in the dark of the night // open

[blake k.]

It was late, she had been asleep which was apparent with her tank top and pajama pants ensemble. Louis woke up and then so did Keiron, so she decided going back to sleep was pointless. She walked over to the couch, though instead of sitting or laying on it she took a seat on the floor. She knew others were awake, if there was anything she learned from being married to Eddie, it was that people in Flintlock didn't sleep.

She was right, of course. Hearing footsteps coming towards her, the ginger looked up and waited for the person to come into view before greeting them with a tired but defeated smile "Can't sleep? Welcome to the club." She was more so waiting for any of the kids to wake up and need her at this point, though with her luck now that she was awake and ready for it? None of them would need her. Though Tommy and Lottie were likely to get out of bed and try to find her, or Lottie will call for her.

"You didn't happen to see my Tommy wandering, did you?" After all, he couldn't call for her if he had woken up.

[spoiler=TAGS 5/31]
One taught me love — general
▪ Blake Kegan | Blake, Blakie | open to nicknames
▪ AFAB | Identifies as Genderfluid | she/they
▪ 20 | Born July 26th | ages real time
▪ combat | member of Flintlock Lodge

One taught me patience — physical
♦ Health: 100%
— They stand at 5'9" with semi-long wavy ginger hair. She has a rose tattoo and a few scars from past events. She's closer to an athletic build and is on the thinner side.
— minor injuries: n/a
— major injuries: n/a

And one taught me pain — important info
▪ Broad Australian accent
▪ She's either your mom, sister, or wife friend
▪ 

Now, I'm so amazing — personality
— I like to think Blake is a good example of the whole "strong, independent woman" thing even if she doesn't identify as a woman. She has a short temper and what I gently put as homicidal tendencies. She will gladly fight someone, regardless if they're bigger than her or not. However, she's also rather maternal and is more likely to protect a child than anything. Her maternal side has massively shown itself since the twins were born, though that leaves her more violent side to be overlooked or forgotten.
— Maternal, "Strong Independent Woman", Protective
— Violent, Homicidal Tendencies, Short Tempered

I've loved and I've lost — relationships
▪ Ryan Kegan x Katherine Kegan
▪ Pansexual | Panromantic | Polyamorous
▪ Single | Crushing on no one | Maybe Crushing on no one
▪ Ex-wife of Edmund Moray
▪ Mother of Thomas, Charlotte, Louis, and Keiron Moray

But that's not what I see — interaction
— Physically very hard | Mentally intermediate
— Uses combound bow and arrows
— Also skilled in hand to hand combat
— No killing and ask before major injuries or major interactions
— To attack, [member=9567]Noccy[/member] & attack in #B34600
[/spoiler]

[freddie]

[align=center][div style="background=transparent; borderwidth=0px; bordercolor=; width: 400px; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 125%; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; color: black"]

— tonight was simply one of those nights. as much as he tried to drift off to sleep, his mind was too awake. it left him tossing and turning uneasily. it wasn’t often that his own thoughts kept him awake at night. generally, he was unbothered by most things that went on around him. however, with someone on his mind, and the light flutter in his chest that accompanied the thought of her alone, fred started to realize that he was absolutely miserable. how pathetic, to find himself falling when he never thought he could.

stepping out towards the living area, he looked towards blake. guess the only people up at this hour were those with troubling thoughts and those with children. he stepped closer as she talked, sighing tiredly before answering, “no. didn’t see him.” he didn’t care to say much else before stepping past her to sprawl out across the couch. “what’s got you awake? kids?” having all of those kids… god, why would she do that to herself? fred would never understand.

[blake k.]

Blake had been quick to block everyone out, only allowing the kids to become close enough. She refused to let anyone else close enough after all the shit she had dealt with. So to say she put all her time into her kids, even when she didn't have to, would be an understatement. She never took a break, she sat around waiting for someone to wake up from a nap, she juggled entertaining all four of them, and she got shit sleep once one woke up.

"Yeah, Louis woke up and so I'm kinda just waiting for another one to. No point in sleeping" she explained with a light laugh, doing her best to stay out of his way as he moved to lay on the couch. She glanced over to Freddie and raised an eyebrow "What about you? Just can't sleep or what? Something keeping you up?" she doubted he'd tell her, but she figured she'd ask. She would be up for a long time, may as well strike conversation.

[spoiler=TAGS 5/31]
One taught me love — general
▪ Blake Kegan | Blake, Blakie | open to nicknames
▪ AFAB | Identifies as Genderfluid | she/they
▪ 20 | Born July 26th | ages real time
▪ combat | member of Flintlock Lodge

One taught me patience — physical
♦ Health: 100%
— They stand at 5'9" with semi-long wavy ginger hair. She has a rose tattoo and a few scars from past events. She's closer to an athletic build and is on the thinner side.
— minor injuries: n/a
— major injuries: n/a

And one taught me pain — important info
▪ Broad Australian accent
▪ She's either your mom, sister, or wife friend
▪ 

Now, I'm so amazing — personality
— I like to think Blake is a good example of the whole "strong, independent woman" thing even if she doesn't identify as a woman. She has a short temper and what I gently put as homicidal tendencies. She will gladly fight someone, regardless if they're bigger than her or not. However, she's also rather maternal and is more likely to protect a child than anything. Her maternal side has massively shown itself since the twins were born, though that leaves her more violent side to be overlooked or forgotten.
— Maternal, "Strong Independent Woman", Protective
— Violent, Homicidal Tendencies, Short Tempered

I've loved and I've lost — relationships
▪ Ryan Kegan x Katherine Kegan
▪ Pansexual | Panromantic | Polyamorous
▪ Single | Crushing on no one | Maybe Crushing on no one
▪ Ex-wife of Edmund Moray
▪ Mother of Thomas, Charlotte, Louis, and Keiron Moray

But that's not what I see — interaction
— Physically very hard | Mentally intermediate
— Uses combound bow and arrows
— Also skilled in hand to hand combat
— No killing and ask before major injuries or major interactions
— To attack, [member=9567]Noccy[/member] & attack in #B34600
[/spoiler]

[EDMUND.]

[align=center][div style="width: 430px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 6pt; letter-spacing: 1.5px; word-spacing: 0px; line-height: 12px; color: #000"]Some nights were worse than others, and perhaps the excess of sunlight didn’t help the fact that Eddie barely slept anymore at night. It wouldn’t do anyone any good, for a matter of fact, made apparent with the lodge often still somewhat alive and bustling even through all hours of the night.

Stepping into the living room, Eddie was met by two faces he wasn’t sure he wanted to talk to, but there was a particular bottle of whiskey that he had his eye on perched on the bar cart in the corner of the room. ❝ Whiskey? ❞ Eddie offered to the both of them as he wandered to the other side of the room quietly, unscrewing the cap and automatically taking out three glasses. He glanced over his shoulder towards Blake, expecting Freddie to agree to a drink, before assuring, ❝ One neat pour won’t hurt. Promise. ❞

[spoiler=tags ― updated 06/06.][size=6pt]◜BASICS ┊ SO THIS IS WHERE WE ARE◞
&. ❝ edmund theodore stirling ❞ | ed, eddie | male [he/him] .
&. 24 years old . | seventh august ; leo .
&. currently the captain and official loyalist of flintlock lodge .
&. currently the boss of the stirling's notorious irish crime family .

◜PERSONALITY ┊ IT'S NOT WHERE WE HAD WANTED TO BE◞
&.  ambitious . brave . calm . disciplined . honorable . intelligent . leading . logical . patient . reliable . skillful . trustworthy . wise . aloof . cynical . detached . flirtatious . harsh . jealous . lustful . pessimistic . quiet . ruthless . secretive . stubborn .

◜ APPEARANCE ┊ IF HALF THE WORLD'S GONE MAD ◞
&.  five foot eight & one hundred and seventy one pounds ; reference .
↳ dirty blond hair kept very short and neat .
↳ stocky and well-built frame , lightly freckled skin .
↳ muted blue vacant eyes , unreadable , somewhat frowning expression .

◜ FAMILY ┊ THE OTHER HALF JUST DON'T CARE , YOU SEE◞
&. alfred stirling x leonora moray | both deceased .
&. four older siblings and two younger half-siblings .
↳ dominik stirling , 32 , shot and killed by alfred .
↳ thomas stirling , 32 , caretaker in flintlock .
↳ alfonso stirling , 28 , enforcer in flintlock
↳ franklin darrow , 25 , estranged in bluestem .
↳ henry stirling , 11 , resident in flintlock
↳ ida stirling , 9 , resident in flintlock
&. also lives with four cousins and his aunt .
&. father to thomas , charlotte , kieron and louis .

◜ RELATIONSHIPS ┊ YOU DON'T WANNA FUCK WITH US◞
&. bisexual, biromantic ; mongamous | tends to have a wandering eye .
&. ex-husband to blake kegan
↳ marriage fell apart after he cheated on her .
&. ex-lover to mickey serge
↳ he learned about his bisexuality with him .
&. lover to maxine van doren
↳ a rekindled flame where their relationship is kept a secret .

◜ INTERACTIONS ┊ BRITISH TO THE VERY LAST ◞
&.  [ 9/10 ] physically  |  [ 7/10 ] psychologically .
↳ difficulty w/ guns [ very difficult ] | difficulty w/ melees [ difficult ] | difficulty w/ hand-to-hand [ difficult ]
&. [member=2919]truce.[/member] | dm for any major plots .
&. friendly or nonviolent actions may be powerplayed .[/size][/spoiler]

[freddie]

[align=center][div style="background=transparent; borderwidth=0px; bordercolor=; width: 400px; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 125%; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; color: black"]

— fred couldn’t say he had ever really let anyone besides family close enough. perhaps that was why it was as terrifying as it was to even entertain the thought of letting someone know his best and his worst pieces- maybe that was why he was terrified that there was someone so worthwhile that just the thought of her alone kept him up at night. love was just a losing battle when freddie was in the equation; even he understood that.

humming a quiet note of laughter - as if he could possibly understand blake’s pain - he rested his head against folded arms, laying on his stomach. what was his reason for staying up? fred was hardly ever an open book. however, he was fairly good at faking it. a gentle smile on his lips, he explained casually, “just can’t sleep. my sleep schedule’s been thrown off with all of this village work.” lying came naturally to all stirlings.

he turned his head as eddie strolled in - of course - to grab a bottle of whiskey. did ed even have to ask? judging by him fetching three glasses without even waiting for an answer, fred shifted around to sit up. “do you ever sleep? or is that below you now, too?” not that eddie’s standards for himself seemed to be particularly high at this point, fred smugly told himself. though tempting to make more of a jab to his dear cousin, he figured it was best to hold his tongue to the person pouring him a glass of whiskey.

[blake k.]

Nobody was really close to the Australian anymore, she didn't allow it. Her only exception was her kids for the obvious reasons, but now she was tired and sitting out in the living room expecting one of four to wake up since another already had. She refused help and got little sleep because of it but she would never admit it. Besides, staying awake apparently meant she had conversations with people she'd never talk to for one reason or another.

"Mine has too, not for the same reason obviously but I get it" she laughed, running a hand through her hair as she laughed. There was a lot of work to be done with the village, but it was work Blake didn't really know about because she had four under three that needed her complete attention. If anyone knew the family lied, it was Blake. But then again she also was a liar and just knew to not push on anything whether she thought they were lying or not.

She wasn't one to be thrilled to Eddie, though Freddie's comment about him not sleeping did manage a snicker from her. "Trust me Freddie, he gets a lot more sleep than I have in the past...two years and one month" she commented as she added to the stab at her ex-husband. Of course, Eddie was up to get a drink and even offered one to them, her. She looked over to him when he tried to assure her one drink wouldn't hurt.

"I'll take it but I don't promise I'll drink it"

[spoiler=TAGS 5/31]
One taught me love — general
▪ Blake Kegan | Blake, Blakie | open to nicknames
▪ AFAB | Identifies as Genderfluid | she/they
▪ 20 | Born July 26th | ages real time
▪ combat | member of Flintlock Lodge

One taught me patience — physical
♦ Health: 100%
— They stand at 5'9" with semi-long wavy ginger hair. She has a rose tattoo and a few scars from past events. She's closer to an athletic build and is on the thinner side.
— minor injuries: n/a
— major injuries: n/a

And one taught me pain — important info
▪ Broad Australian accent
▪ She's either your mom, sister, or wife friend
▪ 

Now, I'm so amazing — personality
— I like to think Blake is a good example of the whole "strong, independent woman" thing even if she doesn't identify as a woman. She has a short temper and what I gently put as homicidal tendencies. She will gladly fight someone, regardless if they're bigger than her or not. However, she's also rather maternal and is more likely to protect a child than anything. Her maternal side has massively shown itself since the twins were born, though that leaves her more violent side to be overlooked or forgotten.
— Maternal, "Strong Independent Woman", Protective
— Violent, Homicidal Tendencies, Short Tempered

I've loved and I've lost — relationships
▪ Ryan Kegan x Katherine Kegan
▪ Pansexual | Panromantic | Polyamorous
▪ Single | Crushing on no one | Maybe Crushing on no one
▪ Ex-wife of Edmund Moray
▪ Mother of Thomas, Charlotte, Louis, and Keiron Moray

But that's not what I see — interaction
— Physically very hard | Mentally intermediate
— Uses combound bow and arrows
— Also skilled in hand to hand combat
— No killing and ask before major injuries or major interactions
— To attack, [member=9567]Noccy[/member] & attack in #B34600
[/spoiler]

[EDMUND.]

[align=center][div style="width: 430px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 6pt; letter-spacing: 1.5px; word-spacing: 0px; line-height: 12px; color: #000"]Eddie could sense where he was unwelcome, working his jaw gently as tired eyes darted between Fred and Blake. At Freddie’s comment, Ed did little more than hum a quiet, dismissive hum before unscrewing the cap of the drink rigidly and beginning to pour a generous amount of liquor in two glasses, a little less in the third. After all, despite all of the tension, Eddie still cared enough to not give Blake too much liquor, especially so soon post-birth.

He did barely sleep nowadays and it was clear in the darkening rings which had slowly tainted the skin below his eyes; but it was none of Fred’s business, nor Blake’s. If he were to ever talk to anybody, they’d simply never understand. After all, he was the man who screwed his life up - to most, it would be simply laughable. To others, the pity they’d express would only frustrate Eddie even more.

Taking two glasses to the other two, he silently lowered the glasses as Blake took a stab at him, only briefly glancing at her to utter quietly, bitterly, ❝ Yet you fail to mention how you brought that upon yourself. ❞ Eddie would do anything to be around his children more, even be the one to take care of them throughout the night, and yet Blake refused him that luxury. If she couldn’t sleep because of that, then she couldn’t hold him accountable. He straightened up to turn and get his own glass, pausing for a moment before picking up the bottle too and beginning to head out of the room. He’d not stick around for long when he knew he wasn’t wanted.

[spoiler=tags ― updated 06/06.][size=6pt]◜BASICS ┊ SO THIS IS WHERE WE ARE◞
&. ❝ edmund theodore stirling ❞ | ed, eddie | male [he/him] .
&. 24 years old . | seventh august ; leo .
&. currently the captain and official loyalist of flintlock lodge .
&. currently the boss of the stirling's notorious irish crime family .

◜PERSONALITY ┊ IT'S NOT WHERE WE HAD WANTED TO BE◞
&.  ambitious . brave . calm . disciplined . honorable . intelligent . leading . logical . patient . reliable . skillful . trustworthy . wise . aloof . cynical . detached . flirtatious . harsh . jealous . lustful . pessimistic . quiet . ruthless . secretive . stubborn .

◜ APPEARANCE ┊ IF HALF THE WORLD'S GONE MAD ◞
&.  five foot eight & one hundred and seventy one pounds ; reference .
↳ dirty blond hair kept very short and neat .
↳ stocky and well-built frame , lightly freckled skin .
↳ muted blue vacant eyes , unreadable , somewhat frowning expression .

◜ FAMILY ┊ THE OTHER HALF JUST DON'T CARE , YOU SEE◞
&. alfred stirling x leonora moray | both deceased .
&. four older siblings and two younger half-siblings .
↳ dominik stirling , 32 , shot and killed by alfred .
↳ thomas stirling , 32 , caretaker in flintlock .
↳ alfonso stirling , 28 , enforcer in flintlock
↳ franklin darrow , 25 , estranged in bluestem .
↳ henry stirling , 11 , resident in flintlock
↳ ida stirling , 9 , resident in flintlock
&. also lives with four cousins and his aunt .
&. father to thomas , charlotte , kieron and louis .

◜ RELATIONSHIPS ┊ YOU DON'T WANNA FUCK WITH US◞
&. bisexual, biromantic ; mongamous | tends to have a wandering eye .
&. ex-husband to blake kegan
↳ marriage fell apart after he cheated on her .
&. ex-lover to mickey serge
↳ he learned about his bisexuality with him .
&. lover to maxine van doren
↳ a rekindled flame where their relationship is kept a secret .

◜ INTERACTIONS ┊ BRITISH TO THE VERY LAST ◞
&.  [ 9/10 ] physically  |  [ 7/10 ] psychologically .
↳ difficulty w/ guns [ very difficult ] | difficulty w/ melees [ difficult ] | difficulty w/ hand-to-hand [ difficult ]
&. [member=2919]truce.[/member] | dm for any major plots .
&. friendly or nonviolent actions may be powerplayed .[/size][/spoiler]

[freddie]

[align=center][div style="background=transparent; borderwidth=0px; bordercolor=; width: 400px; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 125%; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; color: black"]

— taking the drink gratefully, he took a short sip of his drink, a hum being his only sign of gratitude. hey, he might’ve hated eddie’s guts, but he could still be grateful for the drink nonetheless. his remark had been mostly passive - he always made those remarks to try and get under ed’s skin - though it seemed like blake was quick to join the party with her own biting words.

wasn’t there some debate long ago, about whether exes could still be friends or not? as freddie glanced between the old flames, eyes sparked with interest, he could determine with ease which side of the debate blake and eddie would’ve stood on if they had the choice. he raised his glass to his lips, taking a generous gulp of the drink. he almost wished eddie had stayed a little bit longer. instead, he went for that good ol’ one-liner-then-dash bit. good rebuttal, he noted to himself, watching as ed turned to leave.

“do you think you guys will ever get along?” he asked to blake, gaze still lingering where eddie’s retreating form had disappeared.