Author Topic: on the run — open (Read 478 times)

jp . · « **on:** May 23, 2021, 12:31:41 PM »

— it took a special sort of person to manage to get jackson peters out and about like this. those kinds of people were always the ones that irritated jackson the most. give people just a little bit of leeway, and suddenly they think they’re some sort of friend to him or something. it happened whenever he went and gave people a chance. “this is your idea of fun?” though, maybe he was a bit more of a pushover when it came to mollie hawthorne. he sneered a bit to himself, leaning backwards so he could fall back into the patch of grass.

she was a fucking brat, and she got on his nerves. and yet, he still stuck around, or at least he didn’t reject every offer - demand - she made to hang out. there were worse people to spend time with, and mollie definitely wasn’t the worst company. she got on his nerves a little less than most others. besides, since she couldn’t drink, that meant more beers for him. score. raising a half-empty bottle to his lips, he hummed to himself. “you’ve gotta get yourself a new group of friends.” he said that as if he had any friends, himself.

though, as much shit as he did give her for the leisurely activity, there was a part of him that didn’t particularly mind it. his skin already felt like it was crawling with the paranoia of what kind of bugs he was going to find crawling on him later, and the sun was starting to feel particularly hot on his skin- but, he didn’t seem to be leaving the small patch of prairie they found themselves on. not for a while, at least.

staring up at the sky with somewhat furrowed brows, the duo sat in silence before he eventually asked, “why would you leave a place like flintlock to come to a dump like this?” it was something that had been on his mind for a while, even though he hadn’t taken the chance previously to ask. now seemed like a good time.

// this post is so shit whoops

Spoiler: tags ― updated 02/23. • show

mollie. · « **Reply #1 on:** June 20, 2021, 05:36:53 PM »

She felt as if she were on fire, but at peace all the same. The softness that she foolishly fell into routine with when she lived in Flintlock Lodge had ruined her and made her cautious. Rough. But those feelings of insecurity only lingered in the back of her mind, ready to make an appearance again once she was alone in her thoughts. Never had she felt so uncomfortable in her skin, belly rounded and deep-set lines marking where her skin stretched to the extreme, but she seldom opened up about herself for the entirety of her stay in Bluestem Prairie.

She didn’t want to let people in, urge herself to repeat the cycle of opening up just a little too much, allowing people to get close enough to actually see the cracks that had formed across her façade. She was damaged goods — she would believe wholeheartedly — and nobody wanted to work towards a friendship that would forever remain imperfect because of Mollie. She lured people in with her beauty and baring smiles, but it would always remain a fleeting moment. It was almost as if something was innately wrong with her, as if she were plagued with something terrible which made her someone impossible to love, a disease which she could not cure.

Mollie never let on how she felt nowadays because it was easier to make friends that way. JP, for example, seemed to relate to her overbearingly boisterous and fiery ways. In most cases, fire and fire would only create a bigger flame, but the two of them actually seemed to get on well, much to Mollie’s surprise. The back-and-forth snark never seemed malicious, and it felt as if finally somebody could keep up with her attitude. She liked JP a lot because she saw herself in him. A friend that would not get rid of her now that she considered him an ally.

❝ Just about the only thing around here I would consider to be fun. ❞ Mollie remarked with twisted features, sitting in the grass with her legs kicked out comfortably. If JP had not reluctantly agreed to hang out with her, Mollie knew that she would have had to hopelessly wander around Alexandra seeking some sort of ordinary old company to help her pass time. The days were long around here, and so getting to distract herself with some good company always helped. JP always seemed as if he despised the times Mollie would push him to come spend some time with her, but if he really hated it he wouldn’t be here, right?

She should find herself a new group of friends, JP would remark, Mollie’s lips curling into a wry smile as she looked his way, ❝ I was just thinking the same thing. ❞ She pointed out snarkily. They both knew that neither meant what they said, and instead their words were often in jest. Not many would understand the incessant bullying and consider that to be a sign of a genuine friendship, but Mollie saw otherwise.

Allowing herself to relax and bask in the warmth of the summer sun, Mollie wanted to settle into the silence between the two of them, instead feeling her heart sinking at his next words. They were a casual, simple question, and yet one which instantly brought about a sense of horror within. He wouldn’t understand what Freddie was like, what the Stirlings were like. He would never understand what led to her being driven out of her own home and out on her own again.

Lips twitching into the slightest of grimaces, Mollie stared across at JP before she dully pointed out, ❝ Because I had to. ❞ With a half-hearted shrug — as if she didn’t care as much as she did — Mollie looked away before she continued. ❝ I liked a guy — I know, that was the first mistake — and I thought he liked me back. When I told him that I was pregnant, he couldn’t even look at me. He wanted me gone. If I had stayed, his family would have wanted us to fully commit and God forbid he be forced to spend the rest of his life with someone like me, right? ❞ She huffed a breath of emotionless laughter, as if she tried to conceal the audible hurt in her voice.

❝ His family is fucked up in so many ways, and the worst part is that his cousin, Eddie, literally leads the whole group so the power they have is insane. I stood no chance, and so I had to leave. ❞ Swallowing hard, Mollie shifted slightly before glancing back across at JP. ❝ Maybe it was for the best. The Stirlings are not a family you’d want to get involved with anyways. ❞

jp . · « **Reply #2 on:** July 14, 2021, 03:58:29 PM »

— "just about the only thing around here i would consider to be fun."
”besides making my life hell?” if forcing someone to socialize was hell, he supposed. one thing was right; the days around bluestem could be long and make time feel like it was at a standstill. lots of people preferred this leisurely pace; somewhere they could kick up their boots and relax. however, this wasn’t the type of lifestyle jp had thought was guaranteed when he made his way over. for a place that had a bit of a bad reputation with other groups, kicking back and absently watching tumbleweeds pass hadn’t necessarily been expected. hell, aside from being shot up, this place didn’t experience as much danger as one would think. it didn’t hurt to stick around, though, and get to know the sorts of people he was involving himself with.

while he found himself becoming associated with the characters in alexandra, he still managed to keep most all of them at a distance. unlike mollie, he didn’t lure people in with easy smiles and just-as-effortless conversation. no, he preferred making himself known as the outcast that he was. the person that didn’t quite belong. he could come to learn a lot about the others around him, yet rarely let out information about himself. sometimes it was just easier that way, being the person that seemed unscathed from the harsh realities of the world. he had his own secrets, had witnessed his own downfall; he doubted those thoughts and feelings he had would ever resurface for anyone. even if it was around someone like mollie hawthorne.

that didn’t mean he wouldn’t question mollie’s own life, her own motive for travel. more often than not, people that traveled did so for more reasons than their fondness for adventure or seeing the world. sometimes they packed up and left because they felt they had to. they had no other option. sure enough, mollie’s words confirmed just that. as he listened to mollie’s answer, gazing up towards the sky, he came to realize she was no different than most other travelers. just as damaged. just as hurt. as she talked, he remained absently quiet. he couldn’t even say he was surprised. hell, nothing managed to surprise him anymore.

her last few words, however, managed to knock the air right out of his lungs and left him spinning. eddie stirling? he was still alive, after all those years jackson spent assuming he was dead? he stilled, clenching his jaw as he silently became swarmed with all sorts of emotions. teenage memories flashed behind his eyelids, memories he had tried to force himself to move past. partying. sneaking around new york. eddie stirling. that motherfucker.

“that’s bullshit.” he tried to act as if mollie hadn’t just told him something that took the ground out from right underneath him - maybe he hadn’t even been that convincing, he wasn’t sure. it wasn’t every day that someone managed to say something that got to him in such a way. it wasn’t every day that there was someone that could both piss him off and make him feel relieved just by the mention of their name alone. ”the bastard didn’t deserve you, anyway.” he said it nonchalantly, even while it arguably one of the nicest things he’d said in a while; and he meant it, too. last thing mollie needed was to get herself mixed up with the stirlings any more than she already had. speaking from his own experience, getting involved with a stirling never did anyone any good.

Spoiler: tags ― updated 02/23. • show

Bearbones

Author Topic: on the run — open (Read 478 times)

jp .

on the run — open

mollie.

Re: on the run — open

jp .

Re: on the run — open