get that saddle ready , phil . / @devilbeside
❝ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑡𝑤𝑜'𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑟 , 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑡𝑤𝑜'𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 , 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑟'𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎 𝑏𝑢𝑛𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑤𝑜'𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 ! ❞ eric was out of the kitchen for T H R E E M I N U T E S , tops , && when he returned ? there sat gracie ( who should have been in bed ! ) pajama clad legs pretzeled on a chair as she explained the finer points of math to PHIL BLAKE .
it took little more than a l o o k from eric to send the annoyed little girl back up to her room , but once she was out of view he couldn’t help but to smile . it was a CONFUSED smile , but a smile nonetheless . ❝ did she dart down here the second i turned my back ? ❞
He’s settled into a new normal. It seems like something that had been happening every few months since the world changed, at least until they’d found Alexandria. Things going to shit, finding a new place, adjusting to new CIRCUMSTANCES. But not anymore. He’s settled for good now, or it seems like it. And if he closes his eye and relaxes for a bit he can almost pretend that the world is like it used to be.
Almost. He doesn’t have Penny anymore. But there’s Gracie and the girl reminds him a bit of his daughter, though she’s more precocious. Not as timid. And perhaps it’s because she grew up inside the walls, PROTECTED in a way that so many of them never were. Penny hadn’t been. But it’s been years since his daughter died.
“Mmmm, is that right?” Philip smiles at the little girl as she babbles at him about the math she’s been learning. “Well, you’re a regular Einstin, ain’t ya?” He chuckles and watches as the little girl scampers off to her room, gaze shifting to Eric once she’s GONE. “Just about. Least she’s out here doin’ math problems. Not a lotta kids would be takin’ so well t’ their schoolin’.”