Day: October 14, 2017

raisedinthesmoke:

“I haven’t been to school since before the war, and I was seven when that happened. After that, my mom did the best she could to teach me the stuff she thought I’d need most to survive.”

Jayne knew how to just about read, write and do enough math to get by, but beyond that, he hadn’t had much by way of an education that didn’t involve just how to keep living; finding clean water and food that was safe to eat, where to find shelter, building campfires, etc.

“Most of the kids here learn things just by being taught hands on, like repairing the generators or raising crops and livestock, but there’s not really any kind of proper school anymore.”

He nodded. It made sense, really, that they would focus more on survival teaching than anything like history. But his family always stressed the importance of that particular subject to avoid making the same mistakes. 

“I think we still have a good collection of salvaged books from schools and what not. If you were interested in those, I mean,” he offered. It was only partly an apology for giving him a fright.

mythsandmonsters:

Jack moved off, not entirely certain of the direction he was going in, but he seemed to be following the uneasy sensation in his gut like it was some sort of compass that worked completely on his fear of his father.

Epiales followed, the sense of dread in his stomach growing with every step. He just couldn’t shake the bad feeling as they passed people in those damned chains.

mythsandmonsters:

“What, like the whole Jedi “anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering” thing? You volunteering to be my Yoda?” He teased, a smirk finding its way back on to his face.

Cracking jokes was an easy way to break the tension, and her offering to let him hang out with her had been mostly what he’d been trying to achieve for now anyway, so Teddy let himself visibly relax again.

“Okay, that was nerdier than my Firefly reference and I swear to god, if that’s where August got his logic…” she trailed off, giggling a little and curling back against him once more before yawning. 

“It’s a serious offer though.”

mythsandmonsters:

“It feels like I’m missing a piece of my heart.” He added, realising his error and trying to soften the meaning.

“It just scares me that I’ll never find anyone who can help me heal it, if that makes sense? Like why being alone hurts so much.”

“You don’t…you don’t have to be alone. I mean, I know it’s not nearly the same but… You could always just hang out with me,” she offered, pulling back just enough to look at him.

“It’s gotta be better than letting the hurt turn to anger, right?”

mythsandmonsters:

“Yeah.”

He hadn’t heard it explained like that before, but he understood it. His fixation on the twin he’d lost feeling like an emptiness he didn’t know how to fill, even when he tried to fill it with other people he thought would fit, but ultimately ended up disappointing him in some way and discarded for the next.

“My dad says it’s natural to feel that way when something that was yours is taken away from you like that and that it’s okay to feel angry about it sometimes.”

“I guess.”

His wording sounded a little too possessive, but she figured it was just a twin thing. The only set of twins she had ever met had been freakishly close and in sync on a level she couldn’t comprehend.

mythsandmonsters:

“I still dream about her sometimes,” he murmured, letting her coil around him before before nuzzling into her hair again and resting his cheek on her head.

“Does it sound silly?” He asked softly. “To dream about someone I never got to meet?”

“Not to me. I dream about my mom a lot. I think it’s like our brains trying to fill in a gap, trying to make up for losing something so important. I mean, it’s like losing a part of yourself and not knowing the shape of the piece, right?” At least, that’s how it always felt to her.

mythsandmonsters:

“It technically happened before I was born. When my mom was pregnant, my uncle attacked my dad. Mom tried to stop him, but she got hurt instead and it made her lose my sister and nearly lose me too. Dad told me about it when I was old enough to understand because I started having dreams about a girl I’d never met.” He explained, the pattern of his breathing changing at the thought of it.

“Nobody talks to my uncle anymore for hurting Mom and trying to kill me.”

His words had her untangling her hand from his in favor of wrapping her arms around him as carefully as she could with his wings. She couldn’t even begin to fathom that sort of family complication and no one deserved that. Especially not a baby.

“I’m sorry..”

mythsandmonsters:

“Sorry they took her from you. I kinda know how that feels to lose someone so close but not remember them.” He frowned sympathetically.

“I had a twin sister who died. Not by hunters though. It’s sort of complicated to explain.”

Her hand found his once more and she twined their fingers together before giving him a reassuring squeeze.

“I can’t even imagine a loss like that…” 

mythsandmonsters:

“How did she die?” He asked before suddenly looking like he regretted it again.

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to pry. It’s ok if you don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Hunters.. I was only a baby, so I don’t actually remember her. Guess they didn’t have it in them to shoot an infant. August found me, saved a bunch of stuff from the house, made sure she got a proper burial,” she answered quietly, shutting down a little at the topic. 

“Talking to her grave makes me feel like I have even the smallest connection to her, even if it’s not true.”

mythsandmonsters:

“Sorry. If I’d known you were visiting your mom, I would probably have picked a better time. I didn’t realise.”

Humility was easy enough to fake when it served the purpose of covering up the fact he’d been watching her for far longer than she probably knew, and he noticed that she seemed to like that he constantly checked his behaviour and made apologies for it.

“Don’t be. I don’t really think anyone actually knows my mom’s dead, so how could you have? Some people like graveyards.”

Biting her lip, she finally caved enough to lean her head against his shoulder. Instinct made her want to scent mark him, even a little, but she held that in check. That was a little too weird.