WE ALL ROT THE SAME

from my rotting body, flowers shall grow, and I am in them, and that is eternity. scorned by gray.

[rootsrotted]

ROOTSROTTED: dependent blog for @redfordhq, written by gray (25, he/him)

alan weaver (brenton thwaites): member of THE DOOMSDAYERS and mechanic at duke's.

introduction. starters.

james hernandez (nonso anozie): UNAFFILIATED owner of beaver liquors.

introduction. starters.

salem azzam (josie totah): UNAFFILIATED assistant manager at lovecrafts.

introduction. starters.

DISCLAIMER: this blog may contain dark themes including but not limited to: cannibalism, body horror, gore, drug use, etc. viewer discretion advised.

[pandemoniacs]

the reality of the situation quickly starts to sink in - they're completely stuck. who knows how long it will take for help to come. let alone for someone to notice...in the second worst company she could imagine. soon she finds herself backed into the corner of the elevator, trying to leverage as much space as she possibly can. she won't allow the claustrophobia get the best of her. instead minica closes her eyes, taking deep breaths as she imagines herself anywhere but here. it's a familiar coping mechanism she's practiced since she was a child, but the thought of drifting in the ocean doesn't bring her any comfort. "and then what?" she snaps, eyes staring daggers into alan now. "you expect me to just crawl out of here?" her first instinct is to argue, regardless of what he says but she takes a moment to consider it. she just wants to get out and away from him. even if that means taking the risk of being crushed in the elevator shaft. shaking her head..."fine." a huff and a shrug of the shoulders. "if the door isn't far, maybe I can pry it open and call for help?"

[rootsrotted]

this time he does flinch, recognizing immediately that maybe he should have kept his mouth shut... at least for a couple more seconds. "i don't know," he admits, about to launch into some kind of explanation, but she seems to consider the position they're in before he can. for the better, he thinks, because his plan hasn't gotten that far yet. he can only think that somewhere, anywhere is better than being caught in a big, steel trap. "i was hoping if we could get one of us up there, we could at least see where we're at. like you said, if you're near enough the door..." he trails off, shifting his weight. "maybe can figure it out from there." at one point, minnie would have been the first person on his list to be stuck in an elevator with. now... well, he at least wishes this had taken a few more weeks, months, whatever it took to gather together what he felt he needed to sit down and explain. but even that is a matter of chance. he expects nothing from someone he had, even for what he believes were the very best of reasons, abandoned. alan tries not to think of that now. "uhh..." stooping down, he tries not to look as awkward and uncomfortable as he feels. "maybe you can step up on my hands or shoulder? see if you can get it open."

[ofemeralds]

“uncle kenjie i wanna be the town champion like salem!” the girl says, smiling widely as kenjie arches an amused brow up at the other “i know— but i don’t think i’ve taught her yet, unless she’s seen other people play at the skate park or whatever.” he says with a shrug. “i know how to play!” she squeals out “there’s the single boxes and the double boxes, remember how to start it?” kenjie asks, as he hands his niece the yellow chalk. at least this will keep them busy for a while from the ever looming blackout among them. who knows, maybe others would want to join in like double dutch. "we’ve been tryna do anything to keep ourselves busy during the day. How have you been lately?” kenjie asks as he looks over at salem.

[rootsrotted]

"you haven't taught her yet?!" the outrage in her tone is only outmatched by the sheer incredulousness in her face. it seems close to impossible for a child not to figure it out by themselves... but that had been the old world. there's a lot less people, a lot less children, to pass on the old traditions now. "not that you should need to," she continues, nodding respectfully in his niece's direction. "but still. what else have you been falling behind on, huh? does she even have a barbie?" stepping off toward the side so the child can start to ( poorly, but still ) draw the game up. "oh, you know... i've basically just been begging everyone with a generator to let me charge my things. what about you? do you have one? a generator?"

[pandemoniacs]

minnie rolls her eyes disapprovingly. at this point she should be used to the stonewalling. his indifference is just another harsh reminder of the barriers that he's built around himself. ones that she could not breach. but like always it was a two-way street, a reciprocated response, and she forces herself to bottle up the feelings. turn it off, he doesn't care, don't give him a reaction. it's an unspoken agreement and she swallows it hard like a pill. with a flick of the switch she flips her mood; now cold and indifferent. what was the use in fighting when he'd already made that decision to leave? "no, it looks like the power's completely out." she tonelessly asserts, holding the 'open door' button in hopes of being wrong. minnie lets out a huff when it doesn't budge. she looks to her phone for reception. no signal. she extends her arms high, searching, searching, searching...but still no luck. "can you try your phone? i'm not getting any bars."

[rootsrotted]

a second pain comes in the way she mirrors his own response, unfair as it is. it's better this way, he assures himself, at least for now. this isn't the time to get into what they had—they needed to worry about what was happening now. that's the reason he uses to justify his distance, his avoidance of everything that had brought him here... but being that they're both locked in a hanging steel trap, it feels at least like a relevant excuse. reasoning doesn't make him feel any less hollow on the inside, any less moth-eaten. "shit," he mumbles, diving for his back pocket. pulling his phone out, he tries for a signal. searching... searching... searching... ugh, he knew he should have replaced it. instead, they're stuck without even the ability to call for help. "no, i don't have any bars either. do you feel a vent up there?" pausing in his effort against the door, he reaches to feel along the edge of the tiles above. "i think i feel something." expression twisted with effort, he tries to get his fingernails under. figures, they're not long enough. he's been biting at them recently. "if i give you a boost, do you think you can get it open?"

[dialdrvnks]

it was in fact the first time gus had received the question that day, or in a long time. he wasn't entirely sure just how long, but the point was it wasn't a frequently asked question. "oh, uh," he started to look around, "i should have something somewhere. if you just give me a minute to figure out where."

[rootsrotted]

"sure, no problem. my problems aren't going anywhere fast." even if the short circuit itself hadn't happened, he would still need to wire up his spare generator. the one he had never used. for emergencies that had never happened. that generator. "not a lot of people in? i thought with the outages..."

[easyryder]

"Oh yeah? Then when's a good fucking time for you, Alan?" Brett misses her next swipe at Alan, but the apple she throws at his stomach lands perfectly on target. "I take a chance and trust one man and you go and do this to me? Fuck you, dude."

She reaches for another apple.

[rootsrotted]

"i don't know, not when i'm on the way to work!" he yelps, thankful that her projectile had hit him above the belt—and isn't aimed at his head this time. the next one... he's not so sure about. bracing himself to dodge, alan continues, "i promise you can throw things at me later." maybe he can try and explain. but that feels dangerous, too. "okay? you can cuss me out, too. i won't stop you."

[ofemeralds]

location: downtown, idk some street corner

status: open

"i found some chalk," kenjie says, holding the chalk in a plastic baggie, his niece bouncing at her toes next to him. "should we make a hopscotch like the good olden days?" kenjie asks, dangling the bag out as he offers the orange chalk over to the other, with a mischievous smile on his lips. of course, he takes the pink. "do you think the kids these days even know what hopscotch is? i was someone who played red rover when i was younger. what about you? anythin' we should teach the kids these days from your neck of the woods?"

[rootsrotted]

taking the chunk of orange chalk from him, salem holds it between two sets of thumb and forefinger while she considers his proposal—and his question. "red rover was always a little too touchy for me, but of course i played hopscotch! you're looking at a town champion right here, trust me. but if there's one thing i want to take from malibu..." she glances between kenjie and his niece, "you guys do know you have to decorate it before you play, right? it's like, the rules." brow arched, she sets a stare upon him that dares for a challenge.

[pandemoniacs]

If she hadn't been so engulfed with getting a signal on her phone, she may have noticed him in time to take the next lift. It must be some kind of sick and twisted divine humor, she thought. Especially after showing up for an exam with her doctor; who adjured further testing on her tiny departure. Minica glances at him briefly before pushing the buttons to the main lobby repeatedly, as if she couldn't get out of there any faster. He carries that familiar, awkward tension as always. It's evident in the way he hunches away from her. She wants to say something. Something witty and cruel, but the air has been sucked out of her and all she feels is resentful and embarrassed. His words hang in an even more deafening silence as the music suddenly wanes. Minica can't help but let out loud scoff, followed by a burst of displeased laughter. You've got to be kidding me, she thinks but instead she opines. "Great job, Alan. You jinxed it. Maybe for your next trick, you can do us both a favor and do another disappearing act."

[rootsrotted]

she laughs and alan can feel a flinch wind up ready to spring, but he doesn't let it out. he's long since learned how to keep his outsides from reflecting his insides, for better and for worse. mostly, it seems to be turning out, for worse. in this case, it's not because he's afraid—it's because he knows he deserves it. the thought occurs to him again: this isn't how he wanted this to go. in an elevator, stopped, with reproach written into every fiber of her being. the moment ticks on and he can't think of something intelligent to say, so he doesn't try. it was supposed to be a favor, he thinks, but doesn't say. it's pathetic, he knows that. unfair to her. she isn't the reason he left, just someone he hoped would be safer with his departure. now he can see the truth: there's no such thing as safe in redford. "me and my big mouth," he agrees, the words hard to force out. shifting his weight, he tries the emergency button. it clicks, but nothing happens. when was the last time anyone had done any maintenance on it? he thinks it's not supposed to be tied to the main power grid, but there have been a lot of cut corners lately... grimacing, he sets his hands on the door and tests a push. the elevator doesn't jiggle, which is at least something. better or worse, he hasn't quite figured out. "...maybe it's just a glitch?"

[cosmvgyrl]

almost a year living alone in this house and astrid still hasn't memorised the layout inch by inch in her head, which doesn't help her now in almost complete darkness. swearing under her breath as she -- once again -- hits her knee against the corner of the table, relief flooding through her at the sound of her dads voice and she lets out a little sigh.

"in here!" she calls out loudly from her lounge, shuffling herself awkwardly to the cabinet in the corner, collecting the rest of her candles and a lighter and starts setting them up on every surface. "I was really beginning to run low, so thank you. thought i'd treat myself earlier this week with a nice and relaxing bath by lighting some candles, now I really wish I hadn't," she smiles tightly, though the hint of worry doesn't escape her tone. "Do you have enough candles for you though, dad? i don't want to put you out if you don't."

[rootsrotted]

eyes adjusting to the low light, finding his daughter in the dark is no trouble at all. he walks in on her with the lighter and a few scattered candles, setting the bag containing a fresh batch on the table. "as soon as the lights went off, i beelined for the store. managed to grab a box before all the stampede ran in." circling the table, he joins astrid on her side and slings a gentle arm around her shoulders. a little squeeze, a kiss on the top of her head, and he continues, "i didn't want you to get nervous." always a father, it's easy to forget this isn't the same little girl who needed daddy to scare away the monsters under her bed—she's all grown up. "you want me to stick around tonight? i know you don't like the dark." pulling back, james fiddles with the collar off her shirt, flipping the tag back under. he still remembers from times in her youth when he had forgotten and she had ended up with a tag-shaped mark in its place. sometimes he still thinks he can see a faint outline. "i can always pick up a few more. might be a good idea to get used to candlelight baths, i'm sure we'll be taking them for a few days at least." the estimates have not been that optimistic, but how can he look her in the eye and tell her things might be dark for weeks? he wants to do what he's always done—protect her. "besides, i've heard it's good to avoid bright light before bed. i could use the better sleep."

[haunvings]

oftentimes, salem was hard to swallow for saffron. she reminded her too much of clove's worst habits and personality traits; self-absorption being the worst one that saffron could pinpoint. saffron did not go out of her way to speak to salem. it wasn't the weirdness that turned her off; it was everything else. still, saffron wasn't her sister - she tried to entertain conversation for the sake of being nice. even if it was hard, even when saffron knew that people were having a very tough time right now and salem's stress baking wasn't a high list of things to prioritize. "what would you do with a generator if you had one? bake more pies?" she was always incredibly careful to admit what she had and what she didn't; trust was hard to come by these days. "what are you doing with all the fruits of your labors?" she wondered if there was something charitable in salem, or if the girl was truly so self absorbed.

[rootsrotted]

"no, i think i'm over that hump. besides, i'm running out of fridge space. not that it will matter if everything molds before i can get rid of it..." swiping a lock of hair over her ear, salem follows up with a sharp sigh. "that's actually why i need it, the generator. the coldest i can get in my fridge right now is, like, fifty degrees. not good enough!" she can see it already... a vast array of moldy goods... it would be one thing if she could grow an interesting fungus, but who the hell cares about mold? "do?" she asks, like it's the first time she's considered the word. "um... i don't know, i was just going to freeze most of it and see what happened. why, do you have a better idea?"

[haunvings]

the last vestiges of hope that saffron carried dimmed in response to the words and she sighed. a hand rose to rest gently at her temple, fingers digging in there to rid herself of tension. she sank into the seat, thankful that her parents had installed a panic room in the home with an old, faulty surveillance system that never got any use in their gated community, but had now become a last stand of sorts against any lawlessness in the area for her. she could feel a headache coming on. the lights hadn't dimmed yet - hadn't gone off for the last hour or so - but they flickered at odd intervals and it drove her crazy. she'd started carrying a matchbook and an old flashlight around with her, pissed beyond belief that this was her life. it could be worse, she reminded herself, it could be worse. she was positive that it, in fact, could get worse. but lately the worst just seemed to stack itself on top of one another until she couldn't see over the shitty stack of worseness.

fingertips falling from her head, she gently drew forward to rest a hand to beaver's back. "thank you," and she meant it, "honestly don't know what i'd do without you; more a dad to me than my own father was..." a huff of a laugh fell from her lips at the thought, more self deprecating than actually amused. "maybe you can teach me to fix this stuff when we get the parts in?" who knew how long that would take, but saffron was hopeful.

[rootsrotted]

every time the lights flicker, jim glances toward them, like minding them will change the state of things. it's not ideal, but it's better than the flat darkness that occupies his property. he has half a mind to send a message out to astrid, see if she could stay over here until they can get a backup generator going at her place. it's easy to forget that his little girl isn't so little anymore, that she doesn't need her father running down the hall with a nightlight ready in hand. now more than ever, he wants to turn back the clock to the beginning. the good days. the whole days. everything has felt shattered since. glancing back toward saffron, his lip curls in a tired smile. "you'd do just fine. you've got this all twisted, you're the one doing me the favor. andrew—" that smile flickers as surely as the lights above; "he used to call me a mother hen. told him i was all full up on animal nicknames." what he wouldn't give to hear him insist on it again. to hear him say anything at all. or nothing. to just be here. he blinks away the thought, but the emptiness in the pit of his stomach remains. "i'd be happy to walk you through it... once we get them." he tries to reignite his smile. "in the meantime, we'll just have to make do. we always do, don't we?"

[rootsrotted]

starter for @zaircas !!

"...you're busy, right? you have to be busy." scuffing his foot, he says, "...i can come back later if it's a bad time."

[rootsrotted]

starter for @unmoviing !! ( for brett )

"brett!" he shrieks, avoiding the object thrown his way... but not the attack that comes after. "this really isn't the time for this!"

[rootsrotted]

starter for @pandemoniacs !! ( for minnie )

it feels like the longest elevator ride in his life, in no part helped by present company. it's not her fault, of course. it's his. and this is not how he's been wanting this to go. not at all. there had been a whole plan, a script to follow—he can feel the lick of flames as they crumble to ash. against his better judgement, alan can't take the silence anymore and breaks it. "...taking a minute, isn't it?" in that same instant, the lights flicker and die and the elevator groans to a halt. shit.

[rootsrotted]

starter for @dialdrvnks !! ( for gus )

"you've probably gotten this a lot today," he starts, wielding the same tired, old grimace; "but you don't happen to have any wiring for dummies books in here, do you?"

[rootsrotted]

starter for @dirtremains !!

"well, it could always get worse, right?" trying for a smile, she continues, "someone could get mauled. you know the entire time i've lived here, i've never seen someone get mauled? not even once. seems a little overdo if you ask me."

[rootsrotted]

starter for @zaircas !!

"it's been three hours and my phone is already dead... i knew i should have replaced it. and i can't even bring princess around with me because she's molting." sighing, she adds, "ugh. i'm starting to see why you're the way you are."