Fandom Life in a Quarantine Zone { The Last of Us 1x1 with icedthemoon }

[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price and Jordan DeShay
Former FEDRA officer, Former Smuggler | 25, 28 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Kaleb’s eyes widened at the arm wrapped around him and felt Carlos barrel into him. His back hit the bed as he laughed, and he shifted once Carlos rolled so he was on his side. “You better not have hurt yourself doing that.” He said with a grin. “Now, sleep.” Kaleb said as he shifted closer to Carlos. He was tired but there was a small inkling in the back of his mind that feared a nightmare. Today had been overwhelming and emotional, not a good mixture for Kaleb who was already prone to nightmares anyway. He curled up into Carlos and closed his eyes, hoping his fear was just that. A fear. He found himself drifting asleep a moment later.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva and Asher McCoy
Aspiring Artist, Former Hunter | 23, 30 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Sleep came to Carlos pretty easily. It always did once he finally got around to it. He slept like the dead, probably because his body told him that he needed to stay asleep to let his arm heal from that. How was he supposed to do strong things with a mangled arm like that? As he slept, he curled around Kaleb like he was still there to protect him even when he was the one who was physically hurting. The other side too eventually fell asleep. Asher was not necessarily a heavy sleeper, but the day had been a tough one with the fear of almost losing the one person who kept him sane. His dreams reflected that, though none were so harsh as to wake him.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price and Jordan DeShay
Former FEDRA officer, Former Smuggler | 25, 28 | Current location ;; New Mexico

His mom once told him that everyone dreams, and everyone has nightmares. ‘Nightmares are dreams too’ she used to tell him. And he’d shake his head at that. But as he got older, normal dreams came less and nightmares came frequently. It was a dance to see how much sleep he’d get in a night usually. And the answer was almost always a few hours at a time. Since he met Carlos, he’s had less nightmares and more nice dreams. Unfortunately the stress of the day was getting to Kaleb. He was watching Carlos fall, tumbling into a black hole that never ended. Their screams mixed together as he was yelling for him. Calling his name over and over. “Carlos! No! No no no!” Kaleb found himself yelling out loud, gasping as his eyes were closed, sealed shut. Tears leaking under his eyelids, trapped in a nightmare that was looping over and over again. Carlos would fall, then he’d be fine, or Carlos had fallen and Kaleb found him.. gone. Broken. Dead. His mind had trapped him and while he yelled out loud, he wasn’t waking up.

Meanwhile Jordan was asleep, dead to the world and laying on his stomach. One arm wrapped around Asher. There wasn’t much that would wake him up.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva and Asher McCoy
Aspiring Artist, Former Hunter | 23, 30 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Very little could wake him up once Carlos fell asleep. He was a deep sleeper. He once slept through the kind of storm that literally blew out their window. The girls judged him immensely and Salim thought he was dead. They told him that he could sleep through the world ending. Everyone talks about Outbreak Day like that was the world ending, so he wondered if that would have been true. As he slept, something felt wrong. Something around him moved in a way that disturbed his sleep. Something loud clanged against his ears. Loud noises did not disturb him. This was different. Something inside all of that reached high above the rest like a high-pitched whine only dogs could hear. Fear. That was the cry of fear. His eyes opened as he realized that it was Kaleb. He was immediately moving, trying to get his sleepy limbs to cradle Kaleb. “Kaleb. Kaleb, baby, wake up.” He pulled himself up first so that he was sitting up and then worked to get Kaleb up too, hoping that might bring him from his nightmare. He ignored the pain in his arm, because that was nothing compared to the hurt he felt when Kaleb was like this. He held his partner close, keeping his hurt arm strongly wrapped around him while running his fingers on the other hand through Kaleb’s hair. “It’s okay, baby, it’s okay. Come back to me. Show me those beautiful blue eyes.”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price and Jordan DeShay
Former FEDRA officer, Former Smuggler | 25, 28 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Kaleb was terrified, fear clenched his heart and dragged through him like spikes. No! He felt the arms around him but in his fear addled and nightmare fueled state, those arms pulling him up, holding him close was no comfort. It was a prison. “Let me go! No!” Kaleb’s eyes were sealed shut, tears falling like rain as those arms he thought were Asher holding him back. Keeping him from going into that hole like he had earlier. He writhed and struggled against the hold. His brain was rattled, his mind convincing him that he was still trapped. That this was his life now. His life without Carlos. His life without love. And it only fueled his fear and terror more as he struggled harder against the grip. Nothing was registering to him. Not the words from his partner. Not until he heard ‘show me those beautiful blue eyes..’ did Kaleb pause for a moment. Body quivering as he tried to. But it was hard. So hard. Something in his head, in this nightmare fueled mind, was keeping his eyes glued shut and forcing him to keep reliving the nightmare.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva and Asher McCoy
Aspiring Artist, Former Hunter | 23, 30 | Current location ;; New Mexico

This was bad. It was worse than the nightmare they dealt with before. That dream Kaleb woke up from on his own. This one seemed to keep a hold of him. As he thrashed, Carlos still held him. He was not sure what Kaleb was seeing, but he knew that it was not any sort of pleasant. He waited, patient as he always was, running that hand through Kaleb’s hair. “It’s lonely out here all by myself, beautiful. Lonely and dark. But you know what would make it better? Those bright, blue eyes. You have to come color my world for me. You know how much I hate gray.” He kissed the top of Kaleb’s head as he held him. He wanted so badly to see what he saw. He wanted to know what it was that kept him stuck there. He had a feeling that he knew. He just didn’t know exactly what part was hurting him the most. “I can’t see those eyes if you’re hanging out by a hole in the floor. Wanna come join me up here?”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price and Jordan DeShay
Former FEDRA officer, Former Smuggler | 25, 28 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Words filtered like sand through his ears. Blue eyes. Color. Gray world. A kiss on top of his head. His struggling stopped, eyes still sealed tight as his body shook. Fear was giving way to something else. Join me? Up where? Here? Kaleb was looking at the hole, but the words were up above him. Was.. was he in the hole instead? His head moved as if he was searching for the sounds. His body trembled and his breathing slowing down. He was so close to coming out of this. He was clawing his way back to the living. He could see Carlos standing over the hole, and he was trying to get to him. Keep talking my love, help me get to you. Please.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva and Asher McCoy
Aspiring Artist, Former Hunter | 23, 30 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Carlos knew that he was getting somewhere with him as the movement began to slow. He rocked them gently as they sat there, and he pulled up the blanket to cover his trembling body. Even if Kaleb wasn’t cold, the warmth and the security of that layer could help. “There’s a great big beautiful tomorrow. This guy back in our QZ used to say that sometimes. It was always when something amazing happened or we could ‘reinvent the future’ or whatever. I think he was quoting something from the old world, but I never asked him what it was. His name was Stan. I think he used to sing it sometimes, but I don’t remember the tune.” He wrapped the second arm around him as well. He rested his chin on the top of Kaleb’s head. It was a lot more like a hug than anything else as his tired body settled in around Kaleb’s. “It’s that great big beautiful tomorrow, love. You and me and the whole country to see. We are going to draw it all. Paint it with the color you gave my world.”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price and Jordan DeShay
Former FEDRA officer, Former Smuggler | 25, 28 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Kaleb slipped a few times, before his hands grabbed hold of the side of the black hole he was in. Big beautiful tomorrow. Draw the world. Paint it. Color it. Kaleb grabbed the edge of the hole, and with that a gasp ripped through him. The other hand grabbed the edge, and his body stilled. Then he pulled himself up and his eyes flew open. Tears cascading down his cheeks like waterfalls from being trapped behind his eyelids. “C- Carlos..” Kaleb whispered, feeling that chin on his head, arms and a blanket wrapped around him. Warmth. His breathing had quickened for a few heartbeats but it slowed as he calmed. “I- I’m sorry.” His voice was soft as he spoke.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva and Asher McCoy
Aspiring Artist, Former Hunter | 23, 30 | Current location ;; New Mexico

That soft voice made him release the breath he had been holding as he hoped that something would eventually be able to pull Kaleb out. “Hey, baby.” He tightened his grip around him in the hopes that he could prove that he was there for him. He kissed his head again, ruffling Kaleb’s hair with his face. “No. You don’t get to be sorry for being afraid.” His head slipped down and landed on Kaleb’s shoulder. He pressed their cheeks together, caring nothing for the tears that fell down his cheeks. “But I get to be glad you’re with me. Stay with me a while, ‘mkay?”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price and Jordan DeShay
Former FEDRA officer, Former Smuggler | 25, 28 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Kaleb felt the tightened grip as he heard Carlos speaking. Then the kiss to his head, hair ruffled by Carlos’ face. Then he heard his words. What? Kaleb was sorry. He shouldn’t have woken Carlos up, especially when he needed the rest due to his injury. Kaleb felt his head slip off his own and landed on his shoulder. Their cheeks pressed together. “B- But.. you need sleep and I.. I woke you up. You didn’t hurt yourself again did you??” Kaleb’s words flew out of him as worry laced through his body. “I’m not leaving you.. I’m staying right here beside you.”​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva and Asher McCoy
Aspiring Artist, Former Hunter | 23, 30 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Carlos was shaking his head which was gently also shaking Kaleb’s head as he moved. “Nope. You still don’t get to be sorry. All you get to do is be my beautiful blue eyes. Safe with me. Both of us safe right here. Right now.” Did he hurt himself again? Well, he probably shouldn’t have been holding onto him like he was with that arm. He probably shouldn’t have strained it as much moving Kaleb around and staying strong. He was not going to say that though. He would rather feel some pain and discomfort a little bit longer than have Kaleb hurting in any way. “I already slept, and when you’re ready, maybe I will sleep again. Or maybe I won’t. Doesn’t matter to me at all. I’ll stay right here and talk to you for hours if you would like that. I could probably tell you more about Stan if I thought about it hard enough.”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price and Jordan DeShay
Former FEDRA officer, Former Smuggler | 25, 28 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Kaleb felt his head shake as Carlos shook his head. He let out a soft groan at the words. "You can't stop me from being sorry." Kaleb muttered as he sat there, feeling Carlos around him. "Can we at least lay down and maybe.. just talk about anything. It doesn't have to be about Stan." Kaleb whispered, wanting to lay down. He wanted to be wrapped up in the comfort of his partner. Wrapped up in that sense of safety and security that was his Strong Arms.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva and Asher McCoy
Aspiring Artist, Former Hunter | 23, 30 | Current location ;; New Mexico

If Kaleb wanted to lay down, then they could do that. Carlos maneuvered himself, and therefore also Kaleb, back down to a resting position on the bed. He did not let go even for a moment. He kept himself as around him as possible as they changed positions. “Stan was a weird guy. I guess you might not have met him. He was there when I was a whole lot younger. He was always talking about crazy things that probably made a lot more sense if we’d been there before the outbreak.” Now that Kaleb was feeling better, Carlos started wiping away what remained of the tears on his cheeks. “I once had this dream that I had a dog. Cute little white fluffy thing. I can’t remember what I named him anymore. She had this pink collar on with rhinestones or diamonds or something on it. I was clearly very fond of this little one.”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price and Jordan DeShay
Former FEDRA officer, Former Smuggler | 25, 28 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Kaleb felt Carlos maneuver them and then they were laying down once more. He also noticed that Carlos never let go of him. The tears had stopped flowing as he blinked blue eyes that had a faint sheen of wetness from the tears. “I don’t remember him but I never left my house or the training facility so.” Kaleb commented as he felt Carlos wipe away the tears on his face. “I can picture you with a little fluffy white dog. And it’s adorable.” Kaleb said softly, his body was shutting down slowly. He was so tired. That nightmare mixed with the high emotions was really taking a toll on him. He felt his eyes closing as he curled into Carlos’ chest. He didn’t even get a chance to say good night before he was fast asleep. And this time, it would be free from nightmares.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva and Asher McCoy
Aspiring Artist, Former Hunter | 23, 30 | Current location ;; New Mexico

For a while, Carlos kept talking. He had a feeling that Kaleb would fall asleep, but he wanted to make sure. He talked about this dog in this dream. He talked about the world as it could have been if they had met before. Carlos wished their paths had crossed far sooner than they did. Their lives could have been so enriching. Finally, he stopped after he was certain that Kaleb had been asleep a while. He closed his eyes and let himself sleep too. And he slept for the rest of the night without issue.

When Asher woke up, it was still dark outside. Within a couple of minutes, the sun began to filter through the boarded up slats.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price and Jordan DeShay
Former FEDRA officer, Former Smuggler | 25, 28 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Kaleb slept peacefully, wrapped in his partners arms and content. He finally woke up when the sun filtered through the boarded up windows. He didn’t move, allowing his body to wake up and then his mind woke up. But as he opened his eyes, he just took in the moment, looking at Carlos with a smile on his face.

Jordan was not a morning person. Never had been. But he woke up as the sun filtered through as he felt pain in his back. It was healing and it hurt. Jordan lifted his head from the pillow and looked at Asher. “Mmm. Good morning gorgeous.” Jordan said as he smiled over at him.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva and Asher McCoy
Aspiring Artist, Former Hunter | 23, 30 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Being exhausted, Carlos was not awake when Kaleb woke up. He had to be woken up if he wanted to get up earlier than well probably late morning. Adding the physical trauma and the mental strain of the day before plus Kaleb’s nightmare, he was exhausted. He was going to struggle to be awake after all of that.

Asher was staring at the slats in the window when Jordan began to move. He turned his attention to him and smiled. “Good morning, lovebug. You’re awake awfully early. How did that happen?”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price and Jordan DeShay
Former FEDRA officer, Former Smuggler | 25, 28 | Current location ;; New Mexico

He knew last night had been a lot, and he knew that Carlos would be dead to the world. So he just laid there, letting him sleep. He’d let him sleep until he heard the other two getting ready to go and perhaps a knock on the door too.

Jordan smiled at Asher before he shifted and winced a little bit. Apparently it was not just the cuts on his back but his entire back muscles and the ones that wrapped to the right side were sore. “I may sleep through a lot, but pain is not one of them.” Jordan managed, not moving more than his head. ​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva and Asher McCoy
Aspiring Artist, Former Hunter | 23, 30 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Carlos might have been able to sleep for longer if he had not rolled for continued cuddles and then rolled on his supremely hurt arm. He rolled off of it, knocking into Kaleb as he did so. Yep, that was enough to wake him. He groaned as he tried to move his arm into a more comfortable position. There wasn’t one. And now that he was more awake, he was aware of how very much he was hurting.

Asher frowned as that and carefully pulled himself away from Jordan. “Don’t move,” he commanded as he crawled over him and to the other side. “Sore or more than that?” He gently touched his back and his side, trying to figure out if there was anything he could do to help.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price and Jordan DeShay
Former FEDRA officer, Former Smuggler | 25, 28 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Kaleb felt Carlos roll, and then roll again knocking into him and pushing him onto his back. Then the groan and Kaleb sighed softly. “Good morning baby.” Kaleb said at first before he shifted away so he could get Carlos onto his back. “Let me check that arm out. I’m sure it hurts.”

Jordan didn’t move, hearing that command. He knew better than to do so. “It’s just sore.” He said, as a small groan at the touch to his back and side came out. “I think it’s just the muscles being unhappy, I’m not sure there’s much we can do.”​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva and Asher McCoy
Aspiring Artist, Former Hunter | 23, 30 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Kaleb’s voice was enough to bring him out of his obsession with his own pain. “Mm my love.” He smiled even though the movement too hurt. His head hurt, which was not entirely uncommon. He moved as he was meant to for Kaleb. He attempted to lift his arm for him, but that was too much. He cringed away instead. “You could say that.”

Asher didn’t like that answer. Just sore meant that Jordan was right, and he couldn’t do anything about it. He hated not being able to do something. “The lesson here is not to fall through the floor anymore.” He curled around him like he was creating a mold of his body. He ran his arm over Jordan’s side and laced his fingers through Jordan’s. “I wish we had medicine. That was one of few good things about Pittsburgh. We took all the medicine from FEDRA. There would have been enough to make you feel better.”
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price and Jordan DeShay
Former FEDRA officer, Former Smuggler | 25, 28 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Kaleb heard him, a smile on his face. That smile quickly disappeared when he saw the cringe away when Carlos tried to lift his arm. “Lay it on your stomach. That will support it so I can check on it.” Kaleb said as he shifted himself. He undid the dressing on Carlos’ arm and checked it over. “It looks good, I’m sure it’s just painful from healing.” Kaleb said as he redid the dressing.

Jordan sighed heavily, hearing Asher. “Yes, never fall through holes and double check for creaking floorboards.” He agreed as he felt Asher curl around him. He felt that arm wrap around him and the laced fingers. “I have to admit, I wish we had medicine too. Because I’m not a fan of the pain.”​

 

[icedthemoon]

Carlos Da Silva and Asher McCoy
Aspiring Artist, Former Hunter | 23, 30 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Carlos was good at doing what he was told when he was in the mood to be a good listener. This was historically not something he did often, but it wasn’t like he couldn’t follow directions. He just had to agree with the directions to follow them. So he put his arm on his stomach and let Kaleb do whatever it was that he was going to do. “I’d like healing to be less painful now,” he groaned as he lay there on this bed beside Kaleb. “How about itchy. Or mildly uncomfortable.” That would have made his day significantly better.

“How much medicine did you get to have in that quarantine zone of yours?” Asher asked as he lay there, rubbing the fingers he had stolen. “I can’t imagine that you got to see a lot of it.” There were times that he thought he was better about judging FEDRA. Times like when he was around Kaleb who was a decent person. Then there were times he knew he was just as bad as he had always been. When he thought about how Jordan probably suffered before they met, he was so angry.
​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Kaleb Price and Jordan DeShay
Former FEDRA officer, Former Smuggler | 25, 28 | Current location ;; New Mexico

Kaleb sighed as he shook his head, hearing Carlos while he finished redressing his wound and wrapping it back up. “I wish I could take away the pain for you. But this will teach you to pay more attention to your surroundings.” Kaleb commented as he laid beside Carlos. “I feel we won’t be moving for a while so why don’t you rest. I’m going to see if Asher wants to take a day to let you two rest a little bit.” Kaleb said as he went to move off the bed.

Jordan flicked his eyes to look at Asher and sighed. “Well. Not much medicine if any at all from FEDRA. Sometimes we’d get some when on a smuggling run from searching houses.” Jordan admitted. “Did I ever tell you exactly how FEDRA killed my mother? I can’t remember if I did or not.”​