[WIP][RDO] Titanic AU - Part 1?

Whoever knows me a bit knows I'm obsessed with the RMS Titanic.
Some years ago I did a series of illustrations with my first RDO character Ellen Jones which can be found somewhere in my Twitter/X account if you dig deep enough.

Since I created Joey I have always wanted to make an AU with her, Brian and Alba on the Titanic.

It's not like I have the time because commissions are piling up and I have to keep updating Patreon, but yesterday afternoon I found a bit of spare time and sketched some to celebrate the 113 Anniversary of the sinking.

Joey and Brian with their daughter Alba went to Scotland to visit Brian’s family. On their way back, Brian wanted to surprise Joey by getting tickets for the maiden voyage of the most luxurious ship, the RMS Titanic.

He tried his best to get 2nd Class tickets, he wanted the best for his family but Joey insisted that 3rd Class was good enough for them. They didn’t have the money for 2nd Class anyway.

The journey went uneventful, they enjoyed the food, and the 3rd Class promenade, Joey and Alba admired the beautiful dresses of those distinguished Ladies from 1st Class. They danced to an Irish band that played every night.

Until the night of the 14th of April. They felt the collision and it wasn’t long until the freezing water entered their cabin. Brian acted as fast as he could telling Joey and Alba to grab their warmest clothes and head to the top deck. Something was off and he felt it.

But soon he saw they closed all gates in 3rd class, preventing them from leaving. Brian was raging, how could they leave them there while the ship was sinking? He looked for another way out holding Joey’s hand and Alba on his free arm. They reached another gate, with more 3rd class passengers trying to break free. Brian and several other men broke through one of the gates giving them a chance to survive. 

On the top deck, there were few boats left. They ran to one of them and Brian convinced Joey to jump on it with Alba, but Joey didn’t want to leave Brian behind. She didn’t want to argue she knew it wasn’t the right time, but the fear of losing him didn’t allow her to let go of his hand. “Promise me you’ll survive, I’m not losing you over this”. Brian looked her in the eyes and kissed her promising he’ll survive, he was a survivor, he went through worse.

Their eyes never broke contact while the boat was lowered into the dark water. Joey’s eyes were pleading for him to save himself, she didn’t want to see in his eyes that he was saying goodbye.

Alba was crying in Joey’s arms, she was scared of the whole situation, everyone screaming and the horrible noises the ship was making as it was starting to tilt out of the water. Joey hugged her close, trying her best to contain her own tears, she had to be strong, for Alba, for Brian and for herself...

[To be continued...]