ғυcĸ вιтcнeѕ / geт мoney

[wrightism]

theprcdigal‌:

The constant noise of construction had left her wanting to pull her hair out. Astrid had taken up her old room, despite it being far from the wing being fixed, she could hear everything. She could hear too much. For a house so big and mostly empty, it had such a way of feeling crowded. She had been seeing strange faces hired by Laila all over the property, but as she flung open the door to the patio, she saw the one person she needed. “

“ ─── Jules!” Flinging her arms around her older brother, she squeezed him into a hug so tight, as it would somehow dispell the childhood fears that had begin settling in. “You have no fucking idea how happy I am to see you, despite the choice of location. I — uh, I suppose it would be silly to ask if you’re okay?” Pulling away, she straightened the gloves around her wrist, before wrapping her arms around herself. “I didn’t think you were going to come, I didn’t think I was going to come. Whose watching the bar?”

relief poured into him immediately as astrid practically launched herself at him, julian easily reciprocating her embrace like second nature. she, along with luna and nick, were the only good things about coming home, despite all the things they’d suffer through and the lingering nightmares that he knew plagued them all in returning. he heaved out another sigh, worriedly glancing behind her through the open doorway before pulling his attention back to her gloves and, finally, her. “leave it to laila to force us all to come back to the one place we said we never would.” he grumbled, skirting around the question of his mental well being. “she’s really something, huh?”

“pablo’s taking over while i’m here. hopefully, he doesn’t run the place into the ground.” he managed to crack a joke, lingering in the doorway for as long as he could. where his older sister often ignored the traumas of their childhood, julian had long since acknowledged that his siblings had faced far worse things than he had and he was determined to be their rock during this undoubtedly difficult time for them all. “i wasn’t planning on coming until i heard everyone was. for what, though? i don’t know. i’m not signing those fucking release papers. are you?”

[wrightism]

gldenbird‌:

“ ha-ha. very funny. ” she was all out of insults, all out of energy for this kind of battle. the house really did seem to takes what it can, or maybe it was just simply about another project she just wants done. especially now that she’s months behind schedule. all of the baggage that julian carries around him, not something she entirely has a desire to deal with, to try and solve, right now. not when the house has the majority of her attention.

fixing a bad relationship between her siblings was on her list of things to do, really. but throwing herself into projects such as this was just another way to avoid the rising problems, and this exact project seemed to be the major one. “ i don’t recall stuttering. move on. dad would have wanted you to. he would want you to find happiness not to stand here and just, argue about this nonsense. ” was that true? some of it. the happiness part was definitely true. moving on and away from the house was also true. she’s certain of that.

another deep break. “ look. i don’t want you to come here and just — i don’t want us to fight, jules right now. do you — want to come in? i get if you want to wait for astrid, nick or luna or whatever. that’s fine. ”

all these years, julian had never once understood how laila could move on so casually from the terrible things that took place in the house they were both standing in front of. how she had managed to forget everything and to come back and have the metaphorical balls to renovate it and sell it. it hadn’t made sense to him that she could have acted so callously at the funeral, talked about their father like she knew what he wanted. there was something so frighteningly frigid about her, like she never wanted to bother to try to understand the traumas that he and his other siblings had come to associate with the place.

“what the fuck do you know about what dad wanted?” he hissed, taking a step back as if he had been physically slapped by her words. when was the last time she had even taken into account what the rest of the family wanted, let alone their own father? “i was happy, i was fine, until you decided to drag me and everyone else back into this mess. why do you even want to sell the place? you need money? a hobby? something to do after your wife left you? what is it?”

sneering, he held his hand up. “stop calling me that, i fucking hate when you do that. it sounds so condescending coming out of your mouth, like you just want to shove what i feel aside because you don’t want to deal with it.”

[wrightism]

gldenbird‌:

“ wow, high praise from the almighty himself? i’m surprised. ” she shouldn’t be teasing so much — if that’s what she’s even doing. she just… forgot. forgot that this might just be his first time back in this house since that dreadful night. whatever they experienced in there was clearly far different than her’s. but they are all younger than her, she just chalks it all up to childhood imagination. but unlike them, she had to grow up. fast. perhaps that weighs more on her than she realizes. 

deep breath. there was no need to be rude, he’s her younger brother after all, even when he’s acting like an absolute dick. “ no. i can’t. but whatever’s happened. happened. it’s high time to move on, jules. step into the light and just see the dumb broken down house that it always is. ” an old nickname that’s used in a way to smooth anything that she said in — a wrong or harsh way, when that happens.

“if i’m the almighty, you must be god herself, then.” he shot back at her, half teasing and half mocking. it comes out much more bitter than he intended it to be, however. it’s like anger coated his tongue with deadly venom, curled and ready to strike like a snake. julian doesn’t bother to apologize, he knew that she was likely used to this by now and he’s hardly sorry anyhow. it was clear that the rift that had formed between them over the years was too wide to close with too many things left unsaid.

he could feel the the deep seated rage boil over at her words, his jaw clenched so tight as an attempt to hold back his words. ultimately, he failed as he always did in her eyes. “move on?” he echoed, his tone clearly frustrated. “i’m sorry, didn’t dad just die here six months ago? are you fucking kidding, laila? or are you just incapable of feeling anything in that messed up brain of yours?”

[wrightism]

gldenbird‌:

well. this was interesting. first astrid wanders inside the house without a single text of warning and now here is julian. standing outside of the house. and yet, doing the exact same as astrid and speaking to himself. what the hell is with this family? if she asked any of them, surely they would blame the damn house or their childhood. or hey, lately she’s the target of the blame. anything and anyone as long as it’s not them. how fun for her.

well, she spent long enough with her arms crossed, waiting for him to take notice of her walking up to the patio. “ are you going to stand there all day or are you going to come in? ” she should comment on him speaking to herself. by why waste her breath on ears that won’t listen to what she has to say? “ and of course it failed this vibe check of yours considering how you can’t take two steps inside. ”

he knew that he shouldn’t have been surprised that laila was lingering around somewhere, like a virus that just wouldn’t quit. still, julian jumped at her voice, head swinging up and pulling away from his thoughts to glare at her. his features softened slightly a moment later as if remembering that this was his sister, after all. “some things you just can’t do alone. i was waiting for astrid or nick or luna...” he trailed off, glancing around as if his other siblings would magically appear behind her. “or you, i guess.”

he doesn’t mean to include her as an afterthought, but it happens far more than he’s ever willing to admit. his younger siblings are just more endeared to him, he couldn’t remember the last time laila hadn’t had a stick up her ass and actually empathized with him. he tilted his chin up like a petulant child, ready for her to inevitably insult him in some manner. “can you blame me, though? considering everything that’s happened in there?”

[wrightism]

lingering at the front door of the house that used to plague his nightmares, julian heaved a heavy sigh of exasperation, mostly at his own hesitance. he swore he would never return to this god awful place only to be swallowed up in it again because the holier-than-thou laila had plans for it that no one else in the family would dare agree to. he only planned on entering to rip up the release form in front of her undoubtedly disappointed face. so, why was he having so much trouble opening the damn door?

“come on, wright. it’s just a house.” he muttered, giving himself a small pep talk as he paced up and down the patio. “it’s just a house, doesn’t matter if your mom and dad died in it, doesn’t matter if it definitely failed a vibe check... no big deal, right?”