Fandom Tale of Two Survivors { The Last of Us 1x1 with icedthemoon }

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; South Dakota

Alex heard the laugh and looked at Nate. He blushed hearing that there was more to the game than he'd originally thought there was. "Oh. I see." He said, looking up ahead as well as checking the sky before turning his attention back to Nate once more. "Pickleball? That's even stranger. What is wrong with the old world? Were they so bored, they had to come with weird sports?" Alex asked with a chuckle. He watched as Nate moved back closer to Alex and smiled softly. "I thought I'd extend that offer, but I don't know either. If we find one, we find one." Alex said with a shrug, then he turned to look at Nate again. "Football?" He asked. "What is football?"​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; South Dakota

He tries and failed to suppress another laugh at Alex’s responses to the games. Finally, all he could manage without sounding like he was laughing at him was, “You know, it’s very cute how you don’t know all of this. It’s so endearing and sweet. But also, I could tell you literally anything and you would be forced to believe me.” He grinned mischievously. “Football is where we through a ball about this long, shaped kind of like an egg, and then a whole bunch of guys run and tackle each other over that ball. Point is to get it to the other side of the field so that you get points instead of the other team. That one is so dangerous that I would refuse to play it. I don’t know why the old world wanted to kill themselves over a ball. “
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[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; South Dakota

Alex paused his tracks for a moment when he heard another laugh from Nate. His eyes looked over at him and he laughed too, it was hard not too. "It's not my fault I don't know any old world stuff. Please tell me you've been telling the truth and not whatever you want me to think it is. I might start not believing you at all" Alex said with a laugh. He had a rather curious look on his face now, Alex was sure when he heard Nate's explanation for football. "Really? All over a ball and a few points? That's a lot weirder than baseball and that was weird." Alex said.

"People in the old world were just strange" He added, looking ahead at the forest again. He glanced up at the sky, just passed the halfway point. Alex adjusted his pack, letting out a small groan as the back of it hit one of his injuries. He shifted his pack one more time, it laying the way he wanted it to now. "Besides, we had no time to come up with silly sports. Once we were old enough, we'd help in the fields when we had too." Alex said. His childhood had been spent mainly in the fields, which was also where he, Yara and Lev spent most of their time messing with the other Seraphites in the fields while doing it. Ears of corn would go flying since that was their favorite, throwing corn at the backs of the others.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; South Dakota

Nate did have to agree with that. People in the old world certainly were weird. He could not deny that they found weird ways to entertain themselves. So many of these games were all over a ball and some points. He did not really understand why it was like that, but he would not partake in the majority of them. He would consider baseball. That was sounded intriguing, even if getting hit by the baseball would likely hurt. Or throwing out his arm. He was sure that would be a problem. However, with proper training and care, he could see how that might not be a problem. But with football, there could only be problems. “You will have to trust me,” he answered with that same mischievous grin. He would never lie to Alex, but it was fun to tease him about it.

Alex’s childhood was not so strange to Nate. Not really. He may not understand everything that they did or know what it was like to work in fields, but he knew what it was like to have to work as soon as he was old enough. He was running around with the Fireflies as soon as he was competent enough to hold a flashlight. They tried to get him to take a gun, but he refused. Those were not only implements of murder but of harsh murder as well. His mother understood this, and she too refused to use one as much as possible. She may have been pro-killing in the right circumstances and with a future of others in mind, but she was not for excessive pain.

“I think maybe everyone is strange,” he finally said. “I think no matter where you come from, someone else is going to be weird to you. Old world games are weird to both of us but you more than me. Working in fields is strange to me but probably not as much as someone from the old world. Growing up a soldier isn’t all that strange for either of us really. I don’t think we’re so different, you and me. Our people were different but not went it comes down to the fundamentals. We were built to survive.”
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[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; South Dakota

Alex looked at Nate, nodding. He did trust Nate, completely and utterly trusted him. He'd never trusted anyone as much as Nate, not even his friends. He wasn't even sure he knew why he trusted him so quickly. Alex had learned that trust had to be earned, that was one thing he knew for sure. To him, Nate had earned that. The old world was weird and that was something Alex knew for a fact. "I do trust you" Alex said sincerely. He would never say something he did not mean and he meant that.

Alex knew that Nate had grown up around warriors and medics, much like Alex. He did know that their childhoods were different in regards to what they'd been exposed to. He had grown up a simple life, one that lived off the land and tried to be as natural as possible. A lot of what Nate knew and had been exposed to, Alex had no idea about. Like flashlights or old world sports, even art. It was all a foreign concept to him. Once he hit eleven, he'd been shoved into his warrior training, leaving the fields behind him.

Alex heard Nate, nodding as he listened. "Everyone is their own form of strange. It's how things are, especially now. Things that would seem normal to someone back then, are weird and strange to us now." He said, acknowledging what Nate said. "Working in the fields was how they taught us to work hard, so that when we go through warrior training, its not so hard." He added, before sighing. "We are more similar than we are different. Just two survivors from different worlds surviving together."​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; South Dakota

“Maybe that’s why we should be more accepting,” Nate said thoughtfully. “Not of each other!” He quickly added in case that sounded like he was saying Alex was not accepting of him or the other way around. “I think even with how weird we are to each other, we’ve done a pretty good job understanding and appreciating one another.” He smiled, flicking away the color that threatened to overtake his cheeks. “But I mean of other people. Maybe we should be more accepting of other people in general. Try to really see it. Understand it. I don’t think we have to agree or like any of it, but maybe we could know more if we could really see it. Maybe not everyone is so weird and bad after all. And maybe they’re worse. But also, maybe, they’re just people. Maybe in the end, people are people, and some are horrible, awful, and some are good. And maybe some aren’t either because people are people.” He pulled his eyes from the trees and sky and world to focused back on Alex. “Sorry. I guess that’s a lot to think about. But when is a better time to think about that than now?”
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[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; South Dakota

Alex nodded, listening to Nate as they walked. He chuckled at quickly added words and smiled. “I have to agree. Even though we’re both weird and having learned more about each other, I’ve gotten more used to the old world weirdness through you.” Alex said. Alex heard every word Nate said and nodded as he listened. “People are people. They are good, bad, weird, crazy, lost. But in the end, who are we to judge how these people work?” He said. Alex laughed at Nate’s last comment. “There really is no better time than now.” He agreed.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; South Dakota

“And I’m not saying that everyone should be forgiven just because we don’t understand them.” Nate twisted around and pointed behind them vaguely though continued walking forward. “Like those hunters. They were definitely the sort to kill first and… well, probably just kill. It does make you wonder how they could possibly have so many people in their group of they immediately go after others. How does one even join something like that?” He frowned at the thought of even wanting that. “Which is not the point. I would like to know why they are like that. What drives people to be like that? Did something horrible happen so they assume all others are going to do something horrible or is it fun? Would we judge them as much if we knew?” The moral dilemma was always the hardest one in a world where you were a survivor.
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[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; South Dakota

Alex shook his head. “Exactly, you can’t forgive everyone. Some just don’t deserve it.” Alex said, his thoughts on both this group and the WLF. “It’s all about control and manipulation.” Alex added. He looked down at the floor. “The group I used to fight with mine, they didn’t like FEDRA but instead of being better, they got worse. Bringing people in and then they never leave.” He said. “I never thought about the why part of it” Alex added.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; South Dakota

“Worse? How do you get worse than wanting to keep everyone caged under the guise of protection but it’s really just a form of enslavement?” Nate had pretty strong opinions against FEDRA. He met too many people who loved that kind of power and control not to feel that way. Too many people tried to manipulate him when they thought he was younger and naive. And he was. He was both of those things even still, which meant that he was suer that he was when he was younger. It made him sick how they could use someone still growing up like that. They were not protecting anyone. When you were barely living to work for your next ration to barely live and start all over, that was not an adequate way to treat your people.
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[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; South Dakota

Alex shrugged. “I don’t know. Of course, all I know is that our group hates them and they hate us. So I could have bad information. Because of them, I hate large groups now.” Alex said, remembering the anxiety he’d had when they were leaving the city. He didn’t like the feeling, hated it even. But when it was so engrained in his being, it was hard to not feel that way.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; South Dakota

Nate’s words choked in his throat. “I- I didn’t mean to insinuate that you had bad information for saying that- I’m sure that they are probably awful. FEDRA is not the only awful large group in this world, believe me.” He let out a deep breath that was caught as he tried to smooth over what was probably only a him problem. He hated the idea of demeaning someone else because of their individual experiences. Nate met too many people who were arguably far worse than your average FEDRA people to judge. “But hey!” He smiled, hoping to bring cheer back into the conversation. “We are not a large group! We are a very tiny group actually. I did that just for you.”
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[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; South Dakota

Alex gave Nate a look. “I didn’t take it that way. I’ve never talked to one of them so all I know is what I’ve seen.” Alex said. He didn’t realize that his words would’ve been taken as Nate demeaning him for his own thoughts. Alex knew he had biased information, there was no way he didn’t. He looked over at Nate and nodded. “Yes, and hopefully we stay a small group forever. Just the two of us.” He said with a smile.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; South Dakota

The inner turmoil now was even more, because even if Alex hadn’t thought of it that way, Nate assuming that Alex had was insinuating even more about Alex, and the loop was an never ending cycle of an anxiety that Nate never knew he had. How did he fix that? Stop talking. Stop talking and assuming. That was how he fixed that. “Now wait,” he interrupted. “Are you saying that I can’t bring in random people off the streets to form some sort of… umm.. Like a commune? Because that would be amusing and potentially very useful.”
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[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; South Dakota

Alex looked over at Nate in shock. “Absolutely not. Nope. Just us.” Alex said. Silence fell for a few moments before Alex froze. “Nate.. move sideways, slowly.” He said. His eyes darted to the left where he heard it again. A low growl coming from the bushes. He was focused on moving slowly sideways when the bushes parted. A large black bear moving the bushes apart as she lumbered towards them, muzzle open in a snarl. “Nate! Run!” Alex yelled, grabbing Nate’s hand on instinct and running to the right. They had to get out of the woods, now. The mama bear chased after them, growling and roaring.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; South Dakota

Nate was prepared to argue this point. He was going to say that it was only fair that they took in those who needed shelter or maybe even were just alone. That was they did for each other. That was exactly what Alex did for him. If Alex had not taken in some random dude literally off the street, they wouldn’t have form this… partnership? Companionship? Plus, he was fully prepared to bring in the conversation about those imaginary kids that he magically was supposed to have. Were they no longer allowed? He was not sure why exactly he wanted to bring them up, but he really did. He wanted to talk about this dream that they had and how much of it was going to be what they genuinely were fighting to get and how much was fun to think about.

His attention snapped away from those thoughts as Alex froze. Nate stopped moving, trying to figure out what was happening. He did as he was told, slowly moving to the side, though he still did not know why. He did not move as his ears picked up on the sudden sound of something around them. A growl. What growled in the woods? Plenty of animals. What was out there?

Bear.
Nate’s legs were already backing up as Alex grabbed his hand. He did not have to ask for clarification as he ran as well. His grip on Alex tightened. This was a far different kind of danger that he was not prepared for. They dealt very little with the forest in his travels. People were one thing. Animals, especially angry bears, were a significantly different one. He sprinted as hard as he could, searching for where the trees parted. This bear looked angry, and would pursue them until she had her way. They had to leave her home, and that most definitely meant they had to leave the comfort and safety of trees. He could only hope that there would be no hunters when they crossed the barrier.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; Montana

Alex’s entire body was focused on survival, running as fast as he could. He could hear the blood rushing in his ears, Nate’s footsteps beside him and the roars and growls of mama bear behind them. He pushed himself to go faster, eyes searching for the end of the forest. His heart was pounding against his chest as fear ran through him. Alex looked behind him to see her catching up, missing the root in the ground. He stumbled and then regained his footing.

There, the tree line ended up ahead. He could see the forests end. Then he felt it, a sharp pain on his leg. He looked back to see the bear on his heels, her massive paw in the air as it went for another swipe at his leg. Alex managed to run faster, making it to the barren Montana land, the bear huffing at the edge of the forest. Alex fell to the ground, as the bear disappeared. Alex looked down at his leg to see a set of claw marks, not super deep but deep enough to bleed. “Nate..”​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; South Dakota

Nate ran. He ran even harder than he ran from hunters, because hunters were people. People eventually got tired, and he could always tell with them. He pushed his legs further than they wanted to go, because there was no fighting a bear. There was no mercy with a bear. They just had to get to the edge, and it was so close. So close. So-

Alex’s hand slipped away from his, and Nate took too long to look back to see him stumble. Stumble but regain his footing. He was okay. So he kept going. He kept moving, crashing into a tree, but that was okay. Bruises were better than breaks. Numerous branches and bushes cut across his face and then hand when he brought them to shield him as he moved. They were so close. Nate wanted to reach out for Alex’s hand, but they didn’t have time for that. They just had to move. He face stung, eyes watering from the assault and now the wind moving into shallow cuts. He would be okay. They were almost there. He crashed out of the trees but kept moving a little bit longer to make sure that the bear was not right on him. He turned his head to watch the bear become smaller as she stopped and he kept moving. A thud rang in his ears, and he was barely able to stop himself from the inertia as he searched for what made the sound. Alex. Where was Alex?

Nate’s whole body came to a jarring halt, nearly crashing into the ground himself as he realized that it was Alex. Alex who was now on the ground. Alex where voice held the pain he so obviously was in. His leg. “Nononono Alex. Alex, are you okay? Shoot no.” He dropped to the ground, scrambling to Alex’s side. He ignored the pain of the ground against his little cuts. They were nothing. He could deal with those later. He needed to know how bad this was. His shaking hands moved towards Alex’s leg, and he had to stretch them out before he felt confident using them.
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[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; Montana

Alex had never felt this pain before. He’d been cut, scratched, stabbed even but this claw mark on his leg stung and burned and hurt. His eyes went to see Nate dropping to the ground, making his way quickly over to Alex. “That bear, she got my leg. Ugh, Nate it hurts so much.” Alex groaned as he looked at the marks. He didn’t think they’d need stitches but he wasn’t the medic. He was glad Nate was here beside him, he needed him at the moment. “That stupid bear. Well, welcome to Montana.”Alex bit out, trying to breathe through the pain.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; Montana

“Okay, it’s not too bad. I can tell that from here.” Which was not a lie. Okay, it was. He could not see much of anything since the pants were in his way, and the blood was making everything look worse, but that was better than saying something like ‘Oh hey, we should cut off your leg.’ Oh god, he shouldn’t have even joked in his mind about that. It sounded awful. If it already hurt that much, then he did not have to worry about causing any additional pain. That never really made a difference he learned. He haphazardly moved the fabric of the pant leg out of his way with one hand and shaking his pack off at the same time so that his other hand could start searching for the bandages. His eyes scrutinized the leg and held back the hiss of discomfort that just looking at it sent through him. “Oh yeah, not that bad at all.” He wiped away the blood, using the alcohol to sterilize. That always hurt more too. “I am so sorry,” he breathed with a frown he was not keeping off his face well. “But you are handling it so well. How are you so good at this?” He briefly paused to look around. “Montana has an interesting way of welcoming people.”
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[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; Montana

Alex took comfort in listening to Nate’s voice. It wasn’t bad, that was good news. Hopefully he’d be able to continue climbing trees once it was healed. He’d probably be banned from climbing unless absolutely necessary. Alex was breathing through the pain, watching as Nate moved his pant leg out of the way and wiped the blood off. Alex hissed in pain when Nate sterilized the area. It burned almost as much as the initial wound. Alex looked at him. “How am I so good at what, getting injured? Or dealing with the pain? Because I assure you I am not dealing with the pain well.” Alex told Nate, laughing as he heard him. “Yes, it seems that way doesn’t it?” He said with a chuckle. ​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; Montana

Nate decided that the best way to help a patient was to keep talking in order to distract him. That was both the logical and also most natural thing to do, especially when he was also one that needed distracting. The bear had not gotten him, and it kind of felt like he was handling it the worst of the two of them. “Well, you are good at getting injured. I am impressed with your skills honestly. But you are also very good at dealing. I know you probably don’t think that, because you are in a lot of pain right now, but you are. You aren’t screaming at me, and I have dealt with many screamers over the years.” He gently lifted the leg as he wrapped the wound in the bandages. “Which means that you are doing better than Ben.” He laughed. “You never met Ben, but let me tell you something. He was big and burly and he cried like a baby over every little thing.” He lowered Alex’s leg and smiled. “Okay, so. No climbing.” He shrugged. “But we aren’t in a forest anymore, so that’s not too bad! It shouldn’t be for too long. This hurts more than how bad it really is. Shallow enough to walk on after a moment too I would guess.”
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[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; Montana

Alex laughed at that. He did seem to get injured more than he cared to admit. “You’d be right in that I don’t think I’m dealing with the pain well at all. Wait.. he was?” Alex might not have known Ben or even Max, but he was learning all about them from Nate. So much so that he was putting a mental picture of them in his head. He felt Nate lift his leg and wrap it before lowering it down. Alex shifted so he could sit up. “No climbing, no bow. What have I got left?” He asked with a snort of laughter. “We should get going as soon as you think I can. It’s too barren out here” Alex said, looking around.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Nathaniel Matthews
Former Firefly | 21 | Current location ;; Montana

Nate nodded. “Oh yeah, he was a bawler. He would scream and cry and curse me out any time I had to do anything for him, and that was more often than not.” He shook his head at the memory. “When he broke his leg once, he had the ugliest cry I had ever seen, and he yelled like I was murdering him as I set it together again. So you are doing beautifully. Whenever you question how well you are handling life, imagine Ben and remember that you are amazing.” He lifted himself into a squat and put out his hand in offering to help Alex up. “You still have me.”
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[EquineGurl23]

Alexander Brennan
Former Seraphite | 19 | Current location ;; Montana

Alex laughed, hearing all about Ben and his inability to handle pain and being patched up. He smiled at that compliment. He really didn’t think he was doing such a good job at handling the pain but he believed in Nate when he told him that Alex was doing a good job. “I’ll keep him in mind next time I’m being patched up.” Alex said with a laugh. He looked at Nate, squaring beside him and holding his hand out. “Yes. I do still have you.” Alex agreed with faint blush. He put his hand in Nate’s and accepted the help up, his arm going over Nate’s shoulder to support himself with a leg that wasn’t quite ready to be walked fully on.​