treat yo' self

[ghostsbrokenbyfairytales]

"well, i guess not but my point still stands." leo said. "yeah i learned that the hard way, never thought i'd miss the internet before because half my games don't even work anymore." he chuckled as well. though he got a bit more serious at hearing that, pausing for a moment, "do you want to talk about it?"

[zainmadan]

"that's fair" he agreed with a shrug "how are you going to survive with half your games not working? you're going to need to find something else to entertain you" he grinned, giving him a shove "it was rough, i didn't think i'd come back from it. i had her in my hand and then she was gone. i struggled to find a way forward after it"

[detectivegoldstein]

"I get that man. I'd probably do the same thing." After a moment he added, "I still keep my bio parents' obituary. It's all I have of them, don' even got memories. But it feels wrong to give up even that."

[zainmadan]

"it took me months to accept that it had happened. for the longest time i still thought she would show up like it was nothing" the five stages of grief had been a vicious cycle for him over time. "i get you, i did the same thing. i'm sorry you don't remember your parents, that must be frustrating"

[ghostsbrokenbyfairytales]

"and you shouldn't be? we both had lives before this place and it felt.. i don't know, weird not hearing from you to talk." leo said chuckling. not being able to call his brother when he had a new game he was working on, talk his ear off about something he probably didn't even care about but he did it anyway. he hugged him back, pulling back only a little, "did you find her?"

[zainmadan]

"was i really living when zoë was gone? that was up for debate. sorry, i would've picked up every call if i could turns out signal is shit in this town." he chuckled trying to make light of the mood. he'd missed having those phone calls, only realising now just how badly. "i did. we were trying to sort things out but then the giant hole happened"

[detectivegoldstein]

He nodded in understanding. "Do ya still sit by it?" James couldn't even begin to imagine losing someone like that, especially someone he loved. Sure, he'd lost people, but they were all in ways that made sense.

[zainmadan]

"sometimes." he admitted "i can't turn my back on her even when she's gone. it doesn't feel right to leave her like that." the way things had ended didn't help the lack of closure. he would always love zoë, he knew that.

[ghostsbrokenbyfairytales]

leo chuckled a little bit. “i’m not sorry, you’re my brother and i know you would’ve done the same thing for me.” he ran a hand through his hair but couldn’t help himself as he gave zain a quick hug. “plus not like you could’ve warn me not to come, how’d you end up here anyway?”

[zainmadan]

"i mean...yeah...but still...you should be out there living your life" seeing leo had brought a part of healing to him, however he knew that his brother was now stuck here like he was. zain hugged his brother, still not quite believing that he was in front of him. "i-i was following a lead to find zoë and ended up here."

[detectivegoldstein]

James smiled at the other man, appreciating the gesture. "I'll keep that in mind man. I'm....tryin' to work on the whole 'asking for help' thing. It's a work in progress."

[zainmadan]

"it's never easy asking for help, i know the feeling. there's no judgement here, i sat by a hole in the ground for months. a work in progress is still progress."

[ghostsbrokenbyfairytales]

"zain!" leo greeted excitedly as he saw his brother. "i came looking for you, what else would i be doing here? not pretty usual for you to just drop off the face of the earth like you did."

[zainmadan]

"holy shit!" he made his way over to his brother "leo, as happy as i am to see you, you shouldn't have come here. you should be out there living your life. i don't want you stuck here, not that i can change that now. i'm sorry you came looking for me"

[zainmadan]

where: idk who: leo ( @ghostsbrokenbyfairytales )

zain was out walking the muttley crew when he stopped at the sight of a ghost. he thought it was a joke when he first saw him across the street and it took longer than he'd care to admit to click that he wasn't dreaming.

"leo?! what the fuck are you doing here?!"

[detectivegoldstein]

He couldn't help but agree. Though James got a thrill from working a case again, digging up that pregnant girl was still taxing. It reminded him of how fucked the world was, even before you included the paranormal bullshit. Still, he smiled as he nudged Zain. "What, you a miracle worker or somethin'? Know how to make my knees feel like they're twenty years younger?"

[zainmadan]

zain chuckled "unfortunately not, if i was i would be able to get us all out of here but i'm not and we're stuck. i can't make your knees feel twenty years younger but i could at least give you a hand if you need help with anything."

[ambercast]

Kiara bit her lip, not answering for a moment. “Honestly . . . you were closer to her than I was. Our relationship was . . . complicated.” She sighed. “I miss her. I . . . I don’t think I really know how I’m feeling. Sad. Angry. I have a lot of regrets. But . . . your love was different. So. Don’t worry about me.”

[zainmadan]

"yeah well zoë and complicated always went hand in hand." as much as he loved zoë, they did have their fair share of complication both in and out of town. "i miss her too" he nodded, putting his arm around kiara. "having mixed feelings is okay, it's a lot to process and you had an overwhelming amount of information thrown your way when you got here. i'm always going to worry about you, alright? like you said, we're family"

[detectivegoldstein]

Yeah, no, that was fair. "I like to think it's got it's ups an' downs. Some days it's not as bad." James sighed at the question. "Better now that it ain't winter I guess. Still hurts like a bitch, but I'm startin' to get used to it." Used to it without downing half a bottle to numb the pain.

[zainmadan]

"well shit, here's hoping we've all got an up coming soon." it all feels pretty downhill these days. "oh yeah you must get those like phantom aches and pains. winter must be a nightmare for you. if you ever need anything man, give me a shout"

[cinematv]

NEXT EXIT (2022) dir. Mali Elfman

[violenttempest]

Momma, dog. Look. Can I pet? Can you ask if I can pet? Please? Please. Please. Penny signed over and over. Alex had taken her to out to try and get a better sense of the town so Penny would know where to go for help, what to avoid, how to get to their place to Uncle Lennon's home. They'd come across the dogs as they walked and Penny who had always wanted a pet got a little too excited.

I'll ask but you know some dogs don't like strangers, baby. She explained before approaching the man. "Hi sorry. I hope you don't mind the intrusion but my daughter wanted to know if she could pet your dogs?" Alex signed alone with what she said just in case but also so Penny would know she was asking.

[zainmadan]

zain looked up from the ground to the woman and child. "hey, no apologies necessary." he said, sitting up to give them his attention and signing back to avoid excluding the child from the conversation "yeah she's more than welcome to. they love people and meeting new friends." he lifted his fingers to his mouth and gave a whistle to call the dogs over to line up for the child. "this is the muttley crew. lick jagger, bark wahlberg, woofie goldberg and jude paw" he introduced each dog to the duo, each dog more excited to meet someone new more than the last

[uninfernodelamente]

Paloma had started back her running routine with variation of success. And today's run came with an additional unexpected milestone - Alma in a recently acquired stroller. The start seemed okay if not a little awkward and the baby fell asleep quickly but the peace didn't last long as Alma woke up fussing and cry. Paloma was lifting her out to try and sooth the baby when she spotted woofie goldberg running her way. A smile spread over Paloma's face as she leant down to pet the dog with a rather confused Alma in her hands, the mother was honestly just glad the dog made the girl curious and she stopped crying. It didn't take long for Paloma to spot Zain sitting on the bench and after she petted woofie the woman got the dog to follow her back to it's owner as she pushed the empty pram along holding now beaming little Alma on her arm. "Hi stranger." she smiled down to seated Zain, "I think your crew might be sniffing around for new friends." Paloma said with a small laugh.

[zainmadan]

he looked over to see that woofie goldberg had taken it upon herself to go find some new friends, it looked like he was even depressing the dogs these days. he watched the interaction between paloma, alma and woofie, leaving the trio to become friends. "hey" he greeted her while she sat down "i don't blame them. i'm not much fun these days. trying to get better but it seems woofie is awfully impatient." he smiled weakly at her "how are you and the family?"

[detectivegoldstein]

James sat down as well, a respectful distance away. For one, his knee was killing him. For another, he remembered the man from the bar. "Life still kickin' ya?" He glanced over to the other.

[zainmadan]

he snorted a laugh at the hello he had received from james "is there ever a time where life isn't kicking you?" he asked looking over at the man. "how's the knee?"

[ambercast]

“I know,” Kiara said quietly, hesitatingly reaching out to lay her hand on his shoulder. “And I know you’re trying. I just want you to know that I’m here. I want to help you.” She wasn’t sure how but she wanted to. It helped keep her out of her own grief, which maybe wasn’t healthy, but Zain was in more pain than she was. He deserved it more.

[zainmadan]

he reached up to rest a hand on hers "i should be the one comforting and supporting you, not the other way around" he sighed, defeated. "i'm sorry i've not been there for you. it's not been fair to you, you lost her too"

[zainmadan]

where: main street who: open to all zain had been a shell of his former self after everything that had went down months ago. he had promised kiara that he was trying to get it together but reality had been different than intended. he had been nowhere to be seen unless someone was able to catch a glimpse of him out walking the dogs but other than that he might as well have been a ghost.

shuffling his way down the street while he was walking the dogs, zain found a spot to sit down at a bench while the dogs wandered around him. "alright guys, don't go too far"