QUASTARI ― ❝ I Struggled For A LONG TIME With Surviving. And No Matter What, You Keep Finding Something

     with his mouth in a tight line, arthur's head turns away to look straight ahead. hers is not an unfamiliar sentiment - one that's been mostly BEATEN out of arthur some time ago, but still there somewhere. still huddled inside the shell of a killer & a thief.

           ❝ ain't no shame in lookin' for the GOOD in the world. ❞

     his words are low, as if arthur were sharing a secret. the next moment, he's waving his hand up & shouting for the attention of the barkeep. ❝ lemme buy you somethin', ❞ he says, giving maeve a sideways glance. ❝ seems like you need something to get your mind off things. what'll you have ? ❞

reputations are everything, maeve isn't blind to that. she hides behind whichever one suits her best - those who label her as just a gentle, sweet woman. those who notice cleverness, that underestimate it all the same. everyone seems to be painted by so many artists... it's almost hard to keep track of which whispers come from where.

like seeing in the dark, it's often a matter of gut && experience.

her time with bobby was far from kind, far from gentle. but that doesn't mean she wants to let herself become used to the bad over the good.

"I just worry once I let myself always expect the bad, I'm setting myself up for that being how I see the world forever." and at that point, it becomes only surviving, not living. maeve can't help the part of her that is sure it's risk the danger to herself to simply... try to keep seeing at least some good. "I learn my lessons, I just don't want to forget there's a world outside of those bad moments. which probably sounds silly."

bayek tag drop.

more tags.

obediently - but not without an exaggerated groan - stan makes way toward the egg aisle. with mabel perched on the very front of the cart like a captain on the stern of her own ship , they caught a few glances from other shoppers. stan knew they were looking at mabel - aweing over an ADORABLE little girl much too excited about grocery shopping. round eyes turn to amused smiles when their gazes moved to stan himself , pushing the cart with hunched shoulders and knit brows.

ah, let one of 'em take mabel home if they want. saves stan from having to eat her mabelcakes . . .

especially when he caught a look at the egg prices. this kid was gonna bankrupt him.

" can't we just get that egg substitute shi- erm, crap ? " stan asked, steering the cart in its direction. " don't want the BURDEN of eating some little baby chicken on your conscience, do ya ? "

𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚞𝚗𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜 ( accepting ! )

@quastari said : ❝ the chocolate milk is strikingly overpriced & at the same time very easy to steal ; another of god's little tests .❞ - stanley pines

❝ & i'm pretending i didn't hear that ! ❞ mabel singsongs , depositing a gallon of the aforementioned beverage into their shopping cart with a loud thump . ❝ next on the list is . . . ❞ she squints at the slightly crumbled piece of notebook paper in her hand , where in between various holographic & glittery stickers there are some grocery items listed in glitter gel pen ink . ❝ woof , speaking of overpriced - eggs . ❞ returning to her perch at the front of the cart , she points ahead , waiting expectantly for her grunkle to propel her onward . ❝ now MUSH ! ❞

pioneering something called "gritted teeth optimism" where everything is gonna turn out okay even if i have to bite and claw and gnash my way through it

@espercr asked : "I suppose you have good reason for making me look like a liar?" (4 Arthur :3c)

❝ it was either that or i'm your client. ❞

the words are low & bitten out as soon as the two round the corner into the hallway. it was dark, save for the low-lit lanterns hung on the walls that outlined arthur's STURDY shoulders & furrowed brow. their room was at the very end, near the back door leading to the patio - good. another avenue of escape should they need it.

noises from the doors they passed served to SUPPORT arthur's meaning. he could hear a woman offering a very good performance - no doubt giving her client his money's worth.

as they passed the second, arthur picked up the sound of skin impacting against skin followed by a distinctly male voice crying out. his boots hit the ground a little quicker to move out of earshot.

❝ trust me, girl. you'd PREFER to be a married woman in these parts. ❞

arthur's footfalls cease once he reaches the fourth door, quickly unlocking it & giving it a light kick with the tip of his boot. the old wood swung open. revealing a room that had scarcely been cleaned after its last inhabitants. the STALE smell of cigars hang in the room like a mist. an old blanket barely covers a stain on the mattress.

when bringing a woman to a room for the night, a man should spring for something a little nicer. but the law may not think to search a hole in the wall such at this. ❝ make 'urself comfortable, princess, ❞ he continues in a low, SARCASTIC drawl.

setting up camp & starting up a fire was enough to keep arthur's hands BUSY for an hour or so. before they'd been bushwhacked, arthur wanted nothing more than to settle down for the night. but now, as the sun begins to sink under the horizon, his knuckles are the same shade of red as the sky.

he rubbed at them absently as he watches the fire, his brows pulled tight together in thought. ms hope baxter had wanted to treat his wounds after arthur scared off the last of the bounty hunters. & arthur was THANKFUL when she allowed the matter to drop after he resisted.

it seemed she was protecting his pride as tightly as his life.

in true form, arthur hadn't thought of much to say before he ended up in front of her. his hands hang by his sides - their dull THROB helps ground his focus. pain always seemed to do that.

❝ that's precisely what i wanted to discuss, ❞ he replies in a stern, GRUFF tone. arthur shifts his weight, darting his eyes, pulling his face into a grimace despite the light swelling around his eye. ❝ i wanted to apologize. for puttin' you in that sort of position. i'm s'posed to be protecting you - not the other way around. ❞

if dutch had been here, he'd surely be tearing arthur a new one. scolding him for having been so distracted on a job. but the fatherly reprimand would've morphed into teasing. because dutch has always been real good at reading people, and he'd sniff out the CAUSE of his distraction like a bloodhound.

❛ my, arthur, here i was believing you were above such earthly desires. didn't think you had it in you, son. ❜

his ears BURN just thinking of it.

𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏'𝒕 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 ( accepting ! )

@quastari said : ❝ i . . . should probably thank you for that . ❞ ( from arthur )

the sun lies low on the horizon , shadows growing long in the golden light . they had set up camp for the night close to a stream , & hope took the opportunity to clean some of her more road-worn garments . she's quite 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒅 by the soothing sound of rushing water , the current dragging at her fingertips , & the refreshing chill of fresh evening air . so much so , she doesn't properly register arthur's approach until he speaks up . she sets down her last blouse to dry , turning to look up at the man from where she kneels .

❝ for . . . ? oh , that . ❞ echoes of the struggle from hours prior still ring inside her head , another reason she'd needed to take some time alone with her thoughts & prayers . lord have mercy on her , she hadn't had a choice - & even if she did , she doesn't regret the one she made . hope is not even sure she had time to fully process what was happening , only that if she did 𝑵𝑶𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑵𝑮 arthur probably wouldn't have made it out of that scrap alive . . . so , she pulled the trigger . only hit the bastard in his shoulder , but it had been enough to turn the tables in their favor .

❝ think nothin' of it , y'would've done the same for me , ❞ she offers him a tight-lipped smile & a nod , as if to indicate nothing more needed to be said about it . from what she's gathered thus far traveling alongside arthur morgan , he probably had to work up to voicing his thanks . she doesn't want to push her luck or scare him off - but she does feel a warmth bubbling up in her chest , like . . . 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆 ? she's happy to have done something right , to have helped . to be more than a burden to him on this journey .

lips tug into a full grin now , playfulness taking over her previously somber tone , ❝ besides , seeing the look on your face when y'realized who fired was absolutely 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 . ❞

What’s the worst decision you made while you were drunk?

Don’t mean to brag but I️ don’t even need alcohol to make really bad decisions.

@strcys asked : "That must have cost a fortune!" for jon x :)

❛❛ it would have, if it weren't for doctor phlox, ❜❜ jon replies with an UPBEAT tone. he had doubts that all the containers of food would even fit in their cargo bay - but the crew had been determined. ❛❛ they were very interested in his palavian leeches. ❜❜

the captain turns to pry open one of the containers, reaching in to pull out a ... vegetable? fruit? or some equivalent to it.

❛❛ i haven't broken the news to chef yet - you know how he gets when people do his SHOPPING for him. i was hoping i could trust that to you ... ❜❜

arthur morgan tag drop.