Lucas Let's Out A Small Wet Laugh.

Lucas laughs. He's not as drunk as Becca is but he's not so far behind.

"Gets harder to keep up every year, doesn't it?"

He feels the sheriff part of his brain suggest he cut her off, but he'd promised himself and Ana that he wouldn't be sheriff tonight.

where: colony house when: halloween party (event thread) who: open starter

was it a good idea for half the town to be crammed into one place for a noisy party? no. but was becca ready for an excuse to drink more than usual without reprimand? fuck yeah. and after another barely mixed cocktail of moonshine and blueberry syrup, she's starting to realize these kids weren't playing around this year. "at this rate, i'm going to be completely useless up until dinner tomorrow. do me a favor and don't ask for anything important, okay?"

Lucas shuts the book so Cherry can't read his notes.

"Can anyone vouch for your whereabouts then? It would've been between 10:30–11."

Honestly, Lucas does have bigger fish to fry, but it's his job to help everyone feel safe. If someone is burglarizing other people, that will just make a bad situation worse.

He's not sure if Cherry is the actual culprit. She just has the most priors involving theft, and they did accuse her, so he has to be thorough.

CHERRY SIGHS AS SHE LEANS A HIP AGAINST THE DOORFRAME . her expression scrunches with it . " i mean, yeah, you prolly definitely got bigger fish to fry than me ." charlie would imagine so at least but what the hell does she know about being a cop ? all she's sure about is that someone will probably try to rope her into helping in some way today, and as reluctant as she usually was she knew she'd probably give in for at least a little bit . after all, they all got royally fucked by the storm . so when lucas shoots her an unimpressed look her expression only twists . " who the fuck said that ?" she moves as if to peer at his notebook . " i was workin' yesterday morning !"

Adrien sits quietly, reminiscing on the few memories he still has of his parents. One such from the day they'd died. They'd spent the day attempting to fish in a river similar to this one. Since Adriennwas 10, he was obviously terrible at it, and he'd had his parents clutching their sides in laughter from his attempts. It had been on the way back when it had happened.

Adrien looks up and smiles when he sees it's Muz talking.

"Oh hey," he greets though it's not a peppy or bright as he usually is. "El made me take the day off, and I wasn't feeling up for hanging at the colony house. Not having much luck on the getting-a-boyfriend front and everyone else was busy, so... yeah, getting lost felt like a good way to pass the time."

He looks back toward the horizon and swings his leg, his big toe skimming the surface of the cool, clear water.

"What about you? What brings you to getting lost territory?"

river banks, adrien. @patroclusblossom

He's found himself on more walks than ever since arriving in Oblitus. The river banks became a quick favourite. Muz leans against dock, watching the ripples of the river. The sun threatens to start its slow descent but he sees Adrien sitting near the edge, one leg hanging over the side, staring out at the horizon like he had all the time in the world. The usual energy that Adrien carried seemed to be gone today, replaced by something quieter.

He pushes off the post and steps down the dock, boots making soft thuds as he moves closer to where Adrien sits. 'Not a bad place for getting lost,' Muz says, his voice breaking the silence. 'What’s got you out here?'

Adrien listens to El's description of flying, imagining it for himself. His smile matches theirs.

He swallows hard after his family explanation, wishing it wasn't still so hard to talk about it. "Yeah. Solid people."

He watches their face as they talk, drinking in every word. He doesn't know what it is — why he never felt this connected to the literal family that took him in — but coming from El, it feels better to hear. Like a balm that actually helps.

"An ode to them," he echoes with a nod. "That's really beautiful."

He smiles at them, letting the moment settle between them. Then, he takes a deep breath.

"Thanks, that's really great advice." He turns back to the engine. "So what friends do you have here? You don't seem like the loner type."

Ellington leans against the truck for a moment, their hands idly fiddling with the wrench in their grasp. "Flying’s… something else. Working on airplanes was great and all, but being up there? It’s a whole different world. You should try it someday—it’s worth it." Their lips curve into a small, wistful smile before they turn their attention back to Adrien.

As he mentions his family, Ellington catches the quick blink, the slight hitch in his words. Their expression softens, though they keep their tone casual, not wanting to press on anything raw. "Sounds like you had some solid people teaching you. That’s good—it makes all the difference, having someone show you the ropes early on."

They pause, glancing at the engine. "Y’know, working on this stuff, fixing things—it can be grounding. Like putting broken pieces back together kinda mirrors… life, in a way." Ellington shrugs, offering a brief grin. "Plus, you can think of it as honoring your family. Like my old man, he taught me a lot about mechanics and aviation. Every time I'm in the cockpit or successfully put somethin' back together, it's like an ode to him, y'know? Sure, he's not here but his teachings, his influence, and his grit lives on through me. That's special and no one, not even this place, can take from you," Ellington offers a sympathic smile, reaching over to squeeze Adrien's shoulder.

Lucas feels a slight ache in his chest as they walk hand in hand. He didn't realize how much he missed this. Walking with Rae. Being with Rae.

"Hey," he says, soft but firm. "You are important."

They turn a corner, and they can see their houses. Only a couple of other residents between them. It had been a little awkward at first after the breakup, but then they eased into comfortable. Being close was comforting.

"I know you can. I just want to help like I used to. Moving bodies around. I saw how many you still had to do. That will definitely take forever on your own."

for most of the walk he couldn't stop looking down at his hands, constantly making sure the blood hadn't returned. that it was just a figment of his imagination. sometimes rae wondered if it was the town or his own sanity slipping.

it's ok. it wasn't, but having lucas' hand in his helped quiet the constant urge to check. he spent the rest of the walk relatively fine.

“luc, i don’t want to keep you from more important things,” he protested. "and don't say what i know you're going to say. i can handle it on my own, today was just...tough."

Lucas had just sat down to catch his breath, and now Adam is begging him to be a distraction.

"Okay," he says, quickly thinking so Adam doesn't start a fight. "You wanna dance or play some beer pong or something?"

open to all. colony house party.

Adam was neither high nor drunk enough to process the conversation in his right ear, so he nodded politely, sipping on cheap booze and scooting away inch by inch trying not to be noticed. As. a last resort he turned to the person to his left, adamant not to lose his hard-earned seat at the couch (secured by arriving entirely too early) and pleased. "Please talk about something, anything at fucking all before I knock this dude out --"

@fromcamadams

Lucas steps into Cameron's office with a stack of folders.

"Okay, I have the updated census, the current inventories from every council service, building damages organized by priority needs, and a rationing plan you, Ana, and Santi need to look over."

He places the folders down one at a time, making sure he's got the right ones. Then he steps back, hooking his thumbs on his belt as he waits for her next instructions.

Lucas chuckles.

"So I should maintain my regular professionalism with the undertone of, 'You're not good enough for my best friend, but you're still good for her' level of amicability?"

He raises a questioning eyebrow with his smirk, continuing the light-hearted tone they've moved to.

Anastasia feels a swell of gratitude for Lucas; he’s been her steady anchor since they both took on the responsibility of leading this town. She manages a smile, nodding at his statement of hope. “You’re damn right we are.”

As she watches him idly sort through items on the table, she’s caught off guard when he brings up Cameron. She gives a casual shrug. “We’re alright. I just went over to check on her… you know I still care, even if we’re not together.” She knows he understands; they’ve spent more than a few nights drinking and hashing out the complexities of her and Cameron’s past.

With a bit of a wry smile, she adds, “I don’t think she’ll be coming to game night, though.” She tries to keep the tone light, hiding the small sting of disappointment behind a half-joke.

Adrien waits for the little girl to leave. God he really hope he didn't scare her anymore than she might've already been.

His false smile drops and he looks back at the guy, staring up in shock as he answers the questions.

"What the fuck? Are you serious? Is that door gonna hold?"

He looks at the door. It does look solid, but this place just feels... off. Maybe those things have super strength and could blast the door off with a light tap?

with  the  door  locked, the  talisman  still  secured  on  the  wall,  and  bella  out  of  his  arms  to  roam  freely,  daehyun  could  finally  turn  to  inspect  the  newcomer  who  had  scrambled  in.  the  questions  weren't  anything  new--he  had  answered  them  a  hundred  times. taking  in  a  deep  breath,  he  moved  to  the  other,  offering  a  hand  out.  "  those  things  want  to--do  some  really  awful  stuff,  so  it's  best  you're  not  outside  right  now--or  at  night.  "  it  was  as  gentle  as  he  could  be  in the moment ,  as  his  adrenaline  was  still  racing.  and  when  bella  seemed  to  make  herself  known  once  more,  daehyun's  attention  quickly  turned  to  the  girl.  "  hey  princess  ,  head  upstairs  and  see  if  grandpa's  awake,  okay?  "  there  was  no  objection  from  the  toddler,  who  scurried  to  the  stairs  and  ventured  up  at  her  father's  instructions.  now,  with  tender  ears  upstairs,  daehyun  felt  he  could  finally  speak  freely.  "  we're  all  stuck  here.  don't  know  why--don't  know  how.  and  those  things  outside?  they've  killed  a  lot  of  us.  "

"Survival instincts," Lucas answers. "Passed down from our ancestors to help us live on through the ages and the bullshit. Wish it wasn't so jumpy, but it is what it is. Just need more distractions, I suppose."

He sighs and closes his eyes for a moment, feeling the sunlight on his face. It feels nice. A warm embrace that would otherwise hurt.

"Alright, penny for your thoughts?"

Muz’s smile softens as he watches Lucas, noticing the flicker of tension as he talks about the storm. There was something brittle that the storm had stirred up in everyone. He nods slowly, leaning back, fingers absently tapping the bench.

'Storm’s got everyone a little on edge,' he admits. 'Makes sense, y’know, the way it just settles in the back of your head. You ever wonder why we’re all wired like that? Could be calm as anything, but you hear one little sound and bam—you’re back there.'