Adrien Hears The Voice, Though Not The Words. He Stops And Straightens Up, Squinting At The Person.

Adrien giggles.

"Okay. That's not too old. I guess i wouldn't mind that."

And then he sighs. "You'd think, but I haven't found anyone. It's so disappointing."

He looks at her with wide eyes. "Well, if you live here, you have to help me out. Be my wing-girl."

" OH NO, YOU'RE DEFINITELY NOT ALONE ." cherry's face scrunches up at that thought as she shakes her head . " every two steps you can probably find someone less than straight around here . it's real nice . would kinda be really fun if it weren't for, you know . the motherfuckers trying to eat us ." cherry shrugs before she's brightening, tilting her head with a hum to say, " like, mid thirties, kinda ?" cherry's brows furrow before she's moving to give adrien a playful smack in the side . " what're ya talkin' about then ? colony house is like, the hub for free love ! you should be able to find some cute guy here for sure ." cherry blinks and remembers the question, quickly adds, " oh, and i'm at colony ."

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

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

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

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

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

where: outside, wherever when: day after the storm open starter

Lucas walks down the street, taking note of all the damage from the storm. So much to fix. It's starting to feel like it would be better just to rebuild the whole town from scratch.

He turns a corner and has to put his list away.

"Hey!" he calls out to the person. "You need help over there?"

Adrien sighs.

"Oh, the bathtub scene. Honestly, it's probably the tamer thing he does in the movie."

He studies her over again, then points to the hair tie in her hair.

"If you took that out, you could pass for Casual Raven from Teen Titans."

Then he looks around to look at the dance floor.

"Wanna dance? I was just about to jump back in for a bit."

"ooh okay, yeah i can see it!" charlie said with a laugh. "never watched it. i heard about the bathtub scene and decided it was best to stay away from it." her roommate loved it but it didn't sound like something charlie would like. "oh, i'm not dressed up," she looks down at her outfit of barrowed colony house clothes. it wasn't what she would normally wear to a party, but she had to make due. "i wasn't really sure what the vibe was but now i wish i did."

"So fucked," Lucas agrees, some heat behind his words. "And all we can do is react. We don't have any way of actually taking action. We're so fucked here."

He grabs the bottle from Adam and pours himself another glass that he downs in two gulps.

"And even leadership can't do anything because they know fuck all like the rest of us."

"I don't think it's about revenge. They probably feed on fear or torture or some shit, it's like water to them I...I don't know. I just wish we knew how they really functioned, wish we knew there were some genuine rules to this. What if tomorrow they start running? What if the talismans stop working? What if all of this is just them pretending...letting us feel 'safe' until our guard is low enough. for them to 'strike'? We need to be prepared....but we weren't even prepared for this....for today. It's fucked."

"A good point," he says, dropping his arms into a relaxed casual stance. "I guess we just wanna be 100% certain, you know? Doesn’t hurt being cautious."

He smiles warmly at her, hoping that maybe he can get her to drop her guard enough to at least let him look around.

WELL, WHEN HE PHRASES IT LIKE THAT SHE CAN KINDA SEE WHY SHE'S FIRST ON THE LIST . she crosses her arms she moves to lean on the doorframe, easily replying, " well, i'm not gonna tattle ." she huffs a bit, gesturing with a hand . " how do they even know the booze is really missin' ?" she tries with an arch of her brows . " maybe it's just lost !"

where: chop shop when: day time whom: @hcartcorruptcd El

Adrien is hunched over the engine of the truck, trying to gauge what all is salvageable and what could be modified to be salvageable.

They'd had a few cars brought in from the junk yard after the leaders and sheriff's department got everything useful for the community. Now they're stripping what they think can be useful.

"For a truck from the '80s," he calls out, "it's in pretty good condition. Almost a shame to tear it up."

He climbs out with some valves, carrying them over to the piles they'd started to keep things vaguely organized. Then he glances over to El.

Adrien hums, his smile turning to a pout as he realizes that yes, he's also going to miss movies, especially new ones.

But he shakes it off.

"I mean, it's fine. Rich guy takes poor guy to his mansion for the summer, poor guy schemes to get the family's money, people end up dying. Poor guy eats a girl out while she's on her period and slurps up cummy water from rich guy's bath. I personally would've preferred more guy-on-guy action, but it's not bad."

He gets his water and chugs half of it down.

"So, what are you supposed to be?"

He looks Cherry up and down, trying to figure it out.

ANOTHER BLINK . she's shaking her head even as her smile doesn't waver, amused as she brings her drink back to her lips to say, " i've got no idea what you're talkin' about to be honest ." she says brightly before she's gesturing to him with her drink . " but hey, sounds fun !" she shrugs before she admits, " kinda fuckin' miss the movies to be fair ." she brings her drink to her lips again, not even wincing at the taste of the moonshine but welcoming the burn of it down her throat before she's licking her lips and adding, " it any good ? like, what happens ?"

RAFAEL SILVA at the Epic Cons Chicago 2 convention - September 15, 2024