthetic | desires | audio open starters

kaidan alenko visage | musings | headcanons | aesthetic | desires | audio open starters

stan pines visage | musings | headcanons | aesthetic | desires | audio open starters

joel miller visage | musings | headcanons | aesthetic | desires | audio open starters

     ❝ it was a bear, alright. hungry one at that, ❞ is barrett's rumbled reply. with the shelving now upright, he could make out faint scours of claw marks etching the metal. tufts of fur sticking out of crooks in the corners. but aside from all the physical signs, the room simply REEKED of the creature.

     an adult male. black bear, maybe. stinking lightly of garbage when it went scavenging for a meal. he was only here for ten minutes, if that. gone for a couple hours.

     barrett's brow twitches when he inspects the cabinets. unlike daniil, a stab of SYMPATHY hit him in his gut. hunger was something barrett understood very well.

     ❝ why so much morphine, doc ? ❞ barrett casually rumbles out as he approaches the broken vials of the drug.

"The state of a bear isn't my foremost concern," Daniil shoots back, carefully sweeping away the glass shards from his shattered equipment. True to form, all he can think about is the money wasted—some of the broken instruments had come directly from the last days of Thanatica.

Barrett's help is appreciated, but he's not the sort of person who would understand the terrible miasma of frustration and apathetic concession Daniil can't help but feel, looking at the minor carnage in his lab. It feels, in the moment, like he lives a doomed life—all progress will inevitably and invariably be halted by some outside force that wishes him and his research to meet its swift end.

An ill twist of fate; he'd call it that, if he believed in fate. As it stands, Daniil knows he's only unlucky.

"But if you are indeed right about the perpetrator being a bear, it almost definitely got into the morphine," a downward quirk of the lip as further antsy frustration pulls at him, "and the fentanyl, judging by the state of my cabinets. Even half of what I was storing would be lethal for a human, and it'll be about as costly to replace as an arm and a leg."

smplive sentence starters

❝ i always fail. i always fail, dude. ❞

❝ another one, bartender. ❞

❝ i will cause desolation on a fundamental level. ❞

❝ i’m an adult. a working adult. ❞

❝ respectfully, you got boofed. ❞

❝ *throws stick* you seem to be in a sticky situation. ❞

❝ *throws bone* i have a bone to pick with you. ❞

❝ i have the power, that’s all i’m gonna say. ❞

❝ is that a crying laughing emoji? ❞

❝ i am attempting to enjoy myself, and apparently, that is the antithesis of all your values. ❞

❝ my laptop is broken. it does not work. there is, uh, burn marks all over it. ❞

❝ i love you, too….WAIT WAIT WAIT, i didn’t want to make that commitment. uh, i like you a lot, as a friend. ❞

❝ there’s two things you can do here: watch baseball or watch the corn. ❞

❝ ms. frizzle has hot lesbian sex. ❞

❝ i’ve just written a song about tortillas. ❞

❝ i’m just gonna say it once: i think you’re full of shit. ❞

❝ why do you expect me to be able to do all these things? ❞

❝ you can’t just keep saying “you know me” and expect me to know you better. ❞

❝ can you calm down? you’re creating a ruckus. ❞

❝ you like dick and balls? ❞

❝ are you planning on burning down another treehouse? ‘cause i wanna be there when it happens. ❞

❝ you think this is a fucking joke? you think this is a game? ❞

❝ dude, fuck old people, man. ❞

❝ i’m gonna come clean with you: there’s a price on your head. ❞

❝ never have i ever turned down the opportunity to suck the shit out of a dick. ❞

❝ are you gay? ARE YOU GAY? ❞

❝ silence the weak, that’s what i say. ❞  

❝ what kind of follower of jesus christ are you? ❞

❝ that’s communism! you’re a tyrant! ❞

❝ today has been SO upsetting. ❞

❝ you’re a paranoid little baby. ❞

❝ who is obama? i am obama. ❞

          — vincent van gogh

Detti Kacsor