Shadows Can Kill

Peter Herne || 27 || Mortician || Ofttimes, a very small man can cast a very large shadow.

[peter-herne]

brokenbitteralice:

“You don’t have to be funny all the time, you know.”

“No, actually, I do. I don’t think you quite understand how this works, so I’ll tell you. I mean, you know me, I’m so great at talking. But here it is. I’m funny and I tell jokes so I don’t have to think about the bad things. Lily knew that. I think that’s why sometimes she just let me do it. Most of the time she threw stuff at me if it got bad, but she let me talk because she knew that if I didn’t, I’d think. She’s the thinker, not me. And I really, really don’t want to think about this. So yes, dead bodies, ha ha.”

[peter-herne]

rose-goddard:

“For me too, actually.” Rose said, a small smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth. “When the world goes to shit, people want guns. I think they don’t realize that they’re perpetuating the problem, rather they are just looking out for their own asses.” She analyzes a perfectly shaped nail on her hand with some interest, before she flicked her eyes up at the man. “And what is it that you do?”

Peter eyed the woman for a moment, a tired look in his eyes. She sold guns, that was a pretty cool job. Of course he could only imagine all the heat she got on days like these. “Yeah, I could see that. You’d think everybody had enough guns, already. Most people I know have at least three.” Turning back to look at his own hands, he chewed on his lip. “Oh, I work at the Morgue. Dead people, basically, that’s my job. I prepare the body, make them look all nice for visitations, and then I get to burn them. I’ll tell you, it isn’t a pleasant smell, but it’s nice pay.”

[peter-herne]

riddledjustice:

“You’re not an asshole, don’t try to act like one - not even with humor, it’s weird.” Grant sat down next to him, tossing his arm around his friend’s shoulder. He heard Lily’s name, the last names matched up, but- who was he to ask about that right now. “You can talk if you need to. You know that.”

“No see, I can’t talk about it. Because I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there are a lot of bodies to be burned due to recent events, and I’m the man to do it. Which, y’know, no big deal. Wouldn’t be the first pile of bodies I’ve had to burn. Except my sister might be a part of that pile and-” He took a deep breath, holding back tears that were threatening to spill. “I can’t do that to my sister. I can’t.”

[peter-herne]

“I mean.... at least business is doing good?”

[peter-herne]

blakesbliss:

Blake stared, horrified, at the flyer hanging outside of her home. What was she going to do? Seeing her name third down on that list was not the nicest surprise - nor was seeing Lyden’s right at the top. She had to find him, make sure he was okay. But how was she going to get around without some angry government worker taking it upon themselves to punish her for her alignment? She could lie - she would lie - but that was more than likely not to work when someone was mad. Just as she was about to turn away from the flyer, she heard a yell, jumping and turning in the direction of the voice.

“HOORAH! HE STRIKES AGAIN, HOLLAH, YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.” Peter cheered, throwing his hands in the air. Okay, so he kind of made a game out of throwing balled up flyers in the trashcan, but nobody was going to blame him. He was the guy who worked at the morgue. He was the idiot that nobody paid attention to. Except somebody was looking at him and his eyes widened in recognization. “Hey! I know you!”

[peter-herne]

aceoflilies:

[The handle of the chisels made impact with the person’s head with an echoing whack. Lily lowered the hand that had tossed the projectile, licking it before she turned to the next page in her book. Maybe now she could have quite.]

“-and then I shit you not, the morgue smelled like- Ow!” Looking over at his sister, he narrowed his eyes. “That was both rude and completely uncalled for. I thought you were actually interested in this conversation!”

[peter-herne]

lydensage:

“You already made that dead joke, it didn’t work last time, it’s still not working this time. Stop repeating yourself.” Lyden already felt himself getting more and more agitated, and then the guy had to talk about pouring a drink in his mouth, making Lyden’s eyebrow twitch. He filled up a glass before roughly yanking the guy by his nose, pouring the drink over his mouth, hoping he’d open up from lack of air and choke on the cheap beer.

If he had been given more of a warning, or if his nose hadn’t been squeezed so tightly, or if the bartender was magically a hot chick, Peter would have been able to swallow the liquor with absolutely no problem. But seeing as how none of those were true, he did the exact opposite. The alcohol shot down his throat took quickly and he choked on it, instantly squirming away from the man with disgust and betrayal in his eyes. His throat felt sore, his nose hurt. “What the fuck, dude!”

[peter-herne]

nicoxdamen:

“That seems fair.” He agreed, taking a sip when the drink was handed to him. “Not bad. I could get shit faced on this.”

“I should warn you, shit faced may or may not be a terrible idea, but I’m so on board with it, it’s not even funny.”

[peter-herne]

aceoflilies:

Lily held in a sigh at Peter’s short-lived attempt at silence, but she put down the block and traded for a rag that she did throw at his face. “Windows.” She told him, before staring on cleaning her tools she had used at her work bench that day.

Peter caught the rag with ease, his face lighting up into a grin. “Cool. Got it. Your windows are going to be spotless once I’m done with them.” He said, moving towards them. “Hey, do you have some sort of thing to use, or do you just want me to wipe them down? I don’t have window cleaner because I don’t really have windows at the morgue.”

[peter-herne]

stubbornxenigma:

“There are plenty of people rough around the edges..I have seen them…not me of course…I am fuckin’ refined as hell I am.” She kept a straight face, making it difficult to determine whether she meant her words or not. “You work with dead people?–I guess that’s better than saying, ‘I see dead people’ because then I would think you are fuckin’ weird.”

Peter raised his eyebrows at Charley before snorting. “No offense or anything, but the phrase ‘fuckin’ refined as hell’ is an oxymoron. I don’t think very many people who are refined would use the word fuck so casually, nor look so smug while saying it.” Nodding, he leaned against the bar. “Oh yeah. Though, I think most people think I’m weird anyways, but that’s because they don’t really understand that somebody has to work in the morgue. If nobody did, there’d be chaos. Bodies would be strewn around, disease would pick up. It’d be like medieval times with the black death all over again. The fucking plague. And families would be pissed, because you’d be surprised about all the religious nuts who still live around here. People who want the bodies buried and who want certain things done before the body is cremated. I once had to pretend I knew how to make holy water so I could sprinkle it over some lady’s carcass.”

[peter-herne]

lydensage:

“I thought I was sunshine personified,” Lyden snarked while rolling his eyes. “You asked me a question, I thought it was a stupid question. You gave me advice, I thought it was stupid advice. That’s not you minding your own business, you minding your business is ordering and shutting up. Also, I’m not insulted, I’d say feel free to try again, but I’d rather you shut the hell up already.” Lyden narrowed his eyes, fully aware of what he said, “you’re the one slinging insults around. Want to play the petty insult game and see who cries first or order a drink before I pour one over your head?”

“You wanna go? I deal with dead people all the time, dealing with another isn’t going to make that much of a difference.” Shaking his head, he eyed Lyden. Yeah, this guy could kick his ass. “Or I mean, you could just pour a drink into my mouth. Do you guys offer that service here? Or is that only the cool bars?” There was only one bar at the base, as far as Peter knew.

[peter-herne]

nicoxdamen:

“Maybe a little.” He admitted with a laugh. “I’ve been scamming people out of drinks for awhile, what can I say? It’s habit.”

“Well I definitely applaud your attempts, but I’m already buying you drinks, so we’ll get through the first round and see where we’re at.” After ordering the drinks, they were placed on the counter and he took a sip. “Aaah, hits the spot.”

[peter-herne]

stubbornxenigma:

The way he kind of rambled, reminded her of Grant and she definitely knew he wasn’t his sibling. When he mentioned Lily, Charley’s expression changed though–when he mentioned she was a carpenter, her brow cocked. “Yeeeah…I am pretty sure I know her.” A smirk played on her lips and she had no idea why apart from recalling the altercation they’d had at her shop. “Sounds a cool chick…” 

“She is. She’s a little rough around the edges, but what person isn’t, right? She’s thrown stuff at me before so I can definitely tell you that her aim is impeccable. And she’s pretty good at the whole, carpentry thing. Runs in the family. Well, not me. I work with dead people.”

[peter-herne]

aceoflilies:

Lily leaned over her work bench picking up a spare block of wood. Tossing it up into the air once she tilted her head, waiting for Peter to continue.

Peter watched the spare block of wood go into the air and land back into Lily’s hands. Gaping for a moment, he understood what she meant. “Yep, okay. Shutting up. I promise I won’t say a single word after this... spiel.” Closing his lips tightly, he clasped his hands together. And then opened his lips again. “Do you want me to go? I can let you close by yourself if you want. I mean, I don’t have to be at the morgue for another few hours so I can stay if you want me to.”

[welcometoyouredoom]

[peter-herne]

aceoflilies:

“What, don’t give me that look?” Peter turned in his seat, meeting her eyes straight on. “You love how much I talk, don’t deny it. My voice is the greatest thing your ears have ever heard. I’m like fucking- I don’t know, a music person that you really like.”

[peter-herne]

aceoflilies:

Lily finished sweeping and put the broom away giving Peter a sharp look when he mentioned his mother. “Your not capable of silence.” she told him, walking over to her work bench and leaning against it with crossed arms.

“Tell me something I don’t know. How long have we known each other? Basically our whole lives? And when have you ever known me to not talk? Though, I could totally be quiet if I wanted to be.”