Fandom The Day The World Changed { The Last of Us 1x1 with icedthemoon }

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
FEDRA Civilian, FEDRA Officer | 26, 37 | Current location ;; Seattle Quarantine Zone

Soren was a little worried that being at the wedding would strike up some… negative feelings between Josh and Hayden. Hayden had not been subtle about his frustrations with Josh and the lack of any want to actually do this. Or perhaps he was not subtle when it was Jacob and Soren around. Soren treated himself like a mediator a lot of the time. He would hear from Hayden or Jacob and then he would try to relay concerns and thoughts in a less aggressive way. “It means a lot to me that you’d do that.” He took a moment to be a little giddy and then put himself back together. They were still on patrol after all. Everything was looking pretty normal so far.

Theo was back up as Kai fell so he slid in beside him and bopped his shoulder. “Tag!” He screamed and giggled as he popped back up and was running into the living room again. “I think going now is a perfect idea. We have a lot of places to search, of course. Besides, I think there’s only so much tag you can play in some of these places.” He opened up the front door. “Boys! Want to take this game outside?”​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Commander, FEDRA Civilian | 26, 32 | Current location ;; Seattle Quarantine Zone

Josh was determined to make this day happy for Soren. Did he worry that it would lead to another argument after between him and Hayden? Yeah, he did. But at the same time, he didn’t care either. This wasn’t for him, this was for Soren. “Of course my friend.” Josh said, patting his shoulder gently. He knew life was hard, and harder on his partner, but those feelings and emotions, he just tucked them into a corner of his mind and ignored them. He continued with the route, silent for now.

Kai felt the bop to the shoulder and laughed, giggling and making it to his feet as Theo ran into the living room. He skidded to a halt when he heard Hayden’s words. “Outside!” He cried, turning to run towards Hayden and Jacob. Jacob chuckled, nodding. “Alright, let’s get this party going yeah? Come on Theo!” Jacob called to the three year old.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
FEDRA Civilian, FEDRA Officer | 26, 37 | Current location ;; Seattle Quarantine Zone

Occasionally, the routes were a little boring. Patrolling was not his favorite part of his job. In fact, it was one of his least favorite parts. Though, when they came across situations that needed them to solve something and ended up making things better, it made it all worth it. Today, though, he did not mind a little bit of quiet. He was glad to have the moment to do nothing but think. He moved along with Josh, looking for anything out of the ordinary. He was not worried about what was left to get together for the wedding. He felt that Jacob and Hayden probably had that handled. He moved along in comfortable silence with his friend.

Theo was on the other side of the living room, crawling over a couch like getting the high ground was going to somehow give him an advantage in this game, when he paused as Jacob called his name. Everyone was moving out of the room and into the hall. Outside? “Okay!” He bounced off the couch and bounded past everyone else and into the hall. He was halfway down by the time that Hayden made it out there as well. “Don’t go down the stairs without us!” Theo had recently learned how to use the stairs, and one of his favorite games was to literally run up and down them for actual hours.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Commander, FEDRA Civilian | 26, 32 | Current location ;; Seattle Quarantine Zone

Josh was silent in the outside, but his mind was just as turbulent as it has been for a while now. Days like today, that cage he shut his emotions in rattles. The lock threatens to break and he nails it back down again. Nights like last night linger in his mind, push at his psyche. Nights where he doesn't even speak to Hayden are the worst. They are the nights that push him, that have him wake up grumpy and angry. Upset and frustrated. So as they walked in silence, he was nailing that cage shut again. As they came around the courthouse, there wasn't anyone around, it was just.. them. And it made him jittery. He needed to run, but he didn't know what he was running from anymore. His relationship, this new world, or his job? The job he excelled at, the job that had him rising up ranks quickly. "So. It's in two days right? Or was it three? I can't keep track anymore." Josh finally broke the silence with his question.

Jacob watched as Theo crawled over the couch and chuckled as he paused, and watching him bounce off the couch and out into the hall. Kaiden took off after him well, until he heard Hayden's yell. "Theo! Wait!" He said, grabbing hold of Theo's arm so he didn't go down the stairs. Jacob followed after the two, shaking his head with a chuckle. Once he got to the two little ones, he took Theo's hand. "Remember we don't go down stairs without an adult present."​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
FEDRA Civilian, FEDRA Officer | 26, 37 | Current location ;; Seattle Quarantine Zone

In the quiet, Soren was not always sure what he needed to do. Let the silence stay there or find a reason to interrupt it. He wished that he could see into Josh’s mind. All he wanted was to help, and that was very difficult. It wasn’t Josh’s fault or at least not all his fault. Thankfully, Josh interrupted on his own. “Two days. I don’t think I could wait that extra day.” He really did not like not being married anymore. Since they talked about it, it was all he could think about. He never thought he would be that guy. In another life, he would have waited maybe three months to ask. Maybe. That would have only been because Cap would have told him three months was a little soon. He was sure it would have been something about first relationship, especially with a man. How was he supposed to know blah blah blah. Three months. Max. The ever changing disaster of the world made that longer.

Theo skidded to a stop when Kai took his arm. It wasn’t that he didn’t listen. He really was trying, but his body moved way faster than his brain. Or maybe his brain moved so fast that it was having to keep up with itself. His ears were kind of slow. He threw his arms out to the side as a counterbalance. “Down!” He tugged on Kaleb’s hand and pointed to the stairs. “Down! Down!” He was so ready to run. Hayden was there as fast as Jacob. “We are here now. Ready to go down the stairs?” He held out a hand of Kai wanted it, but he also knew that sometimes being four meant going down some of those steps alone. But not too many.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Commander, FEDRA Civilian | 26, 32 | Current location ;; Seattle Quarantine Zone

Josh knew that if the world hadn't broken like it did, he probably would've been like that too. Maybe a few months after asking, and then have the wedding. Now? He wasn't even sure if they were still getting married themselves. He was always busy with something FEDRA related, between patrolling and getting new officers trained properly, he was so busy. And he didn't think that Hayden wanted to marry him either, not after the mess that was the last two years. He nodded as he heard Soren's words. "Okay. I suppose I should find a suit somewhere huh? Can't go showing up to your wedding in uniform can I?"

Kaiden looked at Theo, taking hold of his arm as they managed to stop just before the stairs. He heard his best friend's words, and felt the tug on his hand, but Kai remained still as stone. "No! Wait!" Kai said stubbornly, looking back at Jacob when he finally walked over, and he saw the hand held out by Hayden. Kai took it, as Jacob nodded. "Alright, time to go down." Jacob said, leading the way with the excited three year old. Kai was a little slower as he started to go down the stairs.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
FEDRA Civilian, FEDRA Officer | 26, 37 | Current location ;; Seattle Quarantine Zone

The suits were never important to Soren. What they wore while getting married was second to the actual wedding. “I dunno, you look good in your uniform. We could probably find one of the military ball uniforms that the military used to have officers wear way back when. I actually had one of those at one time.” He never really cared about those either, though he would not have minded wearing one now. “Or we could always find you a suit somewhere. Or you could just wear whatever. It doesn’t matter to me. I just want you there with me.” Though, if they found him a suit worth being a part of a wedding, maybe he could use it again for his own wedding. If Josh and Hayden ever did that.

Theo had very little patience, so waiting for Jacob and Hayden was probably the most difficult thing in the world. Once he finally could run down, he did. Well, he tried but he was being held back by Jacob. He huffed but was overall too excited to be cranky. Instead he changed “down! Down! Down!” with each step that they descended. Hayden was happy to go at whatever pace Kai wanted to do. He liked Theo a lot, but Kai was his. In a weird way. They were bonded. “We’re going all the way down, boys.”​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Commander, FEDRA Civilian | 26, 32 | Current location ;; Seattle Quarantine Zone

Josh listened to Soren as they walked, and he thought about it. He had his normal uniform that he wore everyday. "If we find a suit then I'll wear it, but if we don't in two days' time then I'll use the uniform." He agreed as he walked. "Seems quiet today." Josh said, looking around the abandoned streets of the Zone. Quiet was good, or bad. He just wasn't sure. "Do we know if the rations are running low again?" He asked, because the quiet could be the build-up before a fight to storm the ration center. Could be, but not always.

Jacob moved with the three year old, making sure he kept upright and didn't tumble down the stairs on accident. "Yes Theo, we're going all the way down." Jacob said, as Kai giggled, watching Theo. "Down! Outside!" He said, picking up pace a little bit. He was much better at the stairs when he was two years ago. He also wanted to run in the fresh air, it wasn't often that he got to go outside, but he enjoyed it immensely when he did.​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
FEDRA Civilian, FEDRA Officer | 26, 37 | Current location ;; Seattle Quarantine Zone

Really, Soren did not mind if Josh showed up in some jeans and a t-shirt. The idea of getting Josh there at all was enough to make Soren feel a lot better. If he could take the time out of his utterly busy schedule for this meant that it was important to Josh too. He turned his attention to the quiet of the route. “I’m not sure, but I have a bad feeling about this,” he answered, narrowing his eyes to the world around them. Very rarely did this kind of quiet mean anything good. He doubted that suddenly everyone was going to be happy and willing to live the FEDRA life when they fought against them what felt like every day. Not everything was perfect, but at least this was better than how it could have been.

Theo’s chants almost sounded like some sort of strange song as he screamed them to the world. Everyone on all of the floors could probably hear him. His giggles filled the stairwell. From somewhere below, he could hear the laugh of someone who must have also been traveling down them. This made him laugh even more and say more. By the time they reached the bottom of the stairs, he was so thoroughly entertained that he was almost sad that the stairs were ending. “When we go out there, remember, you can’t run too far from us. We don’t want you to get hurt or lost.” As he peered at the two little ones, three words came through his mind, and his entire being wanted to freeze. Stay with me. He could see her pleading eyes and broken voice. He blinked away the memory, trying to save himself from what came next, but it was too late.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Commander, FEDRA Civilian | 26, 32 | Current location ;; Seattle Quarantine Zone

Josh knew he'd get chewed out by Jacob if he didn't go. He was still on rocky ground with his older brother for having pushed off the wedding for two years. He'd fought with his brother more than once. But none of it sunk in, every word from Jacob just went in one ear and out the other during these arguments. He looked over at Soren and then he heard it. The sound of arguing near the ration center. "Soren." His tone was curt as he simply said his name, turning to head towards the center. Arguing, especially there, usually turned into fighting.

Jacob really enjoyed Theo and his constant energy, most of the time. Some days he just couldn't handle it, and while they had generators, most things didn't come as easily. Like coffee for one. Jacob missed coffee, every so often he could manage to get some beans and make a cup, but that was rare. As they got to the bottom of the stairs, Jacob heard Hayden's words and nodded. "Come on you two." He said, opening the outside door and stepping out into the Zone. The soldier's housing was gated off from the rest of the Zone, as it also had a base of operations near it. Sure they used the Stadium for pretty much everything, but they'd kept the original HQ to have a back up area. Kaiden giggled and nodded, looking up at Hayden as he pulled on his hand. "Outside!"​

 

[icedthemoon]

Hayden Gaines and Soren Truelson
FEDRA Civilian, FEDRA Officer | 26, 37 | Current location ;; Seattle Quarantine Zone

In a perfect rebuild of the world after the outbreak, they would have plenty of food for everyone. When he thought about this once, he considered that there were a whole lot less people now, which meant there should have been more food for everyone. That was not the case. The rations were a problem. There never truly seemed enough of them, and though they were trying their best, that was also not good enough for a lot of people. He did not say anything else after Josh said his name. He attempted to hear the words in the argument, but they were muffled. If only he could tell what was going on. It was likely nothing good. He picked up his pace so that they could get to the center faster.

“Out! Out! Out!” Theo cried as he pulled away from Jacob and ran forward about ten feet and then turned around to run back at them just to turn around again to run around in a circle with about a ten-foot diameter. The day he learned to walk, his mother nearly cried, because he never stopped after that. His father hardly ever had time to be with him, so he never seemed to have many opinions. Jacob and Hayden were around far more often than his parents. His cries became indistinguishable sounds of excitement. Hayden laughed as they made it outside. He followed Kai wherever he wanted to go at least for this first part. “Alright, outside! It is everything you could ever want and more.” Which was not at all true, though for these little ones, it might have been.​

 

[EquineGurl23]

Joshua and Jacob Smith
FEDRA Commander, FEDRA Civilian | 26, 32 | Current location ;; Seattle Quarantine Zone

Josh knew they didn't have enough rations, even with over half of Seattle gone, it just wasn't enough. Officers and civilians all got ration cards, though officers and their families got two more than the civilians. Their decision on that was they had to keep themselves fed so they could protect others. He picked up his pace with Soren as he tried to hear the words. When they came around, they saw two of their unit, Justin and Paul, arguing with an older man who demanded he get his rations now. The line didn't open for another three hours. "What's going on here?"

Jacob felt Theo pull away from him as he ran forward, and then ran back, and did it again. He shook his head, chuckling softly at the three year old. Kai broke from Hayden's hand the moment they were out those doors. He ran to Theo, before he giggled and tagged his friend. "Tag!" He called, before he turned and ran in a circle, away from him and he circled behind the adults legs. "Just stay close to us guys." Jacob said as he watched the two. That wasn't really a problem most of the time, the two little ones didn't go very far from the adults.​