#character: adrien pike

[openshanklygates]

Doubt Creeps In

Whumpril 2024 April 9th, 2024 Self-Doubt Chuck Mambo/Adrien Pike (OC) Apocalypse Verse

The quiet hoot of an owl was the only sound as Adrien Pike shoved the last of his belongings into the faded knapsack he carried. He didn't want to do this. Leaving so late at night could be dangerous out in the Wasteland. It was easier for the worst of the worst to get a hold of you at this time of night. But with the sun up, that meant that the two men snoring on the other side of the dimming fire would also be up.

And Adrien didn't have it in his heart to look Chuck Mambo in the eyes as he left.

It wouldn't be the first time that Adrien had left his sleeping partner. When the doubt crept it, when Adrien was unsure of where they were headed, it drove him away. Things had been fine enough lately. The little nomadic duo had been comfortable enough living off scraps of left over encampments. It felt good and right, as right as the end of the world could be. It wasn't until they had reunited that Adrien had felt that doubt in the corners of his mind.

TK Cooper was unsuspecting like that.

TK and Chuck had been as thick as thieves in the world before. It was their personalities, kind and soft, that made them so similar. There was an edge to TK, however. Chuck could be too soft when it came to a fight. TK, however? TK did what needed to be done, no questions asked. It was the one thing Adrien admired for him. TK covered any spot that Adrien could possibly fill.

Adrien shouldered his pack, about to leave, when he heard the voice from behind him, "What do I tell Mams when he asks why you left?"

He stopped, turning his head to look over his shoulder. The outline of TK Cooper sat up, using a stick to poke the dying embers of the fire. "Teeks...I..."

"You what, Adrien?" TK questioned again, "You'd do this to him? Just up and leave in the middle of the night?"

"I'm doing this because I c-"

"You care?" TK scoffed, "Ya have a funny way of showing it! Do ya know how badly you almost broke him last time? Hm?"

Adrien turned to face TK, "What would he need me for, hm? He's got you, mate!"

TK stood, his height towering over Adrien's, crossing over to the shorter man. Adrien bristled, ready for the fight he was sure was coming. Instead, TK wrapped his gangly arms around Adrien, "You dolt! He's not the only one who needs you! It's me and you and him against the world! Not or!"

Adrien seemed to melt into the other man's chest, letting his shoulders sag, "You mean..."

"Can't defend him on my own," TK laughed, looking down at Adrien, "now c'mon. Let's get back to bed. Least we'll be packed in the morning."

[grizzledyoungimpact]

Kay's Whumptober Day 14

Prompt #14: "Feed me poison, fill me til I drown"/Water Inhalation

Character: Adrien Pike (OC)

Mentions Of: Lenora Lee (OC), Malakai Black, Micah Kent (OC), Chuck Mambo

TW: Poisoning, Religious Practices, Drowning, Death

The darkness of the room wasn't what worried Adrien Pike as he stood in the candlelit room, shoulder-to-shoulder with the two men who he would be making the biggest step of his life with. There had always been a comfort to that darkness, ever since the man to his left had lured him away from the arms of a cruel messiah. Malakai Black had become a personal guide, a mentor. It was a comfort to be able to serve the message of the house.

It was a comfort to know he would not be taking these steps alone.

The young blonde woman who handed him the black goblet met his gaze for a moment and Adrien gave her a reassuring smile. Nora Lee was not the woman who had joined the House months ago, but then again none of the members were the same as they had been. Yet, every now and again, there was a hint of the shy girl she had been. "You...you have to repeat the words, Mr. Pike," she whispered softly, "are you prepared to do so?"

"For ye, aye love," he gave an almost charming grin. He could feel Malakai side-eyeing him, a warning for the man to curb his vice. "When you are ready."

"Hail to the ocean that flows in my blood," Nora began, her voice eerily calm. Her ice blue eyes stared into his and he no longer felt as if he was in the blackness of the room. It was as if he were afloat at sea on a small boat with the brine on his skin and the spray of the waves against his very bones.

"Hail to the ocean that flows in my heart," his own voice seemed to echo, though the ocean seemed louder than his voice could ever be. He stripped himself of the clothes he wore, drowning in a sharp breath. He stood on the edge of his boat, far away from the rest of the room.

As he drew the goblet to his lips, taking in the liquid, it was not the wine he inhaled. The drink had been agreed upon when Malakai had brought the plan to himself and Micah Kent. In the goblet adorned with a sapphire, a ruby, and an emerald was red wine laced with just enough nightshade to do what needed to be done. He could not taste the herbal tones in the bitter liquid. He could not taste the liquid in the goblet at all.

What he could taste as he drank from that goblet, as he dove into the sea, was salt. With each breath he dove down, down into a darkness that he could not name. Soon enough that darkness gave way into a light. It gave way into a familiar bedroom with a familiar blonde man laying in a familiar bed. He watched the blonde sit up with a start, letting out a sobbing scream. The two stared at each other for a moment, the blonde cocking his head with a cry, "Jacksy?"

"Mams," Adrien extended a hand, but his skin was not skin. it rippled and moved like the very waves themselves. Chuck Mambo, his Mambo, reached out for him, but just as he seemed to touch fingertips with the other man, it was as if the tides had pulled Adrien away.

Adrien let out a deep breath, arm bursting through the burlap sack he had somehow been wrapped in. When had he been wrapped in a sack? Who had wrapped him in the sack? He stood from the shallows with a scream, primal in its very nature. He noticed Nora standing on the shoreline in her best black dress. She did not speak, she never opened her mouth, but Adrien could hear her all the same.

"𝐇𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝."