travis-murray

[travis-murray]

[travis-murray]

i would’ve always been there for you. 

good and bad times. i will always be there for you. 

[travis-murray]

tkadenkingsman:

Kaden paused momentarily, knowing that now if he was to walk her home that she would have to turn around in the exact direction that she came and walk that way which wasn’t exactly discreet. “It’s fine, I don’t need an escort,” she replied quickly, knowing that it probably looked suspicious, but not sure what else to do, “If you want though, I can answer your questions,” she added as an afterthought.

She shrugged at his question, “I didn’t know Connor,” she replied simply, “I just knew of him.” There were always people who claimed to be connected to a person after they died, but Kaden wasn’t one of them, and especially not now. “I was at the party that he was at, but I didn’t see anything suspicious happen, or anything like that,” she decided that full disclosure looked better than hiding details at the moment.

“I see,” Travis replied, suddenly unable to shake the feeling that she knew more than she was letting on. However, there was nothing much he could do at this point. 

He sensed her great reluctance at his offer to escort her and decided to drop it. There was no point doing something against someone’s wishes. Travis was quite ready to let her go and resume his patrol of the area.

“Thank you so much for your cooperation, miss. There is one thing though,” he paused. 

His streak of irrationality which had been gone for so long had returned. Travis knew he hadn’t actually seen anything, but decided to take a gamble despite not knowing what he was looking for. He did suspect that the woman had some sort of weapon underneath her jacket.

“Miss, you do know that it is illegal to carry a objects with the intent to use it as a weapon against another?” he went on a limb, nodding towards her jacket. 

Years of War || Travis&Kaden

[travis-murray]

Travis Murray Moodboard [1/?]

“Grief does not change you. It reveals you.”

[travis-murray]

bold which habits your muse has

nail biting | throat clearing | lying | interrupting | chewing the ends of pens | smoking | swearing | knuckle cracking | thumb sucking | muttering under their breath | talking to themselves | nose picking | binge drinking | oversleeping | snacking between meals | skipping meals | picking at skin | impulse buying | talking with their mouth full | humming/singing to themselves | chewing gum | leg jiggling | foot tapping | hair twirling | whistling | eye rolling | licking lips | sniffing | squinting | rubbing hands together | jaw clenching | gesturing while talking | putting feet up on tables | tucking hair behind ears | chewing lips | crossing arms over chest | putting hands on hips | rubbing the back or their neck | being late | procrastinating | doodling | shredding paper | peeling off bottle labels | forgetfulness | running hands through hair | overreacting | teeth grinding | nostril flaring | slouching | pacing | drumming fingers | fist clenching | pinching bridge of nose | rubbing temples | rolling shoulders

[travis-murray]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3b1CDLsiGU)

You got into my bloodstream….

[travis-murray]

“I’m not usually one to snitch - ironic, I know, being an upholder of justice and all,” Travis chuckled, “but yes, Gary is definitely not a fan. And don’t worry, this conversation stays between us.”

“It is sad, isn’t it…” Travis mused before proceeding in hushed tones. "I reckon you could open a bakery, literally right next to this pretentious one, and the queue would be twice as long. Hell, this place wouldn’t have any customers, save your occasional vegan or a person with a legitimate gluten allergy.”

Travis laughed as Anneliese described her lifestyle of Netflix binges and eating tubs of marshmallow fluff. Honestly, it wasn’t that different from his life outside of work. When Travis was at his lowest during his hiatus, he would watch re-runs of TV shows from the ’90’s and instead of marshmallow fluff, eat junk food or Chinese takeout. Travis shook his head slightly as he recalled those dark times before returning his attention to Anneliese.

“Oh, so you did work at a bakery before. What happened with that?” he asked curiously, hoping he wasn’t prying too much. “And yeah, Jasmine’s used to be a favourite haunt of mine,” Travis replied, his eyes darkening slightly. Ever since Ashleigh’s accident, he had stopped frequenting Jasmine’s, as they used to go there together all the time. Travis swallowed hard. “Had some issues with the service there though, so I kind of stopped going,” he lied, adding a joking laugh at the end for good measure. “But that’s really cool, I don’t think I’ve ever met a real singer before! How long have you been singing there?”

“Well, when I’m not saving the city,” he began, trying to humour her, before he paused. He didn’t really have much of a life in the last three years. In fact, the only routine he had was visiting Ashleigh at the hospital every Tuesday. The rest was cursory. “I guess I just like to be by myself, have quiet time. I’m quite the hermit!” he grinned. “I’ve become so used to it that sometimes I forget how nice it can be to have a conversation with someone."

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Travis and Anneliese got to the front of the line. Travis ordered a long black for himself and some banana bread for later, not forgetting Officer Gary’s order which he told the barista to hold ’til later.

“And whatever she wants,” Travis gestured to Anneliese and slid the barista a fifty. Turning to Anneliese, he smiled and said, “It’s on me.”

After they had both gotten their orders, Travis led the way, navigating the seating area, carefully avoiding precariously placed decorations. As soon as Travis sat down at an empty booth they had found, he took a well-deserved sip of his coffee and shook his head in defeat. 

“Alright, alright, this is pretty good. What do you think?”

“Right. That makes per– What? What’s so funny? If this is some sort of super secret cop humour then let me be the first to say that it makes zero sense to us mere mor–,” the last of the word caught in her throat as he continued. Oh boy. Anneliese pressed her lips together, looking away from him and then back. A half-mock guilty look on her face, she offered a small shrug and smile. Sort of like the look a kitten gives you after it’s knocked over the coffee, sugar and tea bowls. Oopsie. “We’ve met,” she said pressing her lips together harder but there was no stopping the laugh that came out. “Oh, no,” she shook her head, holding back her laughter by pressing her hands to her mouth, “Oh poor, poor Gary,” she nodded solemnly, looking up at Travis, “He just… He couldn’t handle it. I don’t want to say that he’s weak, that’s not fair. I can be a very scary, tiny little woman when I want to be. Wow. Officer Gary. He is not a fan, he is not a fan at all. You- You shouldn’t tell him that we talked,” she bit back another giggle, “Might never do that paperwork for you again.” Anneliese caught his exaggerated disappointed face and blew a strand of hair from her face before letting out a lengthy sigh, “That is the saddest thing I have heard all day,” then she smiled and nodded a little, “Okay.” She felt relaxed and kinda happy, glad to be laughing and not immediately crying afterwards. That was a big plus. She was grateful for that at least. She quickly snapped her attention back to Officer Travis as he spoke, letting out another laugh as he commented on the baked goods. At least they were going to good use. Despite the ulterior motives, she really did miss the bakery and baking and the satisfaction that came along with witnessing an equally as satisfied customer. Anneliese let out another laugh at his comment. “Interesting is one word. I mean how interesting can you realistically find Netflix binges and eating tubs of marshmallow fluff? I’m glad the baked goods are working though. I mean, here we are. The ice is broken. You’re totally warming to me. It’s the power of the well-baked good. But okay, um… I like to sketch and I like to buy pointless junk online. My free time is also spent not unpacking my mountain of boxes. I do like to bake actually, I used to be the manager of a bakery. I don’t have a lot of free time, I prefer to fill it up so that I’m not left,” alone with my thoughts, “Bored. I sing. Like, not just in the shower. I get paid for it. At a bar, not in the shower. Jasmine’s, have you heard of it? I sing there.” “And uh, what about you Of– Travis. What do you like to do when you’re not saving the city?”

[travis-murray]

[travis-murray]

Talk in person? It must be pretty serious, Travis thought to himself. Rubbing his stubbly chin with his fingers, he contemplated the options laid out for him. Allison didn’t live too far from here and he didn’t want to make her come all the way to his place just to answer his burning questions. He looked at the clock and saw that there were still a few hours before the baseball game he had been planning to watch would air. He felt slightly guilty for prioritizing sports over something rather important, but he had been trying his best to distract himself over the past few days. 

Travis felt silly for worrying so much. What was the worst that could happen? They were both mature, young adults - surely if they encountered any problems, they would work things out. If not, it would simply be not meant to be, and they would go their separate ways... He sighed. 

“Look, I’m sorry for springing this on you, and for making such a big deal out of this,” Travis apologized, and he meant it. “And I’m not mad, I just, I just need to know. I’ll be over in a bit.” With that, he hung up the phone, shrugged on a jacket and was out the front door. 

He arrived at Allison’s place about twenty minutes later, his mind still cloudy and unsure as ever. He knocked on the door and after being let in, he sat down on her couch, not wanting to worsen the already tense atmosphere. 

“So... What is it that you wanted to tell me?”

Lacuna || Travis+Allison

Allison paused, making sure to keep her breathing natural. Should she tell him? Let the giant weight off her shoulders? What could it hurt? Well for one it could open up his eyes to a whole mess of things he was better off not knowing. Surely he’d come across something like this before working at the police station and with this knowledge he’d become better equipped to deal with it. 

In all her life she’d never told a significant other about this side of her and only once before him had she ever even wanted to. However with the other person it was for an entirely different set of reasons. This was the other time she’d wanted to tell someone purely because she wanted to. She wanted to let him know, to let him in to that part of her life but at the same time she was scared. What if he didn’t believe her or laughed at the absurdity of it all? He wouldn’t do that… at least thats what she hoped. 

“You were well- you got a little-” She paused, taking a quiet breath. It would be so easy to lie, to tell him he’d gotten drunk and blacked it but she couldn’t. They were past that and she knew it.  “Listen, I think this might be better if we talked in person. Could you make it to my place or I could come to yours or….” She trailed off, hoping he’d suggest an option that worked. 

[travis-murray]

Travis let out a hearty laugh, shook his head, not quite knowing whether he should answer Anneliese’s question. He hesitated, knowing that she and Officer Gary did have some history together. Pressing his lips into a thin line to suppress his laughter, he turned to Anneliese, raising an eyebrow slightly.

“I didn’t lose a bet - I merely made a bargain to get some paper work off my hands,” he started off, before bursting into laughter again. He honestly still couldn’t believe that Gary had filed a restraining order against Anneliese - or at least attempted to. “If you must know, I’m getting a coffee for Gary. I’m sure you’re familiar with him.”

Peering into the café, Travis tried to get a better look of the food it offered, and furrowed his eyebrows in mock disappointment.

“I’m afraid you’re out of luck, Anneliese,” he shrugged. “All I see are dairy-free cakes, vegan pies and flour-free cookies… You can call me Travis by the way - ditch the formalities,” he added, smiling.

The queue inched forward slowly but surely, some people leaving the line after deciding that it just wasn’t worth the wait. It was a beautiful day, and Travis was glad he had come out to spend some time in the sunshine. He was especially thankful for Anneliese’s company. She was truly quite the character and thoroughly entertaining to say the least.

“So Anneliese, when you’re not out bribing officers and enforcers of the law with your delicious baked goods,” Travis began, recalling the times he had taken food from a basket left in the pantry, unaware that they had actually been prepared by Anneliese, “what do you do in your free time? I imagine someone like you must have a very interesting life!” he mused. 

Indeed, Travis was intrigued. Who was Anneliese exactly and what was this mysterious accident she had previously spoken about? He didn't want to pry, and decided to get to know her better first before jumping into deep, meaningful conversations. 

Anneliese almost narrowed her eyes as he protested against her negative light of her crazy statement but stopped herself when she realised he was being genuine. Huh. She felt herself relax, her shoulders losing their tension and the knots in her stomach that often twisted themselves into reality whenever she made this speech loosened. She almost felt… Reassured. She really was grateful to the police force, grateful they even still let her through the front door but it wasn’t them, it was her. She couldn’t help but feel guarded or resentful or bitch out poor hopeless Gary. They didn’t know anything about what she’d been through. They didn’t get how important this was. Two years. Two years and nothing. But this wasn’t nothing she reminded herself promptly. It wasn’t and she was pleasantly surprised to hear him laugh and peeled her eyes back from the pavement and over to him. She smiled softly at him and nodded. Of course. His job. Although she was sure no one really enjoyed chasing down the weird ones. Leads that was. “Ah,” she laughed, “Of course. A proud protector of the people, flower crowns and all,” she added with a smirk. She found her small smiled stayed promptly on her face as they stood side-by-side in the queue. When was the last time she’d a reasonable conversation with a police officer? Probably best not to answer that actually. Might as well enjoy it, she thought, it may never happened again. Clearing her throat a little, she tried to remember how normal, happy, everyday folks did the whole ‘conversation’ thing. “So,” she said quirking her brow, “Which one of your ever-loved and highly esteemed cop buddies have you out here on a pretentious coffee run? I mean, I know the stuff in the station has nothing on Starbucks or wherever else but still,” she gestured to the long line, “You lose a bet?” Anneliese squinted, looking through the glass of the caffeine hot-spot, “And on a more serious note do you think they sell anything in the pastry family that isn’t organic or glutton free in there?” She side glanced at him with another smile, “Life or death question, Officer Travis.”

[travis-murray]

Officer Travis on his lunch break at the station.

[travis-murray]

Travis detected the hesitance and trepidation in Allison’s voice. Honestly, he was scared too. Perhaps it had been a mistake to call, to even consider the idea of bringing it up. Maybe it was a good that he couldn’t remember a thing from that night. Maybe ignorance was bliss. 

That wasn’t enough for him though. And his curiosity and the need to know overpowered him. 

“We could just talk on the phone,” Travis suggested, thinking it was better to keep a distance at this point. He didn’t like confrontation and hoped that by doing this over the phone, Allison wouldn’t feel like he was attacking her or accusing her of something. Something she probably didn’t even do, he thought to himself. “I’ll try to keep it short.”

Travis took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and tried to recall the last thing he could from the night of the Nouveau party. It was all very fuzzy to him, but Travis remembered entering the ballroom with Allison, and thinking the place looked so grand and decadent. Like a broken record, it skips in time, and the next memory Travis has is waking up on the floor of his living room, disoriented. 

“What happened to me on the night of the Nouveau party?"

Lacuna || Travis+Allison

She was home, sitting on her couch with the television blaring in the background. Her eyes were on it but she wasn’t really seeing it. Her mind was elsewhere, slipping back to the night with Travis and what she’d done. She pushed the thought out of her mind again, pulling some papers into her lap and staring down at the words she was supposed to memorize when her phone rang. She glanced down and reading the caller idea made her stomach twist and her hands clam up. Did he know? They’d texted a few times since then, the regular stuff, nothing about that night but she knew it was only a matter of time. With Ben she’d reversed the spell almost immediately so she didn’t know how long the affects would last. She’d originally assumed they’d be permanent but what if they faded over time and he remembered. What if that was what he was calling about? He remembered. 

She looked down at the phone again, wondering if he’d be worried if she didn’t pick up. Usually she did, she always had her phone on her. Her hands reached for it, placing it to her ear slowly and pressing the green button. 

She took a deep breath, preparing herself for what came ahead. “Sure,” She said after a brief pause, trying to sound as natural as possible. “Do you mean on the phone or in person?” What would he ask? Would she be able to deflect it? Either way avoiding the issue helped nothing.

[travis-murray]

At the mention of ‘home’, Travis relaxed. Perhaps he really had been overly suspicious of her. She looked pretty harmless anyway. Still, he was curious as to how she knew the victim of the great big murder that had happened. 

“Do you live nearby? I could escort you home. It’s not very safe at this time of the night,” Travis offered. “I also do have a few questions for you, actually. Questions regarding the murder case,” he added, implying that she didn’t really have a choice when it came to his offer, and that it wouldn’t be that easy to shake him off. 

“How exactly do you know Connor?”

Years of War || Travis&Kaden

The mentioning of yellow eyes brought Kaden briefly to the thought of Anneliese. It had been a few days since the other brunette had handed over what felt like a trunk full of evidence and ideas about the creature had been tracking, she really needed to contact her whenever she got back to her home. The entire situation with her still confused Kaden. She knew exactly what the creature was, but trying to explain it to someone else, someone who wasn’t aware of the supernatural, would be an entirely different story.

“I’m on my way home,” Kaden lied through her teeth. Her home was actually in the complete opposite direction of where she was going now since she had just left her home to start her walking. Of course, Kaden figured that if she said she was going home, and therefore, out of harm’s way, it might help to relieve herself of the company that she had picked up.

[travis-murray]

Travis walked with the brunette, following her lead. He laughed. “Finer choices? I must admit I’m no connoisseur. I’m usually just bagels and hotdogs. Sometimes donuts. Perhaps you can enlighten me,” he mused. When the two of them arrived at the bakery, Travis slowed in his tracks - he recognized this place. While he had never actually gone inside before, he remembered clearly how Ashleigh used to frequent this bakery. He would usually wait outside for her while she went in and raided the place, often coming out with more food than she could ever possibly finish. He clenched his jaw to avoid showing his emotions, but it was absolute turmoil within him. 

Ana gave only a light smile with his attempts, most New Yorkers wouldn’t have even given her a second thought, which she’d witnessed firsthand. If he’d noticed her sorrow, he didn’t say anything, which Ana was thankful for. “I’d recommend you get something other than a boring bagel from where I got that pastry.” Ana replied, turning towards the direction of the bakery, signaling that she’d accepted his offer. “It’s French and they have a lot more finer choices.”

[travis-murray]

In that moment, Travis began to feel something he hadn’t felt for a long time. He felt happy to be making a friend. Granted, Anneliese had approached him as a concerned citizen, but he found himself smiling and genuinely feeling amused at her jokes and antics. He even felt glad when she offered to stay for coffee. 

“No, don’t say that! Us police always appreciate you witnesses who come in to give your statements. Your cooperation truly means a lot to us - even if it sounds completely absurd to some officers, at the end of the day, it’s something. And something is always better than nothing,” Travis said, hoping to reassure Anneliese. 

Travis was now extremely intrigued and curious as to what these feral creatures were and he was determined to get to the bottom of all this. After all, they had been disrupting the peace of the already crime-ridden city, and if he could solve this mystery, it would be one less problem to deal with. 

As he listened to Anneliese speak, he watched her gesticulations, and noticed her wedding band and engagement ring - a newlywed perhaps? A slight pang of sadness washed over Travis as he recalled the box with an engagement ring that was locked away in drawer back at home. After Ashleigh’s accident, he didn’t quite know what to do with it. He had previously been planning to pop the question for quite some time, but Ashleigh and him suddenly entered a period of petty fights and arguments, and the right moment never came. A small sigh escaped his mouth. Travis led the way to the tail end of the queue and stepped behind two hippies who looked like they hadn’t showered in a while. 

“On the contrary, Anneliese,” Travis chuckled, surprised at himself for using her first name (it was a sign that he felt comfortable with her), “I’m glad you brought it up. And I promise that if I hear or learn anything, you’ll be the first to know. And don’t thank me, I’m just doing my job. You know, as a protector of the people.”

“Pleasure, Officer Travis Murray,” she smiled with a small nod to his coffee confirmation. Next came the hard part. The part she always dreaded. By this point she had pretty much become an expert in reading how people were going to react to her story, even to the smallest aspect. Now was the part when she had to wait, holding her breath for him to decide whether or not he was going to humour her. Or, even more unlikely, believe her.

While he took a moment to process her initial shpeel of information Anneliese studied his face. Most cops she talked to were skeptical but they listened. Some had seen things, heard things and they were kinder. Of course they couldn’t help, not really. The world was a mysterious place or accidents happened but they wished her well. Hoped she’d find some peace someday.

Not surprisingly her eyes couldn’t help lighting up a little when the ‘but’ left his mouth.

Usually it meant nothing but bad news however this time… This time it was her window of opportunity. A life line thrown out to her rusty old row boat stuck in the middle of the ocean. She raised her eyebrows expectantly, biting down on her tongue to allow him to continue. As much as she tried it was hard to hold back the hopefulness that crossed her delicate yet tired features. It had been a while since she’d been thrown a bone so to speak. She tilted her head slightly, keeping her silence while he continued and finally let out her breath.

“Of course,” she said, “Neither confirm or deny what us mere citizens do and do not know.” She offered another smile. She was grateful. Grateful for anything, any little shred of encouragement. Sure her set backs weren’t going to stop her but it would be a lie to say she always left unscathed. Anneliese’s eyes scanned the line of people unaware they’d even reached their destination until he’d said.

“I don’t mind. I’d walk over hot coals for a cup of coffee so… My tolerance is,” she reached as high as her arm would allow, “Way up there.” Bringing it back down she looked ahead. Of course she’d have to explain herself. He had asked nicely and he had indulged her. She could even manage a small for that kind of courtesy.

“Yeah, yeah sure. I mean, it’s nothing special. Probably some sort of cliché in there somewhere or something. There was an accident and there was an animal involved. I saw it. I mean… Well, I didn’t see it very well having been in the accident and all. I was a little fuzzy on account of the car impacting into– Nevermind. So yeah, I’m on of those witnesses that came in and gave a statement. The ones you overhear when you’re doing some paper work, feel sorry for then quickly forget about. They probably move on from it though, in all fairness,” she’d been staring ahead, looking over briefly only a couple of times, her fingertips pressing into her engagement ring above her wedding band.

“So um, yeah. Kind of a depressing story actually all in all. Now I’m left looking into things way too much. Crazy crash causing psychos with big bad pet dogs being only one of my official theories cops do not love to hear about,” she shrugged before looking back over to him, a small smile on her face, “Thank you though. For listening. Really. I mean, you didn’t have to do that but you did. So… Thank you.”

[travis-murray]

“It’s alright, I would be pretty upset if I were you,” Travis chuckled, hoping to lighten the mood. He frowned slightly as she spoke. Whatever it was that happened to this poor woman, it sounded bad. Travis didn’t want to pry and he usually wasn’t one to ask about people’s affairs but the look on her face was something he recognized; something that he had seen before in the mirror. Maybe she just needed someone to talk to. God knows he did when he lost his girlfriend, Ashleigh. And oftentimes, Travis himself found confiding in strangers much easier than he did in friends. There was this sense of abandon when it came to talking to strangers, knowing that they wouldn’t judge him... And even if they did, he wouldn’t be seeing them again anyway. “What say we get you another one of that? I myself was on my way to buy a bagel,” he offered earnestly, hoping he wasn’t being creepy.

Ana definitely didn’t recognize him, and when his smile faded slightly, she felt guilty for her anger. “Sorry.” She apologized quickly, glancing back at the pastry before meeting his eyes again. “Yeah, well…the universe has decided to throw everything at me lately, so what’s a pastry on the ground, huh?” A nonchalant shrug. Probably didn’t even sound like it would make sense, probably sounded like she was depressed. She was–Ana was willing to admit that. There wasn’t any sort of outlet she could use to help herself. Well, there was, but there was also her iron will, that was slowly fading away, to not tear into people’s throats and just not feel.

[travis-murray]

Travis was very surprised that the woman knew the name of the murder victim - perhaps he had underestimated her. On one hand, if she knew him on a first name basis, perhaps she had been close to him. On the other, the way she had brought it up sounded so casual and nonchalant, uncaring even; almost as if she was indifferent to Connor’s (thanks to her, Travis now knew his name) death. How peculiar he thought. 

“Yes, that - and a couple of attacks here and there, some people bringing up creatures with yellow eyes,” Travis lowered his voice towards the end of the sentence. 

Ever since Anneliese had asked him about ferocious, freak animal attacks, he was beginning to acknowledge that there was something sinister at work that was completely beyond him. And he wanted to find out more, not just for Anneliese’s sake, but for himself. Ever since Ashleigh’s accident, the fire in him had been smothered... But now, three years later, the passion to know had been ignited within him. He would do as much as he could (within his morals of course) to find out more... Perhaps this woman standing before him knew something?

Travis hadn’t forgotten about the mysterious object hidden under her jacket. But the opportunity to ask about it had passed. He figured he would ask her about it later. Right now, her discomfort was palpable, and Travis couldn’t help but feel apologetic. Maybe he had come on too strong when really, she was just passing through. Maybe he should’ve just minded his own business. However, since they were already talking, why not push for a bit more? 

“Ah, it’s not a problem, I’m just doing my job, miss,” he said, smiling, trying to be friendlier. “Why were you going through this dark alley anyway? Were you on your way to some place?” he asked. 

Years of War || Travis&Kaden

“Oh,” Kaden replied blankly, slightly relieved that the only thing that had apparently happened for the high alert was something that she had been aware of, “Just Connor’s death?” After speaking she mentally slapped herself. Not only  had she acted entirely casually about a “high-profile death”, but she had called the victim by his actual name as well. Sometimes it was hard for her to forget that not everyone was as aware of the real world as she was.

Kaden nodded as she forced herself to pretend that she understood and respected his concern, “Like I said, I’m fine,” she repeated once more, “Thank you though.” She readjusted her hands in her jacket, purposely pulling them forward so that her unzipped jacket was almost closed. She just wanted this conversation to end so she could go on her way, but at the same time she wanted it to last long enough that he wasn’t suspicious about who she was or what she was doing walking down the dark city alleyways alone.