restoringthepresent-blog

[restoringthepresent-blog]

herculesfightyoufail:

Herc sat up, pulling his knees to his chest. “That sounds–creepy.” Herc turned to her, obviously trying to make light of the situation. “It’s like you’re magic. That’s not creepy, but the whole foreboding thing is. I’m sorry. That’s probably not a funny thing to say.” Herc laid back down. “Do you think the whole foreboding if because of your names?”

Chloe let out a soft laugh. “You’re not wrong. It is pretty creepy. But I don’t think it’s because of the names.” She sighed, her fingers brushing through the grass at her sides. “Our parents died in a house fire when we were very young. We were on the way home from school when I got this terrible, gut-wrenching feeling that something was wrong. I couldn’t shake it. Just as I was about to tell my siblings, our bus pulled up to our house -- or what used to be our house.” The brunette felt a lump growing in her throat, making it difficult to speak. “It was all rubble. Everything we loved. Everything we knew. It was all gone. That’s why we’re obsessed with time -- because you never know how long you’ll get, nor what lies ahead, nor how to recover from times past.”

[restoringthepresent-blog]

herculesfightyoufail:

“I have this issue with my body.” Herc started slowly. “I’m not in the mindset to play college ball. I go to hard with practices and dieting and I know I don’t look like the other guys. I can’t play right if I don’t look right and I have to get stronger.”  Herc shook his head, “It’s dumb. It’s all in my mind because I know I’m fast and I know I can play. I just always want to be better.”

“I’m sorry.” Chloe said genuinely, her lips turning down into a slight frown. “I couldn’t imagine working my whole life for something and not being able to follow through. That sucks.” She sighed, turning her gaze back to the sky. “I have a strange fascination with time. Perhaps fascination isn’t even really the right word. It’s more of a compulsion, a restriction. You see, I’m a triplet. I have an older sister and a younger brother. Our parents thought it would be cute to name us after the mythological fates -- you know, Lachesis, Clothos, and Atropos -- but they didn’t realize how binding those names would be. My sister, Essie, is obsessed with the past. Atro is consumed by the future. And I’m stuck somewhere in between. I feel the pain of both; the fear of the future and the agony of the past. It’s all wound up inside of me, right in the pit of my stomach, and it overwhelms me from time to time. I can’t think too much about the future, nor can I dwell on the past. When I even hear or think of a memory, I lose it -- and that’s what you saw a glimpse of today.”

[restoringthepresent-blog]

herculesfightyoufail:

“I’d be playing football.” Herc said immediately. “I had a college scholarship. I was one of the fastest guys on the team.” He admitted, looking up at the sky. “I was going to a school out in California–one of the best football schools. I worked hard everyday of my life to get that scholarship and then I couldn’t do it.”

Chloe nodded, turning her head just enough to look at the blonde boy beside her. “Why can’t you do it?” The girl blushed at her own stupid question, scrambling to clarify what she meant. “Well, I know why you can’t do it. I suppose what I’m trying to ask is why you’re here to begin with. In the Clubhouse, I mean. What’s your story?” 

[restoringthepresent-blog]

herculesfightyoufail:

Herc rubbed the back of his neck and rocked back and forth as he watched the girl calm down a bit and accept his flower. With an awkward smile, Herc nodded towards the ground, taking a seat and patting beside him. “We can watch the clouds.” He offered, “They always relax me.”

Chloe nodded, though she was still a little unsure about hanging around this boy. “Sure. Yeah. That would be nice.” She offered him a small, albeit awkward, smile of her own before sitting in the grass beside him. The girl pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging her legs tightly as she looked up at the fluffy white clouds. “Have you ever wondered what you’d be doing if you weren’t locked up in a mental institution? You know, if your life had gone differently?” Chloe asked quietly, her brows scrunching together as she laid back on the ground. 

[restoringthepresent-blog]

herculesfightyoufail:

“Yeah, yeah of course. Outside. Fresh air. All that good stuff.” Herc quickly ushered her through the side doors towards the garden. He shifted on his feet back and forth. “Should I go get you some water? Or, uh, this flower!” He picked a little dandelion and handed it to her. “Do you like flowers?”

As soon as they got outside, Chloe felt her head clear and her breath come a little easier. It was strange, the way certain environments could impact her fragile emotional stability. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that she had been inside when the unfortunate topic was brought up. Or perhaps it had something to do with who else inhabited the building -- specifically, her little brother, who was fortunate enough to not recall the details of his life. 

Chloe snapped out of her silent reverie at the sight of the little dandelion Herc had plucked for her. She smiled softly, wiping at her eyes with one hand and accepting the flower with the other. “I do, yes. Thank you very much.” The girl shifted back and forth in her place, twirling the dandelion by the stem as she avoided his gaze. “Ehm, I’m sorry you had to witness my little meltdown there. I don’t know what came over me. I’m sorry.”

[restoringthepresent-blog]

herculesfightyoufail:

“Okay. Okay, that’s fine.” Herc took a step to the side of her, leaving his hands at his side. “Do you want some company at least? I can walk you to your room.” Herc shuffled back and forth on the heels of his feet before stuffing his hands in his pockets. “I promise I won’t even ask what’s wrong.”

Chloe nodded at his offer for company, though she still fighting to regain her composure and squelch that overwhelming feeling of nausea and doom. “Yes. Please. Thank you. I just --” She winced, her hand moving to rest across her collarbones. “Can -- Can we go outside first? I just -- I can’t breathe right.”

[restoringthepresent-blog]

herculesfightyoufail:

“Hey. It’s you.” Herc smiled letting it falter as soon as he realized the girl had tears coming down her cheek. “Whoah, whoah, whoah what’s wrong?” Herc ran the rest of the way to the girl, placing his hands on her arms. “What happened?”

“No, no, no.” Chloe whimpered desperately, reaching her arms out as if she was trying to keep him away. But it was no use, he was already standing before her, looking concerned and confused as more tears escaped her sad eyes. “I don’t want to talk about it" The brunette stammered between small sobs, shaking her head. “I can’t talk about it. Please don’t make me --”

[restoringthepresent-blog]

Chloe walked briskly down the hallway, her head down as she fought back the impending tears from her conversation with Keiton. The girl only looked up to ensure she was going the right way and immediately regretted it, for her eyes immediately landed on the blonde boy from her first night. She skidded to a halt, scrambling to hide down a side hallway before he could notice her.

[restoringthepresent-blog]

herculesfightyoufail:

“You trying to get rid of me already… After all we’ve been through?” Herc smirked, “But yeah, you’re right…” Herc hesitated, “Can I be honest with you? Our rooms are just down the hall. The receptionist walked me over when I first got here. I was looking for the kitchen when I bumped into you.”

“We’ve been through so much and yet I still don’t know your name.” Chloe smirked right back, shifting her bag a bit. Her expression slipped into one of surprise, however, at his little confession. “Oh. Then why did you -- ?”

[restoringthepresent-blog]

theh0rrors:

“Yeah, life is life though.” Keiton rubbed the back of his neck, “Didn’t mean to make it awkward.” His eyes widened, “I just like to complain when I’m drunk. What about your parents? Are they total dickheads too?”

Chloe’s stride faltered at his question, her expression dropping as she wound her arms around her torso. “M-My parents are dead.” She stammered quietly, her gaze falling to the floor. “Freak accident. House fire. I --” That familiar pained, panicked feeling that she got the day of the accident twisted her gut, causing her to stop walking entirely. “I -- I think I should go.”

[restoringthepresent-blog]

herculesfightyoufail:

Herc feigned falling to the ground after he saw her smile. “You’re breaking my heart Juliet. You’re breaking it into pieces.” Herc sat up, looking at her. “I’ll let you win this wrong, but I swear there will be a rematch of extraordinary measures coming your way. I will not let my name be shamed like this.”

“You’re on.” Chloe grinned, picking up the book and returning it to its rightful place on the shelf. When she came back to their spot, she grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. “Well, I guess we should probably find our rooms now, huh? As fun as this has been, I don’t think I want to spend the night in the dusty old library.”

[restoringthepresent-blog]

herculesfightyoufail:

“Wow, I’m honestly offended.” Herc shook his head, “Tearing up a bit too. I just can’t believe you had such awful things to say about me and our upcoming marriage.” Herc grabbed the book from her and flipped to another page.

 “In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” Herc ended on his knees before falling over to the ground. “And that’s how you bring drama to the stage.”

Chloe laughed. “I tried to let you down easily, but I just couldn’t help myself.” She smirked, watching his little performance with a quirked brow. “Oh please, that was the weakest ending I’ve ever had the misfortune of watching.” Standing from her beanbag chair, she disappeared into a nearby aisle before reemerging with another book. However, this time, she opened it to a specific page.

“In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond;” Chloe began, her eyes flickering up to meet the boy’s, “And therefore thou mayst think my 'haviour light: But trust me, gentleman, I'll prove more true Than those that have more cunning to be strange. I should have been more strange, I must confess.” She approached him slowly, her steps falling into rhythm with the natural pentameter of Shakespeare’s prose, “But that thou overheard'st, ere I was 'ware, My true-love passion: therefore pardon me; And not impute this yielding to light love Which the dark night hath so discovered.” By the time she had finished the line, Chloe was practically nose to nose with the blonde, her head tilted slightly -- as if she was going to kiss him. But before anything could happen, she cracked a smile and dropped the book, stepping back to take a bow. “And that is how you bring drama to the stage.”

[restoringthepresent-blog]

theh0rrors:

“Yeah, I can pretty much tell that you’re worried that I’m some crazy guy. I mean we all are, but like I’m just a drunk. I’m not even an angry drunk. My parents are just super fucking rich and want me to stop drinking their money away. Anyways enough of my life story.”

Chloe nodded quietly, tucking her short brown locks behind her ears as he rattled off a few personal details. “If it’s any consolation, I don’t actually think you’re crazy. That sucks, though. The thing with your family, I mean.”

[restoringthepresent-blog]

herculesfightyoufail:

After a slow clap, Herc grabbed the book and was about to act out a line of his own, but the look on his face was pure disgust. “This is god awful. I can’t do this. I don’t know how you did it. Props. All the props.” Herc set the book back on the shelf and grabbed another, “Do this one.” He challenged her. 

Chloe eyed the cover of the new book with a quirked brow. “Pride and Prejudice? Really? You only chose that because of my accent.” She accused with a chuckle, shaking her head as she turned to a random page and reading the first paragraph in her best disdainful tone: 

“From the very beginning— from the first moment, I may almost say— of my acquaintance with you, your manners, impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form the groundwork of disapprobation on which succeeding events have built so immovable a dislike; and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.” Chloe snickered. “No offense.”

[restoringthepresent-blog]

herculesfightyoufail:

“Did I say I was going to perform? I meant you were. You chose the book. You go ahead.” Herc crossed his arms, waiting for the girl to throw the book at him or something of the sort.

Chloe felt the urge to throw the book at his perfectly coiffed hair. However, she pushed her feelings of annoyance down and smirked instead, giving him a shrug before turning the book to a random page. In her most dramatic and ~sensual~ voice, Chloe read, “Before I know it, he’s got both of my hands in his viselike grip above my head, and he’s pinning me to the wall using his lips. His other hand grabs my hair and yanks down, bringing my face up, and his lips are on mine…” She stopped before things got too graphic -- mostly because she couldn’t stop herself from laughing any longer. “Oh God. Oh God that was awful. Tell me people don’t actually read this crap.”

[restoringthepresent-blog]

theh0rrors:

“Sweet. Let’s go, uh, this way.” Keiton pointed down the hall. “Are you new? You totally look new.” 

“Okay. Yeah, sure.” Chloe smiled meekly, pocketing her room key before closing the door and falling into step with the man. “God, is it that obvious?” She chuckled, kicking her feet a little as she walked. “Yeah, I’ve only been here for a week or two. I still don’t really know where anything is. Uh, what about you? You been here long?”

[restoringthepresent-blog]

atroposaurus:

“And yet we can’t keep Henry away from her.” Atro laughed, “Yes, he does. Seph told him all about me and you guys and he filled in a lot of stuff that Seph had told him when I was still completely out of the loop. I guess I just kept mumbling three, three, three all eerily after my first surgery.” Atro hesitated, “I don’t want her to feel like I’m using her or that she’s pushing this whole relationship on me. I remember little things and I know I’m meant to be with her. I love everything I’ve remembered and seen about her so far and I just… I want the passion that she speaks of from back when we were kids. I want to at the very least, remember it. For her. For me.”

Chloe smiled softly. She was thankful Seph hadn’t tried to hide any part of her nephew’s family. At the mention of Atro’s eery post-surgery mumblings, Chloe’s brows shot up in surprise. The same thing had happened to her after she had ... though she wasn’t sure now was the opportune time to mention that. Clearing her throat, she nodded slowly. “That is pretty strange. Though you always have been strange.” She teased, her tone light but her expression borderline sullen. “Maybe if you stopped overthinking the situation, you would stop craving those memories and start feeling the, erm, things you want to feel here and now. You know? Like just go with it. If you and Seph are really meant to be together, then everything should come naturally for you once you lighten up.”