Author Topic: ignoring the problems just to hold what we had [ p, william ] (Read 146 times)

JOSEPHINE · « **on:** December 16, 2020, 05:58:11 PM »

being asked to do some spying on bluestem prairie sounded like such a dream. it reminded her of the antics she indulged in before flintlock, the scamming and murdering of men for whatever they had that she wanted; not to mention, josephine has always been a nosey one. give her a chance to hear something exclusive and secret and she's at full attention. eddie had asked her to go, as soon as her reaper expectations were met, joey was free to head out. sure, maybe she sped through some of the chores, and probably delegated a bit too much, but can anyone blame her? the excitement was just too much.

until she was ambushed in edmund's office, william waiting there, and being told that he's going along as well.

did she really need a fucking babysitter? joey tried a few objections, but eddie wasn't having it. so, with an intense scowl, joey huffed an okay and went to gather the bag she'd packed and make sure she isn't missing anything important.

the pair started off in the morning, and now the sun is making it's decent into the horizon. joey refused to talk, or even look, at will. she kept her eyes trained ahead and jaw clenched tight. she might not have the perfect idea of where she's heading, but there's no way in hell she's going to let him think she needs any help. they need to stop for the night soon, but joey wants this journey to be as fast as possible, so she plans on waiting till the last moment to stop.

they don't stop until it's nearly pitch black. she manages to get a small fire going, settling down around it, back to william. she still blames him for getting her pregnant, for having to go through the trauma of giving birth and losing herself, then to barely help would with the thing? maybe the blame has grown into resentment, too. she feels like she got the short end of the stick in this... and, even though she would never usher the words or even anything close to them, for some fucking reason, joey misses him. they always had fun, little expectation from each other. they get each other in a way she doesn't even understand, she feels pulled to him; and it makes her beyond angry at herself.

her plan has also now been royaly fucked. she didn't know anyone in bluestem, could morph into absolutely anything to sell her story, but now all of that has to change. they have to have an airtight story and reason. joey dips her head, hands cradling her face. she lets out a heavy sigh, " we have to figure out our story, " she finally says, slowly moving her hands and lifting her head again. turning to finally look at will, but still avoiding eye contact, " is anyone going to recognize you there? " she turns to face him, but her head's held low and she watches her hand as she plays with her mother's bracelets on her wrist.

Spoiler: tags, updated 12/14/2020 • show

WILLIAM. · « **Reply #1 on:** December 21, 2020, 05:49:34 PM »

When his cousin approached with that ever-so-stern look on his face, William already knew that Edmund had exciting plans for him. It would soon be revealed that Eddie was sending Will on a mission to Bluestem Prairie — it wouldn’t be the first time he’d done so — to spy on its people. However, this didn’t come without a but; William could go spy on Bluestem Prairie but he had to do so whilst accompanying Joey.

❝ Just in case, ❞ Eddie would tell Will. ❝ Just in case Bluestem were to not act kindly to strangers. ❞ The last thing Eddie wanted was to see another person die, especially by the hands of a rancher. That was one thing Will could agree with; if Ed wanted to martyr a Flintlocker, then it shouldn't have to be Joey. William wouldn't grieve for her, but he'd certainly grieve for all of the benefits he'd no longer get whilst having her around.

So, that was where William would swoop in as Joey’s unsung hero. She’d never thank him for his work to protect her — hell, he assumed she’d barely acknowledge such thing as fact. Truth was that William had been feeling frustrated by her in the more recent weeks. It was as if Rosie had stuck a massive wedge between them in their relationship. Joey barely wanted to give Will the time of day anymore and that was enough to drive him crazy.

He felt that unfamiliar feeling of loss when she chose to live a life that didn’t gravitate around him, but it was barely an inconvenience to him. After all, it was only making it clear to him what it took to keep a woman like Joey around. And so, William would distance himself for a while, make sure that she missed all of those tender moments he’d give her and then, like her saviour, he’d swoop in and even be somewhat kind to her if that was what would catch her attention.

The trek had been awkward for its entirety, William barely able to hold much of a conversation with Joey without the subtlest of rejections: those God awful one worded answers, or that deafening soundlessness of the silent treatment. She could barely look at him, let alone talk to him, and so William eventually chose to resign to silence. His initial plan to have things return to what they once were was swiftly falling flat, and the failure was enough to make Will cringe. When they finally settled for the night, Will even went out of his way to wordlessly set up their tents for the nights — two separate tents which Will was certain would both be occupied at this rate. All of this effort he put into her was going unnoticed, and that nearly horrified him.

He went to sit across from Joey at the fire as soon as he was finished, one leg propped up so that he could rest his arm atop of his knee. For a situation that was backfiring agonisingly for Will, he handled it with a casual finesse, as if he were none the wiser. But, Will felt the tension that lingered in the air, so much so that he could be the one to cut it with a knife. He looked into the fire, face impassive as he allowed his thoughts to wander until— Joey was talking.

Appearing less interested than he really was, Will eventually lifted his head to stare across the fire at her with a half-lidded gaze. They had to figure out a story, now? Will could understand why, but it all seemed to require too much effort for him. He’d leave all the intricacies to the cunning ❛ mastermind ❜ here. She was now looking in his direction, yet still not quite meeting his gaze. His brows began to bunch together, face threatening to shrivel up, before he quickly looked away. What had he done which warranted this? It wasn't like he'd treated her wrongly or anything.

Her question was met with a half-hearted shrug. ❝ Dunno. ❞ He hoped to all higher powers that people wouldn’t recognise him, especially considering the aim of his last trip. ❝ Frank’ll recognise me. Probably his boy toy, too. Not sure about anyone else though. ❞ Eventually, Will looked back to Joey, ❝ Frank’s soft. Him knowing me will be to our advantage. If there’s one way into the group, it’s through him. ❞

JOSEPHINE · « **Reply #2 on:** January 04, 2021, 07:50:01 PM »

her radio silence with will was probably more of a testament to her being unreasonable than her treatment of him before. leading up to the birth of their daughter, her actions, his too to be fair, could be excused by them being two young people, who really aren’t the commitment or family orientated type, discovering that their lives were changing; crumbling and burning in joey’s outlook. but now, even though there is a heavy sense of frustration for her since will hasn’t been pulling as much weight as she’d prefer, her inability to shove it all to the side to just maybe give rosalie the best life possible just casts a bad light on her. not that joey particularly cares about everyone’s image of her, only specific things bother her in that respect. maybe that’s the biggest difference between william stirling and josephine van doren, joey doesn’t try to hide all of her evil.

the first part of his answer earns an exasperated sigh from her. of course, how could she expect anything else from will, he seems to ruin everything for her. this is a job that they have to do; why couldn’t he act professionally. joey knows she’s immature, but at least she knew when to put it aside; well, maybe not, but that doesn’t matter at this very moment. a huff and looking away from him again, she shakes her head. “ you’ve tried talking to me all day and suddenly you’re pulling this shit, “ joey mutters, bringing her knees up to her chest and shifts to get a bit closer to the fire for the warmth. at least he decides to elaborate, citing frank as blowing their cover, but that being an advantage hadn’t crossed her mind before. her lips purse in thought, gears turning for an effective plan.

“ i got it, “ joey gives no options for will to offer a plan, “ we say we lost our kid, then alfie, and it was too much. we couldn’t stay, didn’t really know where to go, but wanted to tell frank about the loss so we went to bluestem first, “ she explained, taking a guess that frank is a stirling or some kind so hearing about alfie’s death would trigger some kind of emotion. her hand extends and moves as she continues, “ we get the information and dirt we need, discretely, then when we have what we need, we just say we’re deciding to stay somewhere else to escape the war. we’ll be back at the lodge without them having any clue. “ she knows she can get some big crocodile tears going with the shaky voice; easy, but she’s not positive that william could act the same. with their history, joey feels like he very well could, but he is pretty cut off from his emotions, maybe he forgot, if he ever knew how.

a tight lip smile appears on joey’s face when she’s done, eyes adverting from almost holding his gaze. she doesn’t want to give him any chance to mansplain what they should do for a plan, but she doesn’t want to seem bothered. that’s when the idea comes to her, she’s got a little something up her sleeve. “ i forgot until just now, “ she finally makes eye contact with him, “ your friend, walker, said hi. and that’s all she plans on giving him now. she follows it with a quick wink, alluding to possible... activities her and walker got up to; even though they didn’t sleep together, she’s going to make will believe otherwise. now, a bright grin flashes on her face, “ i’m going to bed, “ she says abruptly as she gets to her feet. without another look back at the man, joey crawls into one of the tents, just waiting for the reaction out of him. as she lays down, though, she knows she’s not going to fall asleep anytime soon. and, maybe it’s the proximity, maybe it’s the long time since being together, but some part of her longs for that connection, like a string tugging on her, pulling her closer to him.

Spoiler: tags, updated 12/14/2020 • show

Bearbones ➳

Author Topic: ignoring the problems just to hold what we had [ p, william ] (Read 146 times)

JOSEPHINE

ignoring the problems just to hold what we had [ p, william ]

WILLIAM.

Re: ignoring the problems just to hold what we had [ p, william ]

JOSEPHINE

Re: ignoring the problems just to hold what we had [ p, william ]