Ascelin Charbonnier Guillaume. As far as everyone is concerned, it's Ashley Oliver.

"Please forgive me if I'm a little nervous or don't know where to put myself, this is hardly an everyday encounter," Ash states shyly, his confident façade slipping and revealing the meeker nature beneath. He takes a seat on the nearby chair, putting his hands in his lap.

"Mhm," Ash responds, sounding unconvinced. "Tell him I said thanks."

"Y'know... those reporters wouldn't have been there in the first place if not for you grilling Damien about my disappearance," Ash states softly. "I know you came looking for me after the warehouse incident. It really helped."

-ˋˏ ༻ 𝐊𝐚𝐢 ༺ ˎˊ- I blame you entirely for my multitude of accounts. ♥

"I could've sworn I... saw Richie..."

((EVENT: WELCOME TO SMALLVILLE))

((EVENT: DOOMSDAY)) ((11/24- Who knows?))

"Okay." Ash takes another breath, then hugs the speedster before he can change his mind. "Thank you, Flash."

|| He has so much guilt to carry that I feel like he's just gonna fall over but there's still a speed element and a need to keep going forward so—

Wrongfully blames himself.

Ash straightens up, his posture going from relaxed to stiff and sharp. "He's still out there," he states firmly, then he surprisingly allows the matter to drop. "I'd... like to go into witness protection. I can't stay trapped here any longer."

"I thought..." Ash exhales slowly. "I thought that after seeing all that blood and... learning about what he was studying... that you might've given up on him. I'm really grateful that you didn't. You're the only one other than me who even cares about him coming home."

"I wouldn't give up on him even if they found a b—" Ash attempts, then a swell of nausea makes him retch and he swallows hard. Just the idea sickens him. "He's alive, I'm sure of it. But... I can find him again as a new me, right?"

"Flash... tell me honestly, do you think Richard might still be alive somewhere? Because if not, nothing is keeping me in this town." Ash toys with a black frond of fringe, wondering what kind of person he'd be if he left his image behind.

"You... do?" For the first time in a long time, there's hope in his eyes. "...my real name isn't public knowledge anyway. The people they call my fans are just vultures waiting for me to die so they can tear away my flesh. I need to disappear."

"Both the men I loved are dead, I don't have a job or a home, and the city thinks I'm on the brink of mental collapse. What resources do you have that could fix any of that?" Ash asks dully, lightly leaning his head against the wall. "A new identity? Cut my hair, change my name?"

"Flash?" Ash stares at the man in red, a note of disbelief in his voice. He's surprised that anyone could find him, let alone the local hero. "How did... you know I was here? How did your friend?"

The teenager startled as Richie appeared, newspaper page in hand. He stared at the other in pure disbelief, then crossed the room and swept him up in the tightest, most emotionally-charged hug of his life. "Richie!"

Blink blink. "Um... Barry? You okay? You just walked up and started yelling at me..."

I'm just saying, he disappeared at the same time that you appeared. You don't need to think anything of it, people go missing everyday in Hatchetfield, I'm simply surprised nobody's tried to send you to find him.

|| I've forgotten my own character's second name. 💀

He's in mourning.

—— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡 * 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘦, & 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩. 𝐀 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧; @killerjokes.bsky.social & @spoilsporting.bsky.social

Everyone says Barry Allen is a hero, but I don't know. Since he came to town, I haven't heard from Richie, and I don't think that's a coincidence.

|| So, here's the thing. If I follow you on my fluffy boy account and you don't follow back, I could let you know it's me and then you probably will out of obligation. But if you don't want to write with him on first impression, that tells me all I need to know.

"I... seek protection," Ash admitted softly. "I'm in a vulnerable position, there are people in my life who hurt me. Physically, emotionally, and... more."

🌊 Its time

"Oh, could I help with that? Be an on-land negotiator of sorts? I bet I could trade the things you find and give you the items in return without you ever having to deal with humans. Me aside, of course." Ashley reached to touch something around his neck, a seahorse carved from abalone shell.

He watched the stone go, then knelt down and picked up a pebble of his own, before angling it a few different ways and debating how to throw it. "What do you do if humans come into the sea? You know, to swim and stuff?"

"Laying on the warm sand must feel amazing," he mused wistfully, then glanced at the sky and blinked as a snowflake landed on his nose, "at least, in the good weather."

"I can't imagine living in cold water," Ash responds with a shiver, subtly adjusting his boots in the snow as he feels the frost nipping through his socks. "Do you ever come to land completely?"

|| Writing Ash and Ace respectively is so fun, because one is a gentle human who's doomed by the narrative and the other has fully embraced witchcraft, the Lords in Black, or both.

|| Me, actually. If anyone cares. ♥

|| Dun dun dunnnn! 🤭

"If we're all red threads, we must've weaved so many wonderful creations just by passing people on the street, let alone connecting with them."

|| Stalking you all on my TADC account because I crave interactions and you're my friends so it's the price you pay. 🥰

"An audience with Lestat himself, who wouldn't be?" Ashley responds with a smile. "Your concert was fantastic, I don't think a hundred encores would've been enough to satiate the audience after that performance."

"Thanks," Ash murmurs gratefully. He looks down at himself and makes a mental note of all the slices, intending to clean and wrap them once he's free. "I'm so lucky to know you guys. All of you."

|| Didn't think that last line could hit harder than it did originally, but oh look, I'm weak again-

"Whenever I see The Flash running around, it makes me wonder what my metahuman name would be. I like the idea of Aelius, it means sun or sunshine." He doesn't realise how ironic that is, considering that in another universe, there's a metahuman version of him with the power to create fire.

"Rose or Rhodonite?" Ash asks softly, wincing at the contact but refraining from pulling away. "I think they're both lovely. I'd probably go with something regarding the colour black, like Raven or Blake."

"I... don't know," Ash murmurs quietly, glancing down at the bruises littering his body. He hates being touched by Damien, but surely someone who doesn't want to hurt him should be fine? "Medicine is a good name for a healer," he adds conversationally, trying to calm his nerves.

"So what if it was." Damien's eyes darken, glinting with amusement. "Even if you lock me up and throw away the key, it's not going to bring him back. Only I know where he is, and if he's alive or dead, and I'm not planning to divulge any details."

Between the stained bandages, gauged out holes can be seen on Ash's neck, blood welling in them and trickling down once the wounds are freed. "I don't know how they work," Ash admits sheepishly. "It could've been either, I'm sorry. I thought... he said that..."