#There'll be more explanations of what's going on in later entries

[michaelmilligan]

Endversetober Day One: Run

(explanation post) (compilation post)

Adam ran.

While he'd never been very interested in running, or sports in general, it turned out he was kind of good at it. At least given the right motivation.

Being chased by zombies was a pretty solid motivation, it turned out.

When you said that the world was in a 'complicated state', he said, purely in his head, because he needed his freaking breath to keep running.

YES? The being in his head answered idly, but loudly. (Which seemed to be the only volume he had available.) It still made Adam jump every time he talked. Every time the blue hot molasses of archangel moved inside of him, stirred next to his... mind? Soul?

Because apparently souls existed, like, for real. And angels and God and all of that were real, too.

Why, then, were there fucking zombies coming after him?

I didn't exactly picture this, Adam said as he broke through a treeline. And came to a grinding halt as he spotted even more zombies ahead of him. Ah, fuck.

He winced when he realized that particular thought had been sent to the archangel in his head, but Michael only reacted with mild interest.

WHY ARE YOU EVEN RUNNING? he asked.

So I don't get eaten by freaking zombies. Again.

AGAIN? Michael echoed, but the matter of how Adam had died took a backseat as the zombies advanced on them. GIVE ME THE BODY.

Wha- Before Adam could consciously move away – however that even worked, giving up control of your body – Michael pushed into the driver's seat.

For a moment, everything went black, Adam being cut off from the senses of his own body. Then, when he was oriented enough to look again, the zombies were all dead.

Well, deader than before. Actually unmoving now.

Wait, you can do that? Adam asked incredulously.

I'M AN ARCHANGEL. DID YOU REALLY THINK A FEW SLOBBERING, CORRUPTED HUMANS COULD HURT ME?

Then why did you let me run from them for ten minutes?! Maybe it was inappropriate to blow up in an angel's face – mind? – like this, but Adam had really been toyed with and eaten alive by gruesome monsters  more than enough.

IT WAS HARDLY EVEN FIVE MINUTES, Michael just said. I SUPPOSE I NEVER SHOULD HAVE LET YOU TAKE OVER THE BODY IN THE FIRST PLACE.

No no no, that part isn't the issue!

Honestly, Adam had no great desire to pilot the body when there was apparently a zombie apocalypse going on, but he also didn't want to be trapped in the back of his own mind, stuck just watching said apocalypse play out.

Which was funny, he supposed, because he had said yes to helping with the whole actual apocalypse business. Like, end of the world, ushering in paradise, all that good stuff, apocalypse.

Is this what brings about paradise? he asked cautiously. Zombies eating everyone's brains?

Sure, he'd never expected the end of the world to be filled with rainbows and unicorns, but this... this seemed off, somehow. Weren't plagues only sent by God as punishments?

THEY DON'T EAT BRAINS, AS FAR AS I KNOW, Michael said cagily as he manoeuvred Adam's body over some debris.

Whatever had happened in this town, it hadn't been pretty, judging from the thrashed store-fronts and the partially crumbled buildings all around them. There were bodies, too, and Adam felt the urge to check them for life signs, to see if there were any survivors. But his body currently wasn't his, and besides – what if those people did stand up again, and tried to take a bite out of him?

Out of them. They were two now, a human and an archangel sharing the same body.

Weird times apparently called for weird measures, or whatever.

What are we doing in the middle of the hot zone, anyway? Adam asked for probably the third time. But it wasn't his fault that Michael was bad at giving straight answers, or that Adam was anxious as hell over everything that was going on down here.

When they'd entered the fenced-in zone, he had asked Michael about radioactivity. He'd just said that Adam didn't need to worry about that.

He hadn't exactly told him what to worry about instead.

Which were apparently freaking zombies.

Michael gave something like a sigh. It was admittedly difficult to interpret an archangel's thoughts, the flood of images, sounds and colours always overwhelming. But Adam was pretty sure that the strong gust of wind that almost mentally knocked him over was a sigh.

AS I ALREADY TOLD YOU, WE'RE LOOKING FOR MY LANCE. AND GABRIEL WAS LAST SEEN IN THIS AREA.

And Gabriel is the guy who nicked your lance?

A wave of something else overwhelming crashed against Adam, like the tide throwing him over, then pulling him under.

Holy moly. Was that amusement?

YES, THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL IS THE 'GUY' WHO STOLE IT, Michael said.

Right. Of course it was another archangel they were talking about. Because what even was Adam's life. (After-life? Second life?)

Why did he take it?

HM?

Why did another angel take your lance?

I'M NOT SURE. POSSIBLY SPITE. Michael stopped in front of a building, sizing it up and down with Adam's eyes for a moment before ducking inside.

Angels can feel spite? Adam asked, astonished. This didn't line up with what Pastor Joe had been preaching him. Aren't angels supposed to be perfect beings?

WE ARE, Michael said, but only after a pause.

But there's infighting?

GABRIEL IS... WELL, HE RAN AWAY AND FAKED HIS OWN DEATH. THAT SHOULD TELL YOU EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW.

He what??

IT WAS ALL VERY DRAMATIC. Another Adam-was-pretty-sure-it-was-a-sigh. HE'S ALWAYS BEEN PRONE TO SUCH ANTICS.

Huh. Since when have you guys known each other? Adam asked as they climbed some stairs. He wasn't sure if Michael thought the lance was here, or if he was just looking for a good vantage point or something, but he didn't question it.

SINCE THE BEGINNING OF TIME. When they came upon a hole in the steps that was too big to jump over, Michael stopped again. It looked like something had fallen through the steps – oh, yeah, the piano that was lying crushed on the ground floor could have been the culprit.

Adam would have wondered how he could even see that from all the way up here, but the casualness with which Michael had mentioned the beginning of time had thrown him for a bit of a loop.

Oh, right. Yeah. Of course two archangels had known each other forever. What had Adam been thinking?

There was a sudden lurch, as if their body was violently thrown through space and time and any other dimension that existed, and then they were suddenly standing on the other side of the hole in the stairs.

What the fuck was that? Adam asked when he'd caught his metaphorical breath again.

HM? Michael just made, continuing his trek upwards.

That... how did you... the hole...

I FLEW OVER IT.

That was flying?!

YES.

They'd arrived at the top of the stairs, and Michael pushed open a security door that had somehow survived whatever had wrecked the rest of this place. It creaked pitifully for a moment until it popped off its hinges and fell, with a slightly comical delay, forwards onto the roof.

It was a flat roof with a low wall surrounding it, made out of the same grey material as the rest of the building. Adam's grandfather would have thrown a fit over this, ranting about accumulating rain water and snow.

HM, Michael made again, but this time not at Adam.

At least Adam was pretty sure of that.

What is it? he asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

I DON'T THINK GABRIEL IS IN THIS TOWN ANYMORE.

How do you know?

HIS TRAIL ENDS HERE. Michael stepped closer to the edge of the roof, letting Adam's eyes roam the surrounding buildings.

Wait, you're tracking him? How?

I HAVE MY WAYS.

Adam sighed. Mentally. It wasn't like he had control of his lungs right now.

He wasn't even sure if Michael was using his lungs, if they were breathing at all.

Got it. The archangel Michael works in mysterious ways.

THEY'RE NOT VERY MYSTERIOUS, I JUST DON'T THINK YOU'D UNDERSTAND, Michael said easily.

Wow. Rude. Adam scowled (again, mentally), then quickly added: I mean, you're probably right. But still rude.

Another wave of amusement hit him, throwing him off balance. By the time he was oriented again, they had already flown somewhere else.

#Day One!!!! #Starting off with some pre-relationship Midam #There'll be more explanations of what's going on in later entries #Endversetober #Midam #Quick writing

[tehuti88-art]

1/19/24: r/SketchDaily theme, "Free Draw Friday." This week's character from my anthro WWII storyline is Gunnery Sergeant Evans (first name never given). He appears early in the story and uses some unusual means to help the new battalion get off the ground. There'll be more about him later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se.

TUMBLR EDIT: I believe I shared a bit about Evans in Sgt. Irene Beaudry's entry. I don't know a lot about his background as he's only meant to appear in the first part of Genesis, chronologically the first part of the main story (though for some unexplained reason, it's presented second). Corporal Drake's role in the story has grown a bit more nuanced--he deals with various instances of passive (well...mostly) antisemitism (his very entry to the story is when the military truck Sergeant Camo is riding in forces his motorcycle off the road as a "joke")--so I imagine Evans playing more of a role in this fashion, as he secretly develops an attraction to Drake. He likely attempts to intervene yet is prevented from doing much by Drake himself, who insists that he just back off and let things be: "Speak up, and it only makes things worse," he snaps.

Evans, at a loss, decides to focus instead on helping get Camo's idea for the First Battalion off the ground. Almost nobody in a position to do anything is interested in doing so, not even when Drake presents circumstantial evidence of what the Nazi Party is actually up to, and it's a lot worse than they'd thought. The prevailing attitude is "Well, it's not our problem." Camo and Drake are near-opposites in their worldviews--Camo is the idealist hoping for the best, Drake is the realist preparing for the worst--so in an odd way they complement each other, and Evans realizes that the two of them working together is the best way to get things going. He attempts to act as a mediator, as the two do not get along well at first (Drake mistakenly believes Camo was involved in the incident with the military truck, when in fact he didn't fully understand what was happening at the time, and once he did find out he lambasted the driver for endangering everyone's lives); he also tries finding ways to convince higher-ups to greenlight the Trench Rats project.

I don't know if he or Camo is the one behind it, but a skilled surgeon, who later receives the codename Burgundy (I have yet to determine how the characters are referred to before they're recruited, so MAYBE they deal with these names before the battalion is even formed?--unsure), agrees to join the battalion only under the condition that he not be placed in a senior leadership position--a rather awkward condition, given that he's a second lieutenant, whereas Camo and Drake are a sergeant and corporal. (This was my attempt to retcon an explanation why a lieutenant would defer to people of lower ranks.) Evans may have a hand in convincing the famously inhospitable Burgundy to lend his services as part of a team.

He also approaches Sgt. Irene Beaudry to ask for her aid interceding with authorities; her position in all this isn't clear to me, but she's in a sort of assistant position, and can be very persuasive. She agrees to put forward Evans's case in the best light possible...if he'll come back to her place for the night. Evans finally hesitates and wonders if this trouble is worth it: He's in the closet, and isn't attracted to Beaudry at all. He also wonders if she plans to blackmail him if he refuses. So his reasons for going along likely aren't 100% altruistic, though his main motivation is helping out Drake, and he steels himself for the possibility of losing his job no matter what he does. He agrees to pass one night with Beaudry. Beaudry afterward holds up her end of the bargain and presents to her superiors Evans's argument for forming the battalion to send to Germany not only to rescue the captured American soldiers, but to spy on the Nazis; she also doesn't blackmail him. She may have a skeezy approach to sex, but is otherwise known to keep her word. Evans is squicked out by the entire experience but decides one especially uncomfortable night is worth helping Camo and Drake realize their goal.

Evans realizes he and Drake stand no chance being together. Throughout most of his part in the story, in fact, he's pretty sure Drake doesn't even like him. He accepts this, even though as time goes on Drake's icy demeanor thaws somewhat and there are subtle hints that Evans's feelings are cautiously reciprocated. The Trench Rats are formed and they get their order to ship out before anything can come of it. Before Drake leaves, however, Evans does summon up the nerve to abruptly kiss him; Drake is too surprised to do anything, though when Evans pulls away, they're both flustered, and not unpleasantly so. "Good luck," Evans blurts out, and "Thank you," Drake manages to say, and they part ways for the last time.

Obviously, Evans and Drake do not end up as a couple; Drake gets involved with French partisan Papillon while in Germany, and reunites with him following his captivity by the Nazis. He's badly traumatized by his experiences, but Papillon promises to stand by him no matter what and help however he can. Following the war, he invites Drake to return to France with him, and Drake accepts. In the United States, Evans is kept informed of what becomes of all the Trench Rats, including Drake, so he has no cause to wonder what happened to him; I imagine he feels rather wistful about what could have been, but wasn't. Just as before, however, he accepts this.

I haven't really explored Evans's post-war life, though I have reason to think he doesn't end up alone. A scenario started forming in my head of him briefly encountering another military person--possibly Navy--who offers him a friendly smile that makes him wonder; when they have reason to run into each other again, the other man's banter leads him to suspect he's interested in him. The only other time this happened was with Drake, and that never got the chance to go far, so Evans is really not good at figuring out how this works. When the sailor finally invites Evans to join him for a drink at a particular bar, that's about as clear a message as he can get, and he tentatively agrees. Upon arriving at the bar he notices there are no women there, only men, and that at last makes the situation crystal clear. He pushes down his nervousness and the two of them share drinks and have a long, pleasant talk. On the way out, the sailor kisses him, and it's nice, though Evans isn't really ready to do anything else just yet. He flushes and averts his eyes afterward, stumbling over an excuse to head home alone; the sailor smiles again and gives a soft laugh and says it's fine: "No hurry. We can go however slow you want."

Evans lets out his breath; it's amazing how just a few words can settle nerves. Still, "I think I'd like drinks again, sometime," he says, then manages to add, "And maybe we see where it goes from there." He briefly worries that he's doing it wrong, yet the other man merely smiles wider, and nods, and Evans feels pleasantly flustered just like all those years ago, after a different kiss.

[Evans 2024 [‎Friday, ‎January ‎19, ‎2024, ‏‎12:00:15 AM]]

#artists on tumblr #ibisPaint x #SketchDaily #original characters