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wynnyfryd · 7 months

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Trailer Park Steve AU part 3

part 1 | part 2

(tw: guns, accidental death)

Robin’s already in full panic mode by the time Steve pulls up to her place, flinging the passenger door open and throwing herself into the car with so much force that the car bounces on its wheels a little. “Drive!!”

“Jesus Christ, good morning to you, too.”

“Steve!”

Steve starts to drive.

Beside him, Robin flips the visor down to look at her reflection; groans and scrubs her hands down her face in misery at whatever she sees. Steve doesn’t really get it. He thinks she looks beautiful, with her hair gently moving in the breeze from the open window, with her freckles lit up by the early morning sun.

“Ugh,” she says, turning to look at him, “I can’t believe I look like a zombie and you’re gonna make me late to the first day of school.”

“Wow.” Fuckin’ ingrate. And when he was just being so nice to her in his head. “How about a thank you, huh? ‘Thanks for picking me up, Steve. Thanks for bringing my backpack, Steve. Sorry you almost got shanked by your neighbor, Steve.’”

“You what???”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Um, yes it very much does matter, what the—”

“—I’m just saying, a little gratitude? Wouldn’t hurt you.”

He licks at the corner of his mouth, spritzes wiper fluid to clear the bugs off the windshield. Robin’s eyes are bulging out of her head, but he really doesn’t want to talk about how he still feels the ghost press of steel against his throat, so: “You’re not even right, by the way; I don’t know why you’re complaining.”

“Huh?”

“School started yesterday. I’m making you late for the second day of school.”

“Yesss,” she draws the word out like he’s stupid, rolling her wrist in a hurry up and get it motion, “but everyone knows that syllabus day doesn’t count. The first pep rally is the real first day of school.”

Ah, there it is.

Steve steals another peek at his best friend while they’re on a straightaway, notes the nervous twitch of her hands as she goes back to fussing at her reflection; the way she’s clumping her lashes together with seven coats too many of some drugstore brand mascara. She’s wearing lipstick. “This is about Vick—”

“—Don’t talk about—”

“—It’s about Vickie, isn’t it?”

“Ughhhhh.” Robin folds forward and thunks her head against the dash. “Fine, okay? Fine! Yes! This may have something to do with a distressingly cute fellow marching band member. Are you happy now?”

“Ecstatic.”

“Oooh, big word for you, Steven.” She swats him on the shoulder, face all twisted up in offense. “Stop laughing!”

“Stop hitting me,” he laughs. “I’ll dump your ass out on this highway.”

She gasps and narrows her eyes at him. “You wouldn’t.”

Steve eases his foot onto the brake.

“Okay, okay! Mercy! I’m being an asshole, alright? I’m sorry. I’m just— I’m stressed! Being gay is very stressful.”

The knife incident pops back into his mind. “Yeah,” he mutters, “I imagine it is.”

—

He catches himself slouching down into his seat a bit when they pull up to the school. Has to force himself to sit upright, hears his mother’s tutting in his ear about bad posture and the message it projects to the world.

It’s not that he’s embarrassed to be here; really, he isn’t. He’s just hoping to avoid being spotted by the nuggets now that they go here, too, lest he be accosted for evading his chauffeur duties.

God.

Dustin’s nerd shit is infecting his brain.

Robin grabs her bag out of the back seat, plants a parting peck on Steve’s cheek as she gets out of the car. “See you later?”

“Yeah, I’ll pick you up for work.”

“Love you, dingus.”

And then he’s alone again.

With Robin gone, Steve finds himself driving. Wandering and aimless, like a ghost who doesn’t know he’s gone. It’s not like he has nothing to do — he’s supposed to be out finding a second job, finding a way to support himself and his mom, because he’s the man of the house now. Because his life has turned into one of those shitty, overcomplicated word problems from math class.

If a recently widowed mother works no hours and her minimum-wage son works as many as Family Video will allow, how much mold-riddled dogshit housing can they afford?

Not much.

Inevitably, he finds himself circling the scorched bones of Starcourt, driving tired loops around the barbed wire perimeter. His ghost likes to guide him here; can’t shake the place where he shook off the mortal coil.

He didn’t know it at the time, but Steve Harrington died the day the mall burned down. Embarrassing, to not hear the death knell as his family name went up in smoke.

It was hard to hear much at all that night, between the concussion and the fireworks and the shrieking of a monster being torn apart, but the memory caresses his mind now in cruel whispers: the headrush of victory; the blood and the sweat; the relief that they’d won, they’d done it, it’s over, they won.

Steve tugs at his bad ear ‘til the ringing subsides.

Some fucking grand prize.

The thing is, you can’t go around exploding an eldritch horror without alerting the US government, and the US government can’t go around letting major investors in a hostile commie invasion keep their assets once they find out about their treasonous schemes. It happened fast: the arrest, the bail, the impending trial and the seizure of property. Richard Harrington was once a small town god on an invisible throne, making deals with devils in shadowy boardrooms, and suddenly he was looking at life in a cell.

Maybe it was a blessing he died before his reckoning was due. Maybe it was no accident at all.

The second, and perhaps more important, thing is: stray bullets don’t care about your looming court date.

Dad had a habit of cleaning his guns while he was drunk, nursing a whiskey in one hand while he polished the gleaming barrels with the other. Pointless, really, because the guns were always pristine to begin with. Dick Harrington didn’t hunt. Didn’t shoot. Claimed the pistol was for home defense, that he kept it loaded in case anyone ever tried to hurt his family, but Steve knew the truth.

His dad just liked to flirt with death. Liked to handle pretty, deadly things, stroke his fingers over ruthless metal and feel the rush of power when he walked away unscathed.

He didn’t walk away that night.

Didn’t even face death standing.

Sliced through his femoral artery and rolled right out of his chair.

They found him lying on the ground in a dark, sticky puddle, gasping like a fish as blood spurted from his thigh. Crazy how fast it happened. Steve had been in his room when the shot rang out, and he barely managed to reach the bottom of the stairs before the gurgling noises stopped. Just boom! whizz! bang! and Dick Harrington was gone.

Maybe it’s a good thing, too, that they lost the house.

The image of his mother in the hallway that night — shellshocked in the doorway, one pale hand shaking in front of her open mouth, features wide and wet with waking horror as she stared into the room — was enough to make him never want to step foot in the place again.

So now they live in a rundown piece of shit on the wrong side of town, with hideous burnt orange carpet and wood paneled walls, with cracks in the ceiling and cigarette burns in the walls, some parting gifts from whatever feral hick lived there before them, and it feels like another cruel, cosmic joke. Like the universe is delighting in the Harringtons’ comeuppance; like the blackened beams and brick rubble of Starcourt are all twisting to form one great, mocking mouth; the better to smile and laugh at their misfortune.

You bought your bed, now you have to lie in it.

He didn’t even know that the Harringtons owned Forest Hills until it was the only asset left to their name.

He’s pretty sure his dad bought it more as a joke than a genuine investment. Meant to teach Steve a lesson, like how he used to bring home Waffle House applications whenever Steve got a C on a report card. This is your future if you don’t straighten up, son.

Kill yourself, dad.

Oh, wait.

You already did.

—

part 4

#trailer park steve au #steve harrington #robin buckley #platonic stobin #eddie munson #steddie #steddie fic #my writing #my fic #tw: guns #tw: death

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grimsbane · 8 months

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Character sheets from my South Park Death Reset Au comic on TikTok. More below cut.

This is kind of just where everyone is at the beginning of the story.

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lazarus-spau · 3 months

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notes: The prologue takes place 2 years before the main story, hence Kenny having no piercings and a rat-tail.

There's still no schedule for when these come out. It's just gonna be whenever I get a good chunk done.

FIRST | NEXT

#kenny mccormick #south park au #south park #lazarus spau #lazarus south park au #south park au comic #south park comic #south park fanart #tw blood #tw eye contact #tw death

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nymphacae · 1 year

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it’s only gonna eat you

The second one is a trainwreck min playlist cover, all about Him! Wow! You can listen to it here

#my art #infinity train #trainwreck au #min gi park #ryan akagi #rymin #fun fact! all the plants shown here are parasitic #cuscuta (the buds on Ryan’s arms) leech off other plants for their resources #rafflesia are those big ol Corpse Flowers that infamously smell like death #they penetrate the roots to cause infection #the main flower in the second one is an applegates paintbrush #it’s HALF parasitic! it can live on its own if it so pleases #the more you know! follow for more botanical facts n symbolism #ig the only Nontoxic thing here is the rotting citrus tree but like. no one wants to eat that shit

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plugnuts · 1 year

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BNHA AU Main Five

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fynn-arcana · 2 months

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Chapter 8, My Darlings

Wow. I've been writing this AU for about a month now. My doc is currently at 100+ pages, and we're almost to 50k words. Thank you to everyone who's been a faithful reader of my project, your support means so much!!

Chapter 8 is a long one; I had a lot to set up and a lot to reveal, so the length was needed. I had a lot of fun writing this one, so I hope you have a lot of fun reading. :)

Plus, could it be...? Hints of Lumity??

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aerknight · 1 year

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hmm... sounded like a promise to me 🤔 for you~! @naffeclipse

#cryptid sightings #cryptid sightings spoilers #fnaf au #demon raptor #paints as messy as possibe #i had to look up blood splatter patterns for this #gore #blood #rip lambert #got shook to death like a dog toy true Jurassic park style

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lena-in-a-red-dress · 2 months

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Last night while scrolling tiktok half asleep, I saw a video of some girl claiming that Zara's death in Jurassic World was as gruesome as it was because a) it was originally to be multiple attacks across several different people, and b) Katie McGrath suggested it all be Zara, and that she volunteered to do all the stunts.

Has this been independently verified? Didn't even sound like she pronounced Katie's name right, so I'm thinking it might be bogus to fill timelines and get views, but I'm now curious.

To be fair, I'm sure KMG would have absolutely volunteered for stunts-- I just don't know if she's the one to make that creative decision.

And, that said, even if it is true, it doesn't change the fact that the sequence puts me off from ever rewatching it, so... maybe the powers that be should have put their foot down.

#jurassic world #zara young #senseless death regardless of who made the decision #i stand by my aus where zara survives and helps the kids with her insider's park knowledge #would have been much more compelling

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soda-p0p-sauce · 2 months

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Ok, Genshin AU, hear me out-

Benny’s bad luck taken to the max. He’s constantly dying, but no one remembers- basically just Bennett with a Kenny from South Park situation happening.

During that one Event where he fell off the cliff and Albedo went after him? Dead. Random instances of monster run-ins? Dead. Rock thrown at him really hard? Dead. When he was first found in that cave unscathed? Dead.

Maybe have a few people remember- like descenders or archons. Maybe the Hexenzirkl. It could be an Irminsul thing, but the finer details of why are kinda minimal to the concept in practice and can be customized.

This could especially work well with the theory that Venti is the god of death.

#genshin venti #venti #god of death venti #genshin impact #genshin #genshin au #bennett genshin impact #bennett gi #albedo #albedo genshin impact #au #crack au #kenny mccormick #kenny south park #south park #if you write a fic based on this idea #please credit or tag me :)#id love to see it

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everythingwasnormalhere · 1 month

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Death Park Characters

(this list will be updated as more details are thought)

AU explanation here Groups explanation here

This isn't the actual list, just for me to understand my thought process- but still, these would be this au's characters :3

Hybrids:

Hyreix: Eric Cartman (Raccoon) Clyde Donovan (Mosquito) Jimmy Valmer (Parrot) Bebe Stevens (Bee) Red McArthur (Fox) Nichole Daniels (Rat) Scott Malkinson (ANIMAL NOT THOUGHT - TAKING SUGGESTIONS) · OCs: Mick Cruz (@jio-1dollar's OC - Hyena) Moss Radmoore (my OC - Red Panda)

Other: Tweek Tweak (Monkey) Leopold "Butters" Stotch (Rabbit) Stan Marsh (Hamster) Karen McCormick (Bear)

Dead: Pip Pirrup (Ferret) · OCs: Billy Burch (ANIMAL NOT THOUGHT - TAKING SUGGESTIONS)

Humans:

Hyreix: Timmy Burch (Experiment)

HLF: Kyle Brovlofski Wendy Testaburger Ike Brovlofski Tolkien Black Bradley Biggle Heidi Turner · OCs: Nirami (@angelheavenly's OC (does she have a last name? if not, can I make her one?)) Jade Turner

Other: Kenny McCormick Craig Tucker Scott Tenorman

Dead: · OCs: Sybil Wilson (my OC)

Still accepting any OCs, both as humans and as hybrids!! If you want your OC to appear in a comic, this is your chance :3

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radioactivepeasant · 5 months

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Fic Prompts: Free Day Thursday

(Picks up where Viper left off)

"You know you've got like a whole bucket of cactus paddles down there?"

Jak sauntered back into the throne room from the hidden door and tossed Damas a sealed bag of roasted crickets.

"I should hope it's a full bucket, considering I picked those this morning."

Damas pulled out one of the cooked insects, plucked off the legs, and popped the rest into his mouth.

"You don't eat the legs?"

Jak draped himself over the edge of the throne to snatch a handful of crickets from the bag.

"They get stuck in my teeth," Damas complained, "I save them for my birds."

Daxter snickered. "Even Pecker?"

"If Pecker doesn't like the food, he's free to fly back to Onin," replied the king with an almost mischievous look.

"Oye, you didn't mess with anything in the kitchens, did you? The head cook is...tetchy."

"She's a miserable old cuss and she threw a knife at me," Jak said indignantly.

"She throws knives at everyone. You're lucky it was only a knife."

Around another mouthful of crickets, Jak made an appalled expression. "What else does she throw?!"

Damas grimaced and rubbed his forehead as if remembering an old injury. "Whatever is closest. Pans. Porridge. Whole onions. Cactus paddles with the spines still on."

Daxter started to come closer, but glanced at the dead snake still decorating the dais and thought better of it. "Hey, Jak doesn't need to go to the kitchens to experience that! All he has to do is get distracted while on the Leaper again and he'll have a mouth full of prickly-pear!"

"That wasn't my fault!" Jak protested hotly.

Damas raised a brow. "Oh? I hadn't heard about this one."

Hoping to avoid retelling the story, Jak quickly changed the subject.

"Wait, can you actually eat cactus?" he demanded.

He moved to sit cross-legged directly in front of the throne, and began examining the viper's mouth to get an idea of how to harvest the fangs later. Absentmindedly, he reached a hand back behind him, and was too deep in focus mode to register that this wasn't Daxter or Keira he was non-verbally bumming snacks off of. Nonetheless, Damas made a goodnatured scoff and placed several more crickets in his hand.

"You can eat specific kinds of cactus," Damas clarified. By the emphasis he placed on "specific", it was fairly obvious he was anticipating Jak trying to eat random cacti in town.

"Only the ones with the paddles like you saw, understand?"

"Sure, sure." Jak brushed this off. "But what do you make with them, though?"

Damas inspected the bag of crickets and sealed it back up to ensure that they would have some snacks during the coming meetings. "You use them for just about anything you need a vegetable for, honestly. I tend to grill them with lemon. Some people boil them for salads. Sig's mother is known in the East Quarter for frying it in batter and selling it in little cups."

"Ooh! We still haven't met Sig's ma!" Daxter chirped. He grinned wickedly. "We should ask her about Sig's embarrassing baby stories."

"She has no shortage of them," Damas agreed.

Daxter glanced back at Jak, happily munching crickets, and shuddered.

"On a scale of one to "Jak eats things raw if he can't figure out how to cook them", how hard is it to cook?"

Jak looked insulted. Damas snorted.

"After the afternoon appointments, I'll teach you one of the simpler methods. You won't need much- Jak, don't touch the fangs. We still need the evidence intact."

"I was just looking!" Jak defended.

"With your hands?"

With a gusty sigh, the teenager scooted back to the right of Damas’s seat. He looked a little cross, but it faded soon enough.

"What appointments do you have, anyway?"

Damas stood up to stretch. Precursors knew he wouldn't get a chance in the next few hours.

"Third bell after noon through fifth bell is reserved for Arbitration Court," he said. "Which is why I do not usually call you during those hours. My job as king is to uphold the safety of my people, ensure the continued functioning of the Beacon and the water filtration system, mediate disputes not serious enough for the Arena, and enforce laws agreed upon by myself and my council."

Jak made a face. "That sounds like a lot of being stuck inside."

Dryly, Damas asked, "Why do you think I planted an entire grove of date palms in here? I would have died of boredom years ago if I did not."

He turned to fix both boys with a stern look.

"Out of respect for your fellow Spargans, try not to fidget during Arbitration Court unless you notice something suspicious. After five is a monthly meeting with the northern clifftop farmers to discuss rent payments."

"You rent farmland?"

"They rent from me," corrected Damas. "I didn't clear boulders until my hands bled just to abandon my land when I became king."

Jak blinked. "Fair enough. Man, we should've charged Sandover rent, Dax."

"Pal, they thought we owed them compensation for being allowed to sleep on their porches and eat a bare minimum of their food," Daxter pointed out sourly.

He caught a troubled frown on Damas’s face after the statement.

"Hm. I would like your attention to be on the visitors most during the rent meeting and the council meeting after evening meal. If anyone has a problem with me, specifically, that's likely where they'll turn up."

Jak eyed the snake again. "And if they blow their cover, I get to take 'em out, right?"

"No." Damas narrowed his eyes and pointed at Jak as he sat down again. "I need to determine how far the plot goes. No killing the assassin or accomplices."

"What about after?" Jak pressed.

"I'm the aggrieved party, I'm the one who deals with them," Damas said in mild reproof.

Jak folded his arms. "I dunno, we're feeling pretty aggrieved, right Daxter?"

"Positively outraged," Daxter added, sounding more bored than offended. "More Jak than me, but he's the sensitive type. You know him."

"Yes," Damas said, shaking his head with a small smile, "Yes I do. The answer is still "no", Jak."

Jak huffed and settled more comfortably against the throne. "You never let me do anything fun," he joked.

"I don't, I really don't." Damas reached over to prod the back of Jak's head affectionately.

"I'm a horrible, mean, adult who only lets you risk life and limb four days out of the week instead of every three hours."

"The folks in Haven would think that was the worst kind of tyranny, not being able to make us do all their work for them," Daxter scoffed.

The lift began to rattle, and Damas cleared his throat.

"Well, back to work. Eyes open, my boys. Let us see if we can't catch a would-be assassin. Jak, don't touch the fangs."

"I wasn't!" Jak protested.

Neither of his companions looked convinced.

#fic prompts #writing prompts #jak and daxter #dadmas #king damas #jak and daxter au #free day thursday #long post #welcome to adult supervision Jak #never had roasted cricket but as long as it didn't gave the head I'd try it #i guess i should give the viper oneshot a tag now that its not a oneshot anymore #its an au where Damas is subtly coaching Jak to be his successor so maybe that could have something to do with the name?#or maybe I'll just stick to Viper au #Jak has impulse problems but in his defense i would also be poking a dead viper with a stick #tw animal death #said animal went down in self defense i grant you but I'm actually rather fond of snakes so the warning stays #we'll just say this particular snake was a Known Problem to the wider Snake Community #it probably double parked in snake parking lots and tried to make all its old highschool peers join snake mlms #rip random fictional snake: you shall be hissed #viper au

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south-park-dimensions · 9 months

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Start | Previous | Next

(Originally the big panel here was going to have text maybe, but blank felt more appropriate-)

(Aaand added a new page to Patreon yesterday btw)

Patreon | Redbubble | Commissions | Ko-Fi

#south park #sp tfbw #sp kyle #sp butters stotch #sp kyle broflovski #sp butters #sp professor chaos #sp human kite #sp dougie o’connel #sp general disarray #south park dimensions #south park au #sp au #digital art #procreate #sp phone destroyer #comic #tw death

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spotsupstuff · 8 months

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Does Boreas like listening to music?

i mean...

depends, really

after the Mass Ascension, he's cursed by all those devices randomly going off all over him. fun fact! "Walk Like a Man" by Frankie Valli is in the Eo playlist Specifically cuz it's the sort of music that often plays in this case. it's annoying, gives B headaches and he's just overall tired. doesn't help that he usually can' find the things

but anyway; before all that he still didn't normally listen to music by himself. he just doesn't see a point in it (as a person and also as a Gen 1- just like Moon, Boreas can't really understand feelings communicated by art forms. neither does Zephyr, Orion, Spore, Gem n so on)

but! Sparrows used to hang out with him for a few hours each time before she went to Zephyr to plan out repairs and resources/parts offered and made by Boreas. and well, after she married Euros and the whole Rot situation passed, she was able to just kick back and chill with Boreas like with proper family member. which means that she played him some of her music, since she's a music gal

despite his lack of ability to really understand it, he did secretly like these music hang outs Sparrows started and learned to quietly enthusastically await them. they had quite a few Talks™ during them (and eventually they resulted in Sparrows teaching him how to sing)

he ALSO has Euros for a brother (/son son sonny boy) so he didn't have much of choice but to listen to His music too. n then Haboob and Notos came by too and Euros was immediately like "oh i know what to do. girls girls girls!!! c'mon and let's harmonize. one and two one and two!" while on call with B and there it went. n then "Boreaaaaassss!!! BOREAS!!!!!!! come on, join us!!! we need a bass singer in here! your voice is deeper than the goddamn Void Sea get in here."

#spot says stuff #rw #oc tag #Sparrows n Boreas canonically bond quite a bit post Euros' first Rot. like they actively liked (loved 👁👁) each other. her eventual-#-natural death hit B in the feels hard too even if he pretended it didnt. this closeness makes his initial reaction to Tarrows in the post-#-MA off string au that much more hurtful to her cuz like. she knew he appreciated her. she knew she was family to him. they listened to so-#-so so many tunes together Sparrows cuddled up to him or under his chlamys cuz his chamber is cold and now shes back and hes so...#so... as if she was just some different ancient. yanno one of those he wanted to commit genocide to n all that like fucked up #they listen to Heavy by Linkin Park together in one life time and in the other she cant sleep because she cant be sure if he wont snap-#-her neck when she closes her eyes. hell.

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gaystan · 1 year

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old woman kyle would also be obsessed with skincare and goes to sleep in one of those awful moisturizing face masks and she owns one of these. stan is seriously considering asking if they could sleep in different rooms for a while

#kyle broflovski #college lesbian style au #south park #stan loves her wife to DEATH but she keeps waking up in the middle of the night thinking there’s a ghost

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softquietsteadylove · 10 days

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If you have the muse for it, could we maybe get a circus au or life interrupted update? Missing those two lately! Thank you!!! 😘

"Gil?...Gil!"

"Huh?" he turned, ruffling his hair with his free hand. "Uh, s-sorry, what were you saying?"

But his friend just frowned, "you sure you're okay? I know you're a doc to the animals, but are you really qualified to diagnose yourself?"

Gil subconsciously shifted his arm in his sling. He was no expert, but he did know how to reset a shoulder. Granted, it was because of getting into fights in his school days, but still. "Yeah, it'll be fine, really."

He shrugged, picking up some of the coiled ropes, "y'know you can take it easy if you want. We can finish setting things up for tonight."

Gil nodded, looking around them. Technically, all he did was light stuff to help out here and there. He wasn't really a regular crewman. But he had hung around all morning on the excuse of checking on the animals and helping out wherever his one good hand could help. "You, uh, seen Thena yet?"

He heard a few quiet chuckles and blushed; everyone knew why he was hanging around. He was eagerly and desperately trying to get even a glimpse of Thena. He hadn't seen her since the night she had admonished Kro - and her beast of a husband had dragged her away by the arm - and he was going nuts.

Of course, no one else knew that she had kissed him, either.

He was lying awake at night! And part of it was the pain, but another part was thinking about how she had leaned in and kissed him. It wasn't just a mistake of a peck, either, it was a real kiss. He could feel how she meant it, no matter what that really meant for them. She was a married woman, and married to the man who was both their boss, in a way.

"No one's seen her," another crewman shrugged. "Assumed boss had given her some time, I guess."

It was a reasonable guess. She had suffered quite a scare, after all. But her husband was not a reasonable man, and Gil was confident in guessing that Kro would sooner put on her costume himself than give her a day of rehearsal off without injury.

Gil picked himself up and tugged at one of his suspenders. "Thanks guys, I'll grab some lunch I guess."

They sent him off with well wishes. He wasn't in any shape to do any of the usual heavy lifting he could be asked for anyway. But rather than go in search of the group lunch being cooked behind the main tents, he slipped away towards the train.

He hadn't seen Thena in two whole days. She had once said that Kro would never really hurt her, but that was the only time when Gil wasn't really inclined to have confidence in what she said. He didn't trust anything about Kro. And he was really trying not to let the kiss influence that thinking in him, either.

He couldn't let it. She was a married woman. Whether she had kissed him or not, it wasn't his place. And he was concerned about her regardless. This wasn't about him and his feelings, it was about making sure she was okay.

"Thena?" he whispered, sticking his head out and between cars and looking around like a common cat burglar. He crept around, picking his boots up lightly.

Maybe Kro had her chained up like a ruffian. Not that he really thought he would, but he wouldn't be as surprised as he would like to be by something so barbaric.

"Thena!" he whispered again, slowly making his way to their shared sleeper car. If he was found, Kro would probably feed him to the lions. But he had to know.

Once at their sleeper car, he checked around him one more time. He knew Kro was in the main tent, snapping his cane against the ring and shouting up a storm. No one had been able to ask how Thena was without getting a real earful.

Gil knocked on the door with his good hand, pressing his ear close, "Thena, are you in there?"

"Gil?"

She didn't sound hurt, or teary or anything. He gulped, "can...are you hurt? Can I see you?"

"I'm fine Gil, you can come in."

Part of him still imagined a nightmare in which he would walk in and find her on the floor, sitting crumpled like a bird fallen from the sky. But Thena was no fallen angel. He closed the door behind him as he saw her seated at the little table barely big enough for a single plate.

He had never seen her in a normal dress, but the soft, creamy fabric looked just like her hair.

"I'm sorry I worried you," she professed immediately, still sitting primly at the table. "Kro told me I wasn't to leave for the next two days. People should think I'm in recovery."

Which was very different from actually wanting her to recover from her fall, but it would make people think of the monster more favourably.

"Have you eaten anything?" he asked, still almost whispering as he dared to come a little closer. "Are you resting?"

She smiled at him, like having not seen him for days was completely normal and expected. "I'm resting fine. Kro has been bringing me food twice a day."

So, she was missing a meal, Gil surmised. He frowned, but that was the least of his worries. "Why won't he let you out?"

Thena's expression finally cracked, and he saw her eyes drift to his shoulder. "He asked if there was anything...with you."

The words she didn't say weighed a lot more than the ones she did, and Gil found himself flustered again. He had always known what his feelings for Thena meant. But he had thought it was a harmless crush on his unattainable and lovely boss' wife. The implication that she cared for him too...it was enough to have his stethoscope picking up his own heartbeat from ten paces.

"I assured him there wasn't," she looked down at the little table, tucking some hair behind her ear. "He said then there should be no reason I should want to leave."

There should be no reason for her to ask to see him--that was the threat that had kept her in here. If she asked to see him, or probably even ran into him accidentally, Kro would have grounds to suspicions. And Gil wasn't sure which one of them would face worse consequences for them.

Gil looked around the sleeper car. It was larger than the others, of course, or maybe it was just arranged neater. It had a small but proper bed, rather than just a cot and some hay. The little table, there was a trunk that probably held their collective things. There was even a little radio on top of it, as well as an oil lamp.

"It's not a prison."

He didn't feel comforted by that. She was unharmed, sure, in a physical sense. But sometimes animals could seem fine, then they'd give out the next day of a broken heart or some such. He moved even closer, even kneeling down to face her better (he wouldn't dare move the chair across from hers). "Birds get real down if they're in cages too much."

She laughed a little at the insinuation.

"Really," he whispered. Without him telling it to, his free hand drifted up to hers, feeling the softness of her pretty linen dress. "They're meant to be free. Clipping their wings...it seems harmless, but it really hurts them, even just a little bit, everyday."

Thena tilted her head at him, her hair slipping over her shoulder. She was so beautiful, and far too delicate for a cage like this.

Gil sighed as she brought his hand from resting over hers on her lap to her lips. In another life, he could imagine this would be a beautiful moment.

It was brief, but for just a split second, her lip wobbled. She whispered, "I wish I had met you a lifetime ago."

Gil's heart broke inside his chest. It fractured, just like his stupid shoulder. Oh, to have met her a lifetime ago. To have met her as a student, to have scraped and scrimped for pennies so he could buy her flowers and take her on swan boats on the lake. To have swooned over her everyday until he could kneel just like this and hold up an embarrassingly modest ring and ask for another lifetime.

He wasn't sure when it happened, but he rose from his knee, tilting her head with his palm and kissing her as if she weren't married. As if they had this lifetime to get it right. Which wasn't true, but it wouldn't be something he would regret, either.

Thena sighed against his lips, her hand moving to his hair. She kissed like she hadn't drank in days and he was an ice cold lemonade. "I wish I could love you."

He loved her anyway, wishes be damned. "Thena-"

She pressed her fingers to his lips, breaking the spell around them and forcing him a precious few inches away. "He'll be back soon. If he catches you in here-"

He gripped her shoulder, "I won't let him hurt you, Thena. Never-"

She grasped his hand between hers, "I am not worried about what he will do to me."

So, Kro had threatened him to get her to comply with his sick delusions of ownership. And Gil hated to admit it, but in his current state, he wasn't so sure he would in a fight against the ring leader.

His heart groaned in his chest, begging not to be separated from her. He made a face, "I can't just leave you like this."

She looked him square in the eyes, and the frosty, fiery acrobat he knew - and loved - was back. "You can, and you will--for both our sake."

She was right, he would because it would be best for her, if not both of them. But he didn't have to like it. He gave her hand another squeeze, even as he picked up his feet again. "When will he let you out of here?"

"I don't know," she whispered back, their hands dragging apart like lines of a frayed rope snapping string by string. "Until he's satisfied he has nothing to fear from you."

Kro had everything to fear from him, and as soon as his shoulder was better, Gil would see to it, too.

"I'll try and find you when he does."

He turned back to her, his hand on the car door. "Don't do anything risky. If he tries anything-"

Their eyes both shot to the side. It wasn't dangerously close yet, but it was definitely Kro's voice drawing nearer. Thena eyed him, begging him to leave before their lives were changed irreparably.

Gil nodded, dragging himself out and closing the door as quietly as possible. He held his arm as he slipped away, the muscles screaming at him like a storm was on the horizon. He stopped on the other side of the car.

"Well?"

"What?" Thena's softer voice came, but Gil was relieved to hear her usual sharpness in the demand.

"Usually you're begging to know how your little boyfriend is doing!" Kro barked at her. Gil heard the rattle of a container being tossed down, perhaps one of Thena's meals for the day.

"You told me to stop bringing him up," she fired right back at him. There was a pause before she added, "dearest."

Gil felt his gut clench. He had seen Kro use that term of endearment for her, and it never failed to make her squeamish.

"Very well then," Kro snarled back at her, "darling."

Gil waited a little more, but that seemed the end of it. And he had no choice but to leave it at that, at least for now. He dragged himself away, feeling just a little bit of a coward for it, too. His shoulder was aching again.

"Hey, Gil, you get some yet?"

It was lunch time. He eyed the pot of stew. Maybe that would be just the thing. "Say, will you do something for me?"

He was heard out as he explained that he was worried about Thena--heard she was on bed rest and all. It didn't come from him, but maybe - just if there were leftovers after everyone had their share - if someone could ask the boss nice and casual if Miss Thena would like it...?

Again, everyone saw right through him. But Thena was not her husband, and the crew agreed readily that they would ask in a very normal and friendly way if Miss Thena wanted any of their extra portions for the day. The lady needed her strength and all.

And Gil needed his too. The quicker his shoulder healed, the faster Thena could stop worrying about him, and the faster he could confront Kro about the treatment of his wife.

#Thenamesh Circus AU #thank you so much for the ask!!!#a little drama anyone?#a little angst?#pining????#okay really Gil is sitting around desperately looking for her #He barely leaves to sleep or eat in case he misses a glimpse of her #now he's ready to romeo outside her sleeper car making sure she eats #Kro comes and goes at dawn and night slapping down bowls of bread soup for her #meanwhile Gil sneaks in and hands her his stash of peanuts #and THena is dying to see him of course #but Kro is like if I see you two within a foot of each other I'm calling the fuckin police #Thena agrees to be sequestered only for Gils' protection #becuase she knows her husband #and she just knows Kro will make him haul all sorts of heavy stuff #strain or even hurt himself #he'll bump into Gil's bad shoulder and oh go 'oh sorry forgot'#y'know like a huge ass hole #Thena: Gil don't do anything to make him angry #Gil: hey so what would you think if I beat your husband to death in the parking lot

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