⏳ for Aeon, Val, and Will
For every “⏳” I receive, my muse will openly talk about a bit of their backstory
“Things were real cool hangin’ with Ren ‘n Luce back in th’ day. We were like th’ Three Musketeers, ‘cept we were doin’ illegal shit, y’know? But expectin’ things ta stay th’ same forever seems a bit naive ta me. I can understand why Luce might’ve been a bit upset at Ren up an’ disappearin’ without a word for an entire month, then comin’ back sayin’ he was goin’ ta go live with some cop guy of all things, but she seemed ta take it real personal. Ren’s always been an ass so I don’t care but it’s weird bein’ stuck ‘tween two people in a fight. I kinda miss hangin’ with the both of them.”
“Back when Luther first bought me I couldn’t stand Alexa and used to make a run for it almost every week. Not only was she the one he always sent running after me, but she seemed too quiet to me, too robotic. I thought that whatever person she might’ve been before she’d been bought had been snuffed out. Hell, she even calls that asshole ‘Master’. So I used to hate her. But one time after one of my attempted escapes, and punishments, I was sitting in my room healing up and Alexa just walked right in and stood there staring at me, not saying a word. I remember getting pissed, I didn’t know if she was silently gloating or if that bastard had sent her to do more but I decided that, even if he killed me afterward, I was tired of looking at her face. So I pushed her to the ground and wrapped my hands around her throat. But the funny thing is, she didn’t make a move to stop me, that little girl just kept laying there staring at me with this look on her face. Then, finally, she apologized. Apologized for having to keep hurting me. I would’ve thought that maybe she was just saying it to save her own skin, but even though her face was the same as always, there was this look in her eyes, like I was looking into broken glass, that got me. I stopped trying to run away a little after that.”
“Lily came down with it first, which was what we were scared of when the outbreak first started spreading. She was always a frail little girl and Ma and I…we didn’t know what to do. Money was tight, every cent Ma and I made had to be stretched just to keep a roof over our heads. So when Lily got the influenza…we were terrified. I worked myself to the bone taking extra shifts just so Ma could stay home and try to care for her. Thinking back on it, I guess that’s what did me in in he end. When I caught it, I remember sometimes waking up to Ma crying over us. Sometimes she was praying too, saying she’d give up whatever as long as both her children got better.” He quieted, his expression growing darker. “And I remember dying too. Lily must’ve opened her eyes just then because I heard Ma crying with relief. But then I felt like my chest went ice cold. It was so painful, but I didn’t know what was happening. I tried to call out to my ma, I guess for comfort, but I couldn’t move. It was hurting more and more, so unbearably cold that I would have screamed if I could. I felt my heart stop. Then nothing. After that was when I woke up in the morgue.” His hand reached up to press against his still chest, feeling the kernel of ice within that had been present ever since that moment all those years ago. “...I wish I’d died back then.”