『 “Hey!”
Anthony twisted around at the greeting with a start, anxiety flooding his body and tensing his shoulders despite the voice’s jubilant tone. Upon turning around, he saw the owner of said voice was another boy; about Anthony’s own height but slightly slimmer, with jet black hair that almost reached his shoulders and a smile that seemed just a bit too wide for his face—though the grin dissolved into a look of shocked concern when Anthony faced him.
“Oh jeez, dude, you alright? What happened?” the other kid asked, quickly recovering from a barely noticeable balk and walking closer.
“I’m fine,” Anthony said quickly, warily, feeling flighty and distrustful of someone who had no fear of approaching a stranger whose face was half-covered in dried blood.
“Oh, good! But you should wash that off anyway,” the other boy replied easily, his smile returning as he let the strap of the backpack he had slung over one shoulder drop to his elbow so he could reach in.
“Catch!”
It was more out of luck than skill that Anthony caught the bottle of water that the black-haired boy tossed to him, but the catch was met with bright eyes and that toothy, tilted grin—and, finally, an introduction:
“I’m Cheyenne. Well, technically Kaspar, but—Cheyenne. Or ‘Chey’! I wanna try out ‘Chey,’” Cheyenne/Chey/Technically-Kaspar said, his excited smile not faltering in the slightest, despite the fact that Anthony was sure he was staring at the other boy as if he was nuts. Because clearly he was absolutely insane; Anthony hadn’t expected to run into someone with fewer social skills than he himself had, but Cheyenne (Chey?) talked just a little too fast and stood just a little too close and seemed devoid of the common sense to not just walk right up to random strangers.
...But the bottle of water now in Anthony’s hands was full and unopened, and Cheyenne’s smile was bright and friendly and expectant and he rocked back and forth on his feet like a little kid too excited to keep still. It was difficult not to trust him.』
Well don't call me by my full name
And all this is temporary
It feels much better to know that you won't feel a thing
Well don't talk about it;
Write it down but don't ask for help
I can't be honest with even myself
Did you ever wish you were somebody else?
►The Difference Between Medicine and Poison Is in the Dose by Circa Survive◄
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16 y.o Chey and Anarchy, back in the dark addiction days.
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God I love Kohao and Athena...This was super rushed and messy so it's VERY imperfect but I really enjoyed drawing these two, even as high schoolers, when they're suffering so bad. Their closeness then is smth I'd love to expand on in writing sometime soon,,,
“ʜᴇʀᴇ ᴡᴇ sᴛᴀɴᴅ, ᴘʀᴇᴄᴀʀɪᴏᴜsʟʏ
ʙᴀʟᴀɴᴄᴇᴅ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇᴅɢᴇ ᴏғ ɪɴғɪɴɪᴛʏ
ᴛʜᴇʏ ʟᴇғᴛ ᴜs ᴛᴏ ᴅɪᴇ ʙᴜᴛ ᴡᴇ ᴄᴀɴ sᴀᴠᴇ ᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ
ᴡᴇ ғᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴀ ʟɪғᴇʟɪɴᴇ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀʀᴍs ᴏғ ᴏɴᴇ ᴀɴᴏᴛʜᴇʀ.”
↳ "ɴᴀᴍᴇsᴀᴋᴇ", ᴡᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ᴏᴜʀ sᴄᴀʀs (𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟹)
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In the end, despite everything, Edge of Infinity is a story--or collection of stories--about hope. And healing.
This image of Kohao and Athena would be circa the 2030’s:
Despite all the hell they went through, they make it: Athena and Teagan never stop dancing in the kitchen or splashing one another with soapy dish-water, and Athena loves the taste of motherhood she gets through Cooper--and truly enjoys the role she gets to play in their life.
By the 2030's, Kohao has ditched his guns and many of his vices; he's covered up a lot of his tattoos and cut back on smoking, but never stopped writing songs--though his favorite ones to play end up being the soft, loving, acoustic ones he writes especially for Willow. He really dedicates himself to fatherhood and becomes a damn good dad to Olivia--as well as a much-needed, supportive and caring father figure to her friend, Slick.
Yeah...in the end? They not only recover--they thrive.