emo-vampâ:
waywardsoldicrâ:
Playing Mother Goose to a pair of grown ass immortals wasnât a task Jasper had ever imagined himself undertaking, least of all with the looming threat of the Volturi snapping at their heels. But it seemed neither of his brothers found their fugitive status to be of any pressing concern, and at the rate Emmett was going theyâd all be digging their crushed limbs out of a cave-in before he even got the chance to yank free the stick up his ass and beat them both senseless with it. He cupped the last two pebbles in his palm, gingerly feeling around their weight from his spot on the ground, then took aim.
The first one flew from his fingers with cutting precision and struck Emmett on the back of the neck, leaving a sizable welt. âFirst of all â you wouldnât know decent country music from a line of singing roadkill, so jot that down. Second, do me a favor and give yourself brain hemorrhaging on your own time. We have too much ground left to cover.âÂ
When he stood back up again he did so with all the bearings of his past life, back straight, shoulders squared, and an intensity hinging on his expression that felt completely at odds with Emmettâs violent frustrations and Edwardâs soul-sucking pity party. But thatâd always been the case, hadnât it? They were all just scattered, mismatched pieces that Carlisle and Esme had gathered together and claimed as family, and still theyâd found a way to make it work. Bella Swan of all people didnât deserve the privilege of being the one to tear them apart.Â
A sharp jerk of his hand sent the last pebble colliding against Edwardâs temple before he could get a head start on his next soliloquy. âAnd you,â Jasper assumed a familiar stance in front of his brother, hands clasped behind his back and eyes boring into the dark cloud before him. âA century, Ed. Weâve been at each otherâs throats and by each otherâs sides for over a century now. You donât think everyoneâs lives wouldâve been easier if youâd all just dropped me after my first half a dozen cheat days in the same week? Hell, I know it wouldâve been easier to lose Emmett at a gas station somewhere before he ever learned how to work a car radio. But we donât do easy.â He gripped Edwardâs shoulder as if to put into words all the things he didnât care to say out loud â the guilt, the frustration, the loss of control â he understood it all. Heâd felt it all himself at one point or another. âWeâll drag you unconscious the rest of the way if thatâs what it takes. But you donât get to cop out on us. Not after everything.â
(@emo-vampâ)
Edward nearly laughed at Emmettâs rant. Actually, a bit of a laugh may have actually escaped in the form of huffed air rather than a genuine, belly-shaking laugh, but it was there and he hadnât laughed in a long time. He knew how ridiculous Emmett could be, having spent the better part of a century around him, but every now and again it just hit even when he wasnât trying to be a funny guy and surprised Edward. âBears donât have names,â he said, apparently deciding (without consciously meaning to do so) that that was the hill he was going to die on. Heâd never get it through Emmett or Jasperâs heads that country music was really the death of music overall, but he could certainly argue bears.Â
It was better than the moping driving them both crazy, at the very least.
The humor quickly dissipated, though, and Edward shook his head. âItâs different. She wasnât just some hiker, okay? She was my soulmate, and now sheâs dead because of me. Youâd be acting the same if you were the reason Rosalie died, Emmett. You donât get to judge me.â
The pebble hit his temple with a quiet smack, and Edward immediately reached a hand up to rub at the spot as it fell away. A pebble could hardly hurt him, but it was the principle of the matter. He knew that Jasper would have stepped in as mediator eventually, but it was one thing to watch him scold someone and another to be the one scolded. Jasper had an intensity that few could match, and when he spoke he more often than not spoke true. This time was no different; guilt set in as he recalled the early stages of Jasper being part of their family, the many cheat days that had shoved tension into their dynamic. Theyâd gotten through it, though, because like Jasper said, they didnât do easy. That just wasnât them. âThatâs a little different,â he said quietly. âYou were a new vampire. Iâve been one for over a century. I should know better, be better.â That didnât make his point less valid, though, and Edward looked down.
âOkay. Fine. Youâre right, Iâm sorry.â Edward paused and glanced back up through his lashes, a small smirk gracing his lips. âWe really should have left Emmett to his car radio. Wouldâve saved our ears and sanity.â
[ @bearfuckcrâ ]
The sharp ping and clatter of the pebble ricocheting off of his neck to skitter away across the floor was enough to give him pause, halting to stare at the spiderweb of cracks that had begun to creep up the tunnel wall and consider, for a moment, how he had come to be there. Jasper was ever the soldier; so set on the task at hand that nothing could be allowed to stop him in his tracks. And Edward â well, Edward would happily drown himself in his own misery if he only needed to breathe. He would drag his heels under the weight of his own melancholy and Jasper would pull them forward with sheer, sarcastic grit. They were ever predictable, ever set in their ways.Â
And Emmett, as always, wasnât exactly needed.Â
Heâd never been a man of subtle complexities. He was delightfully shallow and had never particularly seen the need to work on himself, to strive for depth, not when it had never been required of him. There were enough tortured souls in their little family unit to sink a ship â nobody needed the extra gravity from him. It was his job to laugh and to joke and to take nothing at all seriously because that would then require someone to take him seriously. It was awfully difficult to drown in shallow waters. But this .. well .. some might call it character growth.
Heâd never been able to hold a grudge before.
âOh, fuck you,â as if Bella Swan, who Edward had obsessed over for a matter of weeks without ever actually knowing her before he killed her was somehow equatable to what Rosalie meant to him. âI always said all your pent-up virgin energy would end in disaster and see what happened? She wasnât your soulmate. You didnât even know her, Ed.â
âAnd fuck you,â Emmett paused as he turned to eye Jasper as if trying to determine which insult to address first before settling on, âTexas is a stupid state anyway.â
With a sound not unlike a bear that had been disturbed from a particularly good dream only to find himself hungry and cold and surrounded by weird interloping blonde girls eating his porridge Emmett snarled and stomped off down the tunnel, like he had no intention whatsoever of waiting for either of them. And because maturity was a sign of personal growth he added a middle finger over his shoulder.  âKenny Chesney is a national treasure, you dicks.â
[ @waywardsoldicrâ ]
