veteranthomas

[veteranthomas]

winnie blythe.

Winnie likes to breeze through life blissfully unfamiliar with the sensation of embarrassment. He regards himself as incapable of feeling shame on principle — his job leaves little space for it, not when he parades around on stages spinning comedic yarns out of his own misfortunes — but there’s no denying that this is what he’s currently feeling. Actually, he’s mortified. To swear in a House of God is one thing, but to try and lay claim to a church, as though he’s the only one who could — and should — be there is something else entirely.

At least the blush staining his cheeks isn’t as obvious in the dim candlelight as it could be. Small mercies.

“No, I’m sorry, dude. I didn’t mean to, like, get territorial. It’s just — I’m not used to seeing people here so late, you know?” He’s only had a few run-ins with other night-time churchgoers in the past; the only constant was that they all shared the same harassed, endlessly exhausted look, as though they couldn’t hope of sleeping until their conscience had been cleared. Winnie knows the feeling. Talking to God, irrespective of whether or not He is listening, is often the only thing that allows him to relax.

“You feeling guilty about something? Is that why you’re here?”

Although there was something magical about an empty church, Thomas didn’t mind praying with others around. Being the only one in a church brought a feeling of having a direct, one-to-one line with Him, but being with someone strengthened his faith. If it was just him, he often found himself slipping into the ‘but why?’ train of thought, unlike when there were others, where Thomas was reminded that the world did not revolve around him, not even a little.

“Fair enough,” he nodded with a weak smile before taking a seat in the pew on the other side of the isle. He touched the cross tattoo on his upper arm and felt the bumps of scars below his jumper. He swallowed thickly and instead focused on the symbolism and why he had gotten it, not what had happened to it.

“Not guilty, per se.” He paused softly and leaned forward, folding his hands together. “I couldn’t sleep. Racing mind and all that. Thought I’d get my mind off it for a bit.” He looked over at the younger man. “What about you?” 

[veteranthomas]

lucy barton.

Thursday, December 12th. 

It was almost midnight, and Lucy was in her pajamas sitting on the floor in front of the altar. She would have been kneeling on the rail, but her belly stuck out too far for that now. Her maternity leave had begun on her due date… which was five days ago, and she couldn’t sleep between worrying if everything was okay at the hospital and the little one’s kicks. The church had always been a safe place for her, and since it was open for prayer 24/7 she had found herself there more and more often on sleepless nights. Tonight she wasn’t facing the crucifix behind the altar, but the statue of Mary off to the side of the platform, and wondering how many rosaries she would have to say before her labor would finally start.

@veteranthomas​

Thomas’ psychiatrist had advised him to keep a strict sleeping schedule - and, being well disciplined and a people-pleaser, he tried his best to stick to it. Up at 7am, a quick breakfast before going on a run with Doe, so he could be showered and back to his daily routine by 9am. His daily routine currently consisted of his skype sessions with his psychiatrist and job hunting, and even though it was emotionally draining, he found himself tossing and turning most nights. So he did the only thing that would calm him down. Sit in a quiet church and pray. He hadn’t expected someone else to be there. He entered quietly, careful not to disturb her as he took a seat in the front pew and began to whisper. “Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name...” 

[veteranthomas]

rhys calvin.

Rhys was making his way home for a quick shower and change after his shift at the fire station. Being a trainee had him doing the grunt work which he didn’t mind at all but it made him filthy and the last thing he wanted was to show up to the bar covered in dirt and get sent home for not being clean enough. It had happened once before and he wasn’t going to let it happen again. His feet moved underneath him, seemingly as if they were what controlled the movement in his body. His earbuds were in, playing one of the Illieum songs he recently downloaded, the only thing he didn’t count on was tripping over something that had been on the ground which made him eat shit completely. 

He sat on the ground, looking down at the pair of jeans pants he had only bought the other week to see the big hole in the knee part. He exhaled at himself, moving his hand up to his earbud, yanking it out of his ear with frustration because this was just the icing on top of the cake. He lifted his eyes when he heard someone, his lips parted. The snarky asshole remark on the tip of his tongue but his mind moved to Henry and all he did was give the male a nod, moving his hands from his knee so the guy could get a better look at it. “You always look at scraped up knees on strangers?”

Out of all the things he had learned in the army one of the most surprisingly useful skills was reading body language. From his patients, tough guys who tried to hide their pain and therefore didn’t ask for the correct treatment, but also from those they fought. He had never been trained as a negotiator, but his calm and genuine demeanour often meant that he had been the one sent out to try and settle the peace with a translator. 

He didn’t need a translator to see the agitation and frustration in the redhead in front of him though. He slowed his pace and moved back slightly. “I should probably say no, but... it’s a habit?” he shrugged awkwardly. “I’m a doctor. Do you mind? I won’t if you don’t want me to.” 

[veteranthomas]

aubrey taylor.

Incredibly grateful not to slip and land on her ass, too, Aubrey pressed her lips together in some further, although quiet gratitude and allowed herself a moment or two to make sure she was as steady as a girl with a broken heel could be. ‘’I’m sorry for the foul mouth– I am just having a day from Hell,’’ She explained herself as this guy was a stranger on the street who didn’t even have to be on the receiving end of it all. She didn’t want him to think he was, either. A little confused as to what he was referring to, it took a split second for her brain to catch up, as it seemed, before she connected the dots between the scraped knee and the sting she was feeling. Pointing to the bench nearby, Aubrey took a seat and released a deep, tired sigh. ‘’Y’know, what, might as well. I think I have some–’’ She tried to look for a sticking patch in her purse as she shook her head, mostly at herself and her day.

Thomas held out his hand and helped her over to the bench. Doe, being pretty familiar with Thomas’ habits and peculiarities after a few years, yawned and laid herself down on the cold stone concrete. He swung his backpack off his shoulder and got out his first aid kit. “Oh, you don’t have to–– I have this,” he told her as he gestured with the small first aid kit in his hand. “I always keep one.” He sat down next to her and pulled aside her jeans slightly before fishing out his bottle of water. “Do you mind if I clean it out a bit? It’s not too bad, you just wouldn’t want it to scar.”

[veteranthomas]

ophelia carmichael. 

“Same. I actually just got back about six months ago, officially out after ten years so it’s a bit weird.” She said shrugging. “I’m Ophelia by the way, I am thankful that you stopped though. If I was anyone else you would of calmed me down with how sure you were of yourself.” And it was true. Ophelia knew how it felt to do something for so long, that when you stopped you dont really know what to do with yourself. “There’s a cafe about five minutes from here, wanna walk with me? Have a cup of coffee to warm up.”

“It feels like I got back two weeks ago,” he huffed as a humourless laugh escaped his lips. The only thing that brought back the passage of time was the ring on his finger, which he turned absent-mindedly, and the fact that Doe was two already. “Thomas. I wish we could’ve met under some better circumstances, though. And I’d love a cup of coffee. Go ahead. I’m not too familiar with this place yet.” 

[veteranthomas]

halley wolf.

WHERE: Tbh anywhere WHO: Open TAGGING: @wilmingtonstarters​

     “Alright, so…” How did she phrase this so it didn’t come off cheap and offensively? Normally, Halle wouldn’t care, but given the holiday season and for the sake of being in the spirit or whatever she tried. For a few short moments. “How do you go about… alright, what the hell do you gift someone that you don’t really give a shit about but you’re obligated to buy them a present?” The blonde had been doing a light amount of shopping and so far had really only picked up things mostly for herself. She needed to get something for one of the ladies in her office and also that dumbass prick in the copyright department. “Don’t worry… it’s not you,” she clarified, just in case. “I keep seeing this infomercial for this Miracle Spring Water... I know it’s full of shit but… Janet could really use it.”

Thomas was a little lost in his own world, as was the usual for him. He strolled around the gift section, staring at the dozens of differently packaged gift sets. He wanted to get something for his siblings and parents, but with his budget on the tight side and his large family, he doubted he’d be able to get any of them something nice and get it posted to them. He glanced over at the blonde and shrugged himself out of his trance-like state. “Um.. I’d say candles are always good,” he suggested, picking up a set of three woodwick candles and holding them up. 

[veteranthomas]

[veteranthomas]

aubrey taylor: 

Call it a hellish day, because it certainly was. Not only did Aubrey manage to lose Rick Braun who was scheduled to perform at The Hideaway for New Years’ Eve (it was tough competing with a better monetary offer he got over at Raleigh), but now Norah Jones was not 100% certain either. On top of that, one of the bartenders quit this much into the holiday season because he moved to a bigger city and she was now officially understaffed, but when she stepped to the side in the crevice between the pavement and the sidewalk and got her heel stuck in it, ultimately resulting in a potentially sprained ankle, she was freaking done with life when she slipped and fell as a consequence of the entire ordeal. Cursing under her breath but dangerously close to it being on the louder side, Aubrey felt the sting of the scraped knee as she crouched to at least try to get that heel out of the trap it was now in.

Looking up, she shook her head. ‘’Nope– it doesn’t look great, does it?’’ She asked rhetorically and almost to herself. Pulling once more, she almost lost her balance again and gasped in between. ‘’God damn it!’’

Thomas wasn’t at all fazed by the curse he heard slip from her lips, as he’d heard much worse. He didn’t curse himself, part of being brought up in a very Catholic household with parents who strongly believed in the power of spanking to discipline, he always strayed away from it and probably would for the rest of his life. He held out his hand, but reached out to grab her elbow when he saw her balance shift. 

“Careful!” He pulled her steady again and once he thought she was, he quickly removed his hand. He didn’t want to overstep. “I’m a.. doctor. Do you want me to have a look at that?” The word doctor felt foreign on his tongue. He hadn’t used it in ages, especially not to describe himself. 

[veteranthomas]

ophxcar‌:

Letting out another slight laugh, O put her hand on his lightly as she got him to look at her. “And I was a medic. I promise I have had way worse injuries then this one. The only thing hurt is my pride.” And that was the truth. Ophelia hated embarrassing herself in front others, and this was a point where she could feel  the heat rising in her cheeks and hoped that the blush wasn’t showing on her face. 

“I appreciate the offer though. It’s good to know that people will still stop instead of walk over me on the sidewalk.” She said with a shrug. The bleeding was already starting to stop thank god, but her jeans were ripped beyond repair. “And i’m going to have to change my pants but i’m good.”

“A medic?” he asked for clarification. “Me too. Combat medic in the army.” Once he was sure that she could stand, of which he now trusted her judgement a little bit better than before, he dropped his hand. He picked up Doe’s lead and then shoved his hands into his pockets to keep them warm. “It’s a habit for me, really,” Thomas shrugged. 

[veteranthomas]

skyler thompson:

Skyler should’ve known that they weren’t in shape for longboarding that day, but they were nothing if not stubborn. So, when they fell and bit pavement, they couldn’t even be mad at anybody but themself. It really wasn’t much more than a minor scrape, but the shock of it and the fear that it might be worse had their heart thundering and breath racing. It was always like this anymore; whenever they might’ve hurt themselves worse than they realized, like last time. A shallow breath passed their lips when the man first approached, shaking their head and lifting their hands almost defensively. “I’m fine, really.” 

They glanced down at their knee, stomach turning at the sight of the blood and wincing as they stretched their leg out. When the man spoke, their face fell, frowning. “I said I’m fine.” They snapped, sighing after a moment and clearing their throat. “Sorry, just – It’s just a scrape.. it’s fine, Skyler whispered, not sure at that point whether they were trying to convince the stranger in front of them or themself. 

Thomas hated skateboards. He knew how hypocritical it sounded coming from him, but they were too dangerous. The amount of times he had seen someone plant their face against the ground because of a pebble in the wrong place said enough for him. He sucked in a deep breath and distanced himself, pushing himself back up to his feet and nodding. “Okay–– okay.” He couldn’t force someone to let him help, even if his fingers tingled to do so.

He held out his hand instead so they could take it if they wanted to. “It is, it just.. make sure you clean it well, alright? These are nasty stones, you don’t want it to get infected.” 

[veteranthomas]

caleigh greer:

          Leave it to Caleigh to overload herself with too much to carry and then trip over her own feet. Her body was in shock from the fall and impact, she sat there stunned not realizing just yet that she’d been bleeding from a scrape to her knee. However, she did momentarily glance down and see that her heel had broke and was likely the main cause of her fall but her only reaction was a whine. “Noooo. Fuck!” It was then that the ache and sting hit her at her knee and her hand immediately went to cover it and quickly jumped back away when feeling something wet. “You have got to be kidding me,” the baker groaned. Before she could react any further a dog had run up past her and immediately made her tense up and hold her hands in a protective manner. “Hey, easy…”

          A sigh of relief quickly breathed out when seconds later the owner of the dog said a command and the pooch followed orders. “Wait, what? Why?” The raven haired baker had been so distracted by the dog for those brief seconds that she had a hitch in switching gears back to the fact that she was sat on the pavement. “Oh… I think it’s fine,” she commented dismissively. “My fucking heel broke,” Caleigh gestured to it, suddenly sounding more and more upset. They were favorites and expensive and her knee was aching like hell. Not to mention she felt like a doof. “Oh god… I hope I didn’t break my phone either. Do you see it?” Ceruleans immediately began scanning around, she was going to need a pick up.

A soft laugh escaped him as she seemed to worry about everything but her actual health. He looked around with her and then picked up her phone from the grass, screen down. “I think it’s––” he started, but as he turned it over he noticed a small assortment of cracks on one edge of the screen. He hoped those had been there before the fall. “Oh..” 

He handed her phone back to her and picked up the heel as well. There was no mending that one. He always carried a first aid kit with him, even if it was just a small one with the absolute basics, just in case. If he’d still had his old bag he would’ve also carried duct tape, however, he didn’t need that as often in the normal world. “I’m afraid I can’t really help with your heel but um... I can have a look at your knee if you want? I’ve got a first aid kit.” Realising he may sound like a bit of a lunatic, he quickly added: “I’m Dr Thomas Dixon, by the way.” 

[veteranthomas]

ophelia carmichael:

It was a bad day and it had gone from bad to worse. O had just had a blow out with her father over how she was living, her brother just informed her that he had gotten a job outside of Wilmington and that they were moving so her nieces were leaving after the new year, and she just was not having a good morning. Walking back to her apartment, the girl had her headphones in and wasn’t really paying attention to her surroundings when she felt herself head towards the ground. The blinding pain from her knee shot through her before she saw the blood and Ophelia just let out a string of curses to the universe.

Composing herself, she checked her knee and realized it wasn’t anything that some antiseptic and a band aid couldn’t fix, all she had to do was get home. But in that moment the girl didn’t want to move. Hearing a voice, she looked up and nodded. “Yeah, i’m fine. I just fell.” When he got down and started examining her, Ophelia let out a laugh. “Seriously i’m fine. I just need to get home and get it cleaned up.” 

Perhaps it was the sight of blood, perhaps it was the nature of his training, or maybe it was because he longed to feel useful again, but he didn’t want to take no for an answer. He had seen many wounds a thousand times worse than what the woman in front of him had, but that did not mean that it didn’t need cleaning. He had already reached out his hand to lift her leg in his hand when he heard her laugh. His hand stopped in mid-air. 

“Are you sure?” he asked, unable to keep himself from sounding the littlest bit condescending. “I’m a doctor–– I can help you.” The other times he had said that exact same sentence echoed in his mind, but in those scenarios he was in a scorching heat and he was the only one who could help. In truth.. she could do this by herself. “Sorry, it’s a-- it’s a habit.” 

[veteranthomas]

winnie blythe:

The only sound in the entire church is burning candles idly dripping wax. Winnie has carved a reputation of silently haunting sacred spaces, hoping that, in doing so, he may absorb their grace. Part of him believes that, if he spends enough time at church, his own wavering faith will right itself and a revelation will be prompted. He’s seeking closure above anything else. The harsh doctrine of his parents, a childhood dogged by stiff church clothes, endless rules and a cold, distinct lack of love — he needs it to make sense, somehow. Anything can be rationalised, forgiven, put to rest, when it makes sense.

If he can find closure anywhere, if he can find God anywhere, there seems no better place to look than church. There have been no epiphanies for him in his journey thus far, no guiding lights or gentle miracles. He still feels hopelessly lost, unwilling to return to Pentecostalism yet unable to let it go. Despite his wildly conflicting feelings towards his faith — he oscillates between wide-eyed adoration for religion and wanting to burn it all to the ground — he cannot imagine who he would be without it. It was the centre of his world for so long and he can’t ignore that. He’s tried.

He prefers to come and pray at night, when the church is empty and there’s no judgemental gazes to avoid; he can bow his head and murmur to God without fear of interruption or ridicule. That had been his plan for this evening, but the universe, it appears, has other things in mind. He’s mid-prayer when he hears hushed footsteps behind him, and he whips his head around from the pews, terrified. His mind, in its exhausted state, doesn’t put two and two together and realise the noise is human — he’s thinking more along the lines of the sneak-thief Devil — and it’s only when he forces himself to be reasonable that his heartbeat steadies itself.

“Jesus fucking Christ.” It’s wholly inappropriate given the location, and he visibly winces at his own poor choice of words, certainly not for the first time in his life. “Sorry. I didn’t mean… I just – why are you here?” He sounds confused as opposed to accusatory, but it’s still a bizarre question. Why shouldn’t they be here? He doesn’t own the church. “You scared me.”

New places had never been something Thomas was keen on. Despite his parents being in the military, they didn’t move around at all -- which meant that he had always had a place to call home. The first few weeks of training had been especially hard on him. Sharing a room with strangers, most of whom exuded confidence and were quick to quip a joke the first night he knelt down beside his bed to pray. Although in time, they would become some of his best friends, the only thing that had kept him going was thinking of home and praying. 

While deployed, he always found a moment in the day to sit down and bring his mind to peace. His belief in the institution was slowly fading, but he took his time to meditate even during the most hectic of days. Even the nights he slept less than four hours, which was more often than not, he set aside a minimum of ten minutes to pray and read. When overseas, his colleagues suddenly joked a lot less about his faith, and instead admired him for it. He fondly remembered late nights under skies of a thousand stars, sitting by a campfire and talking about religion and faith for hours as they kept watch. He clung on to the feeling of home and even without a christian church anywhere near, that was enough. Home was always there waiting for him. 

Then he met Agnes and home was everywhere they were together. In tent camps and old barracks, it didn’t matter, as long as they were together. But that didn’t last. Thomas twisted the wedding band still around his finger and moved it up and down. He wasn’t ready yet. But he was in a new place again, and despite his efforts, the thought of home was more difficult to conjure up in his mind. His family felt distant, he and Agnes hadn’t spoken in over a year, and most of those best friends were gone. 

He had left Doe at home, as church was a place he could do himself. He pushed the door open slowly and revelled in the candles shimmering in remembrance. He tried to be as quiet as he could as not to disturb the other man, but to no avail. “I’m sorry,” he apologised in hushed tone. “I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t think anyone would be here. Do you mind?” 

[veteranthomas]

[veteranthomas]

what inspires you the most?

“People with true and genuine optimism. It’s hard to come across people who are just truly and honestly hopeful and optimistic nowadays. I mean, it’s not very surprising, with everything that’s going on at the moment. That just makes it even more admirable.”