This is the Laos Legacy feed. Currently working on generation 3!
Also, you can read the whole story here: https://thelaoslegacy.tumblr.com/
BlueskyFeedCreator.com
โIโm not asking, Raven.โ
โWell, Iโm not going with you.โ
His jaw ticks. โThink of it as paying off the debt from all those days you decided work didnโt matter. Besides, this oneโs important.โ
Her head snaps toward him, irritation sparking despite the knot in her chest. โWhat are you doing here? How did you even get in?โ
Hex doesnโt answer her question. โGet dressed. Weโre leaving.โ
She stares at him like heโs lost his mind. โWhat? No. Itโs past midnight.โ
She tells herself itโs fine, that she doesnโt care, but the truth sits heavy in her chest.
โRaven.โ
She jolts, heart leaping into her throat, because she hadnโt even heard the door open.
Ravenโs on the couch, knees tucked to her chest. She keeps replaying her last conversation with Crispin, every sharp word she threw like she wanted to hurt him, even though she didnโt.
Crispinโs not coming back tonight. Heโd said as much in his text: ๐๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ข๐ฅโ๐ด.
When the current finally lets go, so does he. His body crumples to the wet floor with a heavy, lifeless thud, the sputtering hum still playing in the background like nothing happened.
Itโs not pain at first, just blinding, bone-deep shock, every muscle locking as if heโs been welded in place. Then the burn hits, white-hot, racing through him in jagged lines. His jaw clenches so tight his teeth ache, his breath caught somewhere in his chest, never making it out.
โShut up,โ he mutters, gripping the handle. His other hand reaches instinctively toward the back panel.
The moment his skin touches it, the world seizes.
Elliot sloshes through the thin layer of water spreading across the kitchen floor, the cold seeping between his toes as his bare feet drag over the slick surface. Each step sends a faint splash against his ankles, but he barely notices; his focus locked on that maddening sputter.
His bare feet skid across the hardwood, each step a little too unsteady to be graceful.
The fridge is dead. Or at least dying. A thin stream of water snakes out from underneath. The steady hum isnโt just a hum at all; itโs the sputtering, grating whine of electricity straining where it shouldnโt.
Thereโs a low, persistent hum bleeding in from the kitchen, soft at first, like an appliance running, but it needles at him the longer it drones on. He tries to ignore it, but itโs like the sound is burrowing into his skull.
Itโs not that drinking makes him feel better, it doesnโt. But it numbs just enough that he doesnโt have to sit with the truth: that Nina is gone, and he has no idea why.
Heโs been drinking ever since. Morning, noon, and night. Whiskey with breakfast, beer for lunch, whateverโs left in the bottle by dinner. Eating barely happens anymore, not when the burn in his throat feels easier than the hollow in his chest.
Elliot has been unraveling for weeks now, ever since Nina vanished from his life without a word. No calls. No messages. Not even a half-hearted excuse scrawled on a scrap of paper. One day she was there and the next, it was like sheโd been erased.
Behind its closed door, the air hangs heavy, curtains drawn against the skyline. Someone inside has been moving through their days like theyโre wading through molasses. Barely eating, barely sleeping, and finding it harder with each sunrise to care about either.
In the upscale sprawl of San Myshunoโs uptown, life usually hums with polished chaos. Business lunches bleeding into rooftop cocktails, neighbors arguing over HOA rules, the constant thrum of traffic below. But in the Alto Apartments, one unit feels untouched by the cityโs pulse.
Raven stands there, watching his back retreat until he disappears around the corner. The urge to call out, to say sheโs sorry, to undo the sharp edges of what just happened, rises in her chest like a tide. But pride is louder, heavier, and it wins.
He takes a measured step back, putting just enough space between them to make it clear heโs done pushing. โIโm heading to the library,โ he says, his tone clipped but controlled. โIโve got research to do for my next class.โ
โThe day you stop feeling anything at all, then you can tell me to stop blaming myself.โ
Crispin shakes his head slowly, jaw tight but his voice even. โOkay. Whatever you say. I know what this is, Raven. Youโre itching for a fight, but Iโm not giving you the satisfaction.โ
โYou know thatโs not what I meant.โ He shifts closer, lowering his voice until itโs almost swallowed by the hum of campus life around them. โYou did what you had to do, Rae. Thatโs not weakness. Thatโs surviving. You have to stop punishing yourself for it.โ
Crispin studies her face like heโs searching for the fracture lines only he knows are there. โYouโve got to stop acting like you were supposed to walk through that without flinching. No oneโs made of stone.โ
A humorless curve tugs at her lips. โTechnically, I was made of stone. For a few minutes.โ
โHave you gone to my dad about this?โ Crispin asks, his tone careful, like he already knows the answer.
Raven shakes her head, eyes fixed on the pavement. โWhy would I? The last thing I want is for him to see me falling apart.โ
โIโm sorry,โ she says quickly. โIโm not okay. ๐๐ฃ๐ท๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ญ๐บ.โ Her voice softens, but thereโs an edge under it. โAnd itโs not like I can justโฆ go up to someone and ask, โ๐๐ฆ๐บ, ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ด๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ต? ๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฉ, ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต?โโ
Ravenโs shoulders sink. โSo what do you want from me, then? A confession? A breakdown? Pick one, because I donโt have the energy for both.โ
Crispinโs posture shifts, just the slightest lean back, barely noticeable to anyone else, but Raven catches it like a crack in glass.
โYou holding up okay?โ Crispin asks, studying her like heโs trying to read the truth straight from her face.
โIโm fine,โ she says, too quickly.
His brow arches. โYou really expect me to buy that?โ
Raven never got the chance to go to college. So when he walks her through courtyards and past walls plastered with student work, when he points out his favorite quiet corners and the cafรฉ where he sketches between classes, she holds on to every detail.