THE PHOENIX MUST BURN TO EMERGE.

You did not choose to be born. You were shaped by the gods from emptiness, for their convenience. They gave you life but no purpose and so came a maddening itch. Is it any wonder that you finally clawed greed and war and cruelty out from under your skin? That you chose to soak your hands in pestilence and plague and shadows? Your blood is buzzing with these things that they call terrible. With these things that make you alive. But once the mire has dried under your fingernails, all that is left is a hollow boy, an empty box, and nothing else. Not even hope.

[mikaelsonsource]

[mikaelsonsource]

[joshholloway-source]

[owenxhurst]

Rowan.

“I’ve never had anythin’ easy givin’ to me, Owen. Everythin’ has been hard, painful. Nothin’ has been easy. Except this. So I’m waitin’ for that other shoe to drop.” She didn’t mean to make the mood somber but she wouldn’t keep things from Owen. Rowan was a very blunt and honest person, they didn’t like her bluntness, but with Owen, it was very polite. It wasn’t like Rowan, but then again, he wasn’t like anyone she had met either. He gave her a chance at a life she didn’t think she deserved or wanted or was going to get one. But he was here, holding her, looking at her like he was, and Rowan, didn’t want to let that go. She shakes at his words, her head resting against his chest, a deep breath leaving her lips.”You love how short I am, asshole. I’m fun size.” She mumbles, before kissing at his neck softly.”A gun would be nice. Preferably one that has my name on it.” She tells him with a soft chuckle,before she’s nodding her head, biting at his pulse point.”mm, you’re right. You go and save me from weirdos, and I’ll give you the best time of your life.” She says, before she’s pulling back to look at him in the eye.”I do not need anger fuckin’ management. People ‘ere just need to stop bein’ so fuckin’ annoyin’. Not you though, you’re just fun to play with.” She tells him, before hands go under his short to feel his abs.”Are we goin’ to keep talkin’? ‘Cause I kind of want to ride you, stud.”

          “Then let’s not waste all the good moments waitin’ on it all t’hit the fan.” Owen murmured this softly, finding truth in her words. All his life had been spent, fighting through whatever hell had offered and even now, it never seemed entirely done with him. Yet whatever he had with Rowan felt so organic, that any apprehension towards their relationship was tossed out the window. Whatever they were, he’d just be happy to spend time with her while the moments lasted. He wanted to stop thinking of any horrible what ifs and hope to just be in the moment, to drink up whatever good life still rarely offered to him. “Fun size, that’s what were callin’ it, eh?” Finding comfort at the way she leaned into him, Owen bore a grin, “A gun is your type a’gift? Should have expected that now when I think ‘bout it. Ain’t the shoppin’ type if it wasn’t that obvious, but I’ve got plenty of weapons from over the years. Can show y’one day and maybe y’can just pick one y’like. Can work on the brandin’ part of it later.” He mused this nonchalantly as if she was half serious in the first place. “That how it works now?” Coy smile erupted on his lips, leaning close to Rowan where their lips could be inches apart, “Seems y’just like gettin’ into trouble now if it means I can save you, eh?” Pulling her closer, Owen rose his brows, “An’ what’s stoppin’ you?”

[owenxhurst]

Ana.

        “Owen, sweetheart —- I asked to get shot. I understand people are having a difficult time grasping that, but I requested for the bullet to aim through my thigh so this is not anyone’s fault but mine.” Lips pursed to sulk into quietness, becoming tired at the whole ordeal. Parker King was never a friend, he was a nuisance —- an attractive one that made her stomach flutter with butterflies, stupidly enough. “Time will tell. Owen, shut up.” She blurted out, not seeming to regret those words. “I find the concern adorable, but that’s not making me feel better. Besides, you stole my job; the taking care of portion.”

           “Well y’ain’t ever been smart on that end, blondie. I’ll give y’that.” He muttered this with a sigh, never understanding the way Anastasia braced herself to the world. No less, Owen would just have to sit back and let her come to terms with her own realization. If she had asked to be shot, it was only that much more of a reason for him to stay concerned for her well being.  “Yeah, an’ you can shut up yourself, Ana.” He gave a half grin as if he was almost serious on the remark, “Ain’t about it bein’ adorable or any of them words. Take it the way it is ‘cause you’re stuck with me till that hole in your leg heals.”

[owenxhurst]

Laurent.

      “It’s —- long. She ( yes, she ) beat my face over a ride and some other comments I made throughout our entire conversation. You can laugh all you want, Hurst. I stand by her being the mean one in this situation.”

          “So her bein’ the mean one means y’just have t’sit back and let her hit ya? Whatever happened t’just lettin’ her be and walkin’ away?”

[owenxhurst]

@mcralitywavers;

           “Now ain’t y’got some super healin’ powers or y’just gonna sit back and watch me suffer ‘en?”

[joshholloway-source]

I’m not the man I was. I learned you got to do things to survive in this world.

[owenxhurst]

Mercedes Peltier:

“You want me to toss you a punch….well, okay….” she shrugged as she put up her fists and thew a hard punch to his palm, once again her shoulder tensing up again. “See? Shoulder tense up when I punch something.”

          “Think you’re jus’ afraid of hurtin’ people. Which is ironic since y’throwin’ a punch in the first place.”

[owenxhurst]

Rowan:

“Like you could hurt me, or even want to hurt me.” She says, before her mood turned somber at his words.”You’re not gettin’ involved, Hurst. These men are dangerous. This is my war. I don’t need the people I care about gettin’ hurt ‘cause of me.” She tells him, before kissing his cheek gently, she cared about him, she did. She wouldn’t be this affectionate toward him if she didn’t. She couldn’t drag anyone into this. Hell, it was why she wasn’t ever going to tell Jordan. He had his family here, and she wasn’t going to have them hurt either, or have them lose Jordan. Rowan may act selfish, but she was rather selfless.”I’ve been shot so many times, I can’t keep track, this is nothin’.” She mumbles, though it had weakened her, but she figured that was the poison creeping through her body, but she wasn’t going to let him know that, didn’t want him worrying about her.”Fuckin’ aye I want a serious answer. Don’t humor me, Hurst.” She tells him, before she’s chuckling and then groaning at that action.”You shut up.” She mumbles, before she’s, looking at him as he sets her down on the couch eyes boring into his blue.”You’d seriously not let me die?” She asks, before a deep breath left her lips at his question.”Back in Boston, I had put a dru’ lord behind bars. He escaped, kidnapped my husband at the time, taunted me to come to this old abandoned warehouse. My team told me not to go by myself, but I don’t listen to anyone, so I went there, and there was Riccardo, and Santiago. He killed him in front of me, and I killed him. So now his groupies are wantin’ me dead.” She tells him, shrugging her shoulders. She was keeping out that Jordan was suppose to kill her, simply because that was irrelevant.”That’s my story, stud.” 

          “I don’t give a damn if they think they’re king a’the world, Rowan.” Owen never became angered easily; his temper near nonexistent despite all that he went through throughout his life. But now, at the thought of Rowan being killed or gravely hurt by anybody cause a slow burn to catch in his chest. “Y’wanna say their dangerous? I was in the army ten years; EOD specialist. Dealt with defusin’ bombs in the middle of situations that could kill me in a millisecond. If y’think I’m scared of a few scumbags thinkin’ it’s okay to mess with ya just ‘cause y’locked ‘em up for shit they deserved — then they’ve certainly got another thing comin’.” As the male set her down, he bent at the knees to be at her level, giving off a somber grin. “—’Course I wouldn’t let y’die. What kind of question is tha’ anyway? Can’t die on me yet when we ain’t even had a first date or whatever the hell we’re supposed to do.” He tried to joke about it, but his worry for her own wounds got the best of him. “I think it’s clear we ain’t runnin’ off to a hospital anytime soon,” he expelled a heavy breath, wondering if he could even be up to the task of removing a festered bullet from her. “Tell me what y’want me to do.” Hesitation crept into his voice as if any chance of him hurting her would send him into a flurry of unwanted emotions. “Then you gave ‘im what they deserved. I’m not lettin’ ‘em think they can run y’down and try and ruin your life.” He muttered, hand coming down to let fingers pull gently through her hair; a movement that Owen didn’t even entirely realize.

[owenxhurst]

Alecta:

“I’m caught up enough. Luck for you I still stayed stocked up even while I was gone. Can’t just forget about my favorite customer right? Haven’t changed a bit. Kind of learned that there’s no need for change.”

          “M’the one keepin’ you rollin’ in the dough, after all? Then it’s good for y’t’know that I liked y’just the way y’were in the first place.”

[owenxhurst]

Rowan:

“Do I have to though?” She asks, a pout on her lips, though there was a twinkle in her eye, clearing she was just teasing him, because she wouldn’t mind this whole thing to be settled.”There is a lot to overthink.” She mutters against his lips, though there is a smile upon her own lips, because she was only teasing him, and just enjoying being close to him. She honestly didn’t give two fucks what he got up to in his past, though she wasn’t opposed to hearing about it, but she wouldn’t judge him, and she knew he wouldn’t judge her for anything she’d done. It wasn’t about the judging, it was about the pain, and what that pain brought to their lives. That was a weird sentence to even think about. Their lives. Rowan thought she was going to die alone, peacefully in a run down hotel. That’s how she saw her life, and she had accepted that fate, but now? Now that Owen was apart of that life, she didn’t want that for herself. She didn’t want to be alone, didn’t want to find herself in that rundown motel with flies flying around the toilet bowl, sheets not even clean, pillow cases having stains on them. Perhaps her mind went into too much detail about this, but when one thought about their death so much preparation was put into no? He definitely was the reason she didn’t want to be alone anymore.”Short stuff? I am not that short.” Though compared to him she was.”Fine. But you better brin’ me some fuckin’ presents every time you brin’ it up.” She says, his touch sent shivers down her spine, made her heart flutter in her chest, made her want to be so much closer to him than she was now, but it also made it very hard to pull away, and so she doesn’t, she stays where she is. A laugh leaves her lips at his words, pulling back more so she could stare into those blue eyes.”Such a fuckin’ compliment you’ve just given me. I’m brewin’ a lot of things stud. For one, how to pay you back for all these insults you’ve just thrown my way. If likin’ you makes me a fuckin’ nutjob, then what the fuck does it make you? Nut less?” Yeah that was the best insult she could come up with at this time.”Yes. That if I see anyone lookin’ at you like they want you, I will pull a gun on ‘em, and enjoy the fearful look in their eyes.” Though she wouldn’t really…Maybe…Most likely she would. A smirk appeared on her face at his last words, lips finding his again.”You liked it, eh? Had to, ‘cause that was the first time we did it.” She points out to him.”And it keeps that spark in the relationship.”

         “That’s your damn problem,” the phoenix muttered playfully, “Y’never just take a leap of faith. Always thinkin’ that if somethin’ come easy by y’that it ain’t good.” Truthfully, they hardly knew much about each other. Within their pasts and more important; what their thoughts held for the future. Though Owen could easily affirm that this was where he wanted to be and was glad for such security for once. He never bothered to get close to many; he had lived a life of solidarity, always choosing to be by himself. Moments with Rowan were not plagued by thoughts of near death or what carnage Red Creek could bestow on them next. From the dream world that confirmed to Owen that this town was on then ear brink of insanity, to being compelled by an original vampire and now to the death of a harmless little girl; none of bothered him much anymore when in her presence. Maybe it was just for the sake that she made him laugh and was good among many things though he liked not to overthink it much; at least, not as much as Rowan seemed to want to do. Owen had always been plagued by the thought of dying alone; with nobody to care. And even though Red Creek was constantly in the balance between life and death; he had found a home here. As crazy and screwed up as it could constantly be; he had found memories and friendship in many throughout his year in Red Creek. A year that seemed to last a lifetime. For even through the compelling by Lyra Carmikael and finding out about the supernatural; the male was at least comforted in the fact that he could no longer be naive to the evils that haunted this town. And now, he could further attempt to protect those he cared about; starting with Rowan. “I’d say yer pretty damn short if y’ask me,” Owen gave a wild grin, “Presents? Y’say that as if I’d know what you’d like.” Brows rose to show how he wasn’t even close to being serious in this entire conversation; except for the part where they could hint at a chance with each other. “I ain’t even gonna comment on that one.” Shaking his head with that ever present grin, Owen snorted, “Ain’t I supposed t’be the one going all out of wack and protectin’ y’over things like that. Gotta work on you’re anger management, short stuff. Might have been hot just that one time, but we ain’t gonna know unless y’plan on pullin’ the gun on me again. Might just have to try it without the gun as the instigator.” 

[joshholloway-source]

Colony: 2.02 

[joshholloway-source]

I’m not a good person. Never did a good thing in my life.

[owenxhurst]

Acacia Navarro:

“I’m thrilled.” The comment was automatic as she turned on patient helping mode. A mode which faltered slightly when he explained his injury occurred the other day. “You waited to come in because,” she prompted as she held out her hand waiting until he offered the hand that he meant.

         “Ain’t seem like it mattered t’other day. Been through worse, after all, don’t act all pissy ‘bout it. It’ll heal just fine if y’set ‘em.”

[owenxhurst]

Mercedes Peltier:

“It’s true, but I’m trying not to tense up when I punch. Also she said my shoulders would thank me when I stop tensing up.”

          “Well, go ‘head.” Holding his hand up, palm out to her, he cocked his head, “Toss a punch.”

[owenxhurst]

Mackenzie:

         “Maybe if everyone around here wasn’t so damn giant, I wouldn’t look so small. It helps being small though; people underestimate me. We are and I constantly annoy her I think but she doesn’t need any more people like her; needs people that can just keep up I think. As good as any and don’t worry, I’m not judging you or your fisty actions.”

       “And do tell what’s there t’underestimate ‘bout you? I ain’t bein’ an ass on the situation, y’just got me curious now, is all. Hell, maybe y’know her better than I do then. Sometimes it’s feelin’ like she ain’t want anybody to know her anyway. But I think we both can see through that too, right? Noted; just don’t be too surprised if it starts happenin’ again.”