SUPERFICIAL LOVE / open joining

[DoI]

[align=center][div style="width: 390px; text-align: justify;"]kai couldn't remember the last time she had truly felt safe. not clearly, at least. she vaguely remembered her father bringing her into a tight hug and spinning her around while she squealed and giggled like a little girl. then everything took a change for the worst. adam's father took over the little town she called home, turned it into some cruel militaristic regime that drained all the happiness from the town she called home. it was like torture, made to train for some unforeseen event, and for a bit, adam made things seem like it would be ok.

so much for that. she thought bitterly, a hand settling against her stomach, rounded from pregnancy, and boy was she far along. 7 months in, and so far, she had been lucky.. pregnancy wise. life wise, she hadn't exactly won the lottery. she scrunched her nose slightly at the thought of the man that would have fathered her unborn child, and she didn't feel a shred of guild as another thought crossed her mind. i'm glad you'll never meet him, bab. she had every reason to be bitter, and only one reason to be happy.

slowly, she tugged the blanket she had draped over her closer around her, not having a coat considering she had left last minute. she still wore her fatigues, the forest camo that they were all forced to wear, that hardly fit her anymore and that was too uncomfortable to button up the button four buttons, revealing the black tanktop she wore as an under shirt.

"were gonna find you a home, eventually, bab." she mumbled, gently drumming her finger's against her belly and feeling her lips quirk up at the little kick she felt. "excited, huh? yeah, so am i.."

[EDMUND.]

    tw. mention of death

Could Edmund say that he felt safe anymore in Flintlock Lodge? No; but could he say he ever really felt safe at all? Not really. Especially after all that had happened over the past few months, it was beginning to slowly take a toll on a man who tended to keep everything to himself. Shut away within his mind, locked with a key before Ed swallowed said key. And so, perhaps he'd be pessimistic towards those who truly believed that Flintlock was some beacon of safety - sure, perhaps it was, but only as long as Edmund was out of the picture entirely.

But, he couldn't just leave now. He had responsibilities besides his own family's issues, and they weighed him down like an anchor at the top of this mountain. All Edmund could do was be man enough to deal with his problems. At the sight of a pregnant woman making her way up the mountain, Ed was no more soft than if it were anybody else. Rifle at the ready, his brows knitted together as he wandered over. After all, nothing was what it seemed; he'd already learned that the hard way. Maybe she wasn't pregnant; maybe she was carrying weapons against her torso or something. Anything.

Paranoia was not a good look on him.

❝ Have you got any weapons on you? ❞ Edmund questioned curtly as he stopped a short distance away, rifle in his grasp. He'd not raise it and aim, but he always had to be prepared to fire if necessary. His complacency with his rifle had killed his brother only a week ago. Edmund would not make the same mistake again, even if it did make him a little trigger happy.

[align=center][div style="width: 350px; text-align: justify; font-family:verdana; font-size: 7px;"][spoiler=tags :: updated 10/17]basics.
⋟ edmund theodore stirling-moray // ed, eddie, moray
⋟ goes by the name edmund moray
⋟ male // he/him
⋟ twenty three // ages real time // born seventh august
⋟ general of flintlock lodge // formerly a traveler with his family
⋟ product of an organized crime family, his father the mob boss
⋟ joined FL two years ago

appearance.
⋟ faceclaim - finn cole
⋟ voice claim - finn cole
⋟ 5'9ft // stocky, well-built frame
⋟ muted blue eyes and dirty blonde hair
⋟ physical health - 100% // current injuries: none
⋟ mental health - 100% // N/A

personality.
⋟ quiet in nature but confident in himself
⋟ completely fearless, almost foolishly so
⋟ insensitive and callous // cares for very few
⋟ very calm and calculative // always planning in his head
⋟ disciplined and practices good self-control
⋟ very flirtatious and persuasive // overly lustful
⋟ aloof and untrustworthy // jealous and deceitful
⋟ tactful and knows how to get what he wants
⋟ can be very nasty when he wants to be
⋟ but can also be very protective and faithful too
⋟ has a strong set of morals // has the quality of honor

relationships.
⋟ alfred stirling x leonora moray // both deceased
⋟ three older brothers // alfonso, thomas & franklin
⋟ the fifth stirling-moray brother, dominik, was killed
⋟ two younger half-siblings // henry & ida
⋟ bisexual but he stays silent about homosexual activity
⋟ husband to blake moray
⋟ father of thomas moray and charlotte moray
⋟ owns a west highland terrier, angus

interaction.
⋟ storage // playlist // pinterest
⋟ physically: very hard // mentally: hard
⋟ father taught him how to kill at a young age
⋟ insensitive towards injuring or killing others // will do so without hesitation
⋟ mentally, he is slowly becoming undone from stress, grief and guilt
⋟ often found guarding the lodge with a rifle
[/spoiler]

[HAYLEY]

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it hadn't been so long ago, that that had been here. pregnant and traipsing up the mountainside, wanting only a better future for her child, one away from the life she'd always known. being a vagabond had suited hayley just fine when it had only been her, wandering place to place with no real sense of permanence, but a child couldn't be raised that way. hayley wanted something better for her daughter, she wanted her to have stability and a constant in her life.

the lodge, back then, had been uncomfortably quiet. just a few people, no leader, no real sense of order. things operated because everyone did a job, but there wasn't anyone really in charge of anyone else, ideal right up until they all disagreed on things like a relationship with the badlands. somewhere along the line, she'd found herself in the leadership position, and nearly a year later, she was still grappling with all that had happened since then. her husband's death, her growing brood of children, the coming and going of people she'd thought would be her forever. some days, everything was fine, and then the next, she had to pull herself out of bed in the morning and count the reasons she had to keep going.

her initial thought as she approached this woman wasn't that she was in such a similar situation as hayley had once been, but instead that she was obviously ill prepared for the weather, and maybe it was because she was in a half decent mood that day, or maybe it was because her eyes skirted over the woman's distended abdomen and there was some sympathy from another mother, but a pang of sympathy hit her. there was a shotgun slung over her shoulder, and she shrugged it off but made no move to properly hold it, instead shrugging her coat off and holding it out to the woman.

[color=#4A272E]❝you're at the flintlock lodge,❞ was her curt greeting, though her eyes harbored a quiet kindness few people often saw in her these days, and she shouldered passed edmund, [color=#4A272E]❝you got a name, and a reason to be trudging up here in your condition?❞ she offered the coat out to her quietly, lips pressed firmly together and brows knitted in inquisition.

( wow, hayley being nice? edmund being a paranoid nutjob? it's the twilight zone y'all )

[DoI]

[align=center][div style="width: 390px; text-align: justify;"]when edmund appeared with a rifle ready to shot, her smile disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. the most she had was a right hook and some insults she had gotten from her 'boyfried' in all his 'glory'. if she had a weapon, it would certainly be something that she couldn't hide. a grenade, maybe. "if you don't put that damn rifle away, im gonna take it from you, and then i certainly will have one, now, wont i?" she warned. she already sounded like a mother, one well versed in the scolding of a young child.

then another woman appeared and she shot a short glare at edmund before offering hayley a gentle little smile. "no condition, i've just got a little thing growing in me thats really killing my back." she chuckled, patting the top of her swollen belly and heaving a soft little sigh. what was she doing here? she had just wanted to get away, and she had wandered all the way here. "i guess im just looking for  better place for bab. is flintlock lodge a good place?"

[HAYLEY]

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hayley's brow quirked ever so slightly at the woman's threat against edmund, and she glanced at him quickly, then back to kai, clearing her throat. [color=#4A272E]❝threatening him might not be a great idea,❞ was her only comment on the matter, arms crossing not unkindly, but simply to shelter her own form against the biting wind and snow.

she dismissed it being a condition, and hayley released a short laugh, rolling her eyes. [color=#4A272E]❝trust me, it's a condition, especially once they're born.❞ she quipped, motioning to her stomach briefly and offering her that small, half smile once more. [color=#4A272E]❝i have four, and the conditions progressed from peeing all night and back pain to middle of the night feedings and temper tantrums.❞ she wouldn't change it for anything, not hope screaming no nor getting the boys mixed up, but the brunette wasn't ever the type to sugarcoat motherhood.

she inquired about the lodge, and hayley nodded shortly. [color=#4A272E]❝i'd say so, gave birth to and am raising all of 'em here. edmund's got his brood, too.❞ still, sugarcoating wasn't her thing. [color=#4A272E]❝you've just got to be the type to survive this place. it's cold as shit year round, snowing most months, really ought to be inhospitable. but yeah, i couldn't imagine raising my kids in any other shithole.❞ was her simple response, shoulders bobbing in a shrug.