The kiss on his cheek was sweet. A rare, tiny piece of innocence in a world that destroyed innocence outright. Ash gave another smile and hugged her closer for a moment. It occurred to him that if they got any closer, the two of them would have to learn how to eat while sitting in each others' laps. Giving it some thought, that wasn't really so unpleasant a prospect. Hell, he might insist on it before too long. Ash shook his head slightly and returned to his meal. It was amazing how one could absently consume a meal without consciously being aware of it. Such was it with Ash, who looked down to a mostly empty plate that he fully remembered eating in hindsight but which still gave him a microsecond of surprise. Tilting back the last two tiny, round potatoes, Ash rose alongside Thana, agreeing wholeheartedly with her suggestion for the remainder of the evening. Get this put up, carry her ass to bed. "Sounds good to me," he said, readying for Step One of the overall plan.
Ash did have his concerns about Thana using her leg after sitting down like they both were for a while. She didn't seem to mind very much. Even punctuated this concept by sticking her tongue out at him. Yeah, she was fine. But the second that Step Two of Thana's master plan came into play, he was snatching her up like a Black Friday toaster oven and hauling ass.
Getting back to the compost bin and dish tub brought the pair in line of sight with the stage. Now, Ash was never really an N'Sync fan. Music of any kind these days was a blessing, no doubt about it, but this was a special case. Looking at these men, these really tough guys, performing particularly bad choreography to a hit from the boy band era, Ash realized that he probably didn't have that kind of courage. Facing down hordes of animated corpses that wanted to gnaw his face off, sure. Fighting off cultists, or cannibals, or bandits, yeah. Gathering his people together after their home collapses into a sinkhole and embarking upon a year and a half (plus change) long quest to find a woman he met and fell in love with, goes without saying. But to somehow draw from within him the courage to do that? Not unless the upper management of Camp Mexico Beach profoundly upped the drink limits for these soirees.
All that was left, with the exception of staring oddly at the stage for a moment or so longer, was to do as told and get Thana the hell out of there. A look of mischief took Ash. It was time for Step Two. "As the Commander requests," he said with a nod of his head, and swept Thana up in his arms. She did say carry her to bed. Confident steps brought them away from the beach en route to Officer's Housing. He noted that others were likewise on their way back to their quarters or wherever beckoned them at this hour of the evening. That was their business. The only business that mattered to Ash was in his arms, her form comfortably pressed against him as he walked along, careful not to aggravate her not-quite-fully healed leg.
Thalia Carmichael
Location: M7 (Condo, 17B) Skills: N/A
A lot to take in. A lot to adjust to. Trust was still not an easy thing to come by. Being inside of walls and living by someone else's code of conduct was also not particularly easy for her. If this place wasn't run by Thana's people she might have more of an issue than she did. And of course the cincher was that she had actual blood family here as well; a brother through their father, though they had different mothers. That was not the kind of thing that she could just walk away from. Shiny metal arm that she had to learn how to use, not to mention the necessity of using her left for detail work now. Though that was not something brought about by this place. It happened because she got sloppy. So, fine. This was home now. The idea of getting some time to herself in the woods or the hills, fire hardening a stout sapling or straight branch into a spear was not going to happen for a while yet. Maybe it was for the best. Thalia had so much to relearn. She felt like such a novice.
Thalia was already walking off by the time the last song of the night began. In contrast to the ones which had come before it, this one wasn't live. It was enough to make Thalia turn around in the sand and give the stage a quick peek. Not because she liked the song any more than the rest of them, but because it was different. Different, out in the world, usually meant "pay attention, dumbass", otherwise she wouldn't have bothered. What she saw was seared into her retinas so badly that after closing her eyes and shaking her head a few times, she could still see it. No, no this was a good time to slip away before anyone noticed. "What the hell kind of place did I wander into?" she whispered to herself. The man from whom she would hopefully be taking military training was up there, gyrating away. Thalia moved away slowly until she felt comfortable putting her back to it, then left it behind her. It wasn't until after she cleared the scene and was halfway back to her assigned bunk (with Joaquin, which was kind of nice) that she started to laugh at what she saw. It felt like the first time in a while.
Dodging people and letting the children have a wide berth in front of her, Thalia finally made it back to her quarters. She would deal with this treasure hunt, or whatever it was, when it was convenient to do so. It was time for sleep. Check that; it was time to sit someplace, uncomfortable in semi-civilized surroundings and making security sweeps of her assigned room, until she could turn off her more cautious senses enough to slip into a state of rest. She expected that starting tomorrow, things would get busy.
Ash loosely curled one arm around Thana's waist again and held her closer to himself, even as she curled against him. It was like he was compelled to be as close to her as possible and if that meant he only had one hand to enjoy his seafood boil with, then he would make due. It felt good to be close to someone else in this way, and it felt better that it was Thana. The founders of CMB couldn't have come up with better timing for this soiree, either, or rather the time seemed to fall into place with their exit from Quarantine and Thana's return. He might have wished for a tiny change in the way that rumors of her demise were squashed before they had time to fester, but if everything in this new place was perfect, Ash would probably suspect something. It was all in the past, anyway, be it the very recent past. New chapter on his life; page had been turned, and suchlike.
Now, what did manage to snap him out of the fuzzy and nostalgic bent that his brain had gone on for the last several seconds were the insinuations that Thana herself was putting across to him. Ash definitely raised an eyebrow at the idea that she wouldn't need her strength for what was to follow their romantic time on the beach with fresh seafood, the stars, and each others' company. Though she was likely just kidding with him, Ash was amazed to find out that it did give a fraction of a second of genuine worry. However, the follow-up that he would most assuredly need his strength, and insisted that he eat up for that reason, smoothed that over rather readily. It even sounded like an order. He smiled. As a career Army man before the world fell apart, he was accustomed to receiving and following orders from a superior officer. And be they of different branches, Thana held the higher pay grade. Ash raised his hand into a proper military salute and responded with a subdued yet cheerfully acquiescent, "Yes, Ma'am," and saw to his meal with all of the decorum of a man who was set to do his proper duty. As many times, point of fact, as necessary until the task was completed to his superior's complete satisfaction. Digging deep, putting his back into it, setting his nose to the grindstone, and otherwise throwing himself wholeheartedly into the blissful labors thereof; so long as Thana was happy, so was Ash.
Leaning over, he kissed the side of Thana's neck and said, "We have all the time we need. All the time in the world. An' I'm happy I get to spend it with you." The general feeling in the air, at least for Ash, was that they were at the precipice of something big, and something new. For now, he could simply sit back and enjoy the salt air, the clear, night sky, and he couldn't ask for better company. It was a very nice night.
The lack of response about a skin artist in town settled that question for the time being. It was probably for the best anyway, seeing as a simple infection could claim lives nowadays unless someone in town knew how to make penicillin. But that really wouldn't have surprised Thalia, either. So to hell with it. Ask again later, different people, try to have something to trade for the service. As she was thinking this, her eyes couldn't move from the graceless acts of an over-intoxicated Hunter. It was not flattering in the least, and it seemed to strike Thalia a little more personally than she thought it might have. This was a person who apparently had a survival strategy not unlike her own, and that colored the rather antisocial nature of the both of them. She had made different decisions, though. And she always had a goal to work toward. Those two points counted for a lot. A mild change of perspective and the guy might not get himself banished via catapult, which was a funny concept in theory. But that would mean that he would be more like her... Nah, maybe it was better this way.
The off-and-on conversation around the bar continued with Adelaide describing Chase. While Thalia wasn't sure exactly what the stereotypical "Weather Girl" might be useful for, subsequent explanation had that making a lot of sense. Blonde, cute, 30s, loner, chased tornadoes back in the day. Hence the name. Monitored equipment, presumably related to her former profession. "Yah, thanks. Haven't met her," was all she would say about it. Not much of a discussion without a common frame of reference, but if she felt like continuing her mid-coital exploits with the home team here, she knew one that was single. File that away for a maybe.
The announcement that alcohol was shut down didn't overly bother Thalia. She had consumed one beer and switched away from it altogether. The tea tasted better to her anyway, and thought on the subject had her taking another sip. Yeah, good stuff. On the upside though, the idea of starting a Guild and getting shirts was being received well. Not much of a joiner, persay, there might be something to it anyway. It did make her think of a friend of hers from a while back, though, who would have jumped at this kind of opportunity. She was a loud and obnoxious bitch, and Thalia missed her greatly. But back to the present. The laughter of the local lady at the bar turned her head around at first, but it was the further discussion from Ada that inclined her to speak again. "I thought Yondar Sex Rock was a band. Or am I thinking of something else..?" she mused, before her brain registered something else from two seconds earlier. Less, maybe. "You guys gaht a D&D group here? I played in college. Hell, some of the lessons from it kept my ass alive when the Zeds came, y'know?" Like humanity started over as Level 1 characters and those who kept surviving got to level up. Thalia made a mental note to speak on that philosophy a little later on. It was good stuff. Another mental note - find the D&D group. Again, later.
It seemed that she had her own quest to fulfill, and it didn't involve dungeon crawling nor abnormally sized lizards with flaming halitosis. Thalia downed the rest of her tea with a series of gulps, wiped her mouth with the back of her ...no, she already hit herself with a steel arm once today, try again... (ahem) pulled the paper out of her back pocket and read it again. To the women with whom she had been talking, she said, "Pahty's winding down. I'm going to wind down with it. Hunt fucks with you anotheh time, alright? G'night then." It was probably as polite as she could scrape up right then, even to the point of surprising herself a little. Thalia found the appropriate spot for her glass, then took her leave.
The fact that Thana was able to guess who had called together the Great Fuck Hunt of Mexico Beach was telling of both the place and the people in it. Ash had to stifle a laugh from getting a touch out of hand. He wasn't accustomed to laughter quite so much anymore, as least when it came from him. It would have to be something he got used to again, and he felt that in this place, he just might. CMB had a cast of characters, all right, and they seemed to know each other well enough. It had all the earmarks of a community, and not just a gaggle of refugees. "I'm sure she knew I was spoken for. Even said as much, more or less," commented Ash, remembering the sarcastic quip that came from Nikki just earlier. Ash remembered feeling slightly insulted, if temporary, as the woman referring to Thana as a fuck that he had found. All in good fun, he supposed, but it didn't sit well with him. But this wasn't a moment to think about her. Too young, too flighty, too not Thana. That last distinction was the most important.
The moment after she finagled that kiss from him, Ash followed with, "If everybody doesn't already know I've got a 'thing for ya', then I'm doing something really, really wrong here, Thawna." He wore a lovestruck smile on his face; something he would likely have, off and on, for a very long time yet to come. Ash nodded knowingly as she confessed her duality of want at that moment. He understood the feelings there, as he was having them himself. Was it better to keep this moment alive for the time being or go back someplace truly private to make up for lost time? It seemed a pity that they couldn't do both. He laid a hand on top of hers and spoke with a clear, soft voice. "I lost you a long time ago, Thana. Lived for a year and a half, just about, not knowing when or even if I'd ever see you again. Now here we are, sitting under the stars, the sea breaking in front of us, and a warm wind blowing through our hair. All this miracle around us, and I still can't stop looking at you. So, as long as I'm with you, no matter what you want tonight, I'm truly satisfied." Ash leaned forward and stole a kiss of his own, letting it linger as he heard yet another crash of sea against sand in front of them.
Thalia Carmichael
Location: L11 (Bar) Skills: N/A
"Depends on my tastes? Yeah..." responded Thalia, followed by a nonchalant shrug. "I've got no fucking idea what my 'tastes' are anymoreh." It was a strange thing, as she thought about it. Her sexuality and proclivities therein weren't a thing up for debate prior to this whole "Apocalypse Thing". Thalia was what she was and, so long as things were discreet and convenient, she was good. Invariably her partners were male, around her age and had marginal variety - as much variety as one can expect from central Boston, anyway. But since then, it was something she had to think about. But as any good survivalist would tell you, one has to adapt to their environment to succeed. Whether the stark reality of just staying alive stripped away the conventions of her environment or social programming, or whether she independently realized this of herself because she spent so much time traveling and surviving with primarily other women, Thalia could not say. What she could say, because it was as true as anything else, was, "My 'tastes' are pretty goddamn fluid. And considering I just got dumped, I don't think it'd be fair to grudge-fuck one of the locals." Not without knowing what the mood was like for casual pairings in Camp Mexico Beach. What someone might take as a connection she likely would not.
Thalia took a sip of her tea. It was good. Of course it was, though. It was tea, and it had sugar in it. Both were things that she remembered liking, and both were things that went beyond the concept of luxury items now. She motioned with her glass, swallowing before speaking again, "I met Roy, I think. No clue who Chase is." So many new people to observe and figure out. And the people of CMB were no doubt doing the same to her. Lisa even said something similar, just then; checking out the new prey. Thalia was no one's "prey", if she could help it. She narrowed her eyes briefly, choosing to continue conversation (such as it was) while taking mental notes. "Turning into a thing," she began guardedly, "Wild Fuckhunters' Guild? We get t-shirts or matching cutie marks?" A little sarcasm, maybe, but it served to lead her into another thought. "Anyone in this town a tattoo ahtist? Meant to get some ink a while back, but, friggin' Zeds..."
"Get behind. I'll clear the way." - Combat Engineer maxim
⚘ Looking Inside ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Ash is a person of some duality. Those who have seen him at work will tell you that he is a man driven to mathematical precision in his thought and action. He is a skillful planner and deliberate executor of said plans. Ash is disciplined, intelligent, patient, and driven. Anyone who knew him before, outside of work will tell you a different story. They would describe him as a hard drinking, laid back, casual kind of guy who knows how to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life. Also, fire might be involved. His rural Virginian upbringing comes to the forefront on these occasions, as does a more pronounced accent.
Since the outbreak began, his casual side shows less and less frequently. He felt some responsibility for the deaths of his people over the last two years (starting with his novia), which caused him to withdraw from many personal interactions. The irony of this: he needs people in his life to balance out his psyche. Without people, Ash can become very dark. For a time, his mental stability was questionable. Ash took Newman's loss hard to begin with, but it filled him with a sense of purpose. He has a mission, for himself and the people he calls family. The continuing irony in his life is that, with next to nothing left and hope coming in an eyedropper, his mind is clearer and he is more alive than he has been in a long time. His sense of compassion, while still present in his psyche, has grown into an empathetic sense of responsibility. He still cares, still has mercy - but no longer allows it to affect the hard decisions.
⚘ A Brief History ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Growing Up: Raised in a rural mountain town in Virginia, Ash was the youngest of three boys in a financially challenged household. Ends were met, and occasionally profit made, by the family tradition of the manufacture and distribution of illicit grain alcohol. Eventually, the family went legit after enough savings allowed them to purchase the necessary permits and a building. It was marketed as "Homestyle Appalachian Sippin' Whiskey". His childhood was somewhat rough, but manageable enough. Upon completing High School, he was accepted into the Virginia Military Institute, where he received a Bachelor's in Engineering, followed by Sapper training and stationing at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. He had a keen mind and attention to detail that lent himself well to his new profession.
Adulting: Upon field assignment, Ash spent the next few years assigned to various places of interest internationally as a combat engineer (mostly in South America and the Middle East), all the while accumulating the credits necessary to achieve his Master's degree before being pulled back to the States for reasons unknown at the time. Ash was assigned to work with the Army Corps of Engineers, Conservation Dept. in Marietta, GA, working alongside various medical organizations and investigative agencies on a project involving disease containment, urban evacuation, and the setting up of caches and safe zones to help facilitate these endeavors.
Several unintended deaths later, he received a battlefield promotion from Lieutenant to Captain. He literally had to pull his Captain's Bars off of the corpse of the man he replaced, before putting a blade through his skull. Circumstances being what they were, the “battle” never technically ended, and his rank stuck.
Your First Walker Encounter: Ash's first encounter with a Walker took place in the streets of Atlanta. He was one of the officers in charge of constructing the various "safe zones" in the city limits, providing water service, barricades, etc. Unfortunately, his orders gave detail for containing a viral outbreak with possible rioting. Local police were expected to handle looting and handle most of the crowd control.
The Powers That Be either didn't know what was really going on, else they simply didn't want to tell the soldiers on the ground. Either way, they were ill-equipped to deal with the threat when it came. The safe zone he was presently in charge of was overrun from the inside, courtesy of the already infected let in for "treatment". His first experience with a Walker came when it, and several others, burst out of a prefab medical shelter and began to eat his people.
Realizing the problem was far worse than he was led to believe, Ash got as many of his people that he could over to the nearest established military installation - Dobbins ARB.
Those First Years: When Atlanta fell, most of the Dobbins staff scattered, taking away everything they could carry or fit into a vehicle. Ash debated staying, fortifying a few of the inner buildings, but eventually abandoned this idea as it was impractical for the small number of personnel remaining to fully secure the area. This was exacerbated by the situation: people broke off into their own factions, resulting in massive infighting to hold onto what buildings and provisions they could claim. Survival was more likely were he to leave.
The next year saw him slowly returning to his hometown to see to his family’s safety. Heartbreak hit him when he found out that his mother was taken by Walkers and his long-term girlfriend had been missing since the outbreak, presumably run off or dead like so many others. He stuck around to see to friends and family. Fortifying his father’s distillery, he moved a good chunk of townsfolk in or around the complex.
A megahorde from Charlottesville shambled right up to their home unannounced and laid siege to the distillery. Some of the people inside thought it would be best to make a run for it, unwittingly letting the dead breach their defenses. Half of the people inside were killed in the ensuing battle, and what remained of his family was missing or dead.
Plan B: In the event that a scared, drunk asshole ruins the good thing they had going, the survivors were to hole up in the distillery’s motor pool and form a convoy, led by Ash’s personal engineering project, “The Hordebuster”. (looks a little like this) The ‘Buster is a large, hoary ware carrier/industrial truck, older model with easily machinable parts that runs on diesel (and alcohol). It has been armored, fitted with a monstrous cow-catcher, and loaded with enough spare parts, drums of fuel/booze, and supplies to keep it going for a long while. It’s even got a small sleeper cabin. Leading the way, the Hordebuster brought the remaining survivors, a good amount of supplies and a metric shit-ton of alcohol out of the chaos and onto the trucking roads of the Appalachians. (He’s entertaining outfitting it for light offroad work.)
Trekking westward, he found a lot of (formerly) high populated areas amid otherwise wide stretches of grass and nothing. The former populations (now undead) stayed clustered near the cities, for the most part, making supply runs dangerous to the extreme, the next place to restock usually perilously far away. Ash’s string of crappy luck and loss of more life, coupled by the harsh winter soured him to the prospect of making a life out that way.
New Plan: Find a warm place with a very long growing season, preferably surrounded by deep water with a smaller original population. One of the smaller islands in the Florida Keys seemed ideal. A stop in Kentucky refilled their supplies of pure grain alcohol (the scamps), and the Virginia group barreled down through Tennessee. Somewhere near Murfreesboro, a supply run at a truck stop had Ash meeting up with fellow Dobbins ARB survivor Lt. Colonel Leann McCormick.
Convincing her that the northern route was slightly more suicidal than returning south, Leann and a particularly off-putting Doctor joined his group. They traveled back into Georgia, moving around I-285 at first to pick up military caches his Engineering teams set up before Atlanta fell to supply their new mission. On the way, their caravan grew as they found other survivors willing to help and accept their leadership.
Around the Atlanta South area, Leann (whom he still referred to as “Colonel”) approached Ash with a suggestion: Newnan, GA. Tactical and practical reasons were given as to why it would be a favorable location. After some discussion on the matter, Ash relented with the proviso that, if it fell through, they resume his plan for Florida.
Newnan: The sniping death of Leann McCormick led to Ash taking over as the leader of the Newnan settlement. Between the impossibly unavoidable and sporadic attacks of Eden, the tumultuous weather (including a Zombnado), and difficulties from within, this was not an easy task. He took the loss of life as his own responsibility. Eventually, another settlement (Franklin) merged with Newnan, bringing its own challenges. All the while, responsibility and death weighted heavily on Ash, who had entered into some psychological difficulties of his own.
Searching: As fate would have it, Newnan fell. Several factors contributed to it, and no one was at fault. Mother Nature took a hammer to their community, and almost everyone died because of it. The few survivors were scattered, but they had a fallback plan. Unfortunately, a megahorde, unpleasant strangers, mechanical issues and a host of other setbacks kept holding his small group up. They had deaths, they had reunions, they lost everything and are still trying to hold it together. A year passed in total, and his group is still confident, still driven at this time. They still had a goal, which was more than most had.
Camp Mexico Beach: The arrival to CMB was very structured and orderly, though assumptions of Thana's death marred the event for him. The eventual discovery that she was alive had more than revived Ash to something a little closer to what he was before the Outbreak, and though very new to this new home, Ash became content with Camp Mexico Beach. What few people he was able to save from Newnan were finally on stable footing. On both counts - Mission Accomplished. One of his goals became to prove himself to the community, starting at the bottom with a daunting piece of janitorial work.
"We had our trials, survived, and found each other. Now we get to be together." - Ash to Thana after reunited in CMB
A chance meeting at the gates of Newnan in a heavily modified ATV kicked things off. There was a shock that she had Zoie's face, but some quick Captain-ing had her back behind closed doors (his) before she uncovered her face again. They attended the wedding and reception together, parted only when he performed the ceremony. The two ditched the reception partway through and returned to his home, where their attraction for one another turned to the passionate.
The next day, things became difficult. James's murderous actions which led to his exile, Thana's ex arriving (and alive), and a flurry of emotions that Ash had difficulty expressing. Eventually, they both admitted feelings for each other that went beyond physical attraction. It didn't take very long for Ash to fall for her. He appointed Thana to the position that James vacated, Agriculture Lead, and decided to go on a run to scout a nearby location with her. They were sidetracked by the imprint of tank tracks in the snow, and cautiously followed.
During this time, Newnan fell. The ground ripped open and they were on either side of the chasm. Ash was tossed her dog tags, and promised to find her and return them after his duty to the survivors was fulfilled. Ever southward, as best he could, Ash traveled to Zebulon and then Mexico Beach. After being processed into Quarantine, it was impressed upon him that she was deceased, though ever actually told outright. Thinking that she was dead, Ash began to mourn. It wasn't until his entrance interview that he saw a huge truck, resembling his nonfunctioning Hordebuster, and Thana climb out of it. A very charged reunion ensued, and Ash has taken up residence with her in Officers' Quarters. He remains wholly devoted to her.
Tatiana Korvo
"I'm good. Wait, something I should know?" - Ash to Tatiana, before she decked him for holding his emotions in
Tati is like a little sister to Ash. Sometimes an annoying little sister. Also, she insisted that he be named the godfather of her and Jack's baby son, Jamie. It is safe to say that they are close. Considering the circumstances of their reuniting, Ash knows she went through an ordeal to keep her and her baby alive, the details of which are her business unless she feels like sharing. The Newnan Group, led by Ash, kept moving to try to find her when they got separated after Newnan fell. When they finally did, it ended in a firefight and heartfelt reunion, after he was treated for his injuries. When they arrived at Mexico Beach, she helped Ash work through a lot of his bottled up feelings, the start of which occurred with getting punched in the face with a rather ornate wedding ring. Far prior to this, Tatiana was a counselor for Newnan, under the tutelage of Dr. Victor Bonheur (Froggy). He suggested that she sharpen her psychological skills on Ash, who while fully functional, had some issues to work through. They rather grew on each other, and a sibling-ish relationship developed. (Surname formerly Korvo)
Amelia Vincenti Payne
"GAAH! Jesus FUCKING CHRIST, Amelia!" - Ash to Amelia, after she (accidentally) poked her finger in his bullet wound. (p.83)
Amelia tended to stay to the background of Newnan for the longest time, recognizable mostly as being Riley's significant other. After its destruction, Amelia joined up with the Hordebuster crew and they spent the next year and a half, almost, trekking in search of survivors and slowly making their way to Zebulon and Mexico Beach. During this time, she showed Ash that she was a capable survivor, team player, and not too shabby with a blunt implement. Now if she could only work on first aid more... Her time since was spent much as her time in the Hordebuster or back in Newnan - keeping to Riley to the exclusion of almost everything else. Ash understands, being in a similar situation recently. At least she seems relatively happy.
Guy
"GUY! Oh, you shifty son of a bitch! It's damn good to see ya, man!" - After reuniting at CMB
Quite possibly the last survivor of Ash's old hometown of Esmont, VA, Guy is the man whom Ash has known the longest. He used to work at the Holloway & Sons Distillery for Ash's family, though after the Outbreak he distinguished himself as being a hell of a survivor who wasn't afraid of hard work, and for being a fine shot with a long gun. He has been with Ash since almost the beginning, though the collapse of Newnan caused them to take different paths for a long while. Eventually, those paths converged at Camp Mexico Beach.
Alexander Polawski
"Any military in here?" - aloud in the showers, first day; it was began their first, brief exchange.
Ash recognizes that Alexander is an old soldier, long retired even before the world went to Hell. They haven't had many opportunities to in depth conversation, but those times they did were generally benign, good faith exchanges.
Nigel Cooper
"See you around, Nigel." - first day of duties in CMB, after a brief exchange.
Ash trusts Thana's instincts, and her opinion of the man seems positive enough. If nothing else, shared knowledge of engineering feats might lead to conversations about things such as torque, thresholds, azimuths, and other interesting scraps of the physical sciences. Ash finds Nigel a little odd, though nothing so serious as to warrant caution. If nothing else, another quiet-ish member of the fishing brigade wouldn't hurt things at all.
Thalia Carmichael
"When we have time, I'll tell you everything you want to know." - when Thalia asked about the details of her friends and family's deaths.
At initial meeting, Ash though there was something disquieting but familiar about her. When he learned who she was, this did not change. Their exchanges have been short, mostly her trying to get information about her people or making monosyllabic intonations. Ash does not hold much hope that they will ever be fast friends, but it does make him feel better knowing that her family's bloodline remains in the world.
Emanuel "Manny" Newman
"..." - lacking memorable discussion.
Though they came in on the same bus, spent time in Quarantine, and are now both citizens of CMB, they never seemed to cross paths enough to hold a solid conversation. Maybe this will change in the coming months.
Lisa Mason
"..." - having zero intereaction.
Ash as seen Lisa, knows her name by association, and could pull her out of a lineup, but otherwise can say nothing about the lady, positive or negative.
Hunter Monroe
"You're trying too hard." - upon having the concept of cleaning a bathroom explained to him by Monroe.
Ash's patience is tried by Hunter, though this is tempered by the knowledge that some of his behavior is tinged by trauma. This is not uncommon. But it is a liability to the community. After the incident with Tatiana he had attempted to view that situation that was Hunter with cautious objectivity, even support when he thought it might have been helpful. Ash's consideration remains with community over this individual, which he maintained during the trial. It is his hope that Hunter will emerge from psych with a more balanced outlook.
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━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Male ↕ 34 ↕ Caucasian ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 5'11" ↕ 180 ↕ Athletic ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Blue ↕ Brown ↕ Light ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Psychology
"I wouldn't get my hopes up, Gramps. Between now and mealtime, lots can fuck up. Lots." - to Mugsy, before the attack on Eden
⚘ Looking Inside ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Thalia is a young woman who shows steady support to those she chooses to let close to her, or those to whom she pledges herself. She is dedicated to family and those who prove themselves worthy of her trust. It is not blind compliance, but she is loyal and will do what is needed of her. When pursuing an end, or just going for a walk, Thalia always looks for the best situation or plan of action. She needs to know where the exits are, what contingencies are available, and who to attack first in a scenario; generally aiming at an end beyond immediate action while keeping an eye on her surroundings. In most things, Thalia prizes her capacity to think and act with an assured sense of self-reliance. Her independent nature tends to keep her more comfortable operating alone or within a small group, though she recognizes the value of community. Thalia merely prefers to keep toward the fringe where possible.
Authority for its own sake makes little sense to her. Thalia will follow orders, but from people that she respects or had pledged to. Even then it is usually taken as a hard guideline, changeable as the situation changes. The same applies to the reciprocal of this; Thalia is not always comfortable taking on positions of final authority. Specific circumstances would have to be present for her to volunteer for leadership roles. She has no desire for power over others, preferring to contribute to a group as an individual pulling her weight, working within her skill set. Along a similar line, she is eager to learn whatever will make her stronger and more adaptable from people who might teach her. Sustained survivability is top priority.
Concerning new situations, or any to which she has reservations, Thalia can be overly cautious. Her tendency toward tactic has her observant, reserved and unrevealing, often reluctant to open up or speak more than is absolutely necessary. Even at her best, Thalia appears restrained, holding something potentially dangerous back; the human equivalent of a predator pacing back and forth inside of a cage. Thalia shows signs of becoming at least partly feral. When committing to speech or socialization, Thalia is straightforward to a fault, rarely softening conversational blows and often without internal mediation. She is direct, making no attempt to disguise unpleasantness. When committing to action, Thalia does so at a punishing pace, pushing herself to break limits. And when in conflict, she is savage and remorseless, trying to end things as efficiently as her means allow. Thalia is coldly barbaric in the application of violence.
A decent person, if very rough around the edges. She has a profound sense of family honor and its darker aspects. She also loves to eat, and has a lack of formal manners in that regard. Oddly enough, she is one of those blessed types with a freaky ideal metabolism. She can keep shoveling it in, the calories only serving to maintain her form without causing noticeable gain. Another interesting thing of note - Thalia has shown signs of budding pyromania. It remains to be seen whether it is an interest or an obsession, but so far she has not been foolish about it. The girl just likes fire.
⚘ A Brief History ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Growing Up: Born in San Francisco to a single mother, Thalia Carmichael had no knowledge of her biological father until the age of ten. Her mother, a Miss Angelica Carmichael (maternal family name), left the father the day she discovered that she was pregnant. The history of the Gonzalez family was soaked in blood, and she had been planning to make a discreet exit from them anyway. Angelica wanted a safe, normal life for her daughter. As soon as little Thalia was old enough to travel, they moved to the elder Miss Carmichael’s home city of Boston, MA.
Unbeknownst to all, Benicio Gonzalez (biological father, independent contractor, and firearms enthusiast) had taken a semi-retired lifestyle and joined the Priesthood. In his younger years, Benicio entered and graduated from a prominent Seminary school; circumstances led to his more combative lifestyle before taking his Vows. Addressed as Father Benicio Gonzalez, he still performed the occasional service related to his former life.
A car accident in Boston deprived Thalia of her mother. In her will, she revealed the identity of her biological father, Benicio Gonzalez, briefly explained their history and why she was kept from them. When he was notified of this, there was an understandable element of surprise involved. DNA tests confirmed their relation, and Thalia was released into his care. It was a little unusual, a priest with a daughter, but they got the permission of the Church and the State found no legal reason to keep them separated. Benicio took to calling her Angel, a pet name he used for her mother.
From the age of ten, Thalia (Angel) was raised as a Gonzalez, with all of the good and bad that came with the privilege. She idolized her older Prima, Alicia, wanting to be like her in many ways. This is probably why she took to the family business and college with as much gusto as she did. Her area of expertise differed, but there was a significant amount of overlap in their skill sets.
Adulting: College and the beginning of a legitimate career working for her Tío & Prima as a Security Specialist (with opportunities for trouble every now and again) was her life plan, and it wasn’t bad. Over years of training with her family, she was even able to distill and quantify the unarmed fighting technique utilized by the elder Gonzalez brothers and their predecessors, breaking it down into a teachable discipline. Angel entered several local and regional boxing matches of questionable legality as they came up, honing her techniques until the competitors refused to step into a ring with her anymore unless the “Marquess of Queensberry Rules” were applied.
Your First Walker Encounter: A late evening at work turned into an early morning. Angel remembered waking up on a couch in her office just before the sun illuminated the Boston skyline. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and decided that then was as good as time as any for breakfast.
There was a bakery she liked a handful of blocks away from the office, so she took a quick jog up the mostly deserted street, the smell of fresh bread and pastry calling her onward. Before she made it to her breakfast spot, Angel noticed a trio of people stumbling up an intersecting avenue, strangely wearing stained hospital gowns and seemingly unaware of their surroundings, very likely coming from the nearby Medical Center.
She saw them try to attack a stray dog, and when a morning shift garbage collector stopped to see if they needed help, they clawed and bit him savagely. The man escaped the attack and got back on his vehicle. The last she saw of them, the Sanitation workers were driving in the direction of the hospital, and the three attackers were shambling after the garbage truck.
In hindsight, that was her first Walker encounter. The experience wasn't a total loss, though: Angel was able to pick up a box of creme doughnuts and a loaf of cranberry almond bread.
Those First Years: Miss Carmichael was assigned to her old stomping grounds in Boston as the site’s Electronics Engineer and Close Combat Trainer when the Outbreak began. As the situation became royally screwed with zero clear endgame in sight, Angel decided to book it back for the central office in Chattanooga, TN, hopefully to meet up with her family and figure out what to do from there. The problem then became sneaking out of a major metropolitan area that the military could not hold onto with full resources and manpower. In the beginning, it took much longer than expected. Building by building, block by block, ever southward until she escaped the city proper.
When she finally reached Chattanooga, there was evidence of continued Post-Outbreak survival of some of her uncle’s people at the Home Office, though she could not tell how long before they had vacated. She did note that some of their signature working gear (personal machetes, leather vest, knives, motorcycles, etc.) were missing, but the place was not ransacked. Her satellite phone had died some time before, or she would have tried one of he few communication systems left to the world. Keeping hope alive, Thalia re-equipped with what she could find, and set out for Metro Atlanta. For various reasons, it seemed the most logical place they might try next, if they chose to brave the hordes diffusing from the higher population area. They might make a push to Texas or Mexico from there, meeting back up with whatever family might survive. It was worth a shot.
Some hard times later, a starving and desperate young lady was picked up by a group of medieval and Viking reenactors on horseback, wearing old-world armor. It was a little freaky at first for the urban and pragmatic Angel, but she stayed with them for some time in their little Castle Town in Fairburn, recovering and growing stronger. She learned many useful survival skills from the Northumbrian community, teaching some of her own in trade and helping them out with runs and defense. It was really a fine time for Angel; she dedicated herself to learning as much as she could as completely as possible, training almost constantly. It was like a bad Kung-Fu movie from the 1970's, where the protagonist walls up in a Shaolin Monastery for great lengths of time and emerges a better, stronger, and wiser person. But with Vikings. And Jousters. And grizzled, medieval(ish) survivalists. She made an interesting Half-Latina Shieldmaiden.
Then disease hit Fairburn hard. Angel made the decision to leave when it got really bad, as many did. She spent some time traveling by herself, mostly just surviving on her own and plotting her next move. The Gonzalez clan was large and reaching, but the center of their existence was in Monterrey, Mexico. She would try there next. It would be a hell of a journey.
More recently, the errant Miss Carmichael stumbled across the mother lode: an mostly intact electronics supply store. Inside, she found the tools and parts necessary to repair her satellite phone. Soon after, she was able get a solid charge into a couple of compatible batteries by rigging a charger and hot-wiring a car as a power source. It was unsuitable for transportation, but it made a passable makeshift generator. With food starting to run low (but a full battery charge), Thalia is attempting to reach out to anyone in her contacts list that might still have a working company phone. It is a long shot, to be certain. But worth it, and a more productive use of battery power than rocking a few levels of Tetris 2006.
Newnan: Angel had been holing up in a tank for the last part of the winter. Yes, a TANK. When you see a massive piece of custom motorized armor coming up the road at you in the middle of a cover-less clearing on level ground, you can either give the gunner a moving target or you can hold fast and find out what the hell is going on. As it was alone and headed in her direction, she took a risk and stuck out her thumb.
When the weather had begun to break, the time had come to set back out into the world. She had braced herself for the extremely high probability that her immediate family is dead, but felt obligated to find out. A chance meeting with a recent expatriate of Newnan, James Grady, and his small group answered the question as to the status of her friends and family; indeed dead after all her time searching. Another chance encounter with the Zed version of Astrid gave the Valkyrie final peace, and netted Thalia a familiar shield that was crafted by her good friend Bridgette (also dead).
Eden: The opportunity to destroy the people most responsible for the deaths of her people was made available, and so Thalia took part in a two-pronged attack that ultimately brought their enemies down. She lost her best friend in the attack, made other friends, and pledged her assistance to Thana until she got to Mexico Beach, Florida and reunited with her guy friend Ash, with whom she also has business. Namely, the details on Alicia, Caesar, Astrid, and Bridgette's passing. It has been a year now, but they're still kicking.
Searching: The goal was to help Thana get to where she was going, find who she was looking for. They were doing pretty good, too, until that incident with Mugsy and the bear trap. Then getting herself bit. Don't let anyone tell you that when someone saws a limb off that shock sets in and it doesn't hurt as much. It does. A lot. The only relief came from passing out when the jury-rigged power saw hit bone. She survived, and learned how to improvise a passable prosthetic. With a pointy end. Sadly, Thana never made it back from a supply run immediately after the amputation. They waited as long as they could, but eventually had to resume their trek to Mexico Beach.
Camp Mexico Beach: The Camp was not what Thalia was expecting. Military(ish) run, by Thana's family no less, with much of the trappings of civilization. She did not like the relatively larger grouping of people. She did not like the air conditioning. She did not like the constant scrutiny of their guards. Nor did she like the feeling of being trapped indoors. She liked the food, though. First day in with seafood, and a plate mounded with mashed potatoes acting as a deep bowl for clam chowder. Thalia was a Boston girl. he could handle chowder. Being reunited with Thana was an unexpected but very positive experience, though she was basically glued to Ash, preventing any meaningful conversations from taking place. Then she lost Beatrice; not to the elements or Zeds, but because she was unwilling to give Mexico Beach a chance. They shared a night with each other. It didn't hit her until later. This was what it felt like to be abandoned.
Camp Mexico Beach gave her a new, shiny prosthetic. And probably the main thing that kept her around: her brother Joaquin had taken up residence here. Moreover, she might get military training here. Thalia was already learning ballet from Tatiana, who she suspected was quietly a badass all along, and made friends (sort of) with the crazy guy Wayne. The beach party was also a nice touch, even if she couldn't appreciate it as much as everyone else, but she was obviously trying. Thalia made up her mind to say here and get stronger. The next day, she was assigned to clear out a basement in their Admin building (instead of soldiering or training, she noted), which she later found out was going to be used as a Communications room, now that they had people with her and Alexander's training in electronics.
"It's so good to see you, Navy. You look like shit." - through joyous tears, after finding her alive at CMB
Taking point and killing Adamm together was a hell of a bonding experience. Thana and Thalia seem to have an understanding, and have become good friends over the difficult months. It is not without tension from time to time as Thalia has a predisposition toward independent action, and has also made her intent to eventually part ways and see to her own quest well known. Thana has left an impression on her, however, and she can trust that Thalia will have her back. After the Eden situation was handled, Thalia promised to help her get her back to Mexico Beach, hopefully to find family and her Army Captain boyfriend before setting back on her original mission. When Thana went missing and was presumed dead, Thalia still held out slight hope that she might get her friend back. This was ultimately realized when she appeared back in Mexico Beach, though with scars and injuries that spoke of a massive ordeal. Her joy at seeing that Thana was alive was accented by heavy but well intended snark. Seeing that she and her boyfriend have finally reconnected, Thalia is backing off some, with the understanding that it's space and not abandonment. Thalia will still be there for her if need dictates.
Alexander Polawski
"Us cripples gotta stick together, right?" - Thalia, reassuring Alexander that she wasn't going anywhere.
These two didn't start off as friends. Thalia distrusted Alexander the moment she laid eyes on him, which pretty much sums up how she views everybody she just happens to meet out in the world at large. She sent him on a stupid errand to fetch coffee mugs from an abandoned house in exchange for a packet of MRE powdered cocoa mix, and derisively referred to him as "Mugs" or "Mugsy" afterward. Sometimes "Gramps". But he proved himself in a pitched battle later on, and remained a steadfast survival companion following, prompting an eventual change of heart. Seventeen or so months later, during which she lost an arm and he lost a leg, they're still looking out for each other. Alex and Thalia are on good terms, and it doesn't look to change soon. Even after time spent behind the relative safety of CMB's walls.
Emanuel "Manny" Newman
"If we're going to do this, then fucking do it! I don't gaht all day!" - Thalia, before Manny cut her hand off at the forearm with a juryrigged power saw
Manny was pulled out of a very bad place in Eden, a cult compound in Peachtree City. He was rescued by others in her newly formed group while Thalia herself was on a roll, shooting and stabbing as many people as she possibly could. The two of them didn't talk much, and like everyone else, there wasn't a whole lot of trust until he proved himself. In his case, it took a little longer than most. Emanuel has been a solid and responsible member of their group, and she will admit that. There are mixed feelings over the fact that he cut her arm off, however. Yes, it saved her life. Still, he cut her arm off, and she wasn't crazy about the guy to begin with. All the same, she can trust him, and has, for quite some time in "Apocalypse Years". To Thalia, that counts a lot more than pleasantries.
Tatiana Korvo
"That's some next-level shit... Can you teach me? Ballet, I mean." - finding out she had a child in the wilderness, and wanting to train with her, CMB Quarantine
Thalia's experience with Tatiana started with introduction, short discussions, and training with ballet in the CMB Quarantine. Full, oft exhaustive training in dance, to fill out her physicality since losing her hand. Thalia knows that she conceals strength behind her meeker persona. The two of them have gotten closer, owing to what appears to some as complementary shades of darkness but in reality is a sort of mutual respect. Neither are particularly ardent conversationalists, however.
Ashton Holloway
"Pareces el tipo de chico que mi prima hubiera follado por deporte." - becoming impatient with Ash.
Thalia isn't sure just yet whether she likes or hates Ash. A male analog to Thana in many ways, though his previous involvement with her cousin complicates her feelings about the man (this fact realized from a detail dropped, p.113). Hearing what he went through to get back with Thana has earned him Thalia's grudging respect. Maybe time and association will clarify her better intentions where he is concerned, if she ever spent any time or association thereabouts.
Nigel Cooper
"Yah, okay... Pool cues? Or yah want to fistfight in the pouring rain?" - Following Nigel's first offer to spar, or "duel", as he put it.
There hadn't really been much in the way of meaningful interaction between these two, up until the topic of sparring became an issue. And by "issue", Thalia might be more accurate in saying "stress relief". It felt good to hit someone without worrying about what came after, and it did her heart good to see that the time spent in repose hadn't dulled her ability to take a hit from a larger opponent, either. They remain regular sparring partners, not engaging in much conversation before cordially pummeling one another senseless.
Lisa Mason
"Well, don't I feel like the prettiest girl at the Hahvest Moon Ball?" - First words to her and others around the bar at the beach party.
Thalia has attempted conversation with Lisa twice. The first time was at the party, where it could be taken from context that she was rebuffed. No big, Thalia was new and kind of edgy. These things happen. The second time was in the Mess Hall after the Hunter trial. It started out okay but quickly went to Lisa making aggressive bedroom eyes at Guy, also at the table, prompting Thalia to make a highly transparent excuse to leave. The point was cemented that she did not mix with the "normals". Though it might have just been a result of timing or misunderstanding, she is convinced that Lisa hates her, and thusly remains standoffish. Even abrupt. How abrupt remains to be seen.
Amelia Payne
"Wait, who?" - owing to a lack of interaction of any kind.
It's difficult to get a feel for someone secondhand. Not that Thalia made any grand attempts to introduce herself to Amelia as she always seemed busy, joined at the hip with Riley (if that was her name; there wasn't any interaction there, either). Thalia is aware of Amelia's name and that's about it. Maybe they'll have meaningful interaction as events progress.
Nikola Warren
"Naht the tiara type, girly girl," - after Nikki suggested Thalia needed one, then disappeared into the crowd.
Interaction between Nikki and Thalia is minimal, but not nonexistent. Most of Thalia's opinion of her is formed from observations made at the beach party and her relationship with Thana. To Thalia's opinion, she seems okay enough. Trouble, but okay.
Hunter Monroe
"Bit. A Zed took a piece of my arm. Those two cut it off with a jury-rigged power saw a while north of here." - when Hunter asked her about "the arm".
Thalia's opinion of Hunter isn't exactly warm. The similarities of their experiences following the Outbreak couldn't be denied. Their choices as to how they handled those experiences was a different story. Though a little antisocial, Thalia understands the value of community. Even friends and allies. The phrase "there but for the grace of God go I" might have crossed her thoughts, almost as many times as the concept that one well-placed knife could end the uncertainty of his presence. Thalia hopes the man can turn things around, if only because of the ways in which they are alike.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Female ↕ 29 ↕ Mestiza-American ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 5'9" ↕ 145lbs ↕ Athletic ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Hazel ↕ Black ↕ Pale Tan ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Psychology
It had been a good, long while since Ash had sauntered up to a bar. Even more so since he had come upon a boatload of spontaneous, conversational laughter. He was still an outsider, and this was reinforced heavily by the conversation at hand and the various reactions of the people present. The one-armed woman's general and continuing snark notwithstanding, he was going to refrain from addressing directly at this time. For a lady who wanted to have an in depth conversation with him, she sure as hell wasn't scoring any brownie points. Ash did have an interesting if very mild moment of detachment as his more formal recognition (sir and ma'am) of the others present was laughed at. "It's considered polite where I'm from," was all he would comment to Lisa, directing his attention back to the bar immediately thereafter.
Objectively, it was nearly impossible in the circumstances not to direct one's attention to the bar, as the bartender went into a rant about the capture and evolution of the Wild Fuck. Not one to interrupt the progression of a conversation that he had just wandered into and had no desire to join for any length as he had someone to get back to, Ash merely stifled a chuckle and accepted his drinks with another polite intonation of, "Ma'am," and nodding when she gave instructions about the bottles. His eyebrow quirked a bit as Adelaide busted out with the absolute worst Croc Hunter impression that he'd heard in his life, culminating in her collapse behind the bar. At least everyone was having fun. For himself, Ash was a little rusty at it.
Ash took a second to try to work out the best way to carry two capped bottles and plates besides when he received a bit of commentary from the younger woman, Nikki. It took him a second, context being what it was, to puzzle out that she has meant that Ash had found a Fuck in the Wild. But by the time that realization came in full, she was already on her way off to do her own hunting. Overall, Ash wasn't sure what to make of the most recent series of interactions. Were people of Mexico Beach razzing him for being the new guy? Or were they acting in a more familiar manner to make him feel welcome? Since arriving, it seemed like even the people he'd known for the better part of this particular Apocalypse were distancing themselves. But that might be the easy explanation that they were giving he and Thana time to devote to each other. Yeah, Ash was definitely rusty at having fun.
Effecting a smile, Ash looked back to the bar and gave a somewhat warmer, "Thank ya much," before strolling off toward the kettles. Be it that things were winding down overall, Ash had little difficulty moving the distance from A to B and locating two of the plates on the more sparsely appointed table nearby. He looked over to the sovereign authority of all matters foodish, intoning, "Taking for two, ma'am," Maybe he did speak with social formalities too much. Well, best to err on the side of courtesy until he knew how things worked here. Ash no longer set policy. He slipped each of the beer bottles into his front pockets and picked up one plate in each hand, nodding his thanks with a polite smile and issuing a direct, "Thank you." He might assume that Cook knew for whom he was taking the extra plate. It was apparent that he and Thana were joined at the hip since she arrived.
Direct steps removed him from the area of the Kettles and brought him around the stage. He kept is pace moderate and even, tempering a desire to get back to Thana quickly with the practicalities of carrying plates of food. As he came closer, the smile shifted from the polite and sociable to the more genuine. Though deep down (deep, deep down), Ash was a social animal, he really only wanted to be around one person right then, and might feel that way for a long time yet. "Sorry if I took too long," he started, handing over a plate. "They were screaming about hunting feral Fucks at the bar. Hell of a thing. Got away as soon as I could." One of the bottles in his pocket followed the plate.
Settling in next to Thana, Ash looked into her eyes. "The view here is amazing," he commented simply. One might note that he hadn't looked at either the sea or stars since returning.
Thalia Carmichael
Location: L11 (Bar) Skills: N/A
Too many drinks. Yeah, Manny looked like he was dead-on right about that. Well, it happened. Thalia wasn't exactly a bastion of moderation herself, being just as prone to excesses. Food, obviously. Though that was, in recent years, a survival strategy based upon the idea that she had no idea when her next reliable meal was going to come from. Taking out whatever crossed her path with a pointed stick or a pistol shot (if she was desperate), she kneejerked toward cooking and consuming as much as possible in one sitting. Likewise the element of pushing herself in training. When she was strong enough to, she pushed herself physically like her life depended on it. Simply put, it did. A tiny amount of consideration put this time heavily in the latter. She was strong enough to train now, and being relieved of her dominant hand from the forearm down had decimated a lot of her key survival skills. Thalia always was her skillset, period. She needed people now, and it sucked. Well, adapt or die. Thalia had business to finish first.
But back to the point of this train of thought. Hunter's excesses had eliminated one social avenue but it seemed to open others, in the form of someone checking up on him. Strengthening community, and in his case, hopefully instilling an element of trust because someone was going out of their way to make sure he was alright. Maybe getting shitfaced early in the night was going to be to his favor in the long run. If she cared enough about the situation, she might have crossed her fingers. Sometimes apathy was a blessing.
Of course, someone did answer the question she had posed. Couple of them. Adelaide's mention of The Great Fuck Hunt drew a smile from her, and the almost simultaneous "Finding fucks for the evening" from Nikki fully backed up the claim, informing her that it was not just something she had made up. Though her face spoke to the slightly amused, Thalia's voice was a little more even as she responded to Nikki, about the arm being badass. "Thanks. Still getting a feel for it." She gave it a little more consideration, twisting it with the more limited range of motion that her stump allowed.
Perhaps the reason for the even voice but lingering smile was the Australian accent, imitated poorly by Ada. It seemed a lifetime ago that she heard a similar, neighboring accent. Memories of Lola came back to her, the Kiwi tank commander that kept her from spending a winter stuck in one place, huddled for warmth. She might have saved her life that winter, as the season was notorious for claiming the alone, unlucky, or unprepared. Lola definitely saved her life on that last day, or rather, her last day, before being gunned down. She had grabbed Thalia and heaved her back just before the ground swallowed her up, like it had done to others standing close to her. Lola had occasionally flirted with her, making comment or suggestions but never pushing a physical agenda with her. She expressed interest, and while relations of that type were still pretty new to her, Thalia had never taken her up on it. It just wasn't how she viewed her. Lola was a steadfast and honest friend; her best friend in a very long while. After saving her life, Thalia had decided to throw her a bone by, well, throwing her a bone, metaphorically speaking. But later that day, before any bone throwing was possible, Lola's life was taken from her by Edenite bullets. It killed Thalia to leave her body there. It just wasn't fair.
The first sip of her sweet tea was magnificent. It was a moment that she might remember for a good, long while, but none of it showed on her face. Instead, her eyes welled up with tears and a single line of moisture spilled down from them. Everybody had lost people. Everybody still would. Beatrice, the only woman since Lola that she allowed close in that way (only person, period, thinking about it) left of her own accord. Just left her, and the flowery promises about looking into her family meant nothing then. Was that why Thalia's mood was toward the irritable that evening? Was that why she was coming close to ignoring Thana, arguably her best friend in the world now? There was the guise of giving her time with Ash, but how true was that in her thoughts? She had only tried to approach when she wanted something explained to her, and left abruptly after giving them both The Finger. Or Ash, a guy she didn't really know - she was being rude as hell to him. Yet here she stood, weeping slightly with a stone face. Tio Caesar might be proud, except that she was laid low by a shitty Aussie accent.
Well, fuck feeling sorry for herself. People left. Either they died or they moved on, and Thalia just had to get used to the part about people moving on. She had family here and this was a place where she could get stronger. That was enough. Thalia raised her arm to wipe her face on the back of her sleeve, completely forgetting that it was made of steel and, of course, there was no sleeve there. Thalia succeeded in bashing herself in the face. It wasn't enough to cause damage, but it sure as hell got her attention.
Quite independent of the discussion around her, Thalia set her tea down an exclaimed a very surprised, "Well, fuck!" as it seemed to be thematic of the conversation. She dried her face with the proper arm this time, and sighed. Turning back to the bar, she began to chuckle at herself. Indeed, this would take some more getting used to. Nikki had left, going fuck hunting. Ash had left, probably back to Thana. The guy might be an asshole but he was a straight shooter. Looking to Adelaide, she mused over what she remembered hearing from her last. "Fuck Hunt? Like that video game from back in the day? ...hate that dog..." Another sip, "Assuming I'm ahn the hunt," which she really wasn't, but it would do her good to converse with people outside of her own, tiny circle, "who ahll's open?" The question was phrased openly to whomever was still around the bar rather than just the bartender.
"Angel?" The word sounded strange in Ash's ears. Or rather, he didn't remember that word being used to describe the young woman. "I was close with some of her family. We're lucky if that's the worst of it." Indeed, getting a rude gesture from her cousin Alicia or her uncle Caesar was like getting bid a fond "Good Morning" from anyone else. But as much as the stroll down memory lane might have been a bittersweet and rewarding process for him, Ash was far more interested in building new memories, and it showed. "Well, whatever's irking your friend'll have to keep for a while longer." It could be deduced that he was still quite eager to spend quality time with his lady.
Ash listened to the whisper from Thana with a supportive grin, like the idea of privacy was just the thing for them at the moment. He could meet and greet the greater of Camp Mexico Beach's population when he started to whatever job they assigned him tomorrow. Tonight was his and Thana's. He completed his turn back in the direction indicated by her, behind the stage and nearer to the pier. One might still hear music from whomever was getting up to play next, but as it was broadcast in the opposite direction it truly was background music. When he found a suitable spot (accepting every piece of input Thana might have on the subject), Ash carefully set Thana down and gave her a quick kiss, promising, "Drinks, plates, and I'll be back as soon as I can be. Okay?" He started back toward the party at a jog, then halted, turned around, and came back for another kiss. "Sorry, needed one more. I'm good now. Be back soon." He grinned like a schoolboy, or just a man in love, and took back off in the direction of the party, proper.
At the bar, Ash saw a couple familiar faces and a couple not-so-familiar ones. Walking up, he could have sworn that he heard the younger woman, Nikki, about to embark on an epic quest to troll for easy and temporary nocturnal companionship, and the less familiar woman agreeing with her, saying something about a hunt. Very much not his business. Extremely not his business. Mustering as much courtesy as he was capable, Ash instead tried to spark up a quick professional dialogue with the bartender. "Ah, Miss Adelaide? 'pologies for interrupting you soon as you get a plate." His Virginian accent was starting to flare again, though he was remembering his manners. "I'm carryin' back drinks and plates for two, if you've got anything that travels well, or has a lid? I 'preciate you, thanks." Ash gave a courteous nod to those who were present at the bar, extending a series of monosyllabic greetings, "Ma'am. Ma'am. Sir," as necessary. Drinks, food, Thana. It was good to have goals.
Thalia Carmichael
Location: L11 (Beach, Kettles -> Bar) Skills: N/A
The ongoing conversations around Thalia might have made for interesting conversation had she not been mildly annoyed right then. It occurred to her that she was being toyed with by both her brother and Thana, with a tiny mark of betrayal inking its way in there. Then it occurred to her that there might be a difference between "being toyed with" and "playing a game with". One was a potential cause for stabbing. The other was meant to be fun for all parties. It had been a while since she had done anything purely for fun, with the upright arcade game back in Quarantine being an exception. Even then, Thalia could have said that it was to train her left hand to take over more duties. This thing might be fun. Still, it didn't do her any good to let anyone else know that just yet. Fun. It seemed a foreign concept.
Still, the area around the kettles seemed like a breeding ground for conversations she's rather not be a party to. Most especially the alcohol inspired ramblings of immense incoherence from the other person present with social issues. Well, we all had our bad nights, and she was certainly no exception. Just right then, she didn't feel like being too near to someone who might spew at any moment, nor the attempts to coddle him. Not the most compassionate thought she'd ever had, granted, but it was honest and she was keeping it to herself. Small miracle, that.
Thalia redoubled her efforts to finish the food on her plate. It was all simple enough, though admittedly the corn posed a little it of a challenge to someone with one fully working hand. That was a sobering thought, if ever there was one. She had been described as a "dexterity monster" at one point in time, and much of her training played off of this. Thalia was going to have to learn different ways to do things she'd been doing instinctively all of her life. It sucked and it didn't seem fair, though at least she had been getting pretty good at using her "off hand". Thalia hated feeling weak like this. Her food, at least, fell mercilessly and quickly under her onslaught; she then rose, moving to the spot for plates and compost bin. Her little act of sustainability handled, it was time to move elsewhere. The bar was good enough. Mental note was made to find Maddoc and ask about training. That could wait a little, though.
Having missed the conversation concerning The Great Fuck Hunt, Thalia couldn't contribute in any meaningful way. She did make it a point to not give any one person a sustained length of eye contact. Maybe it was a piece of survival instinct, or maybe it was just born of a cynical weariness that was starting to creep into her bones. She couldn't quite tell. It did look like she was a little less nervous about being around people than she was a hour ago. An unspoken mental list was made as she approached, "Nikki, Lisa, Adelaide, Manny, Ash. Wait, the fuck?" Knight-Errant Captain America was here, by himself? Oh, he must be doing bitch work for Thana. Whatever. Thalia raised her metal hand as she leaned on the bar. She had forgotten to un-extend the middle finger still. Something to keep in mind. Staring at Ash, Thalia undid the locking mechanism and folded the finger back down with a sound reminiscent of metallic knuckles popping. Yes, she was starting to like this hand a little more. When a moment presented itself, she asked the bartender, "Ada, you had, um... Tea? Back there? I haven't had tea in years." She mulled over, "Yah, years. The biggest damn glass you can spare, please."
Looking around to everyone else, "What are we talking about?" Large crowds bothered Thalia. Smaller ones, she was getting better with. The bar crowd seemed okay.
The approximate time it took to have Thana down from the stage was just long enough for Ash to get over to her. It struck him as very odd at first that, even though Ash had been acting as her personal transportation since they had arrived, and indeed helped her up to the stage in the first place, they felt it necessary to assume the same role without prompting. But that was just at first. Thana had been hurt for a while, and he assumed that even after (and during) a lengthy session of healing, she wasn't going to stop doing what she wanted to do. In truth, she was still healing. Continuing on this train of thought, it was probably second nature for those close to her in the community to move in prearranged ways to help her. Whether or not there was any truth to his assumptions, he was there with her now, and he took over the personally gratifying task of helping Thana get around.
"Well hell yes, I enjoyed the show," he responded to her comment, landing a quick kiss on the tip of her nose. He gave a warm smile, though it faded a little to confusion as he saw the one-armed girl making a rude gesture at them with her prosthetic. "That's something you don't see everyday..." he mumbled, shaking it off as being hopefully inconsequential. Not that anything with her family ever was without consequence, in his experience. But his attention wasn't for her, it was for Thana. "Yeah," he agreed. "Let's go find a seat."
He hoisted Thana up in a bridal carry and began walking back in the direction of the bar and kettles, then stopped, looked back toward the gulf, and asked, "Would you want to sit for a while on the beach? I can get us a couple of plates, drink or two, and we can look a the stars for a time." There was no telling when someone else, friend or family of hers, might need to call upon her. But a few moments with her on the beach, the sound of pounding surf and music in the background, and a plate of southern shrimp boil was heaven enough. If not now; if she had other wishes or plans for the evening, then he could content himself that it could be reserved for another time.
Thalia Carmichael
Location: L11 (Beach -> About -> Kettles again) Skills: N/A
Plate balanced in her prosthetic hand and letter in the other, Thalia was walking in search of her dear, long-lost brother. It was a fair bet that as long as she kept her senses tuned for he only Latino who spoke in iambic pentameter for several hundred miles around, and probably the only one left in existence who used the word 'thee', she'd be in the clear. Thalia took a mental pause to consider what her life might have been like if she didn't lose her mother all those years ago. She wouldn't have known about this whole other part of her family. She wouldn't have known that she shared a father with one of the most annoying men on the planet. Oh, she loved him. They were family after all, even if the exact meaning of that had changed in recent years. The thought of it made her hungry. Or mindful of the fact that she had food in her heavy, metal hand. Pausing in her search, she leaned her head down to delicately sink her teeth into a tiny, red skinned potato, then tilt her head back to let gravity deposit it into her mouth.
Chewing thoughtfully, she shook out the paper to better unfold it, and went over the words again. Thalia began to mumble, "Mason, shipwright, carpenter... who wrote about.. ?" Even if she didn't look like it anymore, Thalia received a contemporary education in both Mexico and the United States, not to mention college in Boston. Fat lot of good any of it did her now, but at least student loans weren't an issue anymore. But she did seem to remember something from classical literature, and if anyone knew anything about classical literature, it was Joaquin. Hell, the people here called him Shakespeare, and... "Sostenga el puto teléfono1," she uttered, looking at the exact wording of the riddle again:
"A clue to find a clue, here is a riddle for you: The question is not _'what is he that builds stronger than either the mason, the shipwright, or the carpenter?'_ but who did write of he?"
They were in it together. Thana and Joaquin both; considering that her brother's nom de guerre was Shakespeare in this place, and the passage in the riddle was from Hamlet... the very person she was looking for to help figure this out was the actual answer the entire time. That bastard. Unfortunately, she didn't see him anywhere. He was hiding, or not in attendance. This was not a thing which would be solved today. Thalia stuffed the paper into her back pocket and started toward where she saw Thana last, shifting her plate to her good hand in the process.
What she saw there from Thana? Intentionally ignoring her, like this was all some game. But of course it was. Something to divert, maybe. She didn't know. Oh, that smirk. Thalia would come back to that smirk later. Maybe she just imagined it coming off of Thana, but she responded by raising her metal hand toward the pair of them. Having not messed with it since opening the letter, its middle finger was still quite extended. Fine with her. Thalia returned to the kettles and sat down heavily in her spot, and set to devouring her food in earnest. She'd see about her brother later.
Though the novelty and wonder of the occasion was heavily coloring Ash's thoughts, he couldn't help but continue to keep a mental checklist on what was going on around him. Maybe that was just how people had to live, anymore, and every so often he thanked whichever incarnation of God was still looking down on them that he hadn't become a truly paranoid individual because of it. All the same, when the ruling authorities of the settlement began to have earnest conversation and point in his direction, Ash took notice. The fact that they were all blood relatives of Thana was just a detail.
In time, Thana's song came to an end and Ash began a spirited round of applause, but that came to an end as her uncle and the guy he had met just earlier in the dance area came to hoist her away. Ash took a balanced step forward, unsure as to what he might do when he got over to her but still of the mindful of her request to stay close, no matter what. As she was carried back, he relented, taking his spot behind the wings again. Something seemed like it was up. Thana looked just fine. Happy, even. He caught her gaze, and her wordless message. Thana meant to sing another song.
It was good-natured ribbing when Thana vented what he said to her privately about singing some Rolling Stones. He knew that. To say that it might sound like a Virginian cat's final screeches after he got himself drunk was colorful, if not entirely accurate. Oh, he couldn't sing a bit, that wasn't the issue. The truth was, for him to get up and sing now, the amount of alcohol he'd have to imbibe would render him partly comatose. He might not even make it to "dying cat" level. He smiled back at Thana, returned the wink. He was about to be treated to "Paint It, Black". That counted for a lot. Likewise, it was nice of her to call out the other Rolling Stones fan from her group out on the road. She was thoughtful that way.
The song queued up, and the first words of it began to roll out from her lips. This was good. This was something he might have gone to see, even back Before.
Thalia Carmichael
Location: L11 (Beach, Kettles) Skills: N/A
It seemed that the party was following Thalia, whether she liked it or not. Of course if was a coincidence; she was at the bar with a group of people getting a drink, then they all decided to grab some food at more or less the same time. Even though she was logically aware of this, it still felt like she alone was driving the Party Bus, and everyone else was annoying the hell out of her. Thalia figured that she'd better get used to it. This was life now. She couldn't be a hermit. People had risked their lives, even died, for her to get here, and she had risked her life for the same. Hell, her little group literally paid an arm and a leg to get here. She could try to handle being around people for a while.
Thalia took her plate and ...envelope(?), bidding Cook a wary "Thanks," before wandering a few paces back to the exact spot she was in before, as hopefully those asshats saved that exact spot like they said they would very loudly and very sarcastically. Mostly, it was because it was near a piece of fire, and she wanted to read whatever this was. "Sparrow, sparrow... oh, Navy? Shit, okay," she muttered. Thalia had heard Sparrow before, but her brain just didn't make the connection for a second or two. Without two fully dexterous hands, Thalia had to sit down on the sand, cross-legged, and put her plate in her lap to open and read the letter. "Good thing I brought my letter opener," she said with no small amount of snark, manually extending the middle finger of her prosthetic hand with her left and utilizing it to tear into the envelope. She removed the note inside and stared at it for a while, the most puzzled expression on her face. Absently, Thalia picked up a whole boiled shrimp and ripped it in half with her teeth, chewing it shell and all. She shot a dirty look at whoever even looked like they might say something about it.
While struggling over what she was reading with pure incredulity reading on her, Thalia happened to hear something massively disturbing going on nearby. This was the first example of creepy drunk talk she'd seen in a good long while, and part of her started to run scenarios in her head of what she might do to intervene, if the blonde girl couldn't handle herself properly. The thought did cross her mind that restrain was going to be a lot more difficult than incapacitate or neutralize, owing to certain factors that were difficult to miss with her. Maybe it was the training at her uncle's hands kicking back in after so long. Or maybe she was truly beginning to look at this place as her new home. She didn't even give a decent shit that she was missing some really awesome music nearby, courtesy of Navy herself. She could come back to that.
Tossing a couple more shrimp into her face, she chewed noisily and stared, debating which course was the best option, if any, though the course of walking up and pretending to proposition the girl to give her an out, came roaring back as the option from college. Thalia swallowed hard, and decided that instead of making a scene or rabbit-punching the obviously inebriated and disturbing fellow in the base of his brain, she'd give something else to draw focus.
"Seriously?" she started, a definitive note of annoyance as she rustled the paper in her hands. "First piece of mail I get in almost six fucking years, and it's some Christmas Story decoder ring bullshit?" Thalia rose, plate hooked into her prosthetic's thumb and note in hand. "...mierda de toro fucking bullshit..." If that diverted attention or gave an out, great. Yay tactic. But whether it did or not, she had food to hork back and a mystery to solve. Preferably painfully. Thalia had someone to speak with.
The lady said stick close, as if he wasn't going to do exactly that anyway. Ash stayed by the wings of the stage, out of sight of those in front of it but within full line of sight with the performers. It was a good song, and well done for the setup they had. Hell, it was the best performance he'd seen in years, if one really thought about it. Ash's concentration was on Thana's vocals, however; the fact that she was singing and the melodic sound of her voice, so that it took him a moment to fully realize the intent behind the actual words. When he did, it was a touching moment. The words seemingly spoke to him, as if to outline the trials of both of them, coming from different ends of the same road.
He caught sight of her looking in his direction every so often, catching his eye, which confirmed to him his assumption that the song was about them. Written for them, perhaps. Even if it wasn't, damnit, it was now and that was the end of it. There was a sense of contentment in Ash's psyche, while not as complete and full as it might have been a number of year before, was more than enough for him now. The ever-present threat of the rest of the world had instilled a sense of wariness within him now that would never go away. Ash was cursed with the knowledge that everything can be taken away in a moment, and in his case, indeed was a few times. But tonight Ash was behind walls. The air mild and tinged with salt, carried along by a breeze from the ocean, bringing with it the sound of rhythmic waves. And most importantly, he was reunited with his Thana. Check that, "Thawna..." he whispered. She seemed to react to it favorably, and to be honest, he did miss the colorful accent of his upbringing.
Thalia Carmichael
Location: L11 (Beach, Bar -> Kettles) Skills: N/A
Meanwhile, back at the bar, conversation seemed to fade away into a light buzz in Thalia's background. Having summarily decided, even through the mild paranoia of her more tactical nature, that the people directly around her were not an immediate threat, not to mention that the level of inquiry about her was slowing down, her attention was being diverted elsewhere. More specifically, it was moving back in the direction of where she came. Food. Her habit was to consume what she could while she could, for the acquisition of another meal was no longer a dependable event, at least up until very, very recently. Old habits die hard, and this one was five years in the making. She could feel a sudden jolt of adrenaline course through her blood, the instinct born of surviving like she had and going without the basics for longer than was acceptable.
There was one thing that captured a part of her attention, at least temporarily, was Nigel asking something about reenacting. She turned her head slowly to him, her eyes only leaving her target at the last possible moment. "No." It was a simple enough reply to a yes or no question, though it seemed like he might have been pushing for deeper conversation on the matter. Funny thing was, he wasn't amazingly far from the mark. "Did some stabbing. Needed range. Found good teachers." Dama Muerte knew that if she had that range when she needed it, she might still have both of her arms intact.
Thalia polished off the last of her beer and left the bottle on the bar, then strode over to the kettles and food table with all of the directness and caution of a predatory creature. It oddly reminded her of her first meal in Quarantine. In a scene that belonged in the most brutal adaptation of Oliver Twist imaginable, Thalia made her way to the kettles and held her hands out to the one known as Cook. Her eyes had a restrained look, but she really was trying to fit in.
[hider=Lady Absinthia's GM Awards]
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[hider=Death Scenes]
[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3622266]Dexter's Death (or Hammertime!)[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3837944]The UnBEARable Case of Lawrence Long[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4020657]Malfunctioning Space Toilet[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4557122]Rube Goldberg Decapitation[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4569229]Shitter's Full[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4602115]Dirigible (warning, SAD)[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4538295]After "The Last Barbecue"[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4723699]Detoxing Pilot[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4745239]Girls Stick Together[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4749807]Oops[/url]
[/hider]
[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3214659]"Character Flaw"[/url]
[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/2968914]Keystone's Daydream[/url]
[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3040161]Checking for Mental Intrusion[/url]
[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3594115]The Power Of Pain Compels You[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4670484]The Greater Good[/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5134610]Burial & Origin of James Mandingo Grady[/url]
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<div style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><div class="hider-panel"><div class="hider-heading"><button type="button" class="btn btn-default btn-xs hider-button" data-name="Lady Absinthia's GM Awards">Lady Absinthia's GM Awards [+]</button></div><div class="hider-body" style="display: none"><ul class="bb-list" style="white-space: normal;"><li></li><li>Save Another from LLA Card</li><li>Kill Any NPC in LAU Card</li><li>Plot Insight Card</li><li>Single Day Extension Card</li><li>Single Day Extension Card</li><li></li></ul></div></div><br><br><div class="hider-panel"><div class="hider-heading"><button type="button" class="btn btn-default btn-xs hider-button" data-name="Death Scenes">Death Scenes [+]</button></div><div class="hider-body" style="display: none"><a href="http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3622266">Dexter's Death (or Hammertime!)</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3837944">The UnBEARable Case of Lawrence Long</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4020657">Malfunctioning Space Toilet</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4557122">Rube Goldberg Decapitation</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4569229">Shitter's Full</a><br><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4602115">Dirigible (warning, SAD)</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4538295">After "The Last Barbecue"</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4723699">Detoxing Pilot</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4745239">Girls Stick Together</a><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4749807">Oops</a></div></div><br><br><a href="http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3214659">"Character Flaw"</a><br><br><a href="http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/2968914">Keystone's Daydream</a><br><br><a href="http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3040161">Checking for Mental Intrusion</a> <br><br><a href="http://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/3594115">The Power Of Pain Compels You</a><br><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4670484">The Greater Good</a><br><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5134610">Burial & Origin of James Mandingo Grady</a><br><br><div class="hider-panel"><div class="hider-heading"><button type="button" class="btn btn-default btn-xs hider-button" data-name="Signature Images">Signature Images [+]</button></div><div class="hider-body" style="display: none"><div class="bb-center"><img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/xT0GqpswuzhOqHP6gM/giphy-downsized-large.gif" /></div><br><br><div class="bb-center"><img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/iMnyx7HWjZgPu/giphy.gif" /></div><br><br><div class="bb-center"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/wUTjLTf.gif" /></div><br><br><div class="bb-center"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-K04tQV9pRE8/UCFQiE8aoVI/AAAAAAAATJk/hIK7mzvvYpk/s430/99.gif" /></div><br><br><div class="bb-center"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/rigeWJc.gif" /></div><br><br><div class="bb-center"><img src="https://uproxx.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/throughthedoor.gif?w=650" /></div></div></div><br><br><div class="bb-center"><img src="https://image.ibb.co/jVrOhp/Scythefalling.gif" /></div></div>
Arty Fox
Natsu
op2024
Festive
wanderingwolf
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Lewascan2
Shoe Thief
