Fandom Getting Out of Pittsburgh { The Last of Us 1x1 with icedthemoon }

[icedthemoon]

Asher McCoy
Former Hunter | 29 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

Listen to his body. Asher would have scoffed if that would not have been so obvious that he was ignoring himself. He had absolutely no reason to listen to his body when his body was telling him things like go sit down and not move for hours. He could not do that. Support though? Did he need it? Maybe. No. No, he could walk on his own as long as he moved unbelievably slowly. He could probably move faster if he let Jordan help him. What was better? Being on his own but slow or almost reasonable with help? He put his hand out and grabbed Jordan’s arm. Perhaps a compromise. “I have all the energy in the world. We could probably make it.”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Jordan DeShay
Former Smuggler | 27 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

Jordan looked at Asher when he felt the hand grab his arm. He automatically covered that hand with his own. “Nope. Sorry gorgeous. We’re stopping and resting before the city.” He said, not budging on the subject as they walked through the forest. The sun was low in the sky but they had a few hours before they needed to stop. Though he kept an eye on Asher just in case he needed to stop before that and wasn’t listening to his body.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Asher McCoy
Former Hunter | 29 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

Asher was the kind of guy to absolutely lie to himself. He genuinely believed that he could make it to the next city. He would make that happen if that was his goal. He would ignore the cues from his body, and he would tell himself that he was fine enough. He would definitely lie to himself, and therefore, he would lie to Jordan. “You are frustrating, you know?” But he didn’t say it like he was upset. He said it with the barest hint of a smile. “So is the plan to sleep on the forest floor again? You sure do know how to make a guy excited about travel.” He didn’t say these words with the venom he might have normally either. It seemed like Jordan might have been taming the wild and angry part of him after all. He was not sure how he felt about it.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Jordan DeShay
Former Smuggler | 27 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

Jordan flicked his gaze to look at Asher as they walked and chuckled softly. “It’s part of my charm gorgeous. Being unendingly frustrating.” Jordan replied, though he saw that barest hint of a smile. “You can sleep on me if you don’t want to sleep on the forest floor.” He added with a wink as they walked. “And come on, look at the beautiful nature around you.” He added, gesturing with his free hand. He paused as a twig snapped and a few seconds later a large buck walked out of the brush. It looked at them for a moment before continuing on his way. “Beautiful..” He said softly.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Asher McCoy
Former Hunter | 29 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

Asher rolled his eyes. He thought about making some sort of snide or probably rude remark when his entire body stilled, and he snapped his attention to the breaking twig. He knew this was too good to be true. This safety net that they gave themselves. There was no way that they could move around the world like this without something dangerous on them. He was not sure what found them, but every instinct in him told him that he would have to fight for his life. He stared as the buck walked through, and Asher didn’t know what to do. He knew a lot of things in theory. He had seen a lot of animals in pictures and books. He had not seen a whole lot in person. He certainly had not seen one of these. He held his breath as their eyes locked for just a moment. And then he was gone. He was not even sure he knew what that was. And it didn’t attack? The world outside of Pittsburgh was really confusing. That was what he determined. He stared wide eyed, unable to say anything else. This was shock.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Jordan DeShay
Former Smuggler | 27 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

Jordan noticed Asher’s body stilled and he looked at him as the buck appeared and then disappeared. “Gorgeous, you’re okay. That was just a deer. They won’t attack you. Not unless you attack them first.” He added, seeing Asher’s reaction. Jordan placed a hand on Asher’s shoulder, and gently shook. He could sense that he was in shock or something similar to that. “Gorgeous? Asher?”​

 

[icedthemoon]

Asher McCoy
Former Hunter | 29 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

That was a large creature. A very large creature. Asher had never seen something like that ever and especially not that close. Even once the buck was gone, he still did not move. That was genuinely terrifying. He was not afraid of people. He knew how they worked. He could see their motives. He was not afraid of infected. The same was with them. He did not know these creatures and what they did or why. That freaked him out. He jumped slightly at the hand on his shoulder. He cursed under his breath as the shook himself, looking back at where it had been. “Yeah. Yeah okay.” But he wasn’t sure he believed it. “Are those everywhere?”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Jordan DeShay
Former Smuggler | 27 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

Oh. Oops. Jordan felt a flush on his face. He had not meant to make Asher jump, and heard him curse under his breath. "They're more prevalent here in the forest, than the city but they aren't scared of humans anymore so they could show up wherever." Jordan admitted. "Though again, unless they feel threatened, they won't go after you." He added, squeezing his shoulder gently, trying to be reassuring to Asher.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Asher McCoy
Former Hunter | 29 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

Show up anywhere. That’s just great. Real great. Anywhere. Jordan said they didn’t attack unless they felt threatened. Asher was not sure he believed that either. “Uh huh. So not threatening the large antlered guy. Got it.” He would be more careful now. He knew there were creatures out there, but it never occurred to him that they would be like that. What else were in these trees? “And now we sleep on the forest floor where they can come… not bother us. Right.” His eyes did not leave the spot where he last saw the giant thing. What if it came back?
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Jordan DeShay
Former Smuggler | 27 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

Jordan heard that and noticed that Asher's eyes had not left the area where the buck had been. "Okay gorgeous. Yes, we'll be sleeping on the forest floor, but they won't bother us. Now come on, we have some more ground to cover. I'm right here to protect you." Jordan said, his thought was that he had to get Asher to move and perhaps that would help him, maybe. He was going to try, that's for sure.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Asher McCoy
Former Hunter | 29 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

Asher was absolutely certain that either Jordan was trying to make him feel better by lying or he really did believe what he was saying. Either way, he clearly did not see the threat that the big guy was. Moving. Right. They were moving. Somewhere. Where were they going? Were there going to be more of them? He was positive that there would be. Did that mean those were there the entire time he was writhing on the ground trying not to die from when he got stabbed literally all the way through? What if that thing stepped on him? He probably would have died. So he left one death trap for another. At least he knew how to deal with his old death trap. “Right.” Ground to cover. “Right.” He tore his eyes away as they started walking, but his head jerked back just to see if it was there. It wasn’t. That was not at all comforting. “Okay.”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Jordan DeShay
Former Smuggler | 27 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

Jordan was trying to make him feel better, but he also knew that the deer weren't a threat. He had never had an issue with deer, or other herbivores. He heard those words, and noticed that as they started walking that Asher's head jerked back to where the deer had been. "Gorgeous. He's gone away. He's not going to race right back here because he saw you." Jordan said softly, leading them forward. "Just give me a little trust that these animals aren't going to kill you just because they can."​

 

[icedthemoon]

Asher McCoy
Former Hunter | 29 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

Asher trusted no one. He didn’t trust people. He didn’t trust animals. He didn’t trust himself really. How was he supposed to trust that? He looked at Jordan, searching his face for anything that would tell him that was true. Why should he trust him? Because Jordan had not given him any reason not to. He stuck to his word every time. He saved him on more than one occasion. He put Asher back together as much as he could. Up to this point, Jordan had been pretty trustworthy. “Okay. But if I were that thing, I’d probably kill us.” He would because he was a hunter. It was what he did.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Jordan DeShay
Former Smuggler | 27 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

Jordan looked at Asher, and his heart was racing as he waited. He saw him looking at him, and swallowed hard. Then he heard his words, and smiled wide. "Thank you for that trust. And I guess I'm glad you aren't that thing." He said with a small chuckle as he kept walking. "So. We've got a little further to go before we make camp for the night. Tomorrow we'll find the next city."​

 

[icedthemoon]

Asher McCoy
Former Hunter | 29 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

More walking. That was fine. He could do that. He was good at moving. His body was screaming at him, but he ignored it. Asher felt like if there was light, there was no reason to stop yet. So he refused to. “So we’re looking for the next city to look for another city to what? How are we going to find your crazy old man exactly? Do you have a plan? Or am I just along for a wild ride?”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Jordan DeShay
Former Smuggler | 27 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

Jordan kept walking as he looked over at Asher. "I don't have a plan just moving west. Seeing what we find. Who knows what'll happen. It'll be a fun crazy ride." He said with a grin on his face as he laughed. "Besides, so far it's certainly been.. a ride." Jordan added as he walked, eyes forward. "Because I got to meet a very gorgeous man that saved me and tagged along with me."​

 

[icedthemoon]

Asher McCoy
Former Hunter | 29 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

Asher glanced at Jordan from the side. “Gorgeous.” He was such an interesting person. What was and was not important to him was so different to how Asher saw the world. Never would the answer to what he got out of the past few days have been met a gorgeous man who decided to travel with him. He perhaps would have been more focused on something like met a man who made him forsake his entire life for reasons he did not understand and now was questioning literally everything he thought about he knew to include dangerous creatures in the forest. It wasn’t that he wasn’t gorgeous. Asher may not have been the first person to start assessing looks, but he too could see just how exceedingly attractive Jordan was. He saw that days ago when he thought Jordan was just a pretty face. He was so wrong. Clearly. “Alright, lovebug. I’m trusting you to know your way through these trees. And also know your way around large antlered creatures that should want to kill me.” He was trusting Jordan an awful lot.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Jordan DeShay
Former Smuggler | 27 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

When Jordan left Boston, he was not expecting to meet the people he had along the way. He ran into Bill, after setting off several of his traps, oops. And then a few people in New York who helped him along the way. But the most interesting person he'd ever met was the man currently traveling with him. Someone so different from others that he'd met in his life before. He trusted him to get Jordan through Pittsburgh, and now Asher was trusting him to get them through the forest, and to survive around the animals that lived there. His eyes drew to look at Asher and heard him, a grin on his face. Lovebug. A nickname he'd never thought of for himself, and yet he was falling for it. "That's my job. You got us out of Pittsburgh, now I'm going to get us through these trees."​

 

[icedthemoon]

Asher McCoy
Former Hunter | 29 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

Asher did not mean to smile, but he did. That just kept happening, and he was mildly annoyed by it. How was he supposed to keep up this hard exterior he worked so much to create if he was going to ruin it constantly? “I believe that was you who carried me out.” He was not sure why he was saying that. He was not sure why the distinction mattered. Maybe it didn’t. He looked away and towards the trees and he sucked in a deep breath. His body was hurting. Not that he would say that. He could only hope that it did not show. He hated showing weakness. So why did he feel the need to acknowledge that Jordan saved him? As he moved, the pain shot downward, and his leg, for just a moment, forgot how to be a leg. It stiffened, and he almost tripped. He shot his hand out, grabbing onto Jordan’s arm to stable himself. He forced the leg back into submission. “Sorry,” he muttered.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Jordan DeShay
Former Smuggler | 27 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

Jordan looked over at Asher, hearing his words and chuckled, nodding slightly. "Sure, but you got us to the bridge gorgeous, don't discount your own part in getting us out of there." Jordan replied as he noticed Asher look towards the trees. He watched him for a moment before he caught that deep breath. Jordan had a feeling that Asher's body hurt, but he tried to hold back his worries. He felt the hand on his arm and had seen him slow for a moment. "It's okay, but I think we've walked far enough. Let's stop here for the night and rest." Jordan suggested, holding that hand that was on his arm. "You need to rest gorgeous.." He added, concern and worry in his voice.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Asher McCoy
Former Hunter | 29 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

Asher grimaced at his own weakness. “It’s still light out. Stopping now seems like a waste.” Though, they didn’t have much more light out. It really was not a horrible idea to rest now or at least prepare for the rest. It would probably be dark by the time that they finished with the way that his body was moving. But even as he was determined to prove that he could make it a little longer, the wound told him that it did not like that option. His other hand shot up and pushed against it like that could hold him together. Being stabbed through like that was really not something that he liked.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Jordan DeShay
Former Smuggler | 27 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

Jordan saw the grimace and knew that Asher was going to say that they should keep going. Yep there it was. Jordan was already shaking his head at those words. "Nope. We're stopping here." Jordan said, stubbornly. He was just as stubborn as anyone else and it was showing right now. He saw his hand shoot up and push against his wound. "Asher.." Jordan warned. If he kept pushing against it, it could make it worse or do nothing else. "Come on now." He said, dropping his hand and pulling off his pack to grab his blanket, and laid it on the ground. He lowered himself to the ground and patted the blanket beside him. "Come join me?"​

 

[icedthemoon]

Asher McCoy
Former Hunter | 29 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

He could keep going, but where exactly did he think he was going to go on his own? One, he could not make it far without stopping. He knew that. Two, he had no place that he was going. He was just going. He was running from a home he did not have anymore. Well, he actually probably could go back. They got rid of Darling. That only left Diego as a real threat, and he was nothing in comparison. But did he even want to go back? Asher watched Jordan sit. Pat the ground. He really did want to sit with him. That was the crazy part. So he did. He dropped his pack first and then he slowly lowered himself onto the blanket beside him. Closer than he meant to. Closer than he wanted? Um. No. He wasn’t going to think about that. He wasn’t going to think about a lot of things he had been thinking about. “We’re sitting. And stopping. And resting or whatever.” He leaned back, hoping that would feel slightly better. “What now? Cuddle until we fall asleep?” And there was that little smile again. He was not even sure why he said it. He was saying all sorts of things before he thought about them.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Jordan DeShay
Former Smuggler | 27 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

Jordan watched as Asher stood there for a moment before he sat down beside him. They were close, and Jordan shifted so their legs brushed against each other. "Sitting, resting, having dinner, and then cuddle until we fall asleep." He replied, his hand resting on Asher's leg with a smile on his face. "So gorgeous, wanna have some dinner?" He asked watching him as his other hand grabbed his pack to get food for them.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Asher McCoy
Former Hunter | 29 | Current location ;; Pennsylvania

Asher eyed him curiously, taking in the way his words fell from his lips so easily. The way his body moved so fluidly. The words that had been a bit of a joke in Asher’s mouth sounded like truth from Jordan’s. Like that was what was meant to happen. Dinner led to cuddly sleep. Huh. He nodded once. “I guess that probably would make things better. Guess you would need to replenish that strength with all that work you did for us today.”
​