#no one needs to know about the chatzy I was in | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mustcrdgreens · 1 year

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Who: Rusty, Reggie, & Jack ( @containatrocity & @crazedhatesoul ) Where: Reggie's home

(Chatzy logs below.)

Rusty: "You're a heavy motherfucker ain't ya, Reg…" Rusty mutters as he slumps Reggie onto his living room couch. His back aches, and he's momentarily thankful that Duck was too drunk to argue about wanting to drive home this morning- as it meant borrowing the truck to get the deputy home was less of a task than it might have been- getting him into the battered, weathered, close to breaking elevator had been a task in itself, and lugging the man into the house- with little help from a still half-drunk Reggie had reminded Rusty that 35 was faster approaching than he was prepared for. He sighs, unclipping the radio from his waist and tuning to the channel the town proper uses. "Hey, Jack, you around? It's Rusty, Could use a second of yer time, if you've got it?"

Jack: Jack is just counting the till when his radio buzzes to life, eyes moving to it. Rusty hadn't ever called his line directly before that he can recall, and he sets down his money and plucks up the radio with a low rumble of interest. "I only ever got time," he confirms, the sound of his cashier asking him who he's talking to cut off as he releases the button. After a moment, his line flickers back on, the airwaves humming around his voice. "What's goin' on, Rust?"

Rusty: "Tune to 11?" It's the private channel set for the rangers- used only for one-to-one conversations, most of the time- and empty for now. It's only once they're alone on the line that Rusty sighs, sitting himself down on the foot of the couch near Reggie's feet. "Found Reggie out by the woods last night just stood there about fifteen minutes before the ghosts started wanderin'. I got him inside, but he's in a hell of a state. I managed to get him back to his place, an' he's sleepin' it off, but I'm clearin' this place out of anything he can drink, and I'm gonna need help, damn near carried him to and from my firewatch tower this mornin'. I can't ask Duck, he's drunker than Reg is. an' I know the two a' you is… close." He sighs. "If yer busy don't worry about it, I can manage."

Jack: "Right, right." He changes the channel, his lips pressing into a line as Rusty explains what was going on with Reggie. "Ugh. Sumbitch," he breathes, then realizes his finger is on the talk-button. His line dies for a moment, before his voice comes through on the static once more. "Yeah, I'll be there. Ain't ever too busy, Rust." His cheeks warm slightly. "We're close, yeah, I s'pose. Don't reckon it's so important when it comes t'helpin' folks, though. Hang tight." Jack stretches, announces his departure to his cashier. He'll be back, they know how to set up the store. And if they need him, they better not need him. It's not long before there's a rap at Reggie's front door, the man opening it up rather than waiting for someone to answer. "Rust, Reg," he calls, slipping out of his boots.

Rusty: "Livin' room." Rusty sighs out, groaning and pushing back to his feet as his back cries out in protest. He greets Jack at the door, pulling the older man down into his usual greeting hug before sighing. "He's sleepin' last night off." He informs, shaking his head. "He was in a hell of a state when I found him, talkin' about goin' to be with his daughter- I think th' hoedown got to him bad." It's affected a lot of people, Rusty knows- Sissy's not quite herself and Duck's off the wagon. "But… He's gonna have a hell of a headache when he comes to- and by the time he does I'd like t' be sure he ain't got a lick of nothin' to drink in here, you know?" He shakes his head. "Thanks fer comin, Jack. I appreciate th' help- an' the company."

Jack: Steady arms wrap around Rusty in a quick hug with a slap to his back, Jack humming softly. "Ain't nothin' to thank me over," he assures, switching the lock on the door for now. Wasn't many places for Reggie to go outside that they couldn't find him--but he'd rather not risk it. "Can't blame him--that night's got me a little rattled. That Tyler kid screamin' out there was… bad--As fer the liquor, I'm assumin' yer just dumpin' it down the drain," he says, lifting a hand, "We'll split up an' look through the rooms, meet in the kitchen after."

Rusty: "Well, I ain't drinkin' it." Rusty sighs. "had enough drunks t' last me a lifetime and I ain't touched a drop myself that wasn't t' make it for trade." He sighs, relaxing a bit with the company- it would surely be easier to look after Reggie with some help, at least. He nods at the suggestion, sparing a glance to the deputy still asleep on the couch before moving off to check the house. It's slow going- but he knows where a drunk hides the drink- Duck's been his best friend for years, after all, and every drawer and shelf could hide another bottle- he's thorough, checking corners and closets and grabbing any bottle or jar he might find, eventually settling in the kitchen with them and cracking open the fridge. "Fucks sake, Reg." He sighs, already plucking moonshine off the shelf when Jack reappears. "He's gonna be pissed at us, y'know that, right?"

Jack: Jack makes quick work of his own areas, occasionally passing by Reggie to check up on him and to settle a bottle onto the counter in the kitchen here and there. He'd never experienced any sort of alcoholic in personal areas of his life, though he and Jules had kept a stash at one time--he checked areas he knew well. Once they're all finished gathering, he starts unscrewing lids, shoving the neck of a bottle unceremoniously down into the drain. "Let 'im be mad," he says, "'S for his own good. Shocked y'ain't done this fer Mallard yet."

Reggie: if reggie was honest with anyone including himself he doesn't remember anything that happened last night, the last thing he remembered was heading to the bar so imagine his shock when he woke up on his couch. it took a second for his eyes to adjust to the light, stirring a little before finally sitting up and kicking his feet down then using his hands to prevent himself from falling forward. "fucking hell," he mumbled, rubbing at his head before finally standing. reggie was headed to his kitchen for water when he stopped dead in his tracks seeing both jack and rusty emptying the contents of what seemed like all of his booze down the drain. "what the hell?" he honestly couldn't tell if he was seeing things or not.

Rusty: "You say that like I haven't- thing with Duck is that he's crafty- hides his drink in different containers, I'd have to open all his food, gun equipment, old military supplies an' even the paints fer his D&D hobby to find all the liquor- He ain't a 'leave the bottles around' guy, not anymore. Not with me an' his daughter houndin' him to stay sober." Rusty sighs, dumping the jar in his hand down the drain just as Reggie comes-to. "Mornin' Reg." He greets, turning slightly to look over his shoulder. "Me an' Jack figured you could use an intervention. So. This is the intervention. You damn near died last night, Reggie, an' it was arguably 'cause you've been drownin' your shit at the bottom of a bottle 'stead of talkin' to somebody."

Jack: "Christ…" Jack shakes his head, metal top to a bottle whooshing as he flicks it with the pad of his thumb, letting it spin off and hit the counter. "Never once thought about drinkin' t--" He pauses, gaze flickering up Reggie's form. His chest heaves with a silent sigh, and he upends the bottle in his hand, replacing the other in the drain. "Mornin', Tiger," he greets, loosening the top to a jar, "Heard ya done tried to kill yerself." There's no gentleness to his words, or even the tone, but his eyes turn down toward the counter in discomfort. He's bothered far too much about the idea of Reggie not being around anymore, and that shows on his face. "How're ya feelin'?" Reggie: reggie wanted to be mad at both of them, yell at them for wasting perfectly good alcohol but that was the alcoholic side of him talking. at their words he frowned, looking down at this feet almost embarrassed. "fuck i did it again," it came out really low, almost a whisper at that point before he stepped foot into his kitchen and sat himself down at the kitchen table. it was hard for reggie to look at them, mostly because he knew he'd have the urge to drink if he continued to look at the bottles in their hands so he kept his eyes on his hands in front of him. "feel like i got hit by a bus." he was honest at least, days upon days of hangovers and he'll still never be used to the feeling.

Rusty: "You may well have, if we had movin' traffic." Rusty sighs, sitting an empty mason jar on the counter and picking up another to empty. "We ain't got any painkillers, and you ain't gettin' no hair a' the dog, so I'm sorry, but the headache's stickin' around." He shifts, moving past Jack, fingertips grazing his wrist slightly as he moves to grab a cup, filling it with water and sitting it down in front of Reggie, a hand settling on the taller's back softly. "Hydrate. it'll help." he insists. "And I know, again- Duck told me when his brother called in. Well, mostly he was bitchin' about Eddie expectin' him to come get you when he couldn't see ya- but yanno."

Jack: Jack doesn't break like Rusty does, still working on emptying the containers before them--it's easier to focus on that than conversation, and it gives Rusty less to do. He glances up to him as fingers brush his wrist, remembering that hand in his own as he pressed chapped lips to his knuckles. He clears his throat, then sets back to it, shaking his head. He's quiet, listening to the two talk, plucking empty glassware from the sink to replace with the others. It's only once the bottles are empty that he chimes in. "Figures he'd be bitchin' rather than helpin' much," he murmurs, "Sounds like Duck, though." He deposits the now-empty containers back into the sink with a clatter before jamming a plug down into the drain and turning on the tap. "Any more we ought t'know about?"

Reggie: "yeah i know, this is my fault anyway." reggie knows the consequences of drinking so much and what happens the next day, his heart sank however at the mention of duck telling rusty about the last time. "so you knew then?" he looked up at russ before sighing some. reggie finally started drinking some of the water he'd been given, eyeing the now empty containers, "no that should be all of it."

Rusty: "Not until after I hauled you in from outside and up a couple hundred stairs into the watchtower to keep ya from bein' torn to pieces, but yes, I knew." Rusty informs, glancing between Reggie and Jack. "Mallard's off the wagon, He ain't himself lately. And with his leg, even if he had seen Reggie that night he wouldn't have gotten down to him and back inside in time with his knee in the state it's in. Bitchin's about all he can do." he sighs. "Just means Reg was lucky Eddie was still out an' about..." He sighs again, leaning slightly against the kitchen table. "You ain't buyin' or tradin' for no more neither, you got me? I get wind yer buyin 'shine and I'm comin' here to dump it the second you get back."

Jack: "'Course he is." The hot water steams, from where it fills the basin, but Jack seems to not have any issue with it. He dips his hands into it unflinchingly, turning the jars and bottles to release any trapped air. And then he dries them off on his jeans before he too approaches the table, a warm hand settling heavy but gentle onto the back of Reggie's neck. He leans in, his brow furrowed and his tone stern. "And yer gonna call, the second you get home in the evenin'. One'a us, over the landline. Not the walkie."

Reggie: "sorry about that russ," reggie feels guilty for him having to lug his drunk ass around and he does promise the both of him that he'll at least try and not buy anymore. (not like they'd let him even if he did and he knew that) the hand to the back of his neck was new but not unwelcomed and he nodded at jacks words, "i've got yours, i don't think i've got your landline russ."

Rusty: "Ah, don't tend to give it out much, Sissy's the one who uses it the most, talks to her friends that way- I tend to stick t' the walkies, since my crew is always out an' about." Rusty scrounges in a drawer for a moment, pulling out a scrap piece of paper and a pen to scratch down his phone number. "There. Like Jack said- one a' us, alright? Every single night before dusk. Me or Jack better know when ya get home safe, got it?" He gives Jack a knowing look- one that says they've both given this lecture to children before. "And if you need somebody here durin' the day, I'll come by. I don't work til dark most days."

Jack: Jack looks almost satisfied, that he agrees to call--but as Rusty looks to him, he gives him a quirked brow and a smile. This was certainly something they'd discussed with children before everything. The hand at the back of Reggie's neck moves, to grip the older man's chin and force his eyes up before his thumb brushes tenderly across his cheek. "If you agree to those simple terms, you say yes sir, Tiger."

Reggie: "might take you up on that offer," reggie gave a half almost lopsided smile at rusty, he liked spending time with him and although he wasn't too keen on having to call every day he knew it was for the best and what was needed. reggie wasn't expecting jacks next move, locking eyes with him and his cheeks immediately feeling warmer as he spoke. he took in a shaky breath in and nodded, clearing his throat some before speaking, "y-yeah i mean yes sir."

Rusty: "You better, okay?" He insists. "Only people I hang out with are Duck an' Alice, and they're busy fer a number a' reasons nowadays- I got the time." Of course, he spends time with Sissy too- but that's typically on his evenings off work, quiet evenings spent watching movies or cooking dinner and baking with his niece. He watches curiously as Jack catches Reggie's jaw and demands some kind of verbal agreement to the terms- his cheeks color slightly pink, the youngest man scratching at his own beard. "Good." he murmurs. "We worry about ya, Reg. you're... important, t' us." He admits. "So findin' out you've been wanderin' out like that- is worryin, you know?"

Jack: Slowly, Jack's hand leaves Reggie's face, but not before delivering a soft, playful tap to his cheek. "That'a boy." He slides his hands in his pockets, lips pursing. "I ain't... too busy anymore either, y'know. Got a lotta employees now." The man clears his throat. "You can certainly come bother me. Goes fer you too, Rust. Both'a you." He steps past Rusty and snags a towel, starting to pluck things from the sink to dry. "Botha you, let's dry these off, get to doin' somethin' other than scoldin' Reg."

Reggie: well reggie was glad he had that water now after what jack both did and said, glancing at rusty for a second and noticing the pink in his cheeks but making no comment instead choosing to down the rest of his water quickly. he looked around his kitchen, scratching at his chin in thought. he enjoyed both of their company and maybe on days he wasn't burying himself in work he'd see if one or even both of them wanted to come over, lord knows he'd need it to stay out of his head. "yeah alright," reggie finally said and got up, stepping past rusty- letting his hand graze his waist lightly as he passed to head to the sink to help. "i needed the scolding anyway, i meant to call one of you after the first time for help but it must've slipped my mind by the time i got home."

Rusty: "Maybe I'll take a few more days off here and there- I've had a shake-up in the staff at the station recently- been busy, since the uh. incident." He admits, sighing. "Maybe some time off t' get my mind off work an' visit with friends'll get my head right." Rusty chuckles, rolling his eyes as Jack insists they do something productive instead of laying into Reggie. "Puttin' me to work durin' my off time?" he questions, doing his best to ignore the way his face burns even warmer as Reggie's hand brushes across his hip. He picks up a dishtowel and a few jars, already setting to dry them off- pausing a moment to roll the sleeves on his ranger's uniform up, heavy tattoos climbing up the expanse of both of them before he returns to work. "Y' ain't yerself when ya drink, Reg, nobody is." He nudges him gently with an elbow. "Can't blame ya fer forgettin' but we ain't gonna hold it against ya- long as you keep up with it now- and lay off the drink. Right Jack?"

Jack: Jack catches sight of the hand brushing Rusty's hip, his brows lifting. Oh. Oho. Okay. He turns his face away, smiling to himself. Okay. He can work with that. If he and the two were getting closer, and so were they, then this was far more... interesting, and morally sound than Jack had initially believed, having hit on and kissed both of them in his own slight stupor. He hands a dry jar to Reggie. "Put 'em up," he says, a chuckle on his voice, "Me an' Rust can dry 'em." He clears his throat. "Rust's right. Ain't no reason to be drinkin' that much. The bottom of a bottle's just empty, anyhow. Nothin' wrong with a little somethin' here or there... Just. Better not to let it get outta control, y'know?"

Reggie: reggie took the jar from jack with a nod, putting them away in their originally respected cupboards. before they were just sprawled all over the house most the time forgotten until the next time he wanted to drink. "i know i know, it hadn't been this bad since i lost riley but hearing that tyler boy screaming it.." he had to pause to lean his hands against the counter, "well it took me back to that night and it was like i lost my daughter all over again." reggie took a deep breath in trying to shake the urges and feelings, he was never good about talking about her especially so fresh out of what he could only assume was some sort of ptsd response but maybe that's what he needed. "i really do appreciate the two of you coming over i just.. i don't think it's best for me to be alone right now."

Rusty: "Day's young, I don't work 'til dusk, And barrin' Sissy needin' me home, I ain't got a thing to do." Rusty informs, passing Reggie another jar carefully, expression soft- fond. "It's rough, losin' folk." He murmurs. "An' I can't imagine what it's like to lose somebody that way- but I wasn't m'self when Leon died." He doesn't talk about Lee a lot, all things considered- a weight he carries quietly. "An' it took me a while t' get back to who I know I shoulda been. But you ain't alone, you know." He reaches out, taking Reggie's hand lightly, thumb grazing the back of it softly, comforting. "I got yer back. An' so does the big guy." he insists, gently nudging Jack with his free hand. "Like I said, we care about ya, Reg, we ain't gonna let ya slip through the cracks, alright? Both of us 're just a phonecall away."

Jack: "Mm... My cashier's got the keys today," he offers, "I ain't goin' anywhere until you want me to." Jack rolls his shoulders, sucks in his cheeks. His gaze flickers up to Rusty as he talks about Lee. "... I've been 'bout the same kinda miserable, Reg. No man should outlive their child." He'd been so haunted by his family's deaths that his home was still filthy to this day, the dinner sat out on the counter long since rotted away, the blood and viscera left behind faded with age, and flies litter the floors around it all. "Hurts me, even years later, to betray July an' try to move on." His voice tightens. "Nothin' wrong with it, I reckon, to hurt for a long time. To keep bein' hurt. Lot of us are." He clears his throat. "The point is, y'ain't alone. In any of it. We all three've lost a lover, or a child, or both. We've got you. Yer in kind company."

Reggie: as rusty handed him another glass he put it away then smiled at rusty taking his hand. "i know i'm not, at least now i do. i always knew i wasn't alone but we've all got our demons and mine just happened to be overbearingly loud." reggie couldn't help but laugh, it sounded ridiculous when saying it out loud or at least it felt that way but he really was glad that he had jack and rusty by his side now, even if he was trying to figure out his feelings for the both of them. "would one of you mind stayin' with me tonight? i know you've said you got work at the ranger station tonight russ but i really don't trust myself not to try and go on a bender before nightfall, especially so soon."

Rusty: "If I can trust Duck not t' blow up a tower in a drunken stupor, maybe we can both take a night off." Rusty offers with a soft sigh, teeth worrying his lower lip absently. His expression falls, as Jack mentions his children- his mind slipping to July. They'd been friends, the Cravens and the Abbotts before all of this- Jules and Jack's children had come over in happier times, with the Romeros when Duck was sober, and Ophelia was alive. Their dinners on Duck's brief shore leaves remained happy memories- ones that were few and far between, after 2012. "Point is, it's heavy, and it's gonna be, for a long time. I was young, when me an' Lee fell in love. I was hardly 19 when I deployed, y'know? I never dated anybody but him- then we ended up here, an' we got married, an' I thought it was forever- ya don't... think about stuff like cancer, when the world's endin'... But he wouldn't have wanted me t' go on bein' miserable forever." He turns to Jack. "Neither would Jules, or th' kids." A turn again, a squeeze of Reggie's hand. "Or Riley. We gotta live on- for us, fer them. and there ain't no use drownin misery in liquor- 'cause that don't take away the ache." He releases his grip on Reggie's hand, popping himself up to sit on the edge of the counter. "Why don't I run up th' street and wake up that Canne boy? Borrow a drive an' a laptop an' the cables t' watch some movies? I'll get the stuff t' make meals fer the day for all three a' us and we'll stay in after. Keep Reg's mind off things?"

Jack: "Easier said than done," he breathes, "But yer right, really." He shakes off his hands, dries them against the dish towel still in them before he sets his hand against Rusty's neck, gazing up to him from his spot atop the counter. He's always looked particularly sad since the start of the paradox, but here, in the quiet of Reggie's kitchen, it's a little louder paired with his hesitancy. He leans in, pressing a soft kiss to where the man's jaw meets his head. "You go run up the street, we'll be here." His hand slips from his neck, the other lifting to Reggie's, to give the same kiss to him. "Sure I can keep this one busy with cleanin' up so we can help ya cook somethin'."

Reggie: reggie nodded and listened as the both of them spoke, he wasn't expecting both to want to stay but he most definitely wasn't upset about it. he didn't know what else to say other than he agreed with what rusty had said, riley wouldn't have liked to see him this way or that he seemingly couldn't find a healthy way to grieve her. frankly she would've done the same thing russ and jack had just done. he was leaning against the counter next to rusty when jack had moved his hand to rusty's next and the only thought that ran through reggies mind was 'is he about to?' then he was doing the same to reggie and suddenly it his mind went silent, glancing up at rusty to almost gouge his reaction from it. it took him a second to recollect his thoughts before saying, "all of that sounds nice, thank you again. both of you." and then he was rolling his eyes at jack, playfully shoving his shoulder slightly, "i don't need to be watched 24/7."

Rusty: Rusty's surely about to disembark from his place on the counter, well-worn boots swinging absently as he shifts to jump down- he's given pause, as lips set against the space between his cheek and jaw- he flushes pink, cheeks hot and surprise evident on his features before he stammers something incoherent and slips down to the floor proper, patting himself down for the keys to the truck. "I uh, I'll be back soon then!" He chimes, the usual lopsided smile on his features perhaps a little broader now, soft brown eyes moving between Jack and Reggie and then the door, as Jack sets a similar kiss against Reggie's skin. He'd known well enough Jack and July's preferences- the pair had met at a 'party' after all, something they'd softened in kinder company- but Rusty had seen the pictures. He knew better than most that the older man had... space, in his love life for more than one person- he looks at Reggie again, face burning too hot- he's flushed and stuttering and managing words is hard but eventually, he snags the keys off the counter, popping up on his tiptoes to set a kiss to the Deputy's opposite cheek and one in return to Jack- before he groans, scrubs at his face, and makes for the door. "I'LL BE BACK ONCE I'VE GOT FOOD AN' MOVIES AN' I CAN DO WORDS WITH MY MOUTH. Y'ALL BE GOOD WITHOUT ME!" he shouts- and after a few seconds- the truck rumbles to life- he needs to take it back to duck's place anyway.

Jack: The man pulls his hand from Reggie's neck, slipping both into his pockets. The returned kiss is hasty, but makes him happy nonetheless. He smiles lopsidedly, the corners of his eyes crinkling up with the motion. He makes no promises of goodness--which he calls out just before Rusty shuts the door behind himself. And left alone together, Jack gently nudges Reggie with his shoulder. "Let's get some blankets an' get the livin' room set up for the three of us. Best to be prepared when havin' doings." He starts off down the hall, looking back to the deputy with a grin. It's very true he'd never really once had space in his heart for only one, though a heaviness sits on his shoulders still. He can so very clearly hear his husband in his mind telling him how cute the two he's chosen are, which only further cements the ache. July would certainly want him to be happy--but he feels guilty, being so very alive and happy without him.

Reggie: this was all still very new to him and with the kiss to his cheek from rusty it only furthered his confusion about his feelings. reggie was sure of them though despite the confusion and had to keep reminding himself that this was even okay since he'd been almost strictly monogamous before and was still getting used to all of this, wherever it was going to take him. "yeah alright," he smiled, getting up from his spot after the nudge and follows behind jack unable to help the warm feeling he had when he watched him grin, it was a good look on him. reggie dug through a couple of closets to find any spare blankets he might have that he hadn't donated yet and handed them off to jack before looking down at himself, realizing he was still in his clothes from yesterday which was one of his flannels and a pair of jeans. "i'm gonna get changed really quick," he disappeared into his bedroom for a moment not really bothering to close the door finding there no real reason too and opted for a pair of his grey sweats and a t-shirt, something he doesn't wear all that often despite having two full sleeves of tattoos and almost never showing them off.

Jack: The blankets find themselves in Jack's arms, and he quirks a brow, giving the other a once-over when he sees Reggie's eyes move down to his own body. "Yeah, you do that." He doesn't make any sort of move, simply leaning against the wall to wait for him. He's polite enough, looking down the hall, instead of into his bedroom, only turning his head to look at him once he's moved back into the hallway. Brown eyes examine ink laid into skin, the way his chest sits in his shirt and the sweats hang onto his hips. "You dress down well, Tiger," he breathes, a bit of awe in his voice. He moves the blankets under one arm, drawing close to Reggie as his now freed hand lifts to cup his cheek. He chuckles. "Never realized you had tattoos in all these years. Any more underneath your clothes?"

Reggie: reggie felt his cheeks warm up again slightly, he wasn't used to getting compliments and even then when he was with his wife it was usually him giving them to her anyway. "thanks," he mumbled, smiling at the touch and laughed softly. "people can only see the one on my hands, i live in long sleeves most the time." it's not like that was news to anyone, jack had known him for a while now and never passed the threshold of each others houses before getting to this point with each other. reggie did like his tattoo's and would show them off more if it wasn't both because of winter and his uniform. "yeah actually got one on my back," he took a step back to turn around, lifting his shirt up and over his head to reveal the sinking ships and small islands that were inked into his upper back.

Jack: "Well I'll be," Jack breathes, cheeks coloring as he's shown an expanse of bare back, the ink there beautiful. He slips fingers up Reggie's spine, teasing along the length of it before he delivers a gentle pat to his back. "Put yer shirt on, Romeo, save a bit of the show for Rust." Once Reggie's dressed again, he slips his free hand into the other's palm, stepping out toward the living room. He's quick to sit, sighing softly--and pats the spot next to himself, opens his arm. "C'mere."

Reggie: reggie felt a shiver run down his spine at the touch, that was a new reaction to something but he could get used too it. he laughed at the comment and threw his shirt back on, looking at their hands with a smile as they walked, yet again another new feeling hit him because of it. reggie sat down at where he'd patted and scooted closer to jack, "sorry i didn't reach out to you guys sooner," he still felt a bit guilty about that yet in a weird sense was glad since it had brought all three of them to one place.

Jack: Jack is quick to cover them both with one of the blankets, another being set beside him on the arm of the couch, in wait for Rusty's return. "Y'ain't need to apologize," he assures, "You said it wouldn't happen again, you made the promise to call us. Ain't no further apologies or discussions needed." His arm slips around Reggie, only reeling him in closer to settle the smaller man against his chest. He presses his mouth and nose into the other's hair, sighing softly. "Just glad you're alright, is all."

Reggie: it was a bad habit really, apologizing when there was no need too and even with the reassurance from jack he wanted to combat it with a 'still' but left it alone. after earlier displays from jack it was probably the wiser. he'd just hoped he would remember to call one of them by the time he got home from work so he wouldn't accidentally worry them. when jack pulled him closer he scooted in letting himself get comfortable against him with a smile, kicking his feet up on the coffee table just for extra comfort. "can thank rusty for that one, don't know what i would've done if he hasn't stopped me."

Rusty: It's not too much later when Rusty reappears, shuffling through the front door with a grocery bag on his shoulder and putting out a cigarette under his foot on the front step- ensuring it's out before he flashes a smile at the pair on the couch. He'd clearly taken the time to change too, his usual green and khaki ranger uniform abandoned for a sheepskin denim jacket over dark pants and a tee shirt that certainly looked like it had a strip club's logo on the front, "Holster your Weapon at the Back Bay" emblazoned around the silhouette of a woman with a rifle. "It's fuckin' breezy out there." He exhales, flexing cold-bitten fingers. "Just let me get this stuff put away." he insists, vanishing into the kitchen and returning a moment later with the usual shoulder bag that Cyan loans out to rentals, and his jacket discarded. The shirt's old, with the sleeves cut away and open. He sighs. "It... It's laundry day." he mutters. "Sissy has all of my regular shirts in th' washin' machine soakin' wet." He doesn't take long to hook up the drive and computer to the TV, powering everything on before collapsing onto the couch with the mouse. "Cyan said this one's got a bunch a' TV and movies on it, told me he ain't too sure what's in here, but he gave me a good deal on th' borrow." He sighs, clearing his throat before turning pink. "I am sorry I ran outta the house like a bat outta hell it's just uh. Been. A minute."

Jack: The quiet of the room around them is broken when Rusty steps in, clad in casual clothes just the same as Reggie. Jack clicks his tongue. "Well--now I feel overdressed," he teases, tugging open the bottom button on the polo he's wearing and revealing an inch or so of hairy skin. He drums fingers against the deputy's shoulder, watching as Rusty hooks everything up. At the apology, he huffs out a laugh, lifting a hand. "No need to apologize, Rust. Guess I'm just... doin' better than I thought I was."

Reggie: reggie looked at the door as rusty came in, unable to help himself as he looked him up in down since he was almost always used to seeing him in his rangers uniform. "damn.." he mumbled before clearing his throat, turning his attention to back in front of him and trying to focus on jack's drumming rather than his thoughts. reggie didn't say much while rusty set things up and just watched the two of them interact with a smile, "i think the only one who wasn't ready to run out that door was jack." he admitted laughing and shook his head some.

Rusty: "That's good, Jack." he means it, and the smile he levels at the older man is genuine, as he scrolls through the hundreds of files stored on the drive- he'll know what's worth watching when he finds it, he figures. "Oh hey, what about Jaws?" He offers, settling back into the couch more comfortably. He hadn't missed the way Reggie spoke- or Jack getting more comfortable, the blush managing to only color his ears now. He gives himself a once over. "Come on, I was an army grunt until I was 24, Reg, I'm not all clean cut." He's tattooed in more places than just his arms, the cut off sides of his shirt revealing that much, scattered patterns of ink across his ribcage and chest. He sighs and plucks at the edge of the shirt. "This is a joke shirt- Lee had 'em made for everybody in the Howling Thirteen- Back Bay' was what they called the garage we all crashed in during one of our deploys.- For pretty obvious reasons, I've never been to a strip club... well. where there's women, at least." He laughs brightly, humming soft in the back of his throat and shifting to curl closer to the other two men, his smaller stature fitting easily into the space beside Jack's other arm, head settling against the older's shoulder softly. "I was thinkin' I'd whip up some burgers or somethin' for lunch in a bit- try my hand at makin' a passable stew outta the canned an' preserved stuff I've got for dinner?" He offers. "Long as you don't mind me fuckin' up your kitchen, Deputy?"

Jack: "Jaws is fine," Jack answers, one of his legs crossing over the other as he gives Rusty a once-over. He'd seen him casual plenty of times, seen his ink plenty, and the explanation of the shirt was one he'd heard long ago, between two mouths across an in-home dinner table. He huffs a laugh and shakes his head at the idea he was the only one not about to run out of the room. "I ain't a shy guy by any means, Tiger," he admits, "Husband an' I... were a little exploratory. Just lemme know if it's ever too much an' I'll cut it out. Goes for you too, Rust."

Reggie: “yeah jaws is fine with me too,” reggie agreed with a smile, coming up some more into jack. it was weird how comfortable he already was with the both of them but then again he’d known them both for years now, just never thought twice about how he really felt about them until recently. reggie looked over at rusty, letting his eyes linger a bit longer at the tattoos since he doesn’t often see him like this, snapping himself out of it at the question, “oh, use the kitchen all you want, it could use a nice home cooked meal for once.” he was not a cook by any means and since his wife left he lived off the diner food and the occasional meals alice would sometimes bring him when they had extras. reggie shook his head with a laugh, he wasn’t normally shy or easily flustered like this but this was all new to him. “if it gets too much i’ll let you know but it’s been fine so far, i’m surely not complaining.”

Rusty: "Jack, if you an' Jules weren't too much back in the day, I think I'll be a'right." Rusty promises, starting the movie with a smile as he pulls the blanket across his legs, tucking them up alongside himself on the couch, before considering for a moment and sprawling out across both Reggie and Jack's laps with a dramatic yawn. "Y'all mind if I get comfortable?" He asks with a grin that can only be described as 'shit eating'. "I didn't get much sleep, y'know, had company in my tower all night last night." He points out, playfully reaching a hand up to pat Reggie's cheek. His stomach peeks from under his shirt briefly, covered over with the blanket as he groans, turning over and settling his back against both men's chests. "Much better." he declares. "I'll start somethin' to munch on after we watch Jaws munch on some folks."

Jack: He shifts slightly as Rusty suddenly adjusts to lay across Reggie and himself, his brows lifting. The other blanket he'd grabbed is dutifully thrown across Rusty's form best he can with one arm before his hand settles into his cropped brown hair, the other still softly drumming against Reggie's shoulder as he leans his head on the one closest to him. "You get comfortable," he says, smiling softly, "If'n you nap, we'll wake y'up for lunch." It's a particularly comfortable, warm configuration they'd ended up in, Jack's body radiating heat well against the other men.

Reggie: reggie’s cheeks grew pink from embarrassment at the joke, reaching up to grab rusty’s hand when he patted his cheek and pulled it over to kiss his knuckles before letting his hand drop again, “don’t think i can thank you enough russ but i’ll sure as hell try,” he teased. although his words were still sincere. reggie leaned his head against jacks that now rested on his shoulder and let his arms rest over rusty’s stomach so they weren’t tucked away and crammed for the movie and nodded agreeing with jack, “we can wake you if you doze off, if i don’t doze off myself.” jacks body heat was warm and comfortable, something he could get used too.

Rusty: "You ain't gotta thank me." Rusty insists, smiling slightly as lips brush his knuckles- across the 'star' marked into them. "I woulda done it fer anybody who needed it. We all have our low moments." he reminds. "Important t' get past 'em... find your highs, instead." Rusty figures this is a pretty high point, relaxing into Jack's fingers in soft dark hair, eyes drifting closed as he settles in, warm, wanted, perhaps. Yeah. maybe this is a high point. He drifts, soft brown eyes slipping closed and halfway through the movie, he's asleep, soft snores slipping from parted lips, frame curled close into the other two, mind somewhere else, but still all too present in the comfort of having someone close- for the first time in a long time.

#thread ; jack ft r&r #suicidal thoughts tw #alcoholism tw #spice adjacent #blood mention tw #long post

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electricea-archive · 2 years

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——— BASICS !

(PEN)NAME: I mainly go by Jassi - some people call me Jas. I’m cool with whatever you want to call me, so long as it’s not rude.

PRONOUNS: I’m okay with people either referring to me as she/her or they/them.

ZODIAC SIGN: Sagittarius/Scorpio cusp.

TAKEN OR SINGLE: Single and cool with it! What matters most to me is finding contentment with myself. I’m in no rush to get into a relationship but I’m also the type of person to go with the flow. Things can change in an instant but I’m happy with how things are right now.

——— THREE FACTS !

I used to do group RP’s primarily on Tumblr - I don’t even know if they’re really a thing anymore but in my early days, it was pretty fun and I met some cool people.

Among some of my jobs have been a call center, a pet store, a kindergarten class room, a retail store and a filing job. My current two jobs are grocery and working at a movie theater. I hope to someday work at a bookstore.

My favorite candies of all time are those little sour watermelons. Can’t get enough of those. I can’t stand those little Werthers candies - they just taste gross to me - I’ve never been big on a lot of ‘caramel’ or ‘butterscotch’ flavors. The only caramel I like is in Caramilk bars and sometimes, I’m in the mood for butterscotch pudding.

——— EXPERIENCE !

PLATFORMS USED: In the past, I used to use Chatzy fairly often which brings back some memories. In my early days, I wrote on Bulbagarden and Habbo Hotel. But right now, my two platforms of choice are mainly Tumblr and Discord.

——— MUSE PREFERENCE !

GENDER: I would say male muses, more often than not - I wish I could point to any one concrete reason, but I just don’t resonate with a lot of female muses. I write maybe one or two on Discord and they’re very infrequent.

LEAST FAVOURITE FACE(S): Dylan Everett - he’s a Canadian actor, who was on shows like Wingin’ It and Degrassi. I don’t really have an issue with Dylan, moreso that one of my more horrible group experiences involved a particularly nasty mun roleplaying as a character that he played on Degrassi. His character on the show was heavily speculated to be gay and canonically had depression. This mun would take these headcanons to extreme, quickly having their muse become extremely attached to any male RP blog that would show them even the slightest hint of attention. To any other muses, especially female ones - they were extremely nasty and had a habit of picking fights. They would often treat other female muses in the group as their ‘love rivals’ and would often initiate threads with these muses, usually under the pretense of them hanging out or studying together, only for the thread to quickly spiral into complete insanity when they would begin threatening these female muses and writing their character holding knives to their throats simply for ‘standing in the way’. OOC, their behavior was also completely wretched and they posted someone’s IP address over a petty dispute over Demi Lovato music. Definitely ruined the faceclaim for me after that.

MULTI OR SINGLE: Single blog for now - I’ve speculated about doing another blog which is still very much a work in progress but I’m trying to take things slow because good things come to those who wait. I’m often reluctant to go multi because I usually know Ryuji will win out and I won’t be able to divide attention evenly between the two.

——— FLUFF / ANGST / SMUT !

FLUFF: I love it - it’s like a warm hug and just what you need on a crappy or boring day. I’m always in the mood for fluff.

ANGST: I do love my angst but sometimes angst that’s especially on the heavier side can be difficult for me to focus on. You ever just get a little too much angst to the point where you want to write happy things instead? That’s me sometimes. Angst is amazing but you have to be in the right mood or headspace for it.

SMUT: I’ve mentioned before that I’m okay with ‘fade to blacks’ or explicitly mentioning our muses have/had a sexual relationship. Someone made a good point about focusing on the intimacy and the romance as opposed to just writing porn for the sake of the porn and I agree with that.

PLOT / MEMES: Definitely plot OOC but I can wing it as well. I feel perfectly comfortable with sending people memes and initiating things via memes, though after a certain point, I do hope that will be reciprocated to some degree. I’m also more than okay with receiving memes - ecstatic even! I’m grateful to every person who sends a meme.

TAGGED BY: @more-than-a-princess (Thanks!)

TAGGING: Honestly, whoever wants to try this! This was a really interesting questionnaire and I hope you were able to learn a thing or two about me! Now, I can’t wait to learn about you!

#( ooc. )

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pastballads · 2 years

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TEN Q’S

1. When are you usually online?

My activity is sporadic. If I even make it online depends on the weather, my plans or if anything comes up, if my family needs me to handle stuff, if I woke up with neck pain or a headache, and if I’m not so tired that I just decide to mess with video games instead. Doesn’t help that my sleep schedule is also all over the place, but when I’m basically the living alarm clock for my whole family, it can’t be helped much

2. What verses are you involved in outside of this page?

Pokemon is the big one. My Pokemon blog, Cxlxssal, was originally a self-insert I made back when I was 14 that turned full-blown OC through character development. It’s also my oldest active blog, having officially been around for seven years as of May. Other than that, there aren’t any others in different verses that I still operate.

3. What is your biggest RP pet peeve?

It’s mostly the usual pet peeves that most people have, but blogs that put aesthetics over legibility are ones I loathe. Having to strain my eyes just to read something as basic as the rules quickly drains any enthusiasm I may have to write with them. Seventeen spaces between every word, small font on a vivid neon background, mixing colors and font colors in such a way that it physically hurts the eyes to read; the list goes on. I rarely, if ever, follow those people.

Second to that are overpowered muses with no weaknesses or rivals. Got tired of that shit after my stay in the Naruto fandom, and it’s one of the many reasons why I left the RWBY fandom.

4. Are you drawn to specific types of muses?

No, I’m not drawn to specific types of muses. A muse could be an interpretation of the Black Huntsman from Der Freischütz, it could be Goku, or it could be a painfully average man like Connecticut Clark. It doesn’t matter to me, I’ll love ‘em all if they’re well-written.

5. Are there recurring themes in your writing that people might not notice?

If there are, not even I might notice them. Because I usually don’t recognize that kind of thing until way further down the line.

6. What are your favorite RP trends?

I’ve been on Tumblr long enough to watch it go from borderline shitpost-y three sentence roleplay into novella written like an old gothic horror novel. Having me name one favorite would make me drudge up almost a decade of experiences. Mostly due to the fact that I... don’t remember most of them. My favorite trend were the days of anons bombarding inboxes with questions and interacting with muses. For a long time, I found those more fun than most actual threads.

7. What is your process for starting a new story with someone?

Generally, I just come up with a few ideas for what muses of mine might work best with theirs in terms of interaction. I would work around their interpretation of the character, then offer a muse or multiple muses and throw out ideas that try to subvert typical introductions. If they can’t read my muse pages, I’ll summarize the muse as briefly as I can... even if it often comes out poorly.

Here’s an example. Let’s say that Fillin Theblank plays someone like Tohru from Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid. I would reread their info on her, then suggest something like this; after the apartment building suffers from a sudden power outage, Tohru looks into the cause, finding Kouki after he fried the electrical system from trying to drain too much power at once. If Fillin didn’t know who Kouki is, I would explain that he’s basically an energy-based kaiju in the form of a small outlandish child.

8. How do you feel about duplicates?

Duplicates are great! I mean, more varied and unique interpretations of a well-known canon character, each with their own distinct way of interacting with others? Hell yeah dude, hit me with that!

9. How long have you been involved in roleplaying?

I’ve been roleplaying since 2011/2012, originally starting on Chatzy. After several RP servers I was in died off, I moved here and made a Naruto OC blog... which is hilarious in hindsight, since I never actually watched Naruto. Or read the manga. I mostly went off the wiki and what I learned from a friend.

Oldest blog of mine you can stiff find dates back to 2014, though it’s from my days on mobile and before I learned how to make decent-looking blogs.

10. Is there a muse or verse you wish you could write in, but haven’t?

Verse-wise? It’s specific to certain muses, such as the white dwarf star of lore that is the Fate franchise and a series like KanColle for Claudius due to his obsession with history/mythology, or Girls Frontline for Tino due to his shtick being tech and weapons. However, me adding more verses is a rarity.

Muse-wise? Lemme tell you, having ADHD is a bitch because every single time I find a show or game I get invested in, I spend over a week trying to purge the idea of adding one of the characters to my blog. Last month, it was Soma Cruz or Julius Belmont from Aria of Sorrow. Before that, it was Kat from Gravity Rush, the Necromancer from Castle Crashers prior to that, and my take on the main character from the MMOJRPG Onigiri. Hell, I’ve even thought about bringing back Algol from Soul Calibur IV as a muse recently.

~~~~

TAGGED BY: @inxtricabilis (Thank you, my dude!)

TAGGING: @caestusvulpes, @monmuses, @dcviated, @musesnetwork, @eliteimperialism, @kemikorosu, @madamhatter, and anyone else who wants to do it!

#{Book of Riddles | Dash Games}#{Mun Info}

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multeasers · 2 years

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KNOWING YOUR PARTNER WELL CAN POTENTIALLY MAKE WRITING TOGETHER A LOT EASIER. REPOST DO NOT REBLOG !!

NAME: Zag !!

PRONOUNS: they / he

PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATION: personally, I'd prefer tumblr ! either through asks or dms, i don't mind ! i’ll only give my discord out if it’s really needed, and only ever in private, but i’m kinda choosy on who gets it anyway

NAME OF MUSE(S): a-qing !

RP EXPERIENCE / HOW LONG (MONTHS / YEARS ?): i started between 2013 and 2015 i wanna say,,, i cant remember exactly when, but it's that timeframe for sure . i stopped in 2016ish tho, and was on / primarily off until now !

PLATFORMS YOU’VE USED: chatzy ( hell world ), kik, and now tumblr

BEST EXPERIENCE: hmm,,, it kind of had nothing to do with rping itself, but the chatzy room that i was first in ( that wasn't like, private and only for certain people ) had a set amount of users allowed in it at one time, but it would tell you when people TRIED to enter . so, eventually, we all figured out that some of us could LEAVE the room, BUT if we stayed in the same tab when we did, when we hit the back arrow we'd be able to bypass the max amount of people bc we'd be brought right back in . when i say we CELEBRATED when it worked the first time 😂😂

RP PET PEEVES / DEAL-BREAKERS: peeves-wise, one liners, mostly ; i need somethin to work with ! but also script- / play-style writing . also, the usage of asterisks when a muse does something ( within the thread itself, i mean ) . a deal-breaker would be if you’re really fucking rude to me outside of rp, or straight up refuse to discuss anything potentially triggering before introducing it / doing it in general . it’s one thing to not realize, and another altogether to just refuse to say anything about it . if it’s a general sort of thing though then it does kinda irk me if we haven’t discussed that we’ll be doing that ; if we’ve talked prior about just doing what we feel is best for the direction of the thread, though, then that’s also different since, yanno, we talked about it lskdma ESSENTIALLY this is a long winded way, maybe, of me saying a deal-breaker is if we don’t talk about SOMETHING before starting a thread, and later if it’s refused to be given discussion then that’s for sure a deal-breaker

FLUFF, ANGST OR SMUT: i'll do anything but romance and smut ! even if i introduced other muses, i’d still hold on to this stance

PLOTS OR MEMES: i think memes are fun but i've got very little experience w them ;;;; i prefer to plot if we've just met tho for sure

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES: personally, i prefer long replies for myself ! certain chatzy rpers ( at least for the fandom i was rping in at the time ) were hell if we didn't go for long responses, and at the time i looked up to a lot of them, so now it’s just habit . tbh if i ever give a short reply / shorter reply than normal, it’s because i’m either tired or in a lot of pain ( just not enough to keep me from the blog LOL ) . for partners though i couldn’t care less, get as long or as short as you want !

BEST TIME TO WRITE: honestly, just whenever i can ! though typically it’s whenever i finally manage to get outta bed, so anywhere between 5 pm to 5 am my time is fair game

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S): depends on if i want her to be :p

Tagging : @vagomvndo and @alurkingdisaster

#&& ( posts ) : memes #🌊 ( ooc ) : mun talking #sorry to tag u two ; if you dont wanna be tagged pls just tell me !#i didnt know who else to tag saklmd #that hasnt already done it / been tagged that i know already #need 2 get on talkin to others.... augh . it will be done . when im not nervous #augh added some things to the peeves part but i feel like it doesnt make much sense cries #ik what i mean though... ig if you have questions . just ask me and i'll try to explain better ksldm

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rifleseye · 23 days

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𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐃𝐌𝐈𝐍.

NAME. Raphael / Cyrus / Percy (to a select few) PRONOUNS. He/Him SEXUALITY. Gay SINGLE / TAKEN. Recently single

𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒.

— If you ever go to an art museum with me I will be able to tell you everything you need to know about the art there. I love art so much. I'm going to be doing volunteer work at one of my favorite museums over the summer which I'm looking forward to :^)

— I act! Last season I played the Ghost of Christmas Present for my local theater's rendition of A Christmas Carol. I was sick as a dog during the showings, however. Nightmare. I've an audition coming up next week that the Director wants me in so I'm excited for that.

— I wanted to be an astronomer as a kid but I have dyscalulia And bad eyesight (not good when you didn't know you needed glasses during an observational cosmology course) so unfortunately that dissuaded me. I'm still interested but it's more so just out of hobby than anything else.

𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄.

HOW LONG. So long. No idea. probably since I was 11. PLATFORMS. So many. My very first was the lego message boards 😂. msprp. pararp. chatzy. skype. facebook. tumblr. discord. i have no prefrence atm between tumblr and discord but i do feel i have an easier time on tumblr sometimes because of like... ask memes and such. also aesthetics... BEST EXPERIENCE. I only talk to one person from the discord anymore but this one Discord rp server I was in for Destiny still holds a special place in my heart. There were a lot of plot driven aspects in it that Really let me flex my writing. I miss the vibe of it if I'm being quite honest.

𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐓𝐘𝐏𝐄.

FEMALE OR MALE OR OTHER. Generally men but I've got a few nb muses on my multi as well as one female character who like... okay i'm gay but if i were to suddenly be homoflexible it'd be for ana amari. i need to save her from overwatch. FLUFF, ANGST, OR SMUT. i'm a little weird in that i'm not into one specific thing of these three. i'll go where plots take me or where the vibe follows. i'm not overtly fond of Just fluff since it's just too sweet for my taste and i'm a writer who needs substance. and pure angst is also too much at times and is overly meaty, ykwim? smut i'm very particular about and really depends on the muses involved. my perceptor in specific is on the ace spectrum so i'm slow to do anything with him. PLOTS OR MEMES. either or! i tend to plot with people i really jive with and most of the time it's over discord we plot. i've not given out my discord in a hot minute, however, since i've been a bit inactive until recent. i like memes too because i like exercising my writing and some prompts allow me to do that. BEST TIME TO WRITE. my adhd autistic ass does not have a set time i write at. inspiration hits me when it hits me. ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S).

yeah.

tagged. @tacticturn

#【 ❝ i will never stop complaining and that is a promise ❞ 】 ✕ ooc.#not tagging anyone. don't got anyone to tag really LKJFLAKKSDJLF

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cuckoo-among-beasts-a · 7 months

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Knowing your partner well can potentially make writing a lot easier, repost, do not reblog.

MEET THE MUN

ʚɞ BASICS ʚɞ

Name: Niko (though I'm thinking about simply using my rl name, Ezra, for the same of simplicity, but I'm always worried someone will take advantage of that, but at the same time, you'd need my last name and stuff for that as well)

Pronouns: He/Him, They/Them

Preference of communication: Discord (ask and you'll receive it) and Tumblr DMs.

Single/taken: Single. Who the heck has the time and energy for a relationship? Plus, I'm not exactly a high-in-demand catch.

ʚɞ THREE FACTS ʚɞ

I'm the only one in my family (including extended one, as far as I know) that's not cishet.

I love art (and beautiful things, places etc in general), but didn't go to art school since it would be a "waste of my intelligence". I hated school and ended up becoming "nothing" anyway (I work as a cleaner, which many view as a worthless profession). I now have a BA in TV and Film Set Design though, but for various reasons can't work with it. I still try to find time to draw a little each week though.

Another thing I love are butterflies and I secretly collect things with butterflies.

ʚɞ ROLEPLAYING ʚɞ

Experience: I've been rping since 2002-2003. Places I've rped on are: rp forum, chatzy, msn, discord and tumblr.

Genre: I like a mix of genres, but I'm a sucker for angst and hurt/comfort (including caring for sick muses).

Plot vs. Memes: Both! I love a good plot, but memes are a great way to start things too. I honestly don't prefer one over the other.

Length: I like longer stuff, but most things goes except one-liners. I don't like threads that's just one or two sentences for every single reply.

Best time to write: Evenings, usually, but it depends on how my work days was and if I'm off or not.

Tagged by: I stole this from myself. Tagging: All of you, if you want to.

#ooc

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lingeringscars · 2 years

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[ GET TO KNOW YOUR WRITING PARTNER! ] knowing your writing partners can potentially make writing together a lot easier. repost, don’t reblog .

NAME: Laura

PRONOUNS: she/they

PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATION: okay literally what shelley said. i don’t actually hate tumblr ims and find them easier in a lot of ways. i’m not opposed to discord by any means and will gladly communicate there, but i also get overwhelmed by messages/notifications and then ignore and get anxious about time passing gddsigid.

NAME OF MUSE(S): i’m also gonna copy shelley here too i think. i have too many muses to list so i’ll put most active / ones i want to write more: layla keating, bellamy blake, ryan edwards, christian ozera, logan king, nima rahimi, eden wing, june iparis, jake jagielski, alex karev

EXPERIENCE / HOW LONG: i don’t even know. 2012? 2013? something like that. only ever done on tumblr. i’ve had this blog since 2015

BEST EXPERIENCE: before i joined indie, i was a part of a group rp where i picked up my oc ryan and i’ve been writing him ever since. but idk it was one of those groups where there was a group of really close people that shared all our info bc we were teens and didn’t think of it oishgd. you know how chatzy is. idk i was 15-16 at the time and i, overall, felt safe even if i look back on it and cringe bc of some of the stuff that i did as u do when you look back and see you were a child child. anyway i still have some of these people on fb and it was through one of those people that i met my bestie @terrifyingstories so overall my raison d’etre. outside of that, tiffany and i have spent the last 7 years building our post va group where we built this entire verse that is dedicated to a bunch of our muses and is ever growing and developing and it’s just Everything. my fave thing about rp is having that too. and having a multi in general. let’s just throw a bunch of our muses into their own friendships.

RP PET PEEVES: idk probably like. seeing people complain about not getting interactions ://// in general negativity but this just always makes me feel super guilty / guilt tripped. vagueing also stresses me out, including vagueing about vagueing.

MUSE PREFERENCES FOR ANGST / FLUFF / SMUT: i don’t write smut and will never write smut. i’ve been leaning into fluff lately bc i think we all need more joy, but i’m at my core an angst person. but ! like a lot of people say, i need there to be a reason. there needs to be conversations about the angst and healing from it. because at the end of the day that is my vibe : healing. i want every hurt comfort thread. i want us to have our muses healing and talking about their deep hurt. it fills me with so much muse and joy and umph.

PLOTS OR MEMES: okay i’ve always said memes, and i do maintain that. i also think that like plotting in general just SOUNDS really intense and stressful so thinking about plotting stresses me out and overwhelms me and i go poof. getting asked questions about directions etc stresses me out like i just wanna see where we go u know diosgd. with that said, i do love plotting dynamics!!! that’s one of my fave things. i do find that like. knowing about characters makes everything so much easier. it’s hard for me to write a meme if i don’t have an idea of how these characters will interact / WHO the character is. i’ve never been closed off to chars / fandoms i don’t know but until i know someone, i’ll probably stick to ones i do until i know info about the ones that i don’t. i just need some info!! then i can build dynamics and go from there.

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES: i’m a long writer. i am. everyone should know this when tiff and i get going we have 20+ paragraphs. i can’t do dialogue only unless i am REALLY comfortable with the muse : see, christian ozera and ryan edwards as the only ones i could. but even then it doesn’t really...give me anything? so i don’t really like it. i’m def a nitty gritty multi-para person that then gets stressed out by it so. i’m trying to get better at 1-2 paragraphs. i’m a work in progress.

BEST TIME TO WRITE: this fluctuates all the time i don’t even know. let’s just say i haven’t written the past few days despite having muse bc it was 4-6 in the morning and i was trying to sleep. but late at night is usually my vibe so that makes total sense. i would like to try and write throughout the day but it’s just not realistic. idk!!

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S): hm. i do have a very specific type but idk? there’s definitely aspects of me in most of my muses, but i’m also trying to branch out into muses that are nothing like me to really test the boundaries of my writing capabilities. i would say like. i do flock to the super smart muses, and that’s one of my defining traits. i also like muses that have deep insecurities about their worth ( especially outside of what they can do for people / their intelligence ) so *peace sign emoji* i’m also very sarcastic and witty, though i need something to spark it which makes writing wit difficult but i do tend to pick up sarcastic characters too. so i would say yeah i def share qualities with my muses.

tagged by: @divienity loml

tagging: i don’t know who hasn’t done this / been tagged yet so u if u are reading it.

#i also frequently dream myself into the chosen one / magical powers position #so u know predictable #me telling tiffany about my dreams #tiffany: when u gonna write a book you're never allowed to say you aren't creative i knew something wild was coming #welcome to the inner workings of my mind.

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gebrochener-adler · 4 years

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paralianprince replied to your post: paralianprince replied to your post: ...

OH OK NOT THE ONE I WAS IN THEN i read yours and felt like id been struck by lightning bc i was like DID I KNOW YOU AND NEVER REALIZE IT

//It’s okay I felt a lot of relief just now /wheeze/ //

#paralianprince #ooc #no one needs to know about the chatzy I was in #noone

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ursaspecter · 6 years

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#uggggghhh #its been like a year since i met them and like six months since i got out of that toxic mess #but it hurts #cuz i see everyone with these awesome internet friends and inside jokes #and i want that #i had that with them #but honestly knowing them was the worst experience in my life and I was this close to coming up with a new screen name and fake my own death #so they would leave me alone and never talk to me #honestly i hope the other two are okay and that that one person is changing for the better #im so scared to make internet friends again cuz idk if its gonna go south again #like i cant even think about certain things without thinking of them #and one of them keeps trying to add me back on Discord but i know that if i add them back ill just get roped back into that mess #and yeah i feel bad for rejecting them repeatedly but its either that or basically wanting to kill myself every time i saw the chatzy alert #i need to like make chatzy a forbidden site on my laptop #dhsjsns im sorry mutuals

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scarletmanuka · 2 years

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Do you know of any good and active the Sentinel or Jim/Blair tumblr pages or websites.

Extra points for getting me in contact with people prepared to talk Meta and fan and stuff and thangs.

I got in to this fandom a few years ago (dunno if you remember) but so many websites, zines etc haven been erased by the internet.

I am rewatching the whole series and am so curious and excited to talk to people about them.

Help please? 😊

Yes, I do indeed remember you. Nice to see you again. 😀

Finding active TS fans - ask a hard question why don't you? There are a lot of folks for whom it's a lovely nostalgia fandom but not so many in the hurlyburly right now. I reblog and like what I can find, and follow the tag for the occasional surprise post on Tumblr. If you tag your posts then I will definitely find them, and at least a few other people will as well. I use the tags #the sentinel and #the sentinel tv show (the second one is so that people who like The Sentinel the horror movie, or The Sentinel the Judas Priest song, or The Sentinel the Arthur C Clarke story, or The Sentinel the Michael Douglas movie etc etc can filter me if they want.)

There is the weekly chat. Even if the time isn't good for you, you could treat it like a message board and leave thoughts there, and people would probably be happy to leave a reply for you. I've copy/pasted the regular notification for you at the end.

I also understand that there is a small community on Facebook. Since I am never ever ever doing fandom on FB I have no idea how to find it. Anyone who does feel free to reblog this or speak directly to Luna. And if anyone has any information to add to this, ditto for reblogs and communication.

The Chat Info: You don't need to join Chatzy to see the post.

Please join us for the weekly TS chat on Saturday, at 7 pm Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)/19:00 UTC. That could be as early as 11 am if you’re on the west coast of North America, or 2 pm if you’re on the east coast, or 7 pm in the UK, or early Sunday morning in Australia or New Zealand.

We’re in the usual place: http://us25.chatzy.com/81935648447483. Just pick a name and a color and click on “join chat.”

#the sentinel #the sentinel tv show

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ashxromero · 2 years

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First Kiss

Chatzy thread between Ash and Orion on the beach

@enslavedhunter

Ash: Ash was excited to be hanging out with Orion again, dressed in her new swimsuit and a pair of shorts she walked onto the beach before looking up at him. "So if you're a lifeguard, you won't let me drown right?" she asked with a grin as she opened her bag and pulled out her towel.

Orion: Orion smiled when he saw Ash more than happy to spend time with her again and that this was at the end of his shift was even better. She looked stunning in the bikini top and guessed the bottoms were just as nice though the shorts were hiding them. "Oh yes I will make sure you are safe and if I have to i will give you mouth to mouth just to make sure."

Ash: "I think I only need that if I'm drowning," Ash giggled as she slipped out of her sandals and then started to unbutton her shorts. "But you can spray my back and keep me safe from melanoma," she said as she leaned down and picked up her spray on sunblock. "Than I can do you," she offered as she smiled up at the taller man.

Orion: "Well just let me know, It has been a while so I can always use some practice." he winked feeling a little bolder with her now that they have gotten to know one another better. 'alright lay down when you are ready." he was definitely going to rub in the spray sun lotion even though it wasn't necessary.

Ash: Ash stepped out of her shorts and then laid down on the towel before tucking her hands under her chin and kicking her legs up in the air like she was laying on her bed talking on the phone or something. "So did you save anyone's life today?" she asked casually as she waited for him to start spraying her back. "You've got such a cool job, maybe I should get a job too," she thought out loud. "I've never had a job before."

Orion: He looked her over as she stripped out of the shorts and she looked stunning. "Not today pretty boring actually." he moved over and took the spray and decided to have some fun of his own as he stepped over her back and knelt down straddling her ass as he began to spray her back and then started to rub the sun screen thoroughly into her skin. "Oh take your time there is no rush for you plus who knows how busy you will be with the theater department or getting a job if someone wants to do a movie and they need their best makeup person."

Ash: Ash was kicking her foot in the air while she spoke, but she stopped when she felt him straddle her ass and her breath caught in her throat for a moment as she felt him start to spray the sunblock over her back. "O-oh," she said, her voice coming out in a squeak and she cleared her throat. "Um, yeah, I mean, I'm probably not like the best makeup person here, but uh, I really like doing it," she said as she thanked god he was behind her and he couldn't see how pink her face had turned. "I guess it's important to like your job or whatever, right?" she asked.

Orion: When he heard her make a squeak sound he knew he was getting to her. "Well maybe not the best ...yet, but certainly the most dedicated. Given your extensive makeup collection." he said and as he reluctantly finished her back he started moving down taking care of her thighs probably teasing her more than ever in the process.

Ash: Ash bit her lip when he started to move down her body, rubbing sunblock into her thighs. "I- I mean, I just happen to really like makeup too," she reminded him as she bit her lip. "Um, what- what about you? What do you like to do when you're not lifeguarding or studying?" she asked as she tried to keep herself from squeaking again as he rubbed her thighs. It did not work.

Orion: His hands moving over her thighs tracing very close to her bikini bottoms just to have a little fun himself as he moved down all the way to her feet. "Want me to do the front too?"

Ash: "Yes," Ash said before she could stop herself, she squeezed her eyes shut at her own stupidity but bit her lip as she looked over her shoulder at him. "I mean if you don't mind," she smiled softly at him. "Do you um, do you want me to do you too?" she offered as she looked him over, trying to be sly about it, but she was sure he'd noticed it, she wasn't exactly subtle.

Orion: Orion grinned at how fast she said yes. once she turned over he got a nice look of her body again and started moving his way slowly back up her legs. "Sure might as well I just did my arms and legs earlier but now I'm off duty." he said and taking off his lifeguard tanktop and tossed it aside before working on her thighs again.

Ash: Ash's mouth dropped open when he took his shirt off, she couldn't stop herself, but she made herself look away quickly, looking over at the water as she let out a sigh. "Oh wow," she whispered as she bit her lip, letting him work on her thighs. "Um, yeah, it's a uh, it's a good idea to um, re-apply you know?" she managed to get the words out as she tried not to keep stammering and blushing, her heart was racing and she tried to keep herself from being super obvious but she knew she was probably pretty obvious to anyone who knew what they were doing- which she did not.

Orion: he moved up so he was straddling her waist again moving his hands all over her stomach getting down to the edge of the bikini top and bottoms making sure he got ever bit of visible skin. "Good."

Ash: She gasped when he straddled her again, biting her lip as she looked up at him, her breath caught in her throat as she stared up at him and tried not to move, but she did let out a nervous giggle as he touched a particularly ticklish spot on her side. "What's good? I'm good? Or reapplying is good?" she asked as she met his eyes, her own large and full of nervousness and excitement at the situation she was in.

Orion: Orion smiled as she seemed a little overstimulated at the moment. "Oh a little bit of all of it is good Ash." he said as he ran the lotion along her throat and then down along her cleavage. He leaned down over her. "You are good, kind, and sweet." Orion said then leaned in enough to press a soft kiss to her lips.

Ash: Ash drew in a soft breath when he ran the sunblock over her throat, then down over her chest. She stared up at him when he leaned in and spoke softly to her before he was kissing her, and for a moment her mind seemed to break. She gasped against his lips before she finally seemed to remember that she had hands and she brought them up, over his arms and then around his neck as she kissed him back eagerly.

Orion: Orion had not been entirely sure what he expected if she would push him away or if she would find it all to be too much and maybe breaking the kiss but not wanting him to leave, or kiss him back. Yet when he felt her arms wrap around him as she kissed his back he more eagerly started kissing her some more.

Ash: She moaned softly against his lips, this was what she had been missing before, all the boys she had dated had been just that- boys; but Orion? He was a man who had lived and who knew what he was doing. He was a good kisser, the best she had ever kissed if she was honest, and at that thought she broke the kiss slowly and opened her eyes, looking up into his. "Wow," she breathed against his lips softly. "I really like kissing you."

Orion: One thing was for sure he wasn't going to push her too far too quickly but kissing her felt pretty amazing. he gently stroked her cheek as she laid there. "I really like kissing you too. I'll be honest I've been thinking about it a while."

Ash: Ash smiled when he said he'd been thinking about kissing her for awhile before she bit her lip lightly. "I've been thinking about it for awhile too," she admitted. "But um, I should tell you something," she blushed as she spoke. "I've never really been with a guy before," she admitted bashfully, looking away from him as she said it, red creeping into her cheeks. "So I- I totally get it if you don't wanna... You know, keep kissing me or whatever,"

Orion: Orion listened to her and he had had a feeling that might be the case but he smiled and kissed her again. "I'm going to keep kissing you and spending time with you Ash. We can do as much as you want or as little as you like."

Ash: She smiled when Orion kissed her again and sighed as she gazed up at him. "Thanks," she said softly. "I totally want to keep kissing you, and I really want to keep spending time with you," she said earnestly. "You're like one of the coolest people I've ever met," she admitted before she leaned in and pecked his lips again to keep herself from saying something stupid.

Orion: Orion smiled as he kept running his fingers against her cheek. She was very beautiful and sweet and reminded him of how good life could be. "I like spending time with you too and we can hang out whenever we want. like what if I asked you out to dinner this weekend."

Ash: "Why don't you ask me and we'll see what I say?" she asked with a grin, her arms moving from around his neck to run her hands over his chest, she ran her fingers over a few of the scars that littered his body and then rested them on his waist, smiling up at him playfully. It surprised Ash that a guy like him could even be interested in a dorky overexcited girl like her, but she liked that he seemed interested, maybe even more than interested if he was asking her to dinner.

Orion: "Good idea." He smiled and then said. "Ash would you like to go out to dinner with me this weekend maybe go for a nice walk and I'd say come back to my place but better make it your place." he wanted her to say yes and he liked feeling normal around her. "You really are fascinated by my scars."

Ash: She giggled when he said it was a good idea and bit her lip as she listened to his plan for the weekend before she nodded. "Yes," she agreed as she smiled. "I would really like that," she agreed and then smiled as she looked at the scars. "I mean they're interesting," she smiled softly at him.

Orion: "good thing you said yes or this moment may have turned a little awkward." he said then kissing her nose playfully . "Well maybe one day I'll tell you about my scars if you like. So you know what kind they are."

Ash: Ash giggled when he kissed her nose and nodded at him. "I would like to know," she told him honestly as she looked up at him. "I also kinda want to go in the water, do you want to go in with me?" she asked hopefully.

Orion: "Alright I'll tell you sometime." he said honestly, but was not entirely looking forward to it. when he had told people in the past sometimes the way they acted around him was different. he hoped that would not be the case again. "Sure it will be fun." he said getting off the top of her taking out his phone and dropping it by her shorts and offered her his hand.

Ash: Ash took his hand when he offered it and let him help her up before she looked up at him with a smile. "I look forward to it," she said as she looked over his chest and then turned and started to run to the water with a laugh. "Last one in's a rotten egg!" she called over her shoulder as she sprinted towards the ocean.

Orion: Orion ran after her catching her around the waist lifting her up so his feet hit the water first. "Well damn even you and rotten eggs smell good." he laughed then lowered her in the water.

Ash: She shrieked with laugher as he picked her up, clinging to his arms while giggling as he hit the water first, before she looked up at him when he lowered her into the water. She put her feet under her and grinned as she felt the warm water around her ankles. "That was cheating!" she laughed as she walked further into the water and then let herself fall back into the water with a wide grin. She surfaced and grinned as she pushed her hair from her eyes. "I should have put my hair up," she laughed.

Orion: "It's only cheating if there are rules." Orion walked deeper in the water once he let go and turned back when she talked about putting her hair up. "Oh I think it looks good as it is, but I think someone owes me next time for the sun tan spray rub down."

Ash: "Oh yeah," she agreed as she stood up and walked towards him. "I should definitely do that before you get a burn," she agreed as she moved closer to him. "Did you want me to do that now?" she asked.

Orion: As she moved closer he put his hands out pulling her in close. "I'll survive, but should protect my lips." he said though it was lame he really didn't care and pulled her in for another kiss.

Ash: Ash giggled as he pulled her in for another kiss, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, she really liked kissing him she decided and she even got a little bolder, giving his lip a little nibble as she kissed him.

#enslavedhunter #interactions: Orion #Orion #//this was just so cute I didn't want to lose it

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wickedsrest-rp-archive · 3 years

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ZOOted | group chatzy

TIMING: Midday, August 29, 2021. LOCATION: The Main Street of Downtown. SUMMARY: What’s black and white and silent all over? The creatures at the zoo make their grand escape. TRIGGERS: Brief vomit (marked in chatzy), animal death.

Anara Kingston was just getting ready to open up her family bistro for the day, hands propped on her hips as she admired the storefront that multiple generations had made thrive on the corner of Main Street in Downtown White Crest. There was your usual display of signage, an eye-catching banner that advertised a meatball sandwich special, and a small paper in the lower left corner of the front window that proudly read ‘127 days since last accident’. The notice was actually one of the larger draws of the establishment in a town such as White Crest, where oddities and danger seemed to lurk around every dark corner. People wanted to feel safe while they ate, munching on overpriced meals while they tarried the day away. Anara leaned forward to polish the glass in front of the advertisement of their sanctity, only to stiffen when she heard a foreign braying of...was that a donkey? No. She’d been around enough of the farms that peppered White Crest to know it wasn’t the sound of such a creature.

A clopping of hooves was quick to follow the strange barking, and to the shop owner’s amazement, none other than a genuine zebra had begun to parade down Main Street, children and adults laughing and pointing alike as the escaped creature began to graze on the flowerbeds of a plant shop.

Nell stared for a solid minute at the zebra that had waltzed down Main Street as if he owned the place, already trying to figure out whether this was some bullshit she was willing to deal with today, or if she should simply call Kaden at Animal Control and make this his problem. Unfortunately her decision was made for her as a swarm of pixies, seemingly also escaped from the zoo, buzzed after the zebra to tug at anything they could get their grimy little hands around. With a deep sigh, Nell made her way over to the swarm that was doing their best to scalp a woman by yanking at her hair. This was now officially a problem she needed to solve.

Sai huffed as he ran down the sidewalk after a black horned Scapegoat that had gleefully decided to aid some oddly silent goats on their break towards glorious freedom. “No Ibulba! They live in the zoo!”

Keys rattled as Metzli strode towards their gallery, deciding to walk through Main Street. Yuca was leashed and in tow, picking up her pace in excitement. She always loved walking about the gallery. All the pets and enrichment she could ask for, making for a very happy cat. That was until, a swarm of sprites zoomed past the two and made the vampire stumble and trip, dropping their umbrella. Yuca mewled terribly, angry and shocked by the sudden interruption.

Metzli barely had enough time to react as they saw the swarm circling back around. Eyes widened and they reached for a door, any door to swiftly let Yuca inside, but it was no use. The sun made their skin sting and bones ache, but getting their cat to safety was the top priority. Leaping into an alleyway, only a few of the sprites managed to find them and picked and prodded at their skin. “What the fuck!” They yelled, hoping they could catch someone’s attention as they wrapped their arms around Yuca.

It had been drizzling on and off all day, leaving the pavement tiles slightly slicker than Chloe liked as she navigated her trolley along the road. Her mind was fractured in several place - thinking about the strange flower order she’d processed for a funeral this morning that for some reason wanted tree roots in the bouquet as well as flowers, about the grocery shop she’d just finished, and the painting of Lydia’s face that stuck with her. She didn’t notice the rumbling of animals at first, until something pig-sized, black, and white cantered past her. Chloe screamed, jumping back as she waved her umbrella at the mime-like creature, her eyes wide. After a second, her hand clutching her chest, Chloe realised it wasn’t another evil type of mime, but just a… an anteater? No, what were they called… The ones with the longer noses that looked a little like pie-bald pigs…. The word would come to her in a moment, but it didn’t look too threatening.

Unfortunately, most things in White Crest didn’t.

Bly had spent the morning in a coffee shop with Nas and overall it had been a really freaking good time. Nas had to meet up with his girlfriend so he had left them alone in the shop until they had finished their coffee. Leaving with the shop, overpacked backpack slung over their shoulder, they stopped short. Was there like a fair and they had missed the advertisements? It didn’t really seem like a fair, but White Crest was weird like that. “So, uh, is this like an event? I didn’t buy a ticket so I’m not sure if I’m allowed to be here?” They looked over to a person nearby, hands splayed out in front of them. “I don’t have cash on me either, so I can’t even buy a ticket!”

White Crest’s one and only white Bengal tiger prowled around, looking at all of the strange and new sights that one never gets to see from behind a cage. However, she only had one thing on her mind. Where, oh where, was that zebra?

Alcher didn’t often go into town, but something had piqued her interest today. She could smell the animals crowding the streets, free from their cells at the local zoo. It was something she knew would be fun to watch, if not join in on. Unfortunately, being a wolf in this commotion might end up with her being chased by the humans who thought animals belonged in cages as well, so it was in her human guise that she showed up downtown, arms folded as she watched. Someone spoke up nearby, and Alcher shrugged. An event, not that would be funny. A smile curled her lips. “I can not say, but I can say I am enjoying this, are you?”

Nell didn’t necessarily want to kill the sprites. After all, as far as murderous pint-sized things went, they were decently harmless for the most part. And perhaps she could relate with being so angry at a world while being so little. Not that she’d ever admit that. So instead of burning them to bits with some form of iron, she looked around for any sort of box, container, something to hold the creature within. Seeing the person struggling with their umbrella nearby she yelled out to them. “You got a box or something? A bag? Anything?”

Morgan couldn’t remember how she’d convinced herself that taking Sundew along her usual weekend walk/leisurely shopping trip would be relaxing. On their way, the smug pixie delighted in reading every sign, front page, and logo they passed. When Morgan said Sundew didn’t have to, she knew how smart she was, she seriously didn’t have to, the pixie only cackled and circled higher to see more things, and then spoke of her ambition to market something to humans as ‘natural and organic’ and fill it with cat droppings. And this was before Morgan went from giving Bex a look of apology one next and starting a zebra eyeball-to-eyeball the next.

If Morgan had ever learned anything useful about zebras, it vanished in that moment. All she could process were its stripes, its beady, wicked little black eyes, and the tension freezing her cold muscles.

“That's a dummy looking horsey,” Sundew giggled. “It’s hair is almost as funny looking as yours!”

Morgan ached to take the pixie and squeeze her quiet, but it dawned on her, just in time, that there were a lot of people she recognized just beyond her (at least one she never wanted to see) and stare-down with a zebra was going to be the least of her concerns.

“Sai!” Morgan called. “You’re proficient in animal handling, right??”

Things in White Crest had been pretty mild, all things considered, which to experts like Leah meant that mischief was right around the corner. She had been thinking it all morning, and the thoughts continued to plague her as she sat for a quick lunch in the park. No sooner had the thought crossed her mind again than she heard a rumbling close by- literally around the corner. She stood up suddenly, confusion lacing her features, and walked toward Main street where she saw the contents of the zoo quite literally spilling out into town. A couple of lemurs hung from a tree nearby and suddenly, a dalmatian soared past her, running in the direction of a pet supply shop. Did the zoo hold dalmations now, too?

“Uhhh, I mean, I am trying to enjoy it but, like, there’s a tiger here now.” Bly said etched the animal began to look around looking like it was trying to find prey. “I’m pretty sure it would probably try to eat me if it had a chance. I don’t want to be eaten today?” There was a lemur somewhere nearby, Bly could hear it and they were starting to think this wasn’t an event. “Do you think we should like call the government or something?”

Sai ran up to one of the zoo employees that’d been rather nonchalantly pursuing the escaping animals, recognizing their striped uniform and panda hat. “I’m sorry… sir did you ..” he panted hands on his knees. “See which …way…the …goats..went?”

The Quiet Panda Fan regarded Sai expressionlessly for a time. Eyes with strange white pupils and black irises, contacts no doubt, seemed to bore into some deep place inside of the wizard. The Panda Fan turned and walked into an alley out of sight.

“Oh thanks!” Sai followed after, thinking Ibulba and the goat exodus had run into a dead end. He walked into the alley only to watch the Panda fan be torn apart by some unseen force, sinews, sin, and fuzzy panda kitsch unraveling into a haze of hair-thin black and white strands. The pale and dark flesh-ribbons swirled around Sai like a school of curious Koi fish before slithering onto the walls of the alley. Black and white murals of zebras, penguins, pandas danced beneath a picture of a black sun with white rays all over the alley walls. Above it all were the words “BENEATH THE LOATHSOME NOISE OF LIFE, BLESSED SILENCE WAITS.”

Sai swallowed as he stared, but thankfully Morgan's voice called out from somewhere on the street. “Uh…uh, yes! Yes I can help,” the wizard shouted, running aware from the black and white murals now adorning the alley bricks.

Forming into a ball to protect Yuca and their face, Metzli heard Nell call out her question. They answered in a frustrated huff, “Does it look like a have a fucking box?!” Swatting away with an arm they growled and hit several of the few sprites picking at them, even managing to grab one and bite its head off without a second thought.

Somewhere, in the distance, screaming could be heard. A waddle of penguins had just stolen a man’s coffee.

“I think it’s cute,” Bex had said when Morgan insisted Sundew didn’t need to read every sign possible as they strolled downtown. She was like a toddler, learning to read for the first time, and eager to show off and prove to people how smart they were. Bex gave Sundew a smile, and a quiet wink when Morgan stopped and Bex nearly ran into her. In the street, a zebra trotted by, and for a moment, Bex wasn’t sure she was seeing things right. She rubbed her eyes, looked between the animal and Morgan, snapping to and realizing it was, in fact, real, when she called out to Sai. What was he doing here? Why was there a zebra downtown? But as she looked around, she noticed more animals roaming the streets and took off in a trot after Morgan. “What’s going on-- what is that?” Wide curious eyes, not sure if she was supposed to panic or be of help somehow.

The anteater? Pig? shaped animal slowed to a trot in front of Chloe, then snuffled at a nearby plant pot full of purple gardenias, its long nose prodding and poking at the flowers. Skeptically, Chloe bristled the umbrella at it, not trusting that anything this innocuous looking could truly be innocuous. Someone yelled at her and she tore away her eyes from the creature for a second to look at the young woman. “Uh!” She yelled back, looking at her trolley full of groceries, before remembering that she’d packed some extra reusable cotton bags in case she bought more. Turning her gaze back to the animal that was now happily monching on the flowers, she pulled out the reusable bags. “Will these do? What is going on??”

Alcher regarded the tiger that was pointed out with a placid expression. “She is beautiful, isn’t she?” The child was complaining, and they smelled so human, it made Alcher’s nose crinkle through the scents of animals free from their prisons. “You do not know that. Not all animals are vicious and want to eat everything.” A shrug, and she was strolling away from them and into the street. “What good can men in suits do? I say enjoy the show, kinder, perhaps it is a free one.”

Nell growled in frustration as the first person proved useless, though she supposed they were busy protecting their cat. Fine. As always, she’d have to do it herself. But then another woman procured a plastic bag, and there was hope for the people of the world and their abilities to respond to a crisis once again. “It’s gonna have to do!” Nell said while reaching out for the bags, already thinking of a spell she could use to make them stronger, harder to be torn apart by little sprite hands. “Looks like a jail break,” Nell replied dryly, recognizing some of the animals from the zoo.

The tiger could smell her prey in the distance. It was near a group of the two legged creatures, those humans who locked her in behind those bars and watched her. Now, she watched them. Now, they would not separate her from her meal. She moved forward with the confidence of a prisoner released from her cage after too long. Like a prisoner, she wanted a good meal, and she wanted it fresh. One of the humans, a strange smelling one, one that did not seem human at all, regarded her, and so the tiger returned the look only for a moment. She was so hungry. She would eat.

The sprites became preoccupied by Nell’s trapping attempt, giving Metzli enough time to get up and run off with Yuca in their arms. That’s when they saw the rest of the animals roaming about the street. Zebras, tigers, and several others. Supernatural others. “Whoa…” They said, amazed and confused. “What is happ—” They were interrupted by running into someone, and that someone was Morgan.

“My familiar is criminal,” declared Sai mournfully as he reached Morgan, Bex, and another clumsy person, face flushed from a long sprint down several streets.

“I guess?” Bly had to admit it did make sense that animals didn’t always want to eat people. Still… They didn’t want to test it. “They might get hurt if we don’t help them though! A tiger or a zebra isn’t going to do well in Maine. It’s cold here.” Then the tiger was looking at them and Bly was pretty thankful they didn’t pee themself. They slowly inched behind the intense lady, “I don’t like this. Making eye contact with a tiger is a bad idea!”

Sundew had never dreamed of a more perfect day. The humans looked so silly with their faces like that and one of them made the funniest sound when a fluffy cloud of sprites swarmed and picked at her nisty-nasty hair.

Sundew flew out of her hiding spot on Morgan’s shoulder and conjured a mallet just her size between her fingers. She bonked the human running toward them to help, then she flew toward the sprites, cackling, “Yes! Yes! Cage-free chaos!” Then she flew to the nearest human and bit their hand and left the image of a lion paw on their wrist instead. “Woopsie! Better get that checked out! I hope your premiums are good!”

Morgan looked from Sundew, to Sai, to Bex, to the zebra, and back again. There were people losing their coffee, people losing their sanity, Nell and Chloe maybe doing something clever with a plastic bag, and it was all too much.

“What do you mean criminal?” She cried. “Did Ibulba do this?” Normally this would’ve been outrageous but nothing was outrageous today. The zebra bared his teeth and Morgan jumped back and ran into someone else.

“Oh, hi. Nice day for a walk, huh? You really might wanna consider going anywhere else right now.” Then she saw Sundew fluttering back their way with a familiar, dangerous look on her face. “Or better yet, get down! This really isn’t safe for anyone!”

Chloe eyed the animal chewing on the plants, itching around it carefully. When she looked up at Nell again, she frowned, finally realising that the ungulate creature wasn’t the only thing running around. All of the animals were black and white, and despite the havoc they were creating, they were much quieter than a normal stampede. “Are you going to use a bag to try and stop-” Chloe gestured at the skunks, snakes and single cow, as well as the terrifying creature beside them. Its nose was too long and flexible. She didn’t trust it.

Bex glanced between Sai and Morgan. Sai seemed breathless and Morgan seemed panicked and Sundew was off making trouble with some small, butterfly-looking creatures that seemed to like her. As far as animal handling went, Bex had rolled low, she’d never been around animals in her life, but that didn’t mean she didn’t know anything about them. The zebra brayed at them and she scooted behind Morgan as well, when someone bumped into them. A familiar someone.

“Metzli??” she breathed, raising a brow. Why were they here? It was still daytime! “Oh, watchout!” She called, tugging on their arm as Sundew whizzed toward them, ready to spread more antics. “Sundew, no, please!” she tried. The pixie rarely listened to Bex, even though she often let them braid her hair in the garden and laugh about silly pixie things.

Nell shook her head while she mumbled a quick spell under her breath, and the cotton bag stiffened into something much harder. “What?” she asked with vague annoyance on her features while she tried to figure out how to herd the sprites into the bag. “You want me to use the bag on the tapir?” That was the long-nosed thing standing next to Chloe, right? She remembered seeing them in the jungles of South America. “If you wanna keep it as a pet you’re gonna have to use something else. Maybe think of a name for it first. But no- this is for them!” she replied, gesturing towards the swarm of pixies.

“Maybe? I don’t know? She is aiding and abetting it at least, and her unluck is very powerful ,” Sai confessed glumly, as if somehow convinced his magic goat would be put on trial for zoo escapes.

It was too late, Metzli was knocked to the ground and Yuca yelled out in terror. She almost ran off, but they managed to grab her leash and pull her back in as they got to their feet. They were too frantic between the chaos and trying to get into some shade. “Oh. Hi Bex!” They said in a daze and ran under a nearby canopy for protection with Yuca in their arms once again. Her hackles were raised and she was growling.

Leah watched from across the street as a panda bear chewed on pages from a book, and that was the last straw. Chaos and carnage she could let go, but book destruction? Unacceptable. She stomped across the street toward the bear, taking a deep breath to settle herself as she went.

The tiger and her gorgeous coat stopped to regard Alcher for a moment, and what a sight she was. Alcher simply stood and admired her back, giving a nod. She didn’t need help stalking her prey, but the proud zebra had strutted further down the street and seemed to be oblivious to the chaos it had caused, if maybe proud. Alcher could relate. She would want to kill it, too. Perhaps it would taste sweet, like the smell of fae hanging in the air. Fae blood was a treasure for someone like Alcher, though she did not indulge often-- fae held grudges, fae remembered, fae had magic she didn’t want to mess with. Alcher turned to beckon to the child, whose worry was palpable. “I think they’ll do just fine. Keep up, if you don’t want to be the next meal.”

The lemurs began jumping on people, using their little hands to flip people off. They’d learned things during school field trips.

Sundew would later tell her troop that she’d made fifty humans think they were turning into animals even if it was only more like ten.

“Can’t catch me!” She giggled, whizzing by Bex. She pulled on the girl’s hair as hard as she could, humans were so silly when they weeble-wobbled, and did several circles in the air to show how much she was enjoying herself. She circled around to where the sprites were clustering and touched her toes to the tops of their heads as she crowed, “Fly my pretties, fly!” Just to get them good and riled up.

The zebra in front of Morgan pulled its ears back and huffed silently, then, swift as chaos, it reared and lunged at Morgan, knocking her down as it pranced toward freedom. Morgan wheezed, wincing as her chest bent back into the right shape, and looked ahead into the thick cluster of goats and animals. “What I’m hearing, Sai, is that this is only gonna get worse until we find your goat. And so we gotta—“ she gestured vaguely at the mess brewing in front of them. “Find her?”

A tall jogger sighed and scooped up a grizzly bear cub that’d been making excited friendly noises at the bibio-voric panda bear and had begun to imitate to see if human literature was indeed delicious. “No Zeke,” Roy sighed, chiding his youngest sibling. “We can’t play with cousin right now.”

Bly’s mouth was dry, this lady just nodded at the tiger. The tiger who was hunting was nodded at by a Lady who didn’t seem to care. Their fingers drummed a rhythm against their sternum, drowning out the pounding underneath it. “You think it might be hungry after a different meal?” Their voice was reaching a scared squeaking pitch. “Should I call my mom?”

“No! I thought you wanted to use the bag on the tapir! It looks shifty!” Chloe yelled back, eyeing it suspiciously again. “I don’t want it as a pet!” All bickering about the tapir faded away as she saw the sprites twisting around in the air. Chloe froze, shrinking in on herself as she clutched her iron necklace her breath racing. “I- I can’t- I can’t I can’t-” She handed Nell an iron necklace with a long iron chain on it, fingers trembling as she pressed her back against the wall. Please don’t notice me, please don’t notice me, she thought as loud as she could.

Bex recoiled. “See if I ever share my gummies with you again!” she growled at the pixie as she incited a rebellion among the butterfly beings. Her eyes roamed again until she found Metzli under a canopy, cradling their cat. “Maybe you should get out of here? Your cat seems angry and scared and I think it’s just gonna get um--” she glanced back at Morgan, the zebra, wincing at the hit, refraining from calling out to her-- “worse.” She waved her hands a moment. “At least stay here! I’ll be back.” She backed away, then, and made her way over to Sai. “Which way did she go? Can you, like, track her?” She tried to think of a way for herself to be useful, but barring becoming a distraction, she couldn’t think of much. “Maybe we should split up?”

The tiger was close enough, now, her prey nearly in her mouth it was so close. She looked to the human that did not smell like a human, to the cub human next to her. They were not important. One did not smell like prey, and the other was too small to worry with. The tiger had her prey. She looked back at it and let out a silent snarl. Sound had not come out of her, not anymore. Not since she had been locked behind those bars, since the colors in her fur dripped from her like rain water. She lunged, teeth and claws sinking into the hind end of her prey. It, too, could not properly cry out. The tiger finally had her meal.

“She probably wants to take the petting zoo goats to the farm,” Sai said, watching with wide eyes as Morgan went from definitely dead to bodily wholeness in the span of seconds. “Which…would mean I’d be harboring stolen property aw shit noooooo!”

Bea heard the yells before she saw anything out of the ordinary. All she had wanted was to buy a bottle of wine and have a bubble bath tonight. Sighing, the witch cracked open a bottle, screw top, Thank God, and took a sip. She saw her sister doing something and determined it was likely best to go help her. “Hey, Nellie,” She said casually as she offered the bottle to her sister. “Who let the animals out of the zoo?”

The tiger took its prey and Alcher grinned. The young human was panicking and she rolled her eyes. “What good would that do? If you want to survive, you must think smarter.” She didn’t know why she was even bothering with this human child, but she didn’t know how to walk away anymore. She’d grown...soft. Shuddering, Alcher turned away. She could smell them on the air, her cousins. They were traveling together and were getting closer. She had been waiting for this. It was time to make a new home for them. “Come,” she ushered to the child, “I want to show you something.”

Nell shot the other woman an incredulous look, sparing the black and white tapir once more glance before calling back to her in exasperation. “It’s a vegetarian!” The witch couldn’t remember the fancy name for ‘plant-eater’ right now. She wasn’t sure what to make of the blond’s alarm, but it only took Nell a moment to recognize the iron that had been deposited into her hand. She still didn’t want to kill the things...but maybe she could use this to herd them. It covered more ground than her knife, anyway. Swinging the chain above her head in a wide circle, Nell moved towards the sprites with her bag in the other hand. “Get!” she yelled out of instinct, as if she were wrangling some particularly rowdy cattle. “Into the bag and I won’t singe your wings off!” Bea? What the hell? Where had Bea come from? “I don’t know who let them out. Would you care to help get them back in?”

Miriam had decided to go for a walk, her skin mostly covered as she wore a large sun hat and glasses, looking for a meal before she headed back home. She was drawn to an intense amount of misery and pain, despair coming from a particular area of town. She was curious, this much concentrated agony unusual. “That little fucker waddled away with my cappuccino!” was all Miriam heard as she stumbled upon, well, a herd. All sorts of wildlife ran amok, and she blinked against the sight of it. She should turn around. She was going to turn around. This was just a little much for even her.

Mom always said not to lose your head. She also always said that letting strangers show you things would often end up poorly. Bly had already lost their head, might as well let a stranger show them something. Plus, she wasn’t scared and it was a good idea to be with someone who wasn’t losing their shit. “Uh, yeah sure? Is it another tiger cus I’m not sure if I can deal with that. Especially after witnessing that…” They trailed off looking at the tiger feasting, it made their stomach turn.

Of course Yuca was upset, her predators were roaming about and Metzli could do close to nothing to help as long as the sun was around. People were running and screaming as they glared quietly. They opted to simply threaten, baring their teeth in a predatory show of dominance under the safety of the shadows, petting Yuca and cooing at her every so often. They needed just a little more time before they were able to bolt back home.

The wine was ignored and Bea let out a little huff through her nose. She wouldn’t offer next time then. Screwing the top back on, she placed the bottle back into her tote bag gingerly. It was a pretty nice wine. “Direct me, Nell. I don’t exactly have experience in this.” If Nell wasn’t here, deep in the fray like she always was, Bea might have considered leaving, but her sister was and so Bea couldn’t leave. “What are you going to do with the bag after you get them?”

The sprites were only too happy to listen to Sundew. With a cascade of hissing and fluttering they rose, spread and circled the room. When the iron started flying into their cluster, their humming grew louder. Yes, it was going to be a cutting kind of day after all.

Morgan nodded along to Sai’s words. “Mkay. No one is harboring stolen animals. Petting zoo. We got this. We totally got this.” She stood slowly and staggered forward. But maybe, uh—” Morgan didn’t want to broadcast that she couldn’t remember what Ibulba looked like under these circumstances, but just then, every fluffy goat in the distance looked the same. “A description so we can all be equally aware and prepared would help!” She nodded encouragingly, then stuck her hand into her bag and took out a snack to eat on her way to the goats.

Alcher walked through the animals as they gave her a wide berth, especially those one might consider prey. Even in this form, they could sense what she was and she moved like a fish through water, smooth and gliding, the child in tow. Good, they’d decided to follow. She made her way down the alley and towards the edge of the streets, where it met fields of grass and eventually grew into trees. She looked back at the child. “Not a tiger, no,” she pointed at the pack of only black and white wolves, stalking the edge of the forest. They, too, had found prey, and Alcher was eager to watch. “Watch how nature truly works. This is what the world makes of those who are weak.” Of those who are prey, like little human children.

“Everything here is weirdly quiet and mime shaped so the tapir probably eats hearts on the DL!” Chloe yelled back. When she noticed the sprites, her body trembled, remembering the time she’d seen them swarm and slaughter a nearby bird. The other thing she’d learned was that wherever there were sprites, there were pixies lording over them like a bite sized monarch. She shied further back into the street, terrified to get any closer, when suddenly the sprites grew more and more energetic, spreading out and urging into a frenzy. One zipped inches from Chloe’s face as she choked on the kind of scream banned by fae promise, unable to do so much as swat them away. “Maybe- maybe- maybe something sweet!” Fae were renowned for their sweet tooths, she knew.

Sai shoved a hand in his pocket and grabbed a handful of Parmesan cheese from the baggie in there. He covertly held the Parmesan flat on his hand while moving closer to Morgan to screen the cheese from view. The Tyromancer murmured a few phrases under his breath and the cheese grains shaped themselves into a moving perfect replica of the black horned Scapegoat. “That's her”

Bro, Mom was one hundred percent right. This was a bad idea. A messed up teaching moment. The dizziness wasn’t fading as Bly looked over the scene that this woman had lead them too. “I really, really prefer when I see nature working through a documentary.” Why had they had coffee today? That always made their anxiety spike and their anxiety was already spoke. “I mean this is metal as fuck, like maybe you should write for horror movies, but I’m not a prey animal? I’m not going to be in situations like this very often and a pack of wolves isn’t going to eat me. I’m not weak. Or like I’m not usually weak?”

Bex watched in awe as Sai shaped the cheese, a bit gleeful at the creation of it. She wondered if one day she could do something like that. Maybe not with cheese. Definitely not with cheese. She glanced up and squinted down the street towards where Morgan was headed, the heard of goats far enough away to look like a stripe of cotton on the horizon. “Okay,” she nodded and started off across the street, looking both ways and letting a heard of quick moving raccoons scuttle down the road towards the alleys before turning to head up the sidewalk. She spotted Nell and Bea and another woman dealing with the sprites and decided it was probably better to not disturb them, pulling her own magic to the edge of her fingertips in case she’d need it. “Ibulba!” she called out as she got closer, “I’ve got um-- apples for you!” Goats liked apples, right?

Nell patience was worn thin. She already had so little of it to begin with, especially these days in the wake of everything that had happened over the past few months. Without warning she whipped the iron chain hard and fast enough to slice clean through a swath of the sprites, killing them instantly as their burned halves fell to the ground. “Get in the bag while you still can.” Again it had come to violence. Was this what she was supposed to be doing? Killing sprites and helping people? But the sprites weren’t being helped. The reason she couldn’t be worthy in the way Dave had said— was it because she’d never been able to solve things without adding more violence? Trying to shake her head of the thoughts she spoke again to Bea. “I’m gonna put them in the bag and glue them to the fucking ground. Then I’ll deal with them after.” Bea wanted direction. The biggest threat was the tiger, though she seemed happy now that she’d gotten her meal. “Just herd the animals back towards the zoo. Starting with this guy-” Nell nodded in the tapir’s direction. “A shadow leash or something.” The blond’s continued fear drew Nell’s attention, and she didn’t hesitate to dissect the sprite into two, the necklace swinging inches from the woman’s face.

Alcher frowned and turned to look back at the child, golden eyes reflecting sunlight in a way human ones could not. “Oh, but you are, child,” was all she said, before she moved forward swiftly and finally ripped free of her human flesh. She wanted to join the pack, the ache of needing one too hard to resist.

There was finally a chance, a chance to run in the midst of the chaos. Everyone was doing their best to do a multitude of things. Stop the chaos, run from the chaos, and even ensuing more chaos. Normally, Metzli would be excited by their own dangerous plans, but they would never dare risk Yuca’s life like that. And so they ran as fast as they could, inconspicuously. Running past Bex, they pulled her to the side as an ostrich that was running next to them nearly trampled her. “Watch your back!” They yelled as they continued to run, and get the fuck away from the fun. It was fun they were willing to miss out on. “This doesn’t mean I like you though!” Their voice trailed off into the distance as they finally escaped with Yuca. Passing by Bly and taking the chance for a little chaos. “Watch out. There’s a leopard behind you…!” Even yelling “Made you look!” As they continued.

Ibulba was watching approvingly as the quiet petting zoo goats tore through an upscale clothing store. Stalls and hangers toppled inside the store, the destruction escalating in unlikely domino effects as some unseen force seemed to play havoc with probability. Ibulba and several other goats were munching on a delicious Marie-Chantal Miller wedding dress they’d pulled out from the shattered viewing window. But her ears perked up at her name.

Ibulba turned to face the familiar she-human who was holding an apple to her. Ibubla turned back to look, and saw the sacking of the silky human-covering place was well in hand. She trotted over to Bex, seeming at home in the surrounding anarchy, and took a prospective bite of the apple.

Bex stumbled when Metzli whizzed by her, yanking her out of the path of a storming ostrich. Scrunching her nose, she shouted back, “Yes you do!” before she reached her destination and found the clothing store in utter disarray. Well...most of the dresses were tacky, anyway. She wondered if expensive clothing tasted better than bargain bin. But Ibulba was happily trotting over to her and she held out the apple she’d had in her bag and reached out to pat her head. “Hey there,” she said casually, smiling at her. “Sai’s kinda worried about you, ya know. Can you go back to him? I think he really needs your help.” From what Bex had seen of her, and knew of her, she was fiercely protective of her spellcaster. It was the bond between familiar and caster Nell had told Bex about, and she couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. “Besides, looks like your friends’ve got everything under control here.”

Shadow leash. Bea could handle that, and she could start gathering a decent amount of animals with her as she went with them. “Alright. I’ll be back when I can okay.” It was good to see Nell take charge. There was energy in her voice, a commanding tone that had been missing. “You’re doing a good job,” She said offhandedly as she subtly made a shadow leash for the tapir. The animal moved uncomfortably as it realized what she had done but she was already walking along, forcing him to follow.

VOMIT TW BEGIN

This was it, this lady was a serial killer and Bly was about to be a victim. Then her skin… changed and there was a wolf in her place and finally that bile that had been working it’s way up erupted, Bly choking on it as they let out a surprised wail. As they spit it up into the grass, someone screamed about a leopard and it took all Bly’s strength to sprint away as fast as they could. They were pretty sure they had screamed, but they were running to fast to know what left them as they reentered the chaos.

VOMIT TW END

Morgan had just enough calm to take note of the image without choking on her fried brains. “Beautiful,” she deadpanned, and shambled with Bex toward that goat.

Sundew flew somersaults into the air, faster and faster, speeding toward the ground. A big black and white furry creature sneezed and swatted at her and sent her veering off course, into Morgan’s head.

Morgan caught the pixie in the palm of her hand. She had a few irritated words lined up and ready to go when a hundred little cuts pinged on her head and back. The sprites, scattering from the threat of iron, had landed on her, and had decided to take out their aggression on her body. Morgan lurched away from Bex and Ibulba and fell on her knees.

“What was that for?” Sundew asked. She had fully expected to meet the eternal pixie night after that swipe, but the dummy boob had caught her on purpose and for absolutely no trade at all.

Morgan was a little occupied with being bitten by angry sprites. She gave Sundew a dirty glare, so clear even the pixie knew what had to be done. She gave a whistle and ordered the sprites to go home. “There, are you happy now, Dummy Boob?” She asked.

Morgan looked around, dazed and bleary eyed. “You know…maybe yeah,” she said dryly. “Come on. I’ve got a real live bad luck goat for you to meet. And a big ol farm she needs to go home to.”

From an alley, a friend was watching. It was not seen. It was not heard. But it was watching. Perhaps it, too, would one day find a companion to romp through the streets and eat with.

While the sprites rammed into Morgan, Nell saw red. With another uttering of her magic, and a tug on the bond that linked her and the witch’s familiar, Taki was blipping into existence at her side, as easily summoned as breathing air after nearly a decade of doing it. “Roast them,” she told Taki, waiting for the fiery inferno of his breath to make barbecue out of the bothersome pint-sized fae. “Morgan, duck!” A swath of flames erupted from the Ovinikk’s mouth before Nell could realize the sprites were retreating on the orders of Sundew— and the stragglers of the pack screeched as they were set ablaze.

Ibulba closed her amber eyes and concentrated for a moment. She could feel her partner’s mounting anxiety from here. When Ibubla was still a kid, she’d been presented with a young he-human. He suffered from convulsions and visions, but Ibulba has souldbounded with him nevertheless, discerning that his gentleness and diligence would provide balance to her chaos. Ibulba reached through the bond and found her human partner.

Ibulba opened her eyes, munching pensively on the apple while nodding for Bex to follow. Several petting zoo goats looked up questioningly, but Ibulba knew she’d done what she could. They must find their own freedom and delicious silky snacks now. She had a hyperventilating partner to attend to.

Ibulba wove her way unerringly through the stampedes, seeming to navigate through some superior sense of probability. She occasionally checked to see if Bex was following. Eventually she sprinted straight into her caster’s embrace, allowing him to bury his face and mumble inane worried things into her wooly fur.

Relieved, Bex followed Ibulba back to Sai, who grabbed her and hugged her so gratefully, it was as if they’d been parted for years. Or, perhaps, that their distance had pained him. She heard Nell’s familiar voice, too, and looked up from Sai and Ibulba, watching as Taki opened his mouth and let out a roar of flames. Something heavy fell in Bex’s stomach as she heard the anguished cries of the small butterfly critters. Winced and looked away, deciding that keeping her focus on Sai and Ibulba was the best idea. “C’mon, we should maybe get her back to the farm,” she ushered, looking back over her shoulder at Nell and wondering if she noticed her, too. She looked angry. Bex wished she could reach out with her own magic and help calm her down, but that wasn’t within her grasp yet. She patted Ibulba’s head again and smiled at Sai as best she could. “Maybe invest in a leash, too,” she teased.

There was little left of the tiger’s prey as her stomach became overly full. Still, it was so good, so fresh. She would not waste it. And, as the humans’ sounds grew louder, she would not be caught again. No more cages. No more bars. Only fresh, warm prey. She grabbed what was left by its leg and began dragging it off, away from the noise. She would finish it later, after some peace and quiet and freedom.

“T-t-the tiger,” one of the zoo keepers, scrawny and trembling and a voice that was beginning to fail every few words, managed to say. They were a new hire. They’d find their words eventually. Or perhaps lose them. They pointed in the direction of where the tiger had gone, but it was too late to go after her with all the other chaos on the loose. They would have to follow the blood smears and hope it led them to her. After all, how hard would it be to locate a white tiger?

It was all gloved hands on deck as the rest of the zoo keepers, along with some of White Crest’s finest joined together with tranquilizers and began systematically and, for the most part, silently dispatching animals to get them sent back to the zoo. It would be hard work, but it would be done.

While the tiger wandered off, Anara Kingston took inventory of the wreckage that had been done to the front of her bistro, the lemurs that were still flipping the bird to anyone who so much as glanced in their direction, and the actual birds that were fluttering around with teeth that looked a little too human. Hold on. Birds didn’t have teeth, did they? It didn’t matter anymore. With a resigned sigh she turned back towards the sign she’d been so proud to display, sullenly erasing the number on it, changing it to read ‘0 days since last accident.’

#chatzy #wickedswriting #wcw

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ruairimcallisterx · 2 years

Text

Alone Again

Chatzy thread with @lance-a-lark

Ruairi: As much as Ruairi wished that he didn't dwell on things, he did. Often. It probably wasn't the best trait to have in his profession but he just assumed it happened because he was such an empathetic person. He would dwell on his own problems and others. Currently, what was on his mind was Lark's sister breaking into his apartment and having the "sibling to significant other" talk. Ruairi hadn't actually experienced one before and honestly, he didn't like it. He understood it, however.

Showing up at Lark's apartment after his shift from work, like he often did, Ruairi knocked on the door a few times times before he opened it up, just to be polite. He had a key to his place but he still hated just barging in, "Hey, love." He called out as he took off his jacket and shoes, "You alright?" Ruairi quickly followed up, moving through the apartment to find Lark.

Lark: Moving around was still hard and Lark was always tired these days. The insomnia had at least abated since the incident, seeing as he simply could not keep himself awake sometimes. He was just coming out of a, nap when he heard the front door open and Ruairi call out to him.

“In here, Rue! Just waking up,” he called from the bed. Seeing Ruairi turn into the room, he smiled, but then noticed the expression on his face. Lark could always tell when Ruairi had something on his mind, struggling to hide a furrowed brow. “I’m alright, luv. Are you?” He gave Ruairi a knowing look and held out an arm for his boyfriend to join him, “Come here, what is it?”

Ruairi:A wave of relief washed over Ruairi when he heard Lark. Ever since Halloween, he was essentially on edge about everything. He would never admit it out loud, but he was consistently worried for his lover. Not that it was hard to hide. Ruairi wore everything on his face. It was easy to tell just about everything just by looking at him.

He approached the bedroom and smiled softly at the sight of Lark, immediately moving towards the bed when the other motioned for him. Ruairi crawled into the bed from the foot of it and soon found himself cuddling up next to Lark, pulling the other close to him instantly. Once again, his face wore his emotions. He sighed lightly and spoke up, "Your sister paid me a visit today." He said with a chuckle, "I didn't even know you had t'is sister. Ainsley?"

Lark: Ruairi settled beside him and Lark curled into him, content in the cozy comfort. It was almost enough to make him want to take a nap again, until Ruairi sighed and spoke up about a visit from a sister.

For a moment he thought Ruairi was talking about Hayden. After all, Hayden was there on Halloween, that might make sense. And then he said Ainsley and that, unfortunately, made more sense for all the wrong reasons. Lark let out an exasperated sigh mixed with an all too familiar laugh, “Oh god, Ains… Did she break in? Let me guess, she gave you ‘the talk’? She wasn’t too mean was she? I swear that girl needs to learn boundaries.”

Ruairi: He was starting to think the Decker's were innumerable at this point. Ruairi thought he knew of or met most of them and then in came Ainsley, knife wielding and all. He was still confused by it, to be totally honest. Firstly, how did she find his apartment? Did she climb up the fire escape? Why break in? Why not just find him at work! It was so perplexing.

He laughed quietly and nodded his head, "She did break in, yeah, and had t'e talk." Ruairi repeated, his lips pursing for a moment, "She was pretty mean...in my opinion." He laughed, "She said I was boring so she has not'ing to worry about." Ruairi shrugged a bit, "I'm sorry if I'm t'e most boring person you know. I'll try to spice it up a bit." He joked.

Lark: Lark sighed, pulling Ruairi closer, if that was even possible, and giving him a kiss on the forehead. “Ainsley is a… rough sort and very protective. All my sisters are, but Ains is just more of a loose canon about it. I’m sorry she was mean, I’m sure she’ll warm up to you.”

He turned and pressed his head against Ruairi’s, cupping his face in his hands, “I know you’re joking, but still… there’s a difference between being boring and being kind. You know how much I love spice, but I’m not looking for the kind of thing Ainsley considers exciting. And I know she doesn’t want that for me either. That’s how I’ve always gotten hurt.” As Lark’s said this he had the terrifying thought that maybe he was the dangerous one here. He tried to push it back, but his anxiety wouldn’t let that happen so easily and he could feel his body begin to tense up.

Ruairi: Feeling Lark trying to pull him closer, he scooted as much as he could but there wasn't much more he could move. He was happy for the closeness however. He smiled softly from the kiss and he listened as Lark spoke, nodding his head, "Yeah, she might." He said, half believing his own words. And even if she didn't, well, they'd just have to deal with one another at family gatherings.

Feeling Lark move, Ruairi shifted a bit as well and his eyes fell upon the other as he cupped his face. Ruairi's hands met Lark's and he cupped them softly as he nodded slightly in understanding. Really, it didn't matter what Ainsley thought about Ruairi (too much). As long as Lark was happy with him, that's all that matters. "We don't want you getting hurt." He told Lark with a soft smile. But it quickly waived when he felt Lark's hands tense up and his head tilted a bit, "Lark? What is it? You okay?" He asked, his hands moving from his and down to his back, rubbing it.

Lark: Lark stared off into space, all of his fears flooding before his eyes in a montage of horrors. An image of a withered Irish Eyebright flashed in his mind. Ruairi’s home broken into again, next time by foe, not friend. His lover going missing or worse. They’re all anxieties, but all so realistically plausible. How could he be so selfish to keep someone close to his heart like this?

“No,” he replied simply, “No, I’m not okay, Rue. I don’t know if I ever will be. As long as I’m alive my step father will do everything in his power to find and hurt me.” God, it has never been this hard for him to say what he meant. Pressing his forehead against Ruairi’s, he stared at their hands because it was easier than looking him in the eye, “I don’t know what I would do if you ever got caught in the crossfire. Do you understand?”

Ruairi: Although he could tell that Lark wasn't okay, it still surprised him that the other actually admitted he wasn't. Ruairi's hands tightened a bit, clutching onto Lark just a bit. He listened, his brows furrowing. He wasn't sure what brought all this onto Lark but Ruairi wished he had caught it sooner. How long had his love been feeling like this? Since Halloween? Ruairi truly hoped not. Living with these thoughts since then had to be so hard...

He sighed softly as Lark pressed their foreheads together, noting how he wasn't looking him in the eye. That was unlike Lark. Ruairi nodded a bit, "I do...but Lark, we don't have to worry about t'at. Not right now. Whatever happens, happens. We'll get t'rough it. We have once. We'll do it again." Sure, seeing Lark hurt and almost dead was one of the most despairing moments of his life but they got through it. And now Lark is alive and essentially well. "What is bringing all t'is up, love?"

Lark: Lark made the mistake of looking Ruairi in the eye. Knowing where this was going, what he had to do, it nearly broke him. He immediately looked back down at their hands, gripping Ruairi's tighter, knowing it very well might be the last time.

He shook his head at Ruairi's words, "No, Rue. You don't understand. We got lucky once and I still barely made it out. My life will never be safe or normal as long as my step-father is after me. The closer you are to me, the more danger you're in. That's never going to change and it's not just something we can muddle through. It's just going to keep getting harder until..." It would be unfair to continue without looking his partner in the eye. Slowly his blue eyes locked with Ruairi's mossy hazel, like the ocean meeting shore. So natural together and yet... "I can't do this, Rue. I can't keep knowingly putting you at risk, just because I love you. It's selfish and I--I can't."

Ruairi: Maybe Ruairi didn't understand. The more Lark spoke, the more confused he got. Sure, the words coming out of his mouth made sense but they still didn't. Why would the thought of being alone in the situation he faces even cross his mind? But Lark wouldn't even be alone. He still had his sisters. They weren't going anywhere. So what? Was it just Ruairi? Was he just a liability? Did Lark just not want the guilt or something if something did happen? Ruairi just couldn't figure it out.

For the first time in a while, his partner looked him in the eye and Ruairi's heart broke. His words were enough but the look in eyes spoke far more, "So...what? You're breaking up with me?" He asked, his words sounded almost incredulous. Ruairi had never actually experienced a break up but this sure sounded like one, "Lark...please." He sniffled quietly as his hands clung onto his lover's, "T'is isn't fair." He said simply. It wasn't what Ruairi wanted at all.

Lark: He couldn't take Ruairi's pleading, or the decision he knew he had to make. The look in Ruairi's eyes showed a heartbreak he felt reflected in his own chest. "Don't you think I know that? I know it's not fair. I don't want this anymore than you do."

He took Ruairi's face in his hands, tears cascading from his eyes, "I love you, Rue. More than I've loved anyone in a long while. That's why I can't be with you. I can't lose you and I can't be so selfish to let you get anymore attached just to watch me fight a losing battle. You deserve better than that."

Ruairi: "T'en don't do it!" Ruairi stated, with an exaggerated shrug. It was as simple as that. If neither one of them wanted to split up, why do it? The risk shouldn't matter. They could make it through whatever Lark's step father could throw at them.

His gaze stayed upon Lark's, his own tears trekking down his cheeks. His hand clutched onto the others as he held his face, "I don't believe you. I don't t'ink it's being selfish, it's my decision to be with you too." He paused for a moment, "I love you. But what you're doing now is selfish." Ruairi sniffled again and pulled Lark's hand from his cheek, "Because I don't get a say in t'is. You've already made up your mind." Pressing a long kiss to the back of Lark's hand, he pushed himself to the edge of the bed and stood up, "I'm going to go."

Ruairi couldn't be there anymore. He walked through Lark's apartment and grabbed his Irish Eyebright before he threw on his coat and shoes, leaving.

Lark: It already felt like he'd made the biggest mistake of his life, but his decision had been made. Still it stung to hear Ruairi say he was being selfish in this. If that was true, why did it feel like his heart was caving in on itself? Why did he feel like he was being torn apart from the inside all over again? Why did it feel so much worse than Halloween? How could this be selfish when it felt like he'd just lost everything?

Ruairi kissed the back of his hand and he wanted to hang on tight, beg him to stay just one last night. "Rue, please, I'm sorry. Please..." ...don't go. But he couldn't say anymore. He let him go and the world turned grey. The moment he heard the door shut behind Ruairi, he broke down, heaving pained sobs, feeling more lost and confused than he'd ever felt in his life. He already wanted to run after him, say he'd made a mistake, but deep down he truly believed he'd saved his love from a far worse fate. And perhaps that hurt the most of all.

Lark went out into the living room, somehow wishing by some miracle that Ruairi would still be there. Of course it was empty. And when he looked to the windowsill where the dryad's Irish Eyebright had been, it was gone. He ran to the window and watched as the man fade into the distance. That's when it hit him that Ruairi was really, truly gone. Lark collapsed against the wall and let the sobs shake his body like an earthquake that would never end.

Ruairi: It took every ounce of will power in Ruairi's body not to turn around. He wanted to so desperately. He didn't want to be without Lark. It hurt him just to think about not being able to wake up beside him or being able to visit him at work. Not being able to just be there with him. But Lark made the decision. Ruairi was going to try and respect it no matter how wrong it was. Even though his opinion on it didn't matter.

His feet carried him to his apartment and the moment he was inside, he locked his doors and threw his Irish Eyebright onto the kitchen counter haphazardly. He didn't look back at it. Why should he? Nothing really mattered. Ruairi took his shoes and coat off, just leaving them in the middle of the hallway before he crawled into bed. At first, he just laid there, blankly staring ahead at nothing in particular, feeling just so numb. But the longer he laid there, the sadder he felt. He felt a deep pain and hurt that he hadn't felt in years. Not since Charlotte had passed. Sobs racked through him for who knows how long until he eventually just fell asleep. It was better than being awake, anyway.

End.

#p: lark #chatzy: alone again

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