escapism.

I just wanna stay in the sun where I find I know it's hard sometimes Pieces of peace in the sun's peace of mind I know it's hard sometimes Yeah, I think about the end just way too much But it's fun to fantasize All my enemies who wouldn't wish who I was But it's fun to fantasize Oh, oh I'm falling so I'm taking my time on my ride

[raphaelvcga]

emeryfoster:

“Thats all I have been doing Raph..” She breathed, though she knew she shouldn’t be up and moving. The doctors had made it very clear she needed to stay in bed to keep from agitating her wound. Emery managed a small smile as he wrapped his arm around her, “Thank you,” She said leaning into him, letting go of the nightstand and hold onto him instead, “I’m going to lose it if I have to stay in this bed for another day. I just want to go home.”

“Yeah, me too,” Raphael admitted, his usual smile faltering for a moment as he sighed. Looking back at Emery, he gave her a concerned look. Obviously, this was a bad idea, but for someone like her, laying in bed for a week was probably like hell. “Do you think you can walk? Just a few steps, up and down the hall?” It wasn’t much, but it was the best compromise he could come up with.

[raphaelvcga]

mason-theflynn:

“No, I mean, how can people be nice to each other, people are stupid an they’re not worth it. Are you on some kind of drugs that make you nicer? Because I could use some of those.” He said and nodded. “But then again, I do like being an asshole.”

“I’m not high. I’m just... nice,” he said with a small smile and a shrug. “But I’d probably be an asshole too if I had to survive on nothing but hospital food for this long. Can you walk? Or do you want me to bring you some food?”

[raphaelvcga]

matthiaspettersen:

“Well, let’s say that for now, it doesn’t bother me too much,” Matthias cocked his head to the side lightly, an amused smile on his face. “Oh, yeah, I see. Maybe you should step back before you kill me then,” He teased him and held out his hand to Raphael. “I’m Matthias.”

Jokes about death didn't really seem like the most appropriate thing these days. Still, Raphael found himself chuckling as he took a small step back. “Nice to meet you, Matthias. I’m Raphael,” he said as he shook the other’s hand, tilting his head to the side as he looked at him. “Are you new?”

[raphaelvcga]

mason-theflynn:

“Yeah, I noticed.” He said and rolled his eyes, before looking at Raphael. “Wait, wait. Are you offering me food even after I was an ass to you? Are you the spawn of God?” He asked and placed his hands on his chest. “You’re so…nice. How do you do that?” 

“Sorry,” Raphael said again, barely aware of the fact that he probably sounded like a broken record at this point. “Yeah?”, he asked, tipping his head to the side as he gave Mason a confused look as if it was the most natural thing in the world to offer asshole strangers food. “I don't know? I just am, I guess.” 

[raphaelvcga]

fearlessaderyn:

“Wait– Have you been stabbed?” Aderyn pulled away slowly, looking up at his face then down at his body, running her hands down his chest and abdomen, panic clearly visible on her face. “Are you okay? You need to see a doctor now. Come with me, sit down, I’m gonna find a nurse or– Or someone, okay?”

Raphael winced slightly when Aderyn's fingers dragged across the sore spot on his abdomen, still, the smile on his face remained almost unmoved as he raised his hands. “Okay, calm down. Breathe, I'm fine,” he explained almost casually as he reached down to the hem of his shirt and pulled it up a little, revealing the bandage covering his fresh stitches. “I mean it, I’m okay.”

[raphaelvcga]

mason-theflynn:

Mason looked at Raphael and raised an eyebrow. “Boy, you better shut up before I get up and pick the tray and hit you with it until you start seeing hobbits.” He said and shook his head. “I’m fine, I don’t need your concern or your nerd irrelvant facts.” He said and frowned. “Now get out of my room unless you are going to bring me food that actually tastes good.”

“Sorry, I, uh... I ramble sometimes. A lot actually,” he admitted defeatedly, somewhat taken aback by the way Mason lashed out at him. Still, he tried to be understanding. “I could do that? My best friend brought me some food earlier. She's quite a good cook and I wouldn't mind sharing?”

[raphaelvcga]

parkerjamcs:

Parker had to think about it, chewing on his bottom lip as he rested his head against the tree he was leaning up against. “Probably somewhere around ‘I can sometimes make important phone calls without crying,’” he answered. “I mean–I’m definitely nowhere near the other end of that scale. What about you?”

“That’s a really hard question, actually,” Raphael admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I don’t really know? Mainly because I don’t do important phone calls. If I have to go see a doctor, I have to make a one-hour drive just because that doctor lets you make appointments online.”

[raphaelvcga]

matthiaspettersen:

Matthias crossed his arms over his chest, an amused smile on his lips. “You say that as if it was a bad thing? It’s not always,” He commented and grabbed his bag, placing it on his shoulder. “Cool, yeah. Do you practice any of these sports?”

“Yeah, it’s just not exactly appreciated most of the time.” He sure knew better than most people what kind of trouble being too nosy could get you into. “Oh, god, no,” Raphael said with an almost embarrassed chuckle. “I'm a little accident prone so any sport with weapons is no sport for me.”

[raphaelvcga]

mason-theflynn:

Mason looked at Raphael and raised an eyebrow. “I’m fine, get out of here, you hobbit.” He said and sighed. “Do we actually know each other? Or are you just here because you got stabbed too and you’re trying to make friends with the stabbed people?” He asked and frowned.

“Hobbit?”, Raphael questioned with a frown, his nerd senses immediately tingling. “Actually, I couldn't be a hobbit even if I tried? There was this whole discourse about the casting team only accepting white people for Hobbit roles when the first Hobbit movie came out and people all over the internet were arguing whether or not that was racist and since I'm Latino, there’s no way I’d ever actually be a Hobbit.” He hesitated for a second when he finally realized he was rambling, wondering if apologizing would help or make things worse. “I, uh. I actually just heard the noise and wanted to check if you're okay?”

[raphaelvcga]

emeryfoster:

“Thats all I have been doing Raph..” She breathed, though she knew she shouldn’t be up and moving. The doctors had made it very clear she needed to stay in bed to keep from agitating her wound. Emery managed a small smile as he wrapped his arm around her, “Thank you,” She said leaning into him, letting go of the nightstand and hold onto him instead, “I’m going to lose it if I have to stay in this bed for another day. I just want to go home.”

“Well, to be fair, it is what you're supposed to do,” Raphael said with a soft smile on his lips. I know. Me too. He really did want to go home. He hated hospitals more than anything and staying here was torture - but unlike some, he was reasonable enough to see why it's necessary. “Okay, how about we walk a few steps. Not far, just up and down the hallway? Spending all day in bed isn’t exactly healthy either.”

[raphaelvcga]

fearlessaderyn:

Aderyn jumped of surprised when she heard someone talking to her, almost spilling her coffee everywhere. She turned around to completely face Raphael, a small smile appearing on her lips. She was more than happy to see him. For some reason, he always managed to make her smile, even in moments like this. She pulled her cup down and wrapped her arms around Raphael, hugging him loosely. “Thanks, Raph… But you know you don’t have to. I’m just happy you’re okay.”

He wrapped his arms around her a little tighter when she hugged him, somehow feeling like she needed it. He didn’t even mind the way his wound tung when he pressed her a little too close. “It’s not fine. It’s still your birthday. Just because someone got himself stabbed, doesn’t mean that he doesn’t owe you a present,” he said jokingly, trying to keep the mood light - which definitely wasn’t easy considering what had happened.

[raphaelvcga]

fearlessaderyn:

Aderyn arrived at the hospital early this morning. All she knew was that the barn burnt down during the event and that many people were stabbed. She knew Riley was okay, and so was Mason, despite the fact she was not allowed to see them so far. She was standing in front of the coffee machine in one of the waiting room, waiting for her fourth coffee, whispering to herself. “And happy birthday…”

“Happy birthday, princesa,” Raphael said as he came up behind Aderyn and grabbed a mug, a tired smile resting on his lips. He hated seeing Aderyn here on her birthday. She was supposed to be at home, have a party with friends, eat cake. Birthday things. Not make her rounds through a hospital, visiting all her recently stabbed friends. “I, uh... I had a present for you, but it's at home. As soon as I get out of here, I'll go get.”

[raphaelvcga]

mason-theflynn:

Mason was lying in his bed, looking up at the ceiling. He was only there for one day, and he was already tired of being there, and the wasn’t even over. He tried to ignore most of the noise around him. The nurses and doctors talking annoyed him the most. Especially when most of the nurses were laughing right in front of his room. When two nurses stopped in front of his room and started laughing, Mason couldn’t take it anymore so he sat up slowly, despite all the pain and grabbed the tray where his food was and threw it towards the nurses, who got scared and walked away. When Mason saw them walk away, he laid down again with a sigh.

“Hey, are you alright?”, Raphael asked as he peaked his head through the door, giving Mason a look. “I heard a-” that's when he spotted the tray, finishing the sentence with an almost meek “noise.” He was unsure of how to handle the situation, only now realizing that maybe he came at the wrong time. 

[raphaelvcga]

emeryfoster:

Emery was getting sick of the hospital bed, and she wasn’t usually one to wait for someone to help her. Sitting in the hospital bed all day with nothing but her thoughts.. All she could think about was that night. The memory of turning around and before she got a chance to scream it was too late. She hadn’t slept a full night since. She needed a distraction, and out of the bed. She slowly pulled herself up into a sitting position, breathing through her teeth at the sharp pulling feeling at her wound. She lowered herself till her feet hit the ground, she hadn’t really stood up in a day or two. Her legs felt a little weaker then expected, forcing her to abruptly grab onto her nightstand to brace herself and tug at her stitches. “Holy mother..”She cursed, just as someone entered the room. Closing her eyes which were pricking up with tears, so the nurse couldn’t see, she didn’t want to be told to get back into bed. 

“You better sit right back down,” Raphael said as he entered the room, frowning when he saw the expression on Emery's face. All he wanted to do was check on his friend, see her soundly lying in bed, doing what he did all day: watching television and shamelessly using up the hospital wifi. Quickly walking up to her, he wrapped an arm around her, steadying her a little. “Here. If you want to stand up, at least let someone help you. Take a deep breath. I got you.”

[raphaelvcga]

hcldendarcy:

“I really need you to help me paint a mental picture here,” Holden said with a sigh as he put his pen down, trying to figure out the newest chapter of his graphic novel. Staying away from school events sure kept him relatively safe, but it was poison for his art. It was his own fault that he was stuck here, asking people about the events of that night. Sure, he was used to taking some artistic liberties, but if he wanted to keep advertising his work as based on a true story, there were a few things he just had to get right. “Was there blood? God, I bet there was so much blood.”

“I don't really remember too much?”, Raphael admitted weakly. He seemed to be one of the few people around here that actually appreciated Holden's art for what it was which was the reason for him almost feeling bad for the lack of information he could give. “But yeah, there was blood. Like, a lot. Lost a couple of pints. And the fire? Absolutely insane.”

[raphaelvcga]

matthiaspettersen:

“If I was you, I wouldn’t touch that,” Matthias said, approaching his sport bag that was laying on the ground next to his car, a gentle smile on his lips. You could see the end of his foils and bow escaping the bag. “I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself with that.”

“Sorry, I, uh... I didn't mean to... I was just...”, Raphael trailer off, searching for the right word as his hands started fidgeting. “Nosy,” he admitted finally, choosing the word people often used to describe him. “Fencing and archery? That’s.... pretty cool.”

[raphaelvcga]

This was bad. This was so bad. He was the funny sidekick. It was just a matter of time until he'd end up like that, blood leaking from the gashing hole in his stomach. He had seen enough horror movies to know that. But somehow horror movies could only do so much to prepare him for that, to help him actually survive it.

His mind was racing. What was the first thing that was going to kill him? Blood loss. Of course. He quickly shimmied out of his jacket, the pain getting even worse now that he moved, but pain couldn't kill him. Not directly, at least. Bunching it up into a tight bundle, he pressed it onto the wound, hard enough to make himself wince, hard enough for his body to fight it, to try and stop the pressure, hopefully hard enough to at least slow down the bleeding. He needed this to survive.

His heart now started racing, too. He started to get dizzy, breathing becoming quick and shallow. Panic. Shock. The next thing that could kill him. What was he going to do? What? Not go into shock, obviously. But how? There was no way to do it, no rational way out except for, well, trying to stay rational. Fuck, he didn't even know how to be rational. He had never been rational in his life and this seemed like an awfully inconvenient situation to start. So he just tried to breathe, closed his eyes and focused, focused on his heartbeat, trying to mentally will himself to slow it down. It was useless. It was still hammering hard against his ribcage. This was bad. This was so bad. He was going to die.

Fuck. Focus! He tried again, breathing slower, shaky, but slower, deeper, more even. And it hurt. Shit. Without the shock, he'd feel the pain. All of it. It made moving harder, almost impossible and for a split second, he wished he could go into shock. Until he reminded himself, no. No. Pain couldn't kill him. Standing around in the middle of nowhere, practically just waiting to bleed out. That was what could. So he fought the urge to let himself pass out and started moving. Slow, shaky steps.

5%. 5% of stab wounds ended deadly after they were admitted to a hospital. That was the end goal. Make it to the barn. Make it to the hospital. Take a shot at the 95% survival rate.

What else? What else? What else could kill him? Organ failure, maybe. If the knife punctured any vital organs... Did it? How the hell was he supposed to know what a punctured kidney felt like? A punctured spleen? A punctured pancreas? He imagined it hurt like hell - and if his current amount of was anything to go by, he probably had a punctured everything. 

Shit, he cussed out silently, the absolute intractability slowly seeping into his being. It got to him. Of course, it did. It would be crazy not to care about dying and right now, he was so sure he was going to. Would anyone notice? Hell, did anyone even notice that he wasn't there? No. People never did. He was always in the background, never in the spotlight, always overlooked. Never noticed. No one would come looking for him. Not now, not later, not until it was way too late, until his body started decomposing. 

He had to make this. And he had to make it on his own. He could. What was the alternative? He saw the light of the barn in the distance. A light at the end of the tunnel. A flicker of hope. If only he could make it there. He kept moving, kept pushing, kept forcing his feet to take him to safety. It felt like ages before he even came close. Ages of feeling blood run down his body. Ages of getting weaker, dizzier. Ages of being in pain. But he did.

A faint smile played around his lips as more light forced its way through the thick layer of trees separating him from safety. Light. Shining and bright and... hot? He stumbled past the last few trees and saw the barn - engulfed in fire, flames licking around the wooden construction, people screaming, ash raining down from the roof. 

His legs gave out below him. His body hit the ground with a thud he barely even heard. There was no such thing as safety anymore. He was going to die. He felt the heat of the fire on his face and thought of his father, eyes unfocused as he stared into the flames. Somehow, it made the smile on his face wider. It reminded him of his father. His father who was killed by a dragon all those years ago. And now he would die, too. Surrounded by flames. Flames like dragon fire.