#joseph words

[queendracula]

shallow water touches

Joseph could've spend more time by the sea as a child. He could've but he had always been more of a land child than a water one, so he stuck by the land, by the forests, with his bow and arrow and the animals around him. He once believed that there was nothing like the sound of the of the trees and the birds and the animals around him. Joseph found peace there, in the wood of South Africa, like nothing he'd ever found peace in before. 

That was until he touched the waters, really felt the blue, and heard the sounds of the Mediterranean. He was older then, but in his mind he could appreciate it better. He was old enough to know it better than he would have as a boy. And there was no sea that touched South Africa that could have matched the majesty of this great one.

When he was there, he felt almost like he'd been lying to himself his whole twenty five years. There was nothing like the forests of South Africa, he knew that, and yet they were only second to this. When he came, he knew that this was the place he was meant to be. And he could spend hours sitting there, watching the waves roll up, hearing nothing but the water crashing back in forth against the land. 

And he always came alone. He would have brought other's there, his loves, Scarlett and Kenzi, or Nate, but no one would understand is connection to those waters. No one would understand. This was what Joseph loved the most. This was his god.

[queendracula]

giggling again for no reason

"You always seem to like making bad decisions, don't you?" Marina reached across the table for her glass, refilling it halfway up with the blood red wine. "I don't understand either of you. At least I can predict Kira, the little shit." Natasha looked away from her mother, her arms folded across her chest, trying to block out her words. Something about what her mother was saying seemed so sickeningly true, and that's what made her the most angry. Joseph didn't seem bothered by her, and Nate wished she was more like him--laid back and less emotional. But she was a bed of emotions, and the abuse that their mother dishing out cutting a little too close this time.

Their father spoke up. "Where is Kira?" His voice was gentle and almost apologetic, as he always was for her. Nate understood why they lived in different countries all of their marriage, why they made their children choose who they wanted to live with, and yet said they were a normal, happy couple. Because otherwise they would have divorced twenty years ago. And somehow they knew this and married each other anyway. When she was a child she use to look at them and say they were the perfect couple, who could be in different countries and still be so madly in love. She looked at them as an adult and realized they were never in love at all. It made her sad. 

Joseph, on the other hand, felt more or less indifferent to the peculiarities of his parents. He knew long ago that they disliked each other far more than they let on. By now, all of their children were adults, and he didn't understand why they didn't just split up already and move on with their lives. Marina was hotheaded and stubborn and just outright mean, and Anderson was gentler but could be bullheaded and overly confident. They were not soul mates. They did not belong together. It was by gods good graces, Joseph believed, that none of the three of them turned out too fucked up.

Natasha looked at her phone. Zero messages. "She said she was coming. She'll be here."

"Drunk, probably, assuming she shows up at all," Marina snorted and shook her head. "And I wonder every day what I did wrong on that one." There was a silence. No one wanted to discuss this anymore than they actually wanted to be together. They rarely all got together anymore, as they all were in different places; Joseph in Egypt with Ammon (Leah and Ammon had separated a year ago and she had come back to South Africa, but Natasha believed they'd come back together again at some time, because they were a perfect example of true soul mates), and he spent the majority of his free time with his girlfriends. Kira was still studying, assuming she actually got any done, in France, and Marina was there too, still on her same job, at the same university, at the same house. Anderson was working the same place he had during their childhood as well. Natasha was glad to know some things never changed. And she herself spent her time between Spain and Russia; work and pleasure. 

Joseph and Nate met eyes for a moment next to each other and she smiled slightly, and he smiled back, her unhappiness showing all over her face. Joseph didn't consider himself abnormal, but his older sister was just so chronically normal he almost wanted to reach over and wrap his arm around her. Their lives were typical, only they saw each other only a few times a year, and were born in two different countries. He knew Nate well, though. She was a simple person, the best type of simple person. All she asked for was contentment. And love and art. Joseph raised and eyebrow at his mother across the table. Nate surely wouldn't get any of those things here.

"But whatever," Marina took another sip of wine. "It's Christmas, let's not start off on a bad note, eh?" She turned her face in the direction of Joseph. "Why didn't you bring your girlfriends? I'd love to meet them."

"I'm sure you would."

She looked at him hard but didn't continue that line of questioning, looking over towards her daughter instead. "What about you? New Russian boyfriend too good for us?"

Natasha pressed her lips together. "He's got his own family, mother."

"Too good for us, too good for you," she shrugged. "It's the same."

Natasha felt her face reddening, and just as she was about to open her mouth to object, the door behind her open and Kira slinked through. "Sorry 'bout that." Her words were slurred. 

"Good of you to finally join us."

"Mhm." Kira plopped herself down into the chair next to Nate, across from their parents. The house was mainly silent. It stayed this way, silent, whether they were here or not. Nate couldn't ever consider South Africa home, while that was the only real home that Joseph knew. "Sure, whatever."

"Kira don't be rude," Marina said, and Natasha groaned, knowing what was about to happen. Her mother glared from across the table but didn't say anything. "Kira, I think you owe us an explanation as to why you held up dinner, don't you?"

"No I fucking don't." Kira licked her top lip and arched one of her eyebrows. They had never gotten along, because they were all but completely the same. Kira was just as bullheaded and stubborn and arrogant as their mother was, and they could hardly sit in the room together. 

"Girls, please--"

"Anderson, be quiet--"

"Goodbye." Natasha stood up, pushing her chair from behind her and picking her phone up off the table, leaning down to kiss Joseph's cheek and whispering to him, "I'll call you," before turning around and exiting without another word.

[queendracula]

To Joseph, from Scarlett: "I missed you."

A slight smile twisted at the edge of his lips. The words were the same every time, and yet they held so much meaning. He had missed her too, he always missed her, no matter how long they were apart or how far they traveled. Having her anywhere away from him for any amount of time, although necessary, was a burden on his soul. He wanted her. He wanted her all of the time.

Joseph kissed her, quickly, letting his lips finger on her own for a long moment, intertwining his fingers into hers at their side. He pulled away a bit, their lips parting, and smiled again. "I missed you too."

[queendracula]

happy together

Usually Joseph didn’t mind being alone. He all but grew up alone, his siblings spending the majority of their time with his mother in France, and his father constantly working. He took solace in being alone with his thoughts, and contributes that to being the reason he’s so stable; he was able to build himself without the help or influence of others. In his opinion, more people should spend time alone. Silence and isolation are the breeding places for originality. Joseph, for the most part, found it nearly impossible to think straight in places that were overly crowded, that were too noisy; at the same time, when he wanted to stop thinking and lose his mind, he’d do that, go into the city, go party. But usually, he would have rather been alone.

There may have been some comfort in being alone, but there was very little comfort in being without Scarlett. She took isolations place, tugging at his mind at all times of the day. The majority of the time she was not with him, she was off traveling the world, seeking and searching for revenge that he didn’t honestly believe she’d ever actually get, but he didn’t tell her that. It was important to her, and he wasn’t planning on taking away from that.

He was in love with Scarlett, but neither of them were completely whole without Kenzi. Kenzi was an animal who neither of them could exactly get their fill of. She was always there, and he wanted her there, almost as much as he wanted Scarlett there. She was different, she was violent, she was animalistic, and unemotional, and she was exactly what they wanted, and what they needed. The three of them completed each other, even when they weren’t together.

When they weren’t together, Joseph wished that they were, and those were the only times he saw isolation and spat in it’s face.