Post by Ashley Wolfe on Nov 1, 2023 16:52:44 GMT -5
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Ashley knew he shouldn't be here. And he really hadn't planned on attending. Gemma didn't expect him to and he was grateful for it. He'd spent the better half of his day doing up his yard for Halloween and the first part of his night watching campy horror movies on the couch. But he kept glancing at his phone every time it lit up, eye lingering on Gemma's earlier text that he hadn't dismissed while his fingers picked absently at a loose string at the seam of his sweatpants. Eventually, he'd paused his movie — he'd lost the plot long ago — and moseyed into the garage to pick through a couple of boxes. When he found what he was looking for, he huffed a sigh as he realized he was truly considering it. [break][break]
Around this time last year, he'd been dating a woman who had a young son and he had been allowed to take him trick-or-treating through the streets of West Hook. The boy had been into Star Wars in a big way and Ashley, after doing a little bit of research, had dropped an insane amount of money on a very high-quality Mandalorian costume for himself and a Grogu costume for "the Child". Had he done it just for "potential stepdad" brownie points? Yeah, kinda. And had it worked? Absolutely. The boy had loved him. Not that it had ended up mattering much in the end.[break][break]
But still, the Mandalorian costume was... kind of perfect, wasn't it? Not only would it cover him head-to-toe — not a glimpse of skin to be seen — but it would provide him the perfect excuse not to remove his helmet all night. It was against the Mandalorian code, after all, to show one's face. Even if someone tried to get a peek at him, he could claim he was taking his character very seriously as he fought them off. Plus, as far as he understood... Din Djarin was hardly verbose. He wouldn't even have to talk to anyone. If someone tried chatting him up, he could just give them a silent look and it would probably earn a laugh.[break][break]
Still, the risk of it all... didn't seem worth risking. But, nonetheless, he'd dusted the costume off, garbed up, and gone anyway.[break][break]
The party had been going on for hours already and was clearly on the back nine when he showed up. Which wasn't saying much — though Ashley suspected a lot of people had already left, the floor was still milling with a stupid amount of elaborately costumed and loudly laughing attendees (most of them thoroughly boozed up at this point). It had taken him all of five minutes to recognize a couple of faces, even under face paint and makeup. Wolfhound. Rabbit. Mink. There were a dozen others, too, that — just by the way they presented themselves, the way they lingered on the outskirts of the crowd, looking inexplicably and effortlessly lethal — he suspected were Guild hunters as well. [break][break]
It made him sweat. And he was happy he was as heavily costumed as he was; free to grimace, look around with wild eyes, and nervously swallow every time someone looked at him a couple of seconds too long.[break][break]
Eventually, he spotted Gemma chatting to a couple with their backs turned to him. And, for a moment, the sight of her gave him pause and emptied his mind. Of course, he expected nothing less from her than a perfect and elaborate get-up but Jesus fucking Christ, she knew how to make a statement. She tossed her head back with a laugh, looking absolutely stunning, and Ashley gave a fluttery blink under his mask. After steadying himself with a long inhale, he moved toward them. [break][break]
The couple she was speaking to gave a synchronized laugh. Then the taller of the two gave a slight shake of their head, whirled around, and started to step off. [break][break]
And Ashley found himself — quite abruptly — face-to-face with his brother.[break][break]
They almost walked right into each other. Ashley startled backward and, under his helmet, he felt his lips part around a caught breath. Huffing an apologetic chuckle, Dane lifted his hands to wriggle his fingers on the air between them; shoulders shrugging close to his neck and brow leaping. "Boo!" He was dressed in a suit with a red bow tie, his face painted (quite well!) like the Jigsaw puppet. The woman beside him cocked her head exaggeratedly, the stringy black hair of her pig-mask shifting across her shoulders as she tried to look eerie. She was dressed minimally, her exposed skin covered in a wide array of gruesome and well-done SFX wounds. [break][break]
Ashley's brow pulled up in the center as he steadied himself, blinking rapidly as he felt his eyes round. His gloved fingers curled into his palms and the breath that'd caught in his throat stuttered out of him unevenly.[break][break]
It had been, what... three months... since their mother died? Dane looked good. Sounded good. And suddenly, without any conscious thought, Ashley stepped forward. His arms came up and around his brother's and he pulled himself into him. "Woah, okay." He could feel the other man's muscles bunch beneath him, body going rigid, and after a moment he gave a quiet, somewhat bewildered laugh. "Hit the punch bowl pretty hard tonight, huh?" His fingers came up to grip Ashley's upper arms and firmly, but not unkindly, push him away. He quirked a brow quizzically, his white-painted face poised almost expectantly as he looked at him. [break][break]
Ashley could only stare at him in response, unable to make his body move any further. His mouth felt dry. Wordless. Finally, Dane shook his head with an amused breath and clapped him on the arm. "Right. Take it easy, brother." He slung his arm across the shoulders of his date and moved away, calling something over his shoulder to Gemma that Ashley didn't quite comprehend. He watched the space his brother had been in for a moment longer before he shook his head and snapped back into himself. He was cold beneath his costume and his helmet, body prickled with a faint sheen of sweat. [break][break]
Gemma had slipped away but Ashley easily found her again and he moved through the crowd to where she stood. God, he'd thought up a half-dozen flirty and corny vampire-related lines he'd say to her as he sidled up but... now, with his head swimming and his throat dry... and her looking as fucking fantastic as she did... he couldn't recall a single one. He reached out to lay a ginger touch on her arm, fingers curling around her wrist and thumb pressing into her palm. [break][break]
"Hey, birthday girl. Room for two in your coffin tonight?"
[break]
trick-or-treat, what would it be?
Tag: Gemma Gatsby /Open! [break]
Wew, sorry this is a mess lmao. [break]
Give me a nudge for any changes! [break][break]
[newclass=.kestrelflight-text b]color:#2F4845;font-size:8pt!important;font-weight:700!important;font-family:Open Sans, sans serif!important;[/newclass][newclass=.kestrelflight-text a]font-size:8pt!important;font-family:Open Sans!important;[/newclass][googlefont=Poppins][googlefont=Open Sans]
THE HUNTER'S MOON IS SHINING
i'm running with the wolves tonight, i'm running with the wolves
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Ashley knew he shouldn't be here. And he really hadn't planned on attending. Gemma didn't expect him to and he was grateful for it. He'd spent the better half of his day doing up his yard for Halloween and the first part of his night watching campy horror movies on the couch. But he kept glancing at his phone every time it lit up, eye lingering on Gemma's earlier text that he hadn't dismissed while his fingers picked absently at a loose string at the seam of his sweatpants. Eventually, he'd paused his movie — he'd lost the plot long ago — and moseyed into the garage to pick through a couple of boxes. When he found what he was looking for, he huffed a sigh as he realized he was truly considering it. [break][break]
Around this time last year, he'd been dating a woman who had a young son and he had been allowed to take him trick-or-treating through the streets of West Hook. The boy had been into Star Wars in a big way and Ashley, after doing a little bit of research, had dropped an insane amount of money on a very high-quality Mandalorian costume for himself and a Grogu costume for "the Child". Had he done it just for "potential stepdad" brownie points? Yeah, kinda. And had it worked? Absolutely. The boy had loved him. Not that it had ended up mattering much in the end.[break][break]
But still, the Mandalorian costume was... kind of perfect, wasn't it? Not only would it cover him head-to-toe — not a glimpse of skin to be seen — but it would provide him the perfect excuse not to remove his helmet all night. It was against the Mandalorian code, after all, to show one's face. Even if someone tried to get a peek at him, he could claim he was taking his character very seriously as he fought them off. Plus, as far as he understood... Din Djarin was hardly verbose. He wouldn't even have to talk to anyone. If someone tried chatting him up, he could just give them a silent look and it would probably earn a laugh.[break][break]
Still, the risk of it all... didn't seem worth risking. But, nonetheless, he'd dusted the costume off, garbed up, and gone anyway.[break][break]
The party had been going on for hours already and was clearly on the back nine when he showed up. Which wasn't saying much — though Ashley suspected a lot of people had already left, the floor was still milling with a stupid amount of elaborately costumed and loudly laughing attendees (most of them thoroughly boozed up at this point). It had taken him all of five minutes to recognize a couple of faces, even under face paint and makeup. Wolfhound. Rabbit. Mink. There were a dozen others, too, that — just by the way they presented themselves, the way they lingered on the outskirts of the crowd, looking inexplicably and effortlessly lethal — he suspected were Guild hunters as well. [break][break]
It made him sweat. And he was happy he was as heavily costumed as he was; free to grimace, look around with wild eyes, and nervously swallow every time someone looked at him a couple of seconds too long.[break][break]
Eventually, he spotted Gemma chatting to a couple with their backs turned to him. And, for a moment, the sight of her gave him pause and emptied his mind. Of course, he expected nothing less from her than a perfect and elaborate get-up but Jesus fucking Christ, she knew how to make a statement. She tossed her head back with a laugh, looking absolutely stunning, and Ashley gave a fluttery blink under his mask. After steadying himself with a long inhale, he moved toward them. [break][break]
The couple she was speaking to gave a synchronized laugh. Then the taller of the two gave a slight shake of their head, whirled around, and started to step off. [break][break]
And Ashley found himself — quite abruptly — face-to-face with his brother.[break][break]
They almost walked right into each other. Ashley startled backward and, under his helmet, he felt his lips part around a caught breath. Huffing an apologetic chuckle, Dane lifted his hands to wriggle his fingers on the air between them; shoulders shrugging close to his neck and brow leaping. "Boo!" He was dressed in a suit with a red bow tie, his face painted (quite well!) like the Jigsaw puppet. The woman beside him cocked her head exaggeratedly, the stringy black hair of her pig-mask shifting across her shoulders as she tried to look eerie. She was dressed minimally, her exposed skin covered in a wide array of gruesome and well-done SFX wounds. [break][break]
Ashley's brow pulled up in the center as he steadied himself, blinking rapidly as he felt his eyes round. His gloved fingers curled into his palms and the breath that'd caught in his throat stuttered out of him unevenly.[break][break]
It had been, what... three months... since their mother died? Dane looked good. Sounded good. And suddenly, without any conscious thought, Ashley stepped forward. His arms came up and around his brother's and he pulled himself into him. "Woah, okay." He could feel the other man's muscles bunch beneath him, body going rigid, and after a moment he gave a quiet, somewhat bewildered laugh. "Hit the punch bowl pretty hard tonight, huh?" His fingers came up to grip Ashley's upper arms and firmly, but not unkindly, push him away. He quirked a brow quizzically, his white-painted face poised almost expectantly as he looked at him. [break][break]
Ashley could only stare at him in response, unable to make his body move any further. His mouth felt dry. Wordless. Finally, Dane shook his head with an amused breath and clapped him on the arm. "Right. Take it easy, brother." He slung his arm across the shoulders of his date and moved away, calling something over his shoulder to Gemma that Ashley didn't quite comprehend. He watched the space his brother had been in for a moment longer before he shook his head and snapped back into himself. He was cold beneath his costume and his helmet, body prickled with a faint sheen of sweat. [break][break]
Gemma had slipped away but Ashley easily found her again and he moved through the crowd to where she stood. God, he'd thought up a half-dozen flirty and corny vampire-related lines he'd say to her as he sidled up but... now, with his head swimming and his throat dry... and her looking as fucking fantastic as she did... he couldn't recall a single one. He reached out to lay a ginger touch on her arm, fingers curling around her wrist and thumb pressing into her palm. [break][break]
"Hey, birthday girl. Room for two in your coffin tonight?"
[break]
trick-or-treat, what would it be?
Tag: Gemma Gatsby /Open! [break]
Wew, sorry this is a mess lmao. [break]
Give me a nudge for any changes! [break][break]
How I imagine Dane entering Gemma's party earlier tonight:[break]
[break]
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