#To Rediscover The Once Worn Roads AU | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

coeurdastronaute · 3 years

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The Story, Ch. 3

Previously on The Story

The heat roared into July without a bit of relief. Days stretched onward without the slightest speck of a cloud in the sky, without the slightest taste of rain for the county. The lawn lost its blush of green, lost its softness, instead growing dry and brittle and angry. The grounds seemed to sweat under the sizzling sun, thwarted from any relief by the burdensome layer of humidity that seemed to weigh everything down further.

Over the course of the week, Dani noted the change in the way the gardener moved through the grounds. Ever with a weary eye no the horizon for any sort of break, she seemed to grow slightly more hopeless with every set back as she attempted to save all of her hard work. Still, day after day she toiled along, and Dani ran out of reasons to see her most days.

The week became a grind where nothing went quite right, though there were no major catastrophes. The kids were slipping back into a mood, despite Dani’s best efforts, and the mythical heat wave didn’t help at all. Lessons weren’t going quite right, and the days were longer, nothing left to do.

So, for the first time in perhaps her life, Dani decided to do something, to make her own moment of happiness. She did this, of course, by prowling the halls while the children were reading their assigned chapters to themselves. She did it with purpose and while almost admitting to herself that she enjoyed her time with the gardener. She hid it in benevolence and worry though, creating excuses in her mind to appear in the tiny room off of the back of the house, the glass roofed green house where a certain gardener could be seen prowling at any given moment.

“It’s boiling in here. I don’t know how you do it,” Dani murmured, making her way down the few steps, careful and with hands full of sweating glasses that dripped on her feet.

“I sweat my bloody tits off, that’s how,” Jamie retorted, not looking up.

“Thought you might need to cool down. It’s lemonade. Don’t worry, Hannah made it.”

Jame cracked half a smile. That might have been Dani’s favorite one, and with that realization she recognized that she must have been cataloging them.

“It’s much appreciated. You’d take the time to think of little old me out here toiling away.”

“It was actually the commotion you seem to make that reminded me.”

“Well, whatever I gotta do, right?” Jamie smiled and accepted the glass, taking a long, long drink and sighing with the relief it brought.

“Seems like it’s been a rough week for you.”

“No rougher than the one before I imagine,” she shrugged, pulling her gloves back on. “Or the one to come.”

Dani watched her shoulder flex, not huge and built, but prominent and there, the muscle slivering beneath her skin. She watched her bicep move with purpose as she dug around. And finally, perhaps most importantly, Dani shamelessly watched the tank top ride up a few inches as Jamie reached for something on the shelf. And Dani gulped before blinking and staring at her drink.

“Haven’t seen you around much.”

“Not much for me to do, unfortunately. Just watering everything I can, all damn day.”

“Your starts are lovely though. I mean, your hard work shows. I’m sorry it hasn’t been easy.”

Dismissive of any form of praise, Jamie just shrugged and returned to the pot.

“They’re accustomed to this kind of thing, you know,” Jamie explained, elbow deep in a pot of soil. “Drought. Sun. Wind. Even the most fragile thing was made to withstand more than it thinks. I’m just trying to help them along as best I can.”

“It’ll break soon.”

“Now you sound like me.”

“I like to believe in the inevitably of rain. Even now, it feels like one of the few sure things in life,” Dani decided, earning a smile.

Jamie dragged her forearm against her brow, a streak of dirt appearing above her eye. She searched the au pair, to see if there was a hint of teasing in the line, but recognized the hope she once felt, as well.

“You okay, Poppins?”

“The kids are a little off. They’re bickering more than ever, and I’m getting more attitude from Miles than I have before. I offered to take them swimming in the pond again, and they about lost their minds--”

“This pond? Here?”

“The one behind the old stables,” Dani nodded, furrowing at the look Jamie gave her as she paused her digging.

“Did no one tell you about Becca?” She shook her head and Jamie sighed. “We found her body in the pond. That pond. Or rather, Flora did. They won’t go back to it.”

“Jesus… I didn’t know.”

“I don’t know if I would ever go back in. I don’t even like looking at it, I get so mad.” As if to accent her words, she shoved more dirt in, pushing harder. Dani felt her attempt at cheering up the gardener begin to backfire. “When I pulled her out… there was just… We did what we could.”

“I thought I was escaping tragedies, and I keep bumping into them it seems,” Dani bit her lip, tightening them as she fret over it. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

The guilt bubbled up, for bringing it up, for learning this about Jamie when Dani doubted she wanted it to be known. She thought of the gardener, soaked in her overalls, carrying the body of the former au pair out of the water. The way that must have hurt.

“I’m alright. The kids are doing better. You came along and have really done a number on the whole place, if we’re being honest.”

“I don’t know if I can take any credit.”

“You should. You have. Even for me.”

From her spot leaning against the work table, Dani fiddled with the worn wood, ran her thumb along the knots and grooves. She knew she was blushing which she also knew, for some reason, only made Jamie look at her more intently.

“I don’t know what to do for them now, though. They’re just…”

“Cooped up kids in a long, hot summer. Just let them be kids.”

It wasn’t exceptional advice, but Dani felt better for hearing, for learning that sometimes there wasn’t a solution, or worse yet, perhaps there wasn’t even a problem for her to solves.

“There is a place for a swim though, if you’re up for it,” Jamie offered without looking up from the pot she was arranging. “Not really appropriate for the wee ones. A little bit of a hike.”

“I don’t know if I should leave them for any amount of time. They’re about to burst.”

“You worry too much, did you know that?”

“I worry just the right amount, actually.”

Jamie laughed, one big ha.

“You fret. It’s adorable, but you do.”

“It’s not-- I don’t-- They’re my responsibility.”

“Hannah can watch them this evening, and you know it,” Jamie reminded her. “You haven’t left the grounds since you arrived. It’s been three months of being an au pair. You can have a moment.”

“You’re a rotten influence. I came in to cheer you up, and I’m corrupted now.”

“That’s the spirit,” Jamie nodded. Her spirit had been lifted. “I’ll meet you at the front gate at eight tonight.”

“I have to see--”

Somehow, Dani realized too late that Jamie was so close, in her space, eye to eye and intimidating in a way that made the au pair want to never move again because it was incredibly thrilling. It’d been a stretch to go without human connection.

“You can’t just fix everyone here, and not allow yourself some of that. I’ll see you at eight,” the gardener insisted, reaching around the frozen body, snagging a large sack, swinging it over her shoulder in one fluid motion.

She backed toward the door outside of the green house as Dani just watched it happen.

“I heard you were a good time once.”

“Eight.”

Before she could say anything else, to argue or confirm, Jamie walked out with a smile over her shoulder. Dani watched the gloves in her back pocket bounce and sighed, for the first time, audibly and defeated as sweat ran down her back in the sweltering room. She was still running, even if she didn’t realize it. Jamie made her see alternatives.

In the distance, Jamie disappeared behind an ivy wall, and Dani finally made herself leave the green house. The tickle at the base of her sternum felt nice.

XXXXXXXXXX

In the dark, Dani stood at the front gate, monstrous and wrought as it was, unsure of what she was doing there, leaving the grounds and the children, off to some undisclosed location with a relative stranger. Though, Dani reasoned with herself, Jamie didn’t particularly feel like a stranger. She felt like a book she’d once read but forgotten and rediscovered. She was understood, if not at all completely remembered word-for-word. There was an inherent safety and comfortableness with the gardener that Dani couldn’t quite place, and yet she didn’t know her birthday. Couldn’t even begin to imagine if she was right or left handed, wasn’t certain if she liked to read or enjoyed crappy tv.

Behind the bleachers at the ninth grade dance, Dani kissed a girl. Neither ever spoke of it again, and Dani wasn’t sure she’d ever beat the feeling of having feelings and beating them back, deep into the bottom corner of her heart.

Jamie felt like she was prying that open again, and it was exhilarating and also something insanely easy to overthink. There weren’t any bleachers at Bly Manor.

The truck rumbled up the road, stopping before Dani had too much time to fully address the trail of thought she’d just found herself toying with. With a squeal of the breaks it stopped. Jamie slipped across the seat to open the door.

“Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Dani resolved, hopping into the cab and offering a smile in the dark.

The lights from the dashboard made the truck glow, and Jamie hadn’t changed since earlier. There was dirt on her neck now, but she remained unchanged by whatever happened in the hours between the morning and now.

“There’s not much out here, so you haven’t missed anything,” Jamie said as she changed the gear and shifted until they were going down the road.

“I don’t mind. It’s a nice change of pace honestly.”

Already there was a quiet between them as they trudged along. Dani took a deep breath and looked out toward the darkness, but couldn’t make out much minus the shadows of trees and the beam of the moon. But she didn’t fight it, as she normally would, hoping to escape any kind of quiet for too long.

It was a short trip, just a few minutes up the road until Jamie heaved the wheel, turning them toward a pasture where she parked beside a fence.

“I don’t understand,” Dani squinted to see what she was missing. “I don’t see anything.”

“We’ll go on foot for a little bit,” Jamie explained as she hopped out. “I thought you were up for a little adventure.”

“I am! I am.”

Scurrying, Dani followed, taking Jamie’s hand to help her over the rails of the fence. She didn’t let go for a few more steps; until she caught her balance, she told herself. Jamie led them across the field, directing the best path away from the fence and the trees by the road.

The heat stuck around from the day. In the distance, clouds formed, billowing and bulbous and just out of reach. They illuminated with static shocks every few seconds.

“Looks like the rain is coming.”

“Just heat lightning,” Jamie tossed over her shoulder, not pausing to give it too much attention. “But soon.”

“I never thought I’d miss rain as much as I do this summer.”

“In a few months we’ll beg for this much sun.”

“We’re never pleased, are we?”

“Occasionally, and only for a very short amount of time.”

“Do you ever think we’ll talk about anything other than the weather?” Dani tried.

“Is there anything more pressing at the moment?”

She never stopped moving, but Dani tripped slightly over the uneven field while Jamie pushed forward up the gentle hill, ever farther away from the car and the fence and the known.

“Where are you from?”

Jamie stopped moving so quickly that Dani nearly bumped into her. She turned around, her face barely visible in the night, but smiling as she snorted at the shift in their conversation.

“That’s what’s on your mind?”

“I don’t know anything about you,” Dani shrugged. “I’m curious.”

“I heard that doesn’t go well for cats.”

“You don’t answer questions, you know? You skip past or say something to distract from them. It’s almost like you’re doing it as a reflex.”

It seemed to have hit a spot as they walked for a few moments in the silence of their shoes clomping through the grass and the heaving breathing that came with the exertion of the hike. She didn’t want to, but Jamie seemed to admit to herself that maybe she did that, and maybe it was perhaps the most innate thing about herself, to defer, to deflect, to keep it all. She didn’t willingly keep herself a mystery, but rather preserved herself.

“It’s a small suburb, a hamlet, really. Fallholt. Nothing there but coal dust and bitterness.”

“How far is it from Bly?”

“About three hours north. Do you feel like you understand my entire being now with this tidbit?”

“It’s a start.”

While she wanted to sound annoyed, Jamie didn’t seem to mind telling the au pair anything about herself. The problem came with the fact that she held so much of herself so tightly in her hands, it was proving difficult to wretch the words from herself, to wrestle anything free to give up. So well-practiced was she in the art of hiding herself away, that even when she gave herself permission to speak, it was impossible.

“Are you right handed or left handed?”

“Seriously, Dani?”

“Curious.”

“Righty.”

Triumphant with this knowledge, Dani caught up to the longer strides of the gardener until she saw the moonlight reflecting off of the water halfway down the other side of the hill.

“That’s where we’re going?” she asked in disbelief.

“I promised you a pond.”

“Is this someone’s property?”

“Isn’t everything someone’s property?” Jasmine asked innocently. “Do you think they’ll mind two trespassers?”

“Probably.”

“Maybe,” she agreed. “If they find out. Come on. I’m sick of sweating.”

Before she could lodge her first protestation, Dani watched as Jamie started walking toward the pond. She doubled her own steps to catch up a minute later, though by then the gardener was already tugging off her shoes.

By the time she reached the water’s edge, Jamie had created a pile of her boots and socks and unbuttoned part of her shorts before turning around to the au pair. Much more carefully, Dani put her shoes on the ground and looked warily over the water.

“Um, where can I cha--”

Dani watched as Jamie tugged her top off and add it to the pile.

“Let’s go, Poppins. I’m not going in alone.”

“Right, yeah,” she nodded quickly and began working at her own shirt, turning around to give some semblance of privacy.

Over her shoulder, Dani looked quickly as she unbuttoned her shorts to see a gardener run and jump off of the small pier lit only by moonlight and heat lightening, clad only in a bra and underwear. The splash echoed across the empty field until she popped back up with a laugh and hiss at the chill.

From the water, Jamie tossed her hair out of her face and tread, watching the form of the au pair wrap her arms around her middle and walk out onto the pier.

“It looks cold.”

“It is,” Jamie nodded, splashing an armful of water towards her, making her squeal. “It feels wonderful.”

She worked exceedingly hard to keep her eyes trained on Dani’s. That was the polite and proper thing to do, and despite it all, Jamie worked hard to be just those things, despite what even she believed about herself.

“Is there a ladder or steps?”

“Good time, huh? Just jump. I promise to rescue you if need be.”

“I can swim.”

“Prove it.”

There was a debate, some internal convincing before Dani stood there and pinched her nose, taking the leap a second later with much less force, but coming up with the same hiss and chattering teeth.

“How is it s-s-s-so cold?”

“Isn’t it great?” Jamie decided, taking a few strokes lazily around the newly bobbing body. “Haven’t felt this cool in weeks. I think I was overheating completely. My brain was about to melt.”

“It does feel better than this afternoon did. Is there anything in this? Like fish?”

“Oh, probably a few. Maybe some snapping turtles. Maybe some wee beasties on the hunt of trespassers.”

Jamie skimmed along the water as Dani turned around to follow her.

“That’s not funny.”

With a mischievous grin, the gardener slipped beneath the water. Not a ripple remained of her, not a bubble as Jamie peered into the dark water as if it would help. Too long seemed to pass before she called out. Her leg was pulled a moment later, dipping her under. She came up splashing and shoving at the warm body.

“That’s really not funny,” Dani complained with a laugh.

“You could have fooled me,” Jamie laughed as well. “Don’t worry. Just you and me and maybe a few sleeping minnows.”

“So long as they’re sleeping.”

The water grew more comfortable, losing that biting chill that came to especially overheated bodies. Despite a few splashes earned for her not funny jokes, the pair simply glided around, enjoying the stars and the evening, falling into a relatively calm quiet. The groaning of bull frogs on the banks and the crickets in the field made more than enough noise.

But Jamie couldn't help but feel the need to say words, something she was beginning to dislike. Silence never bothered her. She’d learned long ago not to fill it up with too much because it was a gift.

“I think you know plenty about me,” Jamie muttered as they floated, relaxing in the cool chill of the water on their overheated skin. Dani stretched, pulling herself through the water and furrowing at the blurted comment. “Earlier… you said I deflected. Like a reflex.”

“You’re a tightly shut book. But I don’t mind.”

Jamie dipped her smile into the water to hide it before wetting her face, running her hands over it to further hide any blush.

“Where are you from?” she asked as Dani slicked back her hair.

“A suburb of Chicago. Not too big, not too small. Perfectly average in every single way a town could hope to be.”

“And you really were a teacher?”

“Mhm,” Dani nodded, shifting, skimming through the water. “Fourth grade. Started teaching immediately after college.”

“How do you like it here?”

“This might be the most questions you’ve ever asked me.”

“Might be the most I’ve asked in my entire life,” Jamie agreed. “You’re not exactly an open book either, you know.”

The two bodies rotated around each other. The moon shined on slick shoulders, danced in the ripples they created. Neither looked away from the other, just floated along in an even harmony.

“I like Bly. I love the manor. I appreciate everyone being so welcoming. I hadn’t thought of that part, but it’s been a nice surprise. And the children are… they’re special. They’re in so much pain sometimes, and they just don’t know what to do with it all. But they’re still so inquisitive and eager.”

“Kids are resilient,” Jamie agreed.

“It gets harder though, doesn’t it? To bounce back?”

“Yeah. It does.”

Dani nodded to herself and took a deep breath before closing her eyes and leaning back slightly.

“Thank you,” she finally offered, finding Jamie’s face in the water as it gazed at the heat lightning rolling toward the west. “For showing me this.”

“Couldn’t let you melt, could I?”

“I suppose not.”

Dani pulled herself onto the pier finally, hoping to dry in the humidity and heat while the looming grey clouds flashed beyond the tree line, retreating somewhat from their threatening posture. She wrung out her hair and huddled slightly, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on it.

Not wanting to leave the relief of the water, Jamie hung on the edge, letting her legs hang lazily, her hips remaining under the water. She rested her cheek on her arm as she stayed there.

“What if I just want to forget everything from before?” Dani whispered, almost too quiet, almost as if it were an absent thought. “I don’t mean to be dismissive, I just… what if I want to not be or remember all of that?”

It was only when she met Jamie’s eyes did the gardener realize she was waiting for an answer, that it wasn’t just a dream.

“I don’t know if you can.”

Dani nodded, not enjoying the answer.

“But I think it gets easier, sometimes,” she continued, hoping to provide some kind of relief. “It’s exhausting to keep running, isn’t it? I tried. I still do sometimes. But I think at one point I just stopped. I stood there and let it all tackle me, and it sucked. I didn’t enjoy it. But I got to walk afterward. And it wasn’t so tiring anymore.”

“I know who I want to be, I just don’t know if I can get there, away from it.”

“You can.”

“How do you know?”

“If I can survive it, I know you can. You’re much tougher than I, Poppins.”

To accent her words, Jamie tugged a toe, making a leg flop back into the water. Jame rolled her eyes and splashed with a kick, the girl who hid on the other side of the pier.

“What if I’m not who you think I am?”

“Who ever is?”

“You can’t keep answering questions with questions to make yourself sound wise.”

“Can’t I?” Jamie asked, pushing herself away until she floated on her back a little more.

The moonlight was at its brightest in that moment, and Dani watched the pale skin of the gardener’s torso shimmer beneath the water. She lost the tan lines and curls, and was smooth and at peace. Like a fountain, she arched water from her mouth, grinning as she did. A true dichotomy of freedom and fear, all in one person.

Dani stood once again, ready to keep running, at least for another night. She took a step back before launching herself with a laugh at the gardener. In a splash, they disappeared beneath the water, emerging only a second later with giggles and swearing and splashing.

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lon3lynation · 4 years

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A Clexa AU Story that includes a soul searching road trip, long distance friendship to relationship, phone conversations and Clarke demanding her car back from a thieving dick Lexa. Oh, and a lot of internal Lexa thoughts.

Prologue: Dogs Days Are Over

"Happiness, hit her like a train on a track Coming towards her, stuck still no turning back She hid around corners and she hid under beds She killed it with kisses and from it she fled With every bubble she sank with a drink And washed it away down the kitchen sink

The dog days are over The dog days are done The horses are coming so you better run

Run fast for your mother run fast for your father Run for your children for your sisters and brothers Leave all your love and your longing behind you Can't carry it with you if you want to survive"

Dog Days Are Over by Florence + The Machine

Lexa purchased her first bus ticket at the age of 16 with only a backpack hanging off her shoulders. She could no longer tolerate her total lack of control over her own life while in the foster system. It had been too many years of false hopes, disappointment, and feeling like she wasn't meant to be truly loved by anyone.

There had been moments where she felt loved but it never seems to last for long.

Those moments were the most painful to deal with. It left her crushed and with the feeling of never being enough.

Half a year ago was when it completely broke her.

For four years, she actually grew to believe that she was, in fact, enough because she had found the perfect foster family. Her foster parents were kind, loving, and always did their best to make each day feel special.

They hadn't tried to force her to act a certain way or mold her into being someone else. She could finally rediscover who she was as a person. It had been so long feeling lost. They hadn't emotionally or physically harmed her. She had received the warmest hugs and praises. There were even talks about officially adopting her.

She even got to have a best friend.

Costia.

She lived right across the street from her. At first, they only exchanged shy waves and smiles during the summer. She would finally learn her name and speak to her on her first day of school. Costia chose to plop down next to her on the school bus and introduced herself.

“This is way overdue. My name's Costia.” She had smiled brightly at her. “Your eyes are even prettier up close.”

Lexa had swallowed nervously, not understanding why her heart began to race. She didn't know how to respond to compliments yet but it made her feel really nice.

“Lexa is mine.”

She quietly introduced herself in return with a small crooked smile. She hadn't known that Costia was going to turn out to be the second best thing that ever happened to her.

It was four blissful years with her parents and a best friend that would be her first love before it all went to hell.

It was simply cruel to have been given all that love, hope, and then it was all unexpectedly torn away from her because of one single decision that was made by her parents.

It left her in a deep depressive state for months. She felt utterly destroyed. Whoever Lexa had been when she was with them, she was lost forever now. Gone.

It took her longer than she wanted to put her plan in motion again. It would have to be revised to include only her going off on her own. All alone on the open roads.

That was fine with her. She could do it alone. It was the only option she had felt would finally give her back a sense of control and find freedom.

Freedom to choose how she wanted to live her life. A chance to heal and discover who she truly was now after all she had suffered. She could finally break free from the foster system and decisions that were not her own that would drastically affect her and her life for the worse.

It was a much desired fresh start for her.

Before she was taken to a new foster family, her parents had insisted on her to keep the money that they put into her account. She initially didn't want anything to do with it. Everything felt tainted.

However, she was glad to have it once she realized that it was enough to get her out of the state of Maine. It was blissful weeks of traveling from town to town by bus before realizing she needed to do something about her rapidly depleting cash. It was a regret that she hadn't taken any of her new foster family's money or any items to pawn off. She didn't want them to feel extra motivated to search for her or have police looking to arrest her. She just needed to get far away enough. Nonetheless, Lexa needed to think of how to proceed with this new wandering lifestyle of hers.

She had settled into a small unknown town and checked into a cheap motel in search of work. After a few months of working, she would quit her odd jobs and ride a bus to a new location. It went on like that for several more months until she was left relying solely on the income she was making. When payment for her motel rooms began coming up short, she wrestled with her pride and began staying at a shelter.

It wasn’t the life she had envisioned when she dreamt about running away but she had stubbornly kept at it for a good year because honest work had to pay off. She had to prove to herself that she hadn’t made a mistake to leave. She couldn’t deal with being a failure. She had to make it work no matter what.

That didn’t stop the creeping doubts and unhappiness she felt about her living conditions but those thoughts had to be pushed aside for her to continue forward.

Her 17th birthday had come and gone. There was no cause for celebration as she was constantly working at her waitressing job trying to save up money. She felt stuck in place. She wanted to pick up and travel to the next destination but she’d been struggling to get the amount of cash she needed.

Her wanderlust wanted to steer her back toward the east coast of the country. However, prices were steadily rising and the minimum wage was still minimum wage.

Finding people willing to pay her under the table had been difficult because she was obviously a stranger staying in a close-knit small town where everybody knew everyone. It was the longest time she had been forced to stay in one place. She wanted to get back into visiting new cities, seeing new sights and creating memorable moments. She just needed to figure out how to improve this new life of hers and to find a much happier balance.

She never would have thought that her new life would lead her down a criminal path.

It was after she had just finished her shift waitressing at the diner one day. She was walking down the sidewalk heading toward the shelter when someone had suddenly bumped into her back and made her stumble.

Her patience had been worn thin that day and she would love nothing more to punch someone in the face with her clenched fists. Instead, she shoved her hands into her pockets and glared at the rude man that was in an apparent rush. Then a sudden realization hit her.

Her wallet was missing from her pocket.

“Hey, get back here!” She yelled without a thought. “Stop!”

The woman that she believed stole her wallet glanced back alarmed before taking off into a run. She cursed under her breath as she ran after the pickpocketer, weaving in and out between startled people to close the distance between them. Her heart was matching the pounding of her feet against concrete. Her eyes were still locked onto the fleeing woman's blonde head, seeing her shoving another person out of her way before turning a corner.

She pushed herself to run faster, not wanting to lose her from her sight and quickly turned the corner to see the thief running across the street and nearly getting clipped by a car. She wasn’t going to let some thieving punk get away stealing what little she had made from her shift. Maybe it was foolish and dangerous, but those things did not enter her mind. It definitely should have entered her mind when she crossed the street to follow the woman into an alleyway.

“Give me my wallet back,” she demanded. “Stop right there!”

To her surprise, the woman actually slowed down to a stop, barely looking out of breath, and holding tight to her wallet.

“I am almost impressed.” the robber commented with her back still facing Lexa.

She stopped a few feet away, taking in the pickpocketer with her dark blonde hair and lean form. She frowned at seeing her glance back at her with a look of annoyance.

“Give me back what you stole,” she held a hand out to receive her wallet back.

“Stop chasing me,” the thief suggested before fully turning around to face her. “Rarely anyone is stupid enough to try to chase me.”

Lexa found her fist clenching again at her side.

“I will if you just hand over my wallet and we can pretend this whole thing didn’t happen,” she stated, her hand still outreached and waiting. “No, what are you doing?”

The pickpocketer had opened her wallet and was looking at the contents inside.

“No way,” she scoffed. “I ran and just managed to avoid getting hit by a car because some girl didn't know better to not chase after a criminal?” she shook her head in disappointment before tossing her wallet back to her.

Lexa caught the wallet and took a quick peek inside to make sure nothing was missing.

“You stole from me. I wasn't going to just stand idly by,” she shoved her wallet back inside her pocket and pointed firmly back to the person responsible for the whole incident.

She waved her off and gave a slight nod. “Most usually don't do what you just did. Normally the fear of not knowing if I'm unarmed or not stops them in their tracks. You didn’t stop. It had me thinking I pocketed gold but no,” shaking her head in disbelief, the robber chuckled. “No. You chased me to get a measly $12 and change back.”

“Are you crazy?” she questioned Lexa.

She had no idea how she found herself in this situation. What backward world did she accidentally stumble into? How was it that the person that robbed her was now laughing at her misfortune and asking if she was crazy? Maybe she was but she’s pretty sure this isn't how an expected situation between a thief and their victim would go.

The urge to punch was still very much there.

“You just failed to rob me because I could keep up with you. What makes you think you have any right to judge me? You have no clue what my life is Iike.”

The failed pickpocketer raised her hands in an attempt to ward off the growing tension.

“I meant no offense. Well,” she shrugged with a small smirk. “Maybe just a little. I found myself intrigued by you. It's what made me decide that you'd be my target. You're not from around here, are you?”

Suddenly she felt herself being scrutinized by the stranger before her. Feeling exposed was not a feeling she enjoyed. Certainly not by some criminal trying to charm her or whatever she was attempting to do.

“I think you should know that I am very close to ending this conversation by punching you in the mouth.”

It was very tempting to release every ounce of stress and frustration out on this blonde woman. It's been a while since she's been in a fistfight. She missed it as an outlet for her emotions and the rush it gave her.

It surprised her to see a smirk in response to her threat.

“It's been a long time since I've had a challenge. I think you're starting to remind me a little of myself.” Her smirk soon dropped. “Wait, don't go yet.”

Lexa had turned away ready to leave the whole situation behind and not wanting to hear how they're anything alike. However, she was pulled to a stop with a hand gripping her arm.

She twisted around in the grip and swung a left hook at the thief's head. Nothing but air as the woman effortlessly ducked beneath her punch. She attempted a knee next but it was blocked.

“Whoa, there, kiddo.”

“Shut up!” Lexa shouted, rushing forward to tackle the woman but instead they're both left wrestling for control. Before she knew it, a leg hooked behind her knee causing her to fall down on her back with her hands pinned on the concrete.

“Get off of me!” she snarled while struggling to free her hands.

“Hear me out first and then I will let you go.”

She gritted her teeth, wishing to toss the woman off of her but her wrists were in too strong of a grip to break loose. With no other choice but to listen, she tilted her chin up and stared at the criminal in the eyes.

“I was homeless. Long story short, I got mixed up in a bad crowd and did drugs when I was younger. Because of that, I lost everyone that I even remotely cared for because they didn't want me around anymore. They did the right thing.”

Lexa breathed out slowly as she watched the subtle changes to the woman's face.

“It took me a while to distance myself from all the bad. I slept in alleyways like this one and sometimes in shelters when there was space. I tried to turn my life around but people would take one look at me, see a homeless bum and wouldn't hire me for a job. You'd think the fact I was seeking work would have clued them in that I was trying to change that.”

Hearing that had finally made her stop resisting the hold. It was a startling reminder that she had been lucky enough to find space in the local shelter so far. It hadn't even crossed her mind that eventually there would be days where shelters would be full.

She couldn't imagine having to sleep outside in dirty alleyways or on a park bench. It became an even scarier thought because she was a young woman which unfortunately left her more vulnerable to the dangers of being sexually assaulted or worse.

“It all changed for me one night. I was starving and it was getting colder. I probably wouldn't have survived the winter if I hadn't been so desperate to survive. It took this well off looking asshole that basically told me to get a job when I asked for a few bucks to get myself a meal.

I… snapped. It's not a moment I'm proud of but after scuffing his fancy suit up, I took his wallet. I got my necessities and got the hell out of that city. I don't have to worry about my needs anymore. I can focus on enjoying life and not only on survival.”

It was unfortunate that it took having to rob someone all for the sake of survival and fulfilling your needs. However, she couldn't even be upset at her for having done that. If that had been her…

“If I had been in your shoes at that moment, I think I would've done the same thing.” She admitted, feeling torn about the morality of stealing from people, even from assholes that kind of deserved it.

“I see you're kind of conflicted about it. I get it and that's a good thing. I've not let myself forget that morally, it is wrong. Life isn't black and white though. It's all different shades of grey and people are usually a contradictory mess.”

Her wrists were let loose as the thief removed herself from her position on top of her and stood up. A hand is offered to help her back to her feet. She takes it and is pulled to her feet.

“This is not the life you want for yourself. I can see it. You're unhappy and you're unable to move forward. Don't you want to have the freedom to seek what you're looking for without things like money holding you back?”

That hit a little too close to home. She was right. She just wanted to be free and discover what this life can truly offer her. To travel far and wide, creating new experiences that she'll hopefully cherish forever. This was not what she envisioned when she ran away. But could she really pick up this certain lifestyle and fight her morals so she could live a more comfortable life?

“So, how about it? Are you ready to pursue the life you truly wanted? We both know that this is not it. I can show you how. I'll even teach you how to finesse your fighting skills. You show promise.”

The woman smiled warmly and offered her hand to her to shake.

“I'm Anya.”

It was suddenly a major life-changing decision. She could just walk away or take her hand into hers and take a leap. All she wanted was to be in charge of her life. It was her decision once again to decide if she wanted to further change her life.

“My name is Lexa…”

Having made the decision, she shook Anya's hand, someone who would soon turn into being her mentor and a trustworthy friend.

#Clexa TDBU #myfic #clexa #clexa fanfic #clexa fanfiction #clexa fic #There's Distance Between Us #clexa au #posting chaps on here #sorry for spam #my writing

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itsdetachable · 5 years

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I had a whole PKMN au I had wanted to write about once and I daydream/mused about it so hard I can remember in pretry clear clarity what was going to happen. But I just really liked this one Idea i had which was like:

There was the main char, sorta, named Nox who had a Luxray named Prius and several other pokemon. He traveled and he made do with whatever to get by and was really aimless and then somehow rediscovered these ppl he had grown up with and they dragged him on their PKMN master adventures (they both ended up becoming gym leaders eventually and tbh this road to masterdom they started way later than in the series and they were adults when they started travelling like cross country etc). Anyways Nox was like the typical tragic backstory boy, you know, and he sorta liked one of these friends but didnt do anything about it bc angst or whatever.

Anyways there was a moment in their travels where they had the chance to travel to Hoenn. They're from Sinnoh originally and in this AU Hoenn had been mostly-closed off with very strict visitation rules due to the species of PKMN on the island being susceptible to diseases from other regions. Even when they start allowing visitors, they limit them to only physically bringing in one pkmn and otherwise only being able to transfer in allowed pkmn at certain PKMN centers where they can be evaluated. There was a whole disinfection thing and everything for the people too.

Now, the one pkmn thing was a problem - see, months earlier, maybe even a year earlier (i never cemented the timeline oops) there was an Incident. No one remembered The Incident, though, except for Nox. The Incident involved the group of friends getting blown off track in a storm, hunkering down in a dodgy motel, and Nox getting into a Bad Argument with Liam, that guy he sorta liked. Liam took his pkmn out that night after the storm blew over to cool off by battling, ran into a nasty gang of pkmn hustlers who wanted his Blaziken mighty bad and ended up dying in the resulting battle.

Nox is desperate to find a way to fix this, blaming himself. He does his loner thing for a while, maybe a year or two, searching for a pkmn that has the power to manipulate the past. He follows a sparse but definitive trail of rumors and evidence left by others who seek it as well, but instead of the pkmn he expected (Dialga), he runs into the Lake Trio. Through an empathetic connection they're able to comunicate, and they tell him they can help him turn back time and rescue his friend if he does something for them.

Which is how he ends up alone on a mountain top with a party of half dead pkmn facing down the shifting Giratina who is emerging from a temporal-gash in an attempt to wreak havoc on the world.

He survives - barely - and the Lake Trio take him to Dialga, who in gratitude to stopping Giratina shoots his being back into his younger self on the night Liam dies.

He saves Liam, things are fine, etc...except theyre not. Because, whatever happened during the battle with Giratina in the future, whatever effect that spacetime rift had, had left a mark on Nox but more importantly, seemed to have forged a connection between Nox & Giratina. He starts getting visions, being assaulted by emotions not his own, but most distressingly, he starts having vivid dreams of a rematch in his future.

When he sees the maps of the Hoenn region he reocgnizes an area from his dreams, so when they head to Hoenn he is prepared - Prius is with him, as always, but he also takes his Gengar with him, hidden in his shadow, and hides two locked pokeballs containing two more members of his team (Banette & Hydreigon) by surgically inserting them under the skin of his left arm himself. He's utterly convinced that he cannot out anyone else in danger so he's fully prepared to tackle this himself. Hes not even sure that the whole pkmn balls in his arm thing will work but it does.

And when they get to the area he recognizes, and while the others are distracted by what Team Aqua and Magma are trying to do and how to stop them, he slips away with Prius. The others look for him, only to arrive at the battle in time to see him getting sucked into the temporal rift, pulled into the Distortion World by Giratina.

Days, months, years pass - and Nox shows up again. All the more skittish, all the more worn out looking, quieter and more avoidant of people than he'd ever been before, with a strange looking pokeball on his belt that he never, ever touches and never talks about.

#pokemon #pokemon au #pkmn #i fucking loved this au and everyone in it

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shyrose57 · 3 years

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Snowchester:

A small commune on a snowy island, constantly surrounded by a raging blizzard. Though the town and it’s surrounding areas is fairly safe, to venture into the storm would surely mean death.

Because of it’s small size, it doesn’t possess much, but it’s enough for those who live within it. Where in a (not so) different time a mansion might’ve stood, now a large greenhouse dwells, acting as the main source of food, honey, herbs, and dyes.

Residents include Tubbo, Puffy, Jack, and the twins, Michael and Michelle.

Tubbo tends to the green house mainly, keeping it alive and healthy. Puffy is the resident fisher, often going out to sea and bringing back her catches for the commune, and Jack gathers resources such as wood and coal to keep everyone’s homes warm. The twins, young as they are, have no set responsibilities, and mainly help out with some minors chores before going off to play around town.

As Tubbo is mainly the one is town, he’s also typically the designated babysitter for the two energetic children, and usually the one they help out.

It’s a fairly simple place, all things considered. Everyone’s pretty close, and everyone does their part, and helps each other out.

Kinoko Kingdom:

A beautiful kingdom flush with nature. Though it does have a monarchy, it’s a very lax one, close with it’s people. They’re under the protection of the deity XD, who’s had a long-lasting close relationship with the royal family.

It’s a fairly peaceful place, sharing it’s space with many majestic magical beasts-ranging from mischievous fairies to a gentle dragon. It’s incredibly integrated into nature as well, with many of the buildings being grown from saplings and mushrooms to become the shelters they are now.

Some of it’s more well-known resident include Prince George, next-in-line for the throne, Karl, the sole librarian of Kinoko’s one and only library, Drista, High Judge of the court, and Sapnap, captain of the royal knights, and owner of Kinoko Dojo.

The library is a very popular place, holding many fantastic books, ranging from fantasy, to otherwise forgotten history. It has books from all over the world, on just about everything, all easy to find, and with lots of cozy places to settle down and read. Students are some of it’s most common visitors, happy to study in the area, and joke around with it’s librarian.

Karl has quite a few responsibilities because of this, but he enjoys it nonetheless, and is hardly short of hands to help if he needs it.

Sapnap uses his dojo mainly to train new recruits to the royal guards, but he takes other students as well. He’s also good friends with the local dragon, often found snoozing against it when he has the time.

George is the sole heir to the throne, but he’s not in any hurry to become king. He’s happy to wander among his subjects and enjoy his time before he’s running the kingdom. Especially close with XD, and spends a lot of time at Kinoko Church chatting with him.

The Syndicate:

A tough, battle-hardened community living in the cold tundra. Life isn’t easy in such a place, barren of life, and ripe with dangerous mobs, but these four fought to survive, and they’ve most certainly won.

It doesn’t consist of much on the surface, with resources being so few and mainly consisting of mob drops. However, the real site is underneath the earth. This community has repurposed and renovated an ancient stronghold as a living space, and spend the majority of their time down here when not on a hunt.

Residents are Phil, the scout, Niki, the organizer, and Techno and Ranboo, the hunters.

Though they all do technically have their own areas of expertise, they tend to kind of just blend them, and do whatever’s needed. They lend their skill where it’s needed, and support one another.

Both Ranboo and Techno have rooms directly connected to a library. Phil and Niki’s rooms are across from them, on the other side of the stronghold-there’s a secret passage that cuts through to the center of the stronghold on both sides, to get to each other quicker if needed.

Among their many rooms, they have an area for sick or young animals. It’s because they often end up taking in unwell or orphaned creatures-mainly polar bears, but there’s been a few foxes, and once an endermen.

The Badlands:

A powerful and dangerous nation stretching over several biomes. Despite it’s name, it’s a pretty prosperous place, who’s few citizens live comfortably under their council’s protection.

It does spawn a large amount of mobs though near the edges, where it’s otherwise completely barren of life. Some say if you wonder too close to the towering thorn barriers that mark it’s borders, you’ll become one of the monsters guarding it.

Some of it’s notable residents include Bad and Sam, head council members, Skeppy, a cavern guide, and Ant, owner of a thriving animal sanctuary.

Everyone kind of just does their own thing, with a few occupations that connect them.

Bad and Sam are constantly on the move, with Bad working around the borders to deal with the mobs, and Sam towards the inner area, to make sure things continue to run smoothly. They really only meet up when there’s a council meeting, but are pretty good friends.

Skeppy’s pretty sought after for jobs, seeing as a lot of mining is done in the Badlands to produce armor and weapons, and he’s easily able to keep a group out of danger by reading the area.

Ant doesn’t carry as many weapons as most people do, as it can spook the animals. It’s not too much of a concern for him though, considering said animals are very much capable and willing to tear someone apart if they try something, and mobs are kill on sight.

#To Rediscover The Once Worn Roads AU #dream smp #dream smp au

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