#doomdays: 02.

[notvictims]

i can't help but wish for a normal life. @doomdays

normalcy is something foreign to people like mikayla, so she hardly allows herself to entertain the thought of it. even before finding out what she was, she doubts her childhood was considered normal — or at least, she hopes not, for the sake of others. but she can still understand what sam means, and for once, she feels sympathetic, which is rare for her, often lacking the ability to put herself in anyone else's position long enough to care. “i know.” her words aren't soft, necessarily, but they lack their usual hard edge, which is as close to comfort as she's capable of. “i'm sorry people suck.” mikayla does what she can to help, lashing out at anyone that badmouths her, but she knows she can't fight everyone, no matter how tempting the thought is.

[herofell]

they don't mess with me, i don't mess with them. @doomdays

sometimes, ace wishes he could think like that, too— wishes he could smother out the burning rage inside his chest, ignore the impulse to lash out at the slightest inconvenience, only hurt people if they deserve it. but he can't, and he convinces himself he wouldn't want to, anyway. he rests his chin on his hand, bored gaze casting itself across the bar, as if he's looking for someone that seems like they might want to say something, just for his own amusement. “ and if they do, what happens? ” normally, he wouldn't be intrigued, because fighting is damn near an every day occurrence with ace, but because of her past, it interests him— make him wonder if he's not that's learned to accept their own bloodlust, to use it instead of run from it. “ i'm sure you punch people, but is it a one and done type of thing, or do you keep going until they're unconscious? ”

[titanswar-a]

@doomdays: will you hold still? i can’t do anything if you keep squirming.

clarisse hates help.  it’s an issue she’s still trying to overcome, because she probably should have learned years ago that sometimes, as much as she hates to admit it, she needs it. even after a prophecy told her she’d fail without help from friends  –  a term she would use very loosely, of course  –  she refuses to accept it most days. and here, trapped in a net, her spear on the ground below her, out of reach, she needs it.

“ i can do it, ”  she grumbles angrily, though most of that anger is toward herself for even getting in this situation in the first place. she should have known there was a trap here, should have known better than to step any closer, but she hadn’t. clarisse kicks uselessly at the net, though even with all her strength, it’s not enough to break anything. instead, her foot gets tangled, net caught on her shoelaces. it’s embarrassing. with a defeated sigh, she stills, her teeth grinding so hard she’s almost afraid they’ll break.  “ okay. go ahead. ”

[hienous]

@doomdays: i don't think you're crazy. you're been through a lot. that's okay with me.

her nose wrinkles, because in her experience, you've been through a lot is just a nicer way of being called crazy— it's the reason the entire world's decided she snapped, like it was her time out in the middle of the canadian wilderness that brought her to beating her father to death and not the two decades of abuse he'd put her through. "you hardly even know me." that's not even his fault. she's never let very many people know her, but after everything, she's even less willing. it's better this way, shutting everyone out— less chances of her getting hurt, less chances of her being betrayed. just as equal chances of someone making up bullshit lies about her, if that dumb book has proven anything, but being popular in high school at least gave her some practice for that. "maybe i am crazy. you don't fucking know."

[titanswar]

@doomdays: i promised i'd keep you from danger. i can only do that by coming with you.

he appreciates the sentiment, but it's not necessary. he might be smaller, scrawnier than all his siblings, than most of the other campers in general, but leo knows what he's doing. mostly. “ you can chillax, beauty queen. i'm going on a supply run, not a death mission. ” but now that he thinks about it, the offer's tempting: a chance for it to be just the two of them, instead of leo starring as the third wheel to jason and piper. he'll take it. “ i could use some extra hands, actually. you up for some heavy lifting? ”

[knucklesbruised]

@doomdays: it's exciting now, but one day it'll all seem like a bad dream.

it's hard to imagine any of this might ever feel like a bad dream when most of it feels like a good thing. for the first time in months, jason feels like he has a purpose again, one far greater than just being the captain of the football team, because the team he's leading now matters beyond just angel grove. that, and they're family, despite all their differences, despite them all being people they wouldn't have imagined finding comfort in only a year ago. there's the overwhelming pressure, of course, that comes with knowing the fate of the world rests on their shoulders — but his father had unknowingly prepared him for that, too.

“ anyone ever tell you you're kind of a downer sometimes? ” they're joking, mostly, but jason's just starting to enjoy the idea of being a superhero, to be something his dad can be proud of, even if he'll never know the truth; they don't want to look at the downside so soon, even if a part of him is sure that luther's probably right.

[uglyuntalented]

@doomdays: wipe that cute, smug look off your face.

she doesn't. in fact, she does the exact opposite, the smirk on her face growing bigger. it's mostly unintentional, just a genuine reaction to van's words, because she's caught up a little too much on a single word, missing the point entirely. “ you think it's cute? ” it's not the time nor place, because they have actual, more pressing issues to be dealing with, but pj doesn't want to focus on any of that. both because she's never been good with real problems and because it's taken an agonizingly long time to get to this point — to feel like actually talking to someone is a possibility, not just a fantasy, even if it might be forced by their circumstances. “ i missed the rest of that, honestly. ”

[bloodyraw]

“i'm sorry for that night.” mostly, she's not. pulling shauna away from van in that burning plane had felt like the right thing to do, because she wasn't thinking of van in that moment—only of herself and shauna, making sure that they got out alive. knowing the outcome now, maybe jackie should have let shauna help, but if it came down to it in a similar situation, she would still do the same thing. “i guess it wasn't very team captain of me, picking favorites. i just didn't want her to die.” or @doomdays, but she already felt like a lost cause in that moment.