#itchose

[lingeringscars]

everyone is fluttering around the camp, except for lottie, excited and packing and full of anticipation of going home. it should make her angrier that he was going to leave them behind, but it doesn't. at least, not after she walked around herself, deciding what to do and bring. how to say goodbye to this place when she desperately wants to leave it, too. how to acknowledge that it was like a home to her while still wanting to go back to the place they're all calling home. after stopping by the lake, she feels calmer, and she makes her way over to @itchose. "i forgive you." it feels stupid, almost childish to say even with the ramifications of the choices he was making. why would it matter coming from her, anyway? but there's a part of her that thinks maybe he needs that, if not from her specifically but in general, and a deeper part of her that thinks akilah was lying to cover for him. lying to cover for each other. "you had the chance to get back to your mom." she wouldn't have made the same decision, but she can understand it. "if you have the chance to get back, take it." she looks around at everyone packing. "when." she amends, though she can't shake the suspicion that something bad is going to happen. they've never been lucky before, and every time she has hope, it gets crushed.

[baypen]

some days there are just bad days. rust has come out of the woods empty-handed more than he cares to admit, with not even rabbit or squirrels to show for his effort. today seems to be shaping up to be precisely that: rust's nose rubbed raw by the relentless chill, a burn in his legs from standing stationary for hours now. he lets loose a defeated sigh as he lowers his scope, jaw setting in a way that makes his agitation undeniable. he looks sideways at travis, grimacing. "think we might need to call it." yet his voice is still low, the barely-there whisper he always adopts in the woods, as if he's hoping a deer might waltz through and doesn't want to scare it off. @itchose, rust + travis.

[hienous]

@itchose: i'm not a fucking idiot. i just look like this.

"you don't..." the weak attempt at comfort dies in her throat, because mikayla can't genuinely look at him and insist he doesn't look like an idiot. he does, and admittedly, she can't begin to understand why nat spends her time with him. still, she's nicer to him than she is to most everyone else, sparing him from her usual abrasiveness, not because she actually give a single fuck about his feelings— but she cares enough about nat's to pretend she does. "you know, confidence could work for you. you should try it."

[bledthrus-arc]

@itchose  said:   i feel safe with you. ❜ / akilah @ laura lee   —   𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜.

[  .  .  .  ]   𝐢𝐭'𝐬  𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝  𝐭𝐨  𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥  much  safety  in  any  capacity  as  of  late.   laura  lee  supposes  she  isn't  unique  in  this  regard   —   sure,   those  of  them  that  have  survived  the  crash  have  found  safety  in  the  form  of  their  abandoned  cabin  and  the  animals  natalie  and  travis  have  hunted  for  food.   but  with  every  passing  day  without  rescue  has  them  further  and  further  through  the  summer  and  closer  to  the  danger  that  comes  with  winter.   laura  lee  finds  herself  praying  more  than  ever,   praying  that  rescue  is  only  a  matter  of  time  away.   she  tries  not  to  let  the  fear  that  it  might  not  ever  find  them  take  her  over.

and  yet,   despite  everything  that  is  happening  around  them,   akilah  still  manages  to  find  safety  with  laura  lee.   the  admission  leaves  warmth  blooming  through  her  chest  and  a  broad  smile  across  her  face.   she  sets  a  hand  on  akilah's  forearm  gently,   meeting  her  eyes  to  show  akilah  that  she  is  heard  and  loved.   ❝  i  feel  safe  with  you  too,   akilah,  ❞   laura  lee  says  earnestly.   ❝  i  really  do  feel  like  the  lord  is  watching  over  us.  .  .   i  think  it's  only  a  matter  of  time  before  He  rescues  us.  ❞

[plmrz]

" i'm not okay, am i? "

" you're gonna be fine, " van murmurs, but the lie feels brittle as glass in their mouth. melissa sounds so small, defeated in a way they haven't heard since the last snowfall, and who could blame her?

shauna pointed a gun at her — and fired.

shauna who, for all her talents, is a dubious shot at the best of times. the same shauna they've been enabling by turning a blind eye to her bullshit, justifying her downward spiral by reasoning that she's just going through a lot right now — as if that absolves them of their duty to actually do something to help as opposed to ignoring her as best they can, hoping she'll just ' get better ' all on her own.

van's jaw tightens. they glance back up the hill to where the other yellowjackets are spread out across the encampment, some sitting in small groups, others busying themselves with menial tasks. nobody wants to talk. nobody wants to share so much as a glance for fear of pissing off their butcher turned trigger-happy, tyrannical dictator. it's fucked.

they're fucked.

they turn back to melissa and exhale a short sigh. " i'm sorry, m. that should never have happened. we shouldn't have let it get that far. "

@itchose

[dzeram]

I noticed cool detail that there was wilderness bad omen pattern on Melissa's carpet when Van tried to kill her. Not technically the sign we know but something triangular. Yes I might be autistic or a very good fan.

[revnants]

❝ either you’ve been forgotten, or you’re scared you’re going to be rendered obsolete. ❞ @itchose (RE : CALLIE) - FROM, ACCEPTING.

A BIT OF BOTH ACTUALLY, but she lets a familiar mask of calm cover that thought, sensing private feelings and insecurities would not be safe in her hands. something wounded about callie, despite a veneer of gnashing teeth and a cutthroat attitude. if quinn's learned anything from the frequent and brutal blows delivered by life in the past few years, it's that none of this could matter by morning. WHY HOLD ON TO ANY OF IT? the words slip right from her shoulders, their judgment feels lighter now that she's stopped giving any weight to it. ❝ sure i guess so, won't this all be obsolete in a few more years? ❞ for anyone who didn't peak in high school, that is. she doesn't say it out loud, but the insinuation hangs above them like a cloud.

STAGE 1 COMPLETE : deflecting from the original accusation, forcibly shifting the spotlight, and it's still not the worst reaction she's had being backed into a corner. not even close.

❝ high school doesn't last forever, not for all of us at least. ❞ of course there are always an unlucky few who exit those double doors haunted - ghosts clinging to their backs. [LIKE A CERTAIN SOCCER TEAM THAT NEVER REALLY LEFT THE FOREST] when rescue came, their original team was gone, replaced by something darker — deadlier. begs the question, who did they bring home with them? or what? that's what the rumors say anyway, whispered behind her back over a drunken campfire. quinn can actually relate.

[afraidofchange]

🎁 shauna + erica hahn

@itchose - spotify wrapped

Thankful for being brought a new drink by the bartender, Erica realises she might have read the scenario wrong (and maybe she'd been just a little too hopeful). Still, she offers a small, if not awkward smile.

"Sorry if you feel objectified," She says plainly to the other woman, laughing under her breath, mainly at herself. "I... think I read you wrong. I'm Erica. Can I... buy you a beer?"