Bruises make for better conversation.

Lose this divide that separates. This blog is affiliated with the Fallen Empire RPG. All content is original unless otherwise indicated.

[ivyholloway-blog]

Fall City. “ It was a massacre. ” Her eyes wandered. Fire. Blood. Screams. Ada’s feet against the concrete. Holding guns and hands. Reuniting with Gwen. Watching as she was carried by the human river, from the floor. Clickers. Closer. Monsters. Running. 

The night Lili was born it was dark and hopeless.      “— but yes, we’re still here.”

[iambattyman-blog]

Bat noted the brief haunted look that flashed across her features and sucked in a breath through his teeth. “Look, if you ever need to talk... or laugh, or distract yourself, I’m good for it.” Bat offered, shoving his hands in his pockets. “You’re too young to have to cope with this much bad shit.”

[ivyholloway-blog]

What were the odds that they’d meet again? Ivy had forgotten about him and it felt bad. She held on tighter to him and closed her eyes, her feet away from the floor. For a moment, it felt as if it was her own father the one she was hugging — both men were good huggers. She sighed against his shoulder and then tried to look at him, ashamed by her gesture. She held onto his arm and took a deeper breath.

“S-sorry. I’m just really glad that someone made it —- that — I’m Ivy. The name’s Ivy. ”

[iambattyman-blog]

“Don’t ever apologize for being glad to see someone.” Bat admonished gently. He let her steady herself as she told him her name. It sounded familiar, and a faint sense of recognition hit. He’d never been told from her, but perhaps someone they both knew had mentioned her name in passing. “I go by Bat.” He answered with a grin.  “And for what it’s worth, I’m glad you made it too. I was worried about the lot of you when I found my way back to Fall City.”

[gwenbaudouin-blog]

“You.” A figment of a deteriorating mind, nothing more. “You’re dead.” Her entire frame had grown rigid, relief a secondary sensation that had already been encompassed by the primary shock. “Is this a hallucination?” The question was voiced without thought, no requirement to drown her symptoms in normalcy when it was just the pair of them. 

[iambattyman-blog]

Christ, she was so different. He hadn’t expected how drastic it would be, to see her after months with nothing but his aging mind’s memories to picture the girl he’d claimed as daughter. She was still so strong, everything about the way she moved and spoke screamed her determination to survive and yet, there was a fragility to her that he didn’t remember. “I’m very alive. And very real. Although your, ahem, baby daddy had a similar reaction.” He eyed her empty hands. “At least you’re not pointing a weapon at me.” He mused. He took a few steps towards her before pausing. Was it okay? Would she crumble to ashes in his hands if he tried to embrace her? He hesitated, gazing at her and telling her as much with the look as he could. He was here, he wanted to hug her, he wanted things to be okay with them, he wanted her forgiveness. Bat wanted so much, and he knew it all, but what did Gwen want?

[ivyholloway-blog]

Tired, dizzy, feeling weird. It lingered. Ivy wasn’t feeling her best. Standing on her own two feet wasn’t that hard, though. She watched outside the windows when a cheerful voice filled the air. She turned around to face the man before her and opened her eyes widely. Not even his name, barely strangers to each other, Ivy remembered. Feeling alive. “ YOU ARE ALIVE TOO! ”

[iambattyman-blog]

Bat wasn’t expecting such a warm welcome, and groaned a bit as she collided with him to hug him tightly. It was amusing, and surprising, solely because they’d not even known each other. Still, he returned the greeting just as warmly, giving her a bear hug and lifting her slightly. “I am.” He responded cheerfully, not sure what else to say in the face of such exuberance. 

[iambattyman-blog]

“What’s up, buttercup?”

[lori-taylor-blog1]

@iambattyman

Life was fleeting. The end of the world put an emphasis on that; something that had always been universal. One moment Charlie was there, laughing and breathing and being – and the next she was pieces on a hospital wall; fragments under Lori’s nail-buds. Life, now, was fast-paced. It didn’t take more than a couple of weeks, months, to fall in love with Owen. It didn’t take that long, either, to finally reconcile with Corvo, and to forge a bond with Gwen. It felt like years had passed, since the brawl in the middle of the community centre. It felt like an eternity since Fall City, since she was surrounded by houses and buildings instead of forest. 

She knew it must’ve been a long time ago, when she saw him. She had to swallow down the shock, sitting on the porch outside her motel room and seeing Bat strolling down the pathway. It went like this: bewilderment. Blinked far too many times before she knew it was true. The last living councilman of Fall City; alive and here. Then: anger. Charlie, Jamie, Andy, Piper. Every other person that died inside that hospital, or in the bombings – and here he was. She licked her lips and pushed herself up from the ground. It hadn’t been pleasant the last time they’d talked. Maybe that was because of Gwen, because of the way their relationship was. Everything was different now. “Where the hell have you been?” Was her ‘hello’. “How are you still alive?” Was her ‘nice to see you again’.

[iambattyman-blog]

Bat felt almost uncomfortable, being back among the living. No, it wasn't that he was among the living. It was that they were so familiar. So familiar to him, he knew each person's name without hesitation and yet- they'd changed. Everyone was different. They bore more scars, some physically and literally, some emotionally and mentally. He was rarely if at all greeted with a smile.

And this greeting was no different. She wasn't delighted to see him, or so it seemed. She showed no emotion but disdain in her questions, and Bat found himself smiling distantly in response. It was a response he'd used for years, against patients who'd been disregarding of his skills, of his business, of him as an individual. It was a defense mechanism of sorts. But the lack of verbal filter following his response was a newer development, since the end of times had come and gone. "I've been everywhere." He answered simply, because it certainly felt that way some days. His smile turned into a wicked grin and he quipped, "Magic, and the promise of sexual favors. You would not believe how many blowjobs I've given to survive." He couldn't help but wonder if she'd finally found the maturity that Lori had been lacking when they had last parted ways.

[iambattyman-blog]

“Well if it isn’t the little salsa senorita.” Bat announced with a cheerful grin.

[iambattyman-blog]

La résurrection

[corvoscrime]

Although his limp made him more susceptible to lack of use compared to those with an even gait, Corvo never reveled in the prospect of being a sitting duck; opting to scour on the outskirts with a scavenged shotgun in possession. It allowed the solitude he required and the target practice he would simply desire to earn. After all, the greatest reward of the apocalypse could only be the perforating of mutated flesh; the adrenaline rush a bonus only a criminal could yearn.

Had it not been for the break in silence, the various tones of nature merely a background noise, a sigh of disinterest would have eagerly departed from thin lips. Not only had familiarity forced him to step backwards in the expectancy of discovering further deceased, but his expression only grew increasingly bewildered with the recognition of who stood before him. “Apparently that’s the very place you crawled out of,” he spoke nonchalantly, weapon comfortably raised at eye level. “Let me guess, your new friends also got tired of you.”

[iambattyman-blog]

Bat snorted, not impressed by the firearm aimed his way in the least. Granted, it would be too easy for Corvo to pull that trigger, and never have utter a word to Gwen or anyone else about this encounter. Assuming, of course, that he wasn't also out on his own. He raised an eyebrow at the younger man. "I haven't seen anybody in a long while." He remarked. "In fact, I started wondering if all you lot were dead. Or worse." He grimaced before looking more closely at Cole.

"You've seen hell." He retorted quietly. "I think we can both agree that this little neighborhood isn't that particular place." He scrubbed the back of his neck, a crooked grin on his lips. "Also got tired of me?" He echoed. "Last I remember, you were trying pretty hard to get into my good graces."

[iambattyman-blog]

La résurrection

Bat prowled the roof of the building. It was his experience that survivors didn't look up, for various reasons. Mostly, the clickers never came from above. They were always around the next corner, behind, to the sides, but on the same level. The man below was definitely a survivor, and something about his movements struck Bat as eerily familiar.

He lowered himself flat on the roof, his head and hands curled over the lip of the edge, and he squinted as the man came closer.

"You've gotta be shitting me." Bat exclaimed as he fully recognized the young man below. He hoisted himself upright, and darted to the door that lead down the stairs. It was a wonder in his hasty descent that he didn't fall and break his neck, although perhaps he shouldn't have burst out the door so suddenly and nearly directly in the man's path.

A million questions blazed through Bat's mind as he stared at the young man, conflicted. "What the hell?" He succinctly demanded, planting his hands on his hips and staring Corvo down.

[transgirltumbling]