LIGHT A FLOWERWORK! @dramatiique - Tumblr Blog

"oh, how hurtful! do you speak to everyone like that, or are you just dropping all airs for me~?" oh, now he's talking to her. the MONSTER BEHIND THE MAN. it hadn't been the death demon, no, sometimes people hold all of that in themselves~ and alice, she smirked, her head tilting, that back and forth, a humming high, content to have taken her peak. her curiosity was a terrifying thing, yawning, gaping, a never ending black hole of a thing. "you don't like me, but here we are~ do you really care for what you're cleaving free of yourself?" he does. he doesn't. he's a boy believing himself on the path to godhood, and that wicked means were sated by good outcomes. what a slippery slope. she's so content to watch this all from this space he's held her at!

look how nicely he pairs it together. the project. her usefulness. her fingers tip tapped across the table between them, considering what he had to say. it's not as if she didn't know she was odd! of course she was. that's why they send her away, here, in the first place. these things don't exactly escape her notice. but there's things in this world that many people fought to NEVER ACKNOWLEDGE, and this boy went running towards it with both arms open. not from a sense of wonder, but a near clinical sense of calm. the rudeness was the first real peep of him, wasn't it.

she paused. sat up straight, this time, as if only now coming back to life. "fine. i can do it. but i'd like to know a little bit about how you plan to use this. not so that i can stop you, i have a feeling if that were to happen, you'd just wish it back onto me, but... i think it's not a shocking thing that i might want to UNDERSTAND what use you might be getting out of your artifact. especially now that i've told you all these tips and tricks!" he's not the type to be grateful ; she doesn't need to ask to know it, dangling the reward, the way that he'd look for. "maybe there's a consequence or two to using it that i could explain but.. hm~ maybe you'd be happier to uncover those things yourself.

★— ATTN: @dramatiique

“I’m sure you’ll keep alluding to these consequences as time goes on, so I’ll wait until you get bored of playing that game and just tell me.” He wasn’t about to beg her to let him in on whatever Ryuk had failed to divulge. Light imagined it would probably involve him giving part of himself in return for all the deaths he caused. Probably even ending in his own death by the end of it because wasn’t that just an obvious consequence? He could ask Ryuk about it later, and depending on the Death God’s mood, he might just tell him anyway.

“As for plans… I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing. Targeting criminals.” Which brought him to a question of his own as he looked at Alice. “Are you interested in all of this because you have someone you want to get rid of?” It was one thing to kill criminals, but if she were the type of girl that had some petty reason to kill someone, like an ex who annoyed her or a mean girl who made up a stupid rumor about her, then he would have to deny it. That wasn’t what Light was using the book for.

He leaned back in his chair and felt like there was a weight lifted from his shoulders now that they’d gotten through the core of their conversation. She was on his side, for now, and he could work with that. Use her curiosity to his advantage.

A glance at their surroundings told him that the cafe was getting busier with a steady stream of customers coming in now that the late afternoon was turning into dinnertime. “We should get going.” And he left no room for argument as he got up to head to the front and pay. They’d spoken about most of what he wanted to know, and if Alice wanted to fill him in on the rest, then he’d listen.

“I’ll walk you home.” He kept his phone, which he had used to pay with, in hand as he led the way to the door, the bell above jingling as it opened onto the street, the last light of the sun slowly fading into a deep orange.

maybe this didn't have to be the loneliest place. it seemed like the people here were like, sort of wholesome. which was something rue could say was earnestly missing in her life. people were more... aware of everything to do with your business back home. and at least on the surface? people here seemed pretty laid back. she couldn't IMAGINE how they'd react to finding out about her stint in rehab, or the way that she like, overdoses in front of her little sister. she's pretty sure gia knows better than to say shit in a town like this where few people looked like they did. it was like, an unspoken code, lock your lips, and don't talk shit to strangers. but like...

rue was the kind of person where the mess, inevitably, leaked OUTWARDS. it was simply in her nature. her lips twitched into a shy smile, letting cole just talk, this place still somewhat of a mystery to her. "oh, for real? i was kinda hoping i'd see less if anything, but i guess in a place like this, of this size, that shit is inevitable. like you can't help it when there isn't a lot of other shit for people to do but gossip." there's a bemused smile creasing her features, her shrug, dismissive for now. she'd get to know how bad it was soon enough.

the machine between them rattled with life. and out it spat her schedule, good as it was meant to be, she supposed, picking it up gingerly, and wondering if this was the point in which she was meant to go SPRINTING back towards the administration office, so that they could pass her on through into her next class. but then again, she wondered how quickly they expected her to do it, tilting her paper his way when he came to try to peer over her shoulder. even in flats, rue was tall, her 5'10" figure slumping, as if naturally predispositioned. "wait, like, is it a lot of things?" there's this slow dawning horror that comes with his words. she hopes he's just being, like, goofy and cutting jokes. ( oh, you foolish girl! )

"why would anybody choose a clown as their town mascot? i feel the only actual place that's done it and stuck the landing was mcdonalds, and even they're gross now." she could already mentally hear some sighing protest against the idea of clown core when discussed in detail over brunch. which was later, right? "next up, are there that many small town rules here? i was thinking everyone just knew everyone and it was laid back..." and what was it that made him so knowledgeable? well. he had fixed her printer situation... "so what, how did this whole mascot thing come to pass?"

★— ATTN: @dramatiique

#redemptioninterlude #&; ( cole ic )

“There’s a reason there aren’t any McDonald's around here—the townsfolk don’t like the competition for Frendo.” Cole paused for just a second before his lips curved and he wrinkled his nose. “Just kidding. Nah, we just have the Eatery, which is okay, but has had the same menu for, like, twenty years.” Kettle Springs was just one of those places that was in dire need of an overhaul. Something to bring it into this century and give it a little oomph.

“The clown actually belongs to my great grandpa, and my family holds the trademark. He’s just an invention to sell this corn syrup we make… used to make." There was a whole bunch of history and pretend stories made up to sell the syrup, but Cole didn’t feel like getting into all that. Anyway, the Baypen factory had burned down a year prior, and he definitely didn’t feel like defending himself against the rumors that he and his friends were the ones responsible. At least, not right now.

“As for rules here,” he paused for a second, shoulders shrugging in that casual way. “It’s hard to say when the adults are so against anything fun-related. I would advise staying out of Sheriff Dunne’s way. He’s got it out for me and anyone who hangs around with me.”

He’d led her back to the hallway, planning on walking Rue to her first class. School had already started, but he made no mention of why he was currently skipping his own class. It wasn’t like he was ditching completely—he'd go to second period, but showing the new kid around seemed like a better use of his time than a boring old history lesson.

“We’ve got third period together; then we can head to the cafeteria if you want. I know my friends would like to meet you.” Just because a new arrival was always seen as something worth paying attention to after growing up with the same faces.

@redemptioninterlude

If she later asked him why he did it, Light would say it was to shut her up. And maybe that was partly true, but there was more to it, and if he thought about it for too long, it might just freak him out. So, he doesn’t. Instead, he just went with it. Tilted Alice’s chin up and stopped her talking mid-sentence with a kiss that had more frustration in it than first kisses between two people probably should. She’d been going on at him again, talking in cryptic riddles, and he just wasn’t in the mood for it tonight.

A hand reached for the back of Alice’s neck, pulling her forward and noting that she wasn't pulling back. Maybe it’s her curiosity, maybe it’s just a game… or maybe she, like him, had some sort of reasoning that she hadn’t thought all the way through yet. Regardless, Light deepened the kiss, clearly no stranger to kissing girls. His frustration eased up a bit, making way for something that might even be viewed as gentle. Yes, contrary to what she might believe, he was capable of that.

When he pulled back just to give her a moment, breathing through his nose, he spoke quietly against Alice’s lips. “You talk too much…”

#redemptioninterlude #&; ( light ic )#//meant to be an ask but ask box says no

taiturner

Carson MacCormac as Cole Hill CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD (2025)

#&; ( cole visage )

in a world as harsh as this one, alice has learned that she needs to stand on her own two feet. the fact that her own family had come to sell her out in order to find their own peace without a MAD CHILD to ruin their family reputation. it's why she ran! became a ghost, it seemed, both to her family, and it seemed the graveyard within which she'd come to hide. it was only ever meant to be temporary... but who'd have counted on people getting nervous enough about the whole thing to send in someone to take care of the issue?

and someone who looked so TERRIFYING, too!

but despite that, she could already tell. he wasn't really a bad person, was he? not in the way that really mattered, in the soul and of the heart. people liked to think too deeply on the acts one had to commit in order to survive, but this world was cruel, and polite form could cost A LIFE if one wasn't careful. even now, he seemed to try to approach her with calm, the blonde's grip on the gun, faltering... even his ask is kind, as if teaching someone who'd never handled anything like this, and he's right, it likely showed. telegraphed in her nerves, her anxiety, that accusation still in her eyes.

"i don't want to go back there." she declared, firm. but she still complies, carefully turning the gun around to hand it back to him with her grip at the barrel. EXHALING in a whoosh, her cheeks calming from that flush of excitement. "... they're going to throw me in a sanitorium, and... and i haven't done anything wrong. they're just... afraid of how it makes the family look, with me out and about. telling stories and weaving tales. not in a malicious way, mind you! just..." her voice tilts, almost faint. "... they think i'm a witch because i can predict things."

★— ATTN: @dramatiique

#redemptioninterlude #&; ( arthur ic )

He took the gun and slid it away, no harm done. Now that there were no weapons being waved about, Arthur could focus on just what this young girl was talking about. What age was she? Couldn’t be any older than a teenager, maybe? Eighteen, nineteen?

“I ain’t lookin’ to take you back anywhere,” he answered honestly. Whatever went with other people’s lives was none of his business. But Arthur also wasn’t the type to ignore those who were struggling, especially if they were young. Time and time again he’d told himself to stop getting involved in every little problem, but he never seemed able to put that advice into action.

“A witch? I ain’t never heard of no witches before. The worst I’ve heard about are them strange night folk out in Bayou Nwa. Now, they should be in a sanitorium, if you ask me.” At least, from how she looked to Arthur, this girl didn’t set off any flight or fight response in him, so she couldn’t be a witch.

“You predict things? Like what?” He’d heard of mind readers and people who played around with cards and whatnot, but they always turned out to be charlatans. If this girl could really tell the future, then that was some trick. A helpful one if it were genuine.

"print...? like, on paper?" rue's all shocked and shit, but like, she'd always gone to one of the only few high schools that dotted east highland. everything was a place to pause on the way to LA, a short stop, a temporary destination. nobody really stuck around except to tour around the orange groves, the motel off the side of the highway more of a known CRUISING SPOT then somewhere that people stayed. but her mom wants to move her, like, when things get bad. that she's made to change high schools once she'd gotten out of rehab, and it's all like some weird... humiliation ritual when she's reminded of the reason why at the first party she goes to after she's out. casper, a ghost. we thought you were dead! yeah. real fucking helpful. maybe her mom was onto something, moving them out to where nobody knew their business anymore.

but like. kettle springs is small. like the kinda small that had people looking like they might commit a HATE CRIME, but like. everyone is weirdly nice when they get there. her mom's all excited, and rue kinda keeps to herself, but gia's loving it, already finding a whole group of friends. she's happy for her. but rue's standing in the computer lab trying to do something with this file she's told to access, turning her head to look at the person who's come to approach her, tongue left lapping along her lower lip. "would it be like, crazy to say i got stepford wives vibes from everyone here? like. stuck in the 80s is real..." but like, her frustration is stemmed when he came to assist her in the whole coaxing paper from the fucking machine thing. pushing her hair back, her eyes narrowed, halfway suspicious but like... he's been pretty open at least, exhaling in a quiet sigh. okay. you got me.

"yeah, rue, i'm like..." well. fair. this is totally not her idea of a cool place to live, either, her eyes casting away for a moment. what did she say? yeah, sorry, everyone moved because i'm such a fuck up that everyone thinks i can't keep it together if i went back to where i got hooked up on drugs? yeah... it's not exactly the ideal for anybody. and definitely not the shit she wanted people to know about her here. "some family shit. you know how it is. whole... FRESH START thing everyone's always talking about, we're trying to like, do." lips pressed together, that glance, oh, he looks almost sickly, the way he stands there. "well. cole. i guess i could ask you what makes it the 101 place i should visit in the world, but like, i can already tell you're not exactly a fan of what it's like to be here." her lips, turning up ever so slightly. whatever. they could bond in nihilism if nothing else. "you can't be like, serious that there's nothing to do out here." oh. oh? the machine finally coughs, spitting out her schedule, a near triumphant smile dawning on her face. "oh- fuck yes! finally!"

★— ATTN: @dramatiique

#redemptioninterlude #&; ( cole ic )

The Stepford Wives observation made him laugh because, fuck, that was exactly the sort of vibe this place has. A town that prided itself on being an all-American community that was steeped in tradition. It was actually so weird how obsessed the adults were with it, and even though Cole had lived here all his life, it never got any easier to deal with.

“More like the 90s, but early 90s. Not that it makes much of a difference.” It was easy to feel trapped in a place like this with how claustrophobic it felt. The massive corn stalks that encircled Kettle Springs really felt like it boxed them in.

Ah, there it was. The reason for being here: the fresh start. Cole wondered if he could find a way to print that line on t-shirts and sell them on the corner of Main Street. Or even just hand them out to the new neighbors as both a welcome and parting gift—they didn’t tend to last here, and who could blame them?

“Always family drama, right? You’ll see your fair share of it here, too.” If anything, it was easier to see how fucked up some family dynamics could be when there were only so many hundred people in a town. Cole’s family, if it could even be called that, was hardly the prime example of a healthy and functioning unit.

Actually, that was one of the reasons Cole had approached Rue like this. He always felt the need to get in there and introduce himself to any new kid before they could hear the rumors about him. Make a good first impression and hope it sticks so they can make their own mind up. It didn’t matter if the rumors were false; it wasn’t like he had any evidence to prove his innocence.

He huffed a laugh at Rue's sudden joy when the paper finally made its grand appearance out of the printer. “Small wins.” He waited until she’d gathered it up and glanced over it before he took a peek himself. “Looks like we have a lot of the same classes—good. Means I can show you the way and keep telling you about all the things you can’t do here.” Cole had never left Kettle Springs other than to go to neighboring towns just for a drive or a shopping trip. He’d love to go to one of the big cities or even fly abroad and see how different (and better) it was compared to this backwards town.

“I mean, unless you like corn. And creepy clown mascots that really should have been retired long ago. But he's also the only semi-exciting thing we’ve got." The clown was usually the thing that drew people’s attention when they first arrived: Frendo, the face of Baypen corn syrup. “Be prepared to see him a lot. The town loves him.” Which meant the grinning character was on mugs and caps and notebooks and any other merch they could badly design. Surprisingly, no t-shirts, though. Maybe Cole really should get into the t-shirt designing business since nobody else here seemed capable of it.

loveallthegays

Why can't you just admit who you are for once in your fucking life?

#&; ( cole visage )#&; ( rust )#//hanging tw #//guns

she wondered if he knew about the cost, the stakes, the way that these things, like power, like death, could weave themselves as an impossible net around a person. but he seemed to CARE NOT, like there's some greater meaning or purpose to this all. which, she supposed it would seem that way, wouldn't it! with a god of death looming over you, promising power. the exchange seems so small at first, which was specifically why they'd tempt people like him, his age, his mental. though alice still wants to know! exactly what kind of monster was he turning out to be?

alice ever so delicately set in on her food, her tea. her lips curling at the insinuation and half awed statement of his, her spoon stirring within her teacup, kicking up a storm within it. "i wouldn't call it that. perhaps i'm more curious to see how you would use something like this? when given POWER, what kind of person will you become? and will it stick? evolve? become something so ugly, even the god of death that's stuck himself to you won't be able to look at you anymore?" a pause. thoughtfully, her chin angled, cheeks, inflated. "... well, likely not that one at least. he seems to have taken part in a lot of nasty things over his tenure. too bad you didn't bring him along! he seems really chatty." and that's perhaps the point, he's, a secretive kind of monster, isn't he? this light. not even the death god, but him.

who. her? alice points at herself, an innocence there that could have been feigned. "i don't need your book to take part in history. but would i want to stick with you? maybe~ i feel there's a lot of things about to happen to you. and what's a curious girl to do without a show? you'll be so interesting to be around in the next little while, i suspect~ and i love that part. so why not let me? he's not giving you the WHOLE TRUTH about things anyways. at least i might keep you out of trouble~ and besides. don't you want someone to play cover girl for you? all that superficial charm of yours... i don't know how you aren't choking. or do you like that? gosh~ nasty~ pervert~" that teasing lilt of a laugh to go with the knife in the back. "kidding! but. what do i want? well. to watch, of course. people tend to bloom into such interesting versions of themselves in moments like this. who wouldn't be fascinated? though~ i wonder what you want. both from your god of death, and from someone like me... though i suppose you could just love it for the game of it all!"

oh, oh, what did HE want that it made all this, this terror, so worth it?

★— ATTN: @dramatiique

She’s irritating.

That was the thought that had shoved its way to the front of his mind before making way for other ones. If she was telling the truth about Ryuk not telling him the whole truth—which wasn’t a surprise given the Shinigami’s nature—then maybe it was worthwhile keeping Alice around for his own gain. Anyway, having someone else in on it could be beneficial in the long run, even if she came across as wrong in the head.

“I can see why people don’t like you, Alice.” It was a simple observation, one that he let linger in the air between them as he drank from his glass. She wasn’t the sort of person that others would be able to understand or even carry on a conversation with without feeling like there was something off. Now that he’d spent a fair amount of time just listening to her, Light wasn’t shocked that she was an outcast. She had this know-it-all disposition, which wouldn’t win her any likability points with her peers. It didn’t help that she’d waltzed in during the school year—the new girl with no past connections to anyone in the school.

After a moment of saying nothing as he looked at the wall over her shoulder, lost in contemplation, Light’s gaze returned to the girl. He’d made up his mind. “Fine, I’ll let you stick around, but only if you keep this quiet. We know nobody would believe you if you started going on about death gods, but I don’t need you drawing attention with your… weirdness.” Because that was what it was. This inability to put on a mask and even pretend to fit into what was expected, even just to throw people off.

“If you can’t agree to that, then we’ll end this once the project’s over.” Whatever “this” was. Either way, Light had to make sure she understood that he expected secrecy and subtlety from her.

#redemptioninterlude #&; ( cole ic )

@redemptioninterlude - for rue!

Any time a newcomer rolled into town, they always received the same reaction. The adults would act all nice in that fake sort of way to show how accepting their small town was to outsiders (which it honestly wasn’t) while the teens were a bit more genuine, showing actual interest. It wasn’t like Kettle Springs, Missouri, was the most interesting place in the world. It had Main Street, which was basically the downtown area and the only way out of town. There was, of course, a fifties-style diner because wasn’t that just the obvious choice for a place like this? There was a bookstore on the corner selling mostly second-hand paperback romances and mysteries, two thrift stores (one shuttered), and then there was the second-run movie theater. Then there were the vast, tall cornfields that surrounded their entire town like vigilant sentries.

In one direction off Main Street was where most of the houses were located, sleepy little neighborhoods with similar-looking buildings, white picket fences, and all that. In the other direction was Kettle Springs High. The school was old-fashioned, and the equipment inside wasn’t much better. In the computer lab, which was really just a bunch of old PCs that required a lot of patience to work, Cole Hill came to introduce himself to the new girl.

“The front desk sends every newbie here to print out their schedule,” he said as he saw the girl—Rue something—struggling with the outdated monitor that flickered with weird green and purple flashes. “It’s because they have no clue how to do it themselves even though printers became common in, like, the 80s.” They were even considered old tech by today's standards, and yet the adults of this town really were stuck in the “old ways" and thought printers were still some newfangled thing they couldn't get much of a grasp on.

“Here, let me help.” A quick tug and shove at the wires in the back of the computer succeeded in clearing the screen enough for Rue to actually see what she was supposed to be looking at. Enough time to print her weekly class schedule without suffering a seizure. Cole sat on one of the tables; tired eyes and skin pale in a way that most see as his signature look, but it was really just the effects of life piling its bullshit on him.

“Heard you're Rue—I'm Cole. Well, Colton, but I prefer Cole. What brings you to Kettle Springs? Not exactly in the top ten places to visit before you die. I doubt it’s even making the top hundred.”

her head tilts back, looking at this strange boy in strange clothes standing in the yard of the house that she's playing a living doll in. of course she smiles. isn't everything about that now? smile, play, be easy, be pleasant. you can buy your way into everything, it seems, and as alice has come to know, this was a far preferable set up to the ALTERNATIVE, which was never quite the way you'd hope for girls, and almost always a tender but terrifying reminder of their vulnerability within the worst of the world! then again. london's streets weren't known for providing many favours to those left within its grips, after all!

but this boy who looks like he's been swept from those same streets was saying, oh. i have a place, a place to go, and she hears what he's asking underneath it. would you come? on this little adventure of mine? there's somewhere special. and it's hard not to wonder, when, he looks at her with that pinched concern, that same MILD DISTASTE for the present. her smile faltered, finally, somewhat. but you can't come back, not even if you wanted to. her head tilts. her blue eyes blink and...

she wonders what it'd be like. she wonders if he's even REAL. can she trust it? him? herself? oh, dear... he tells he she's a little older then the people they take, not to mention that she's not a boy, which, has her frowning somewhat, tugging at the edges of her skirts, like, isn't it obvious? her lips part - that look as her gaze met his own, like, what waits? if i were to take your hand, what changes, what is born, will this cruel fate be changed? at the ends of her own hands, alice could do just about anything, and he's promising. we can take a look, we can come right back! can you listen?

oh. all alice ever DOES is listen, doesn't she?

while she doesn't know how this lost boy found his way into her midnight yard, the way he looks, posed and promising, telling her there was something GRAND waiting - oh yes, this could be dangerous. but oh yes, this could be something, too, and she's up and off the swing she's on, those few steps between them closed so that her hand could clasp onto his own. he's no longer as nervous, it seems, now that he's decided to take his own personal leap of faith, and frankly, alice could hardly turn away from someone embracing that kind of truth about themselves. that the risks were worth the rewards! she has a feeling, her own will turn the same, this time, that grin made split-wide. "i was never called a very good girl, but i think i'll make an exception~ i'm coming! let's see this magic place of yours."

★— ATTN: @dramatiique

#redemptioninterlude #&; ( jamie ic )#//tv narrator voice: alice would not be going home

As she chose to go with him to the spot that took them between this world and the one he'd now lived in all his life, he felt a sense of calm even though he should feel the complete opposite. Just a little look. That was all it was. As his hand curled around her fingers, feeling how cold they were from being out in the yard too long, Jamie realized that this was the first time he'd held a girl's hand. Something that his younger self would have shied away from, thinking that girls and boys couldn't possibly hold hands...

You're growing up...

That voice in his head was always present and getting harder to ignore. The moment he stopped denying it completely, he wondered if he'd suddenly sprout taller or grow a mustache or something else that was considered "a grown-up thing." What would happen to him if Peter caught on? There had never been a boy who grew up in Neverland, so there weren't exactly any examples to fall back on.

He shook his head. Why focus on that when he had someone he needed to take on an adventure? Just a quick one. She'd be back before the night was over. Fixing his face into one of delight, Jamie led the way to the creaky old gate and stepped out onto the street.

"Let's see how fast we can run."

And with a grin that was both cheeky and boyish, Jamie took off, their fingers still threaded. London's cobbled streets were a bit annoying to navigate, at least that's what Jamie thought. They didn't offer the same freedom that the meadows and open plains did in Neverland; it was far too easy to go over on an ankle when wandering this drab place.

With the wind rushing by them, he craned his neck to check on Alice. It couldn't be easy to run in a dress like that, but to his pleasant surprise, she was keeping up, refusing to let her attire slow her down.

"Hey, you're pretty good at this!" He laughed, taking a corner that would lead them to a hole in a fence, out to the tree that awaited them. "You could compete in our races... maybe even win!" No, he had to stop getting ahead of himself. Alice was only going to have a peek, and then it was straight back home. No competing in races around the Neverwood, no treasure hunting at Skull Rock... none of that.

He had made a promise to himself, and he would stick to it no matter how amazed Alice was going to be at the sight she was soon to see. "See this big tree there?" Jamie had slowed in front of one that looked like all the others. A nod to the roots. "In there's a hole that we can go through. We need to run along the passage at the bottom, and then we'll be where I want to show you, but only if you swear to come back once you've seen it. I mean it."

an open palm meets her chin ; head, tilting, looking at him with a halfway dream-like smile. "what's there to do? there's always been things like this in the world. objects that have escaped the notice of god, things that have twisted up the fate of his creations. and for it to go on so long, one can only ASSUME that it's because it's meant to be here. this is meant to happen. human beings sometimes need a little bit of a push from objects of power to finalize their truest selves. and isn't that the absolute best thing for a person to discover? who they really are?" a beat is skipped. "i wonder who you are beneath all the paint and plaster~"

oh, he really doesn't like that part of himself, does he? hiding it away. all that cleverness and wickedness, the desire to try his hand at the obscene in order to... what? cause destruction? that felt too gauche. the way he spoke about it leaving her hands to smooth out over her skirts, leaning forward in her chair to meet him CLOSER despite the threat he carried within his voice. "hmmm... you want to write more names? you know the cost~ it's not only years of your life, you know. writing names, taking others, there's another cost to your soul he isn't telling you about. but you'll learn~ it comes with time, you see. like a poison, creeping ever inwards. that's the trap of something given by a god of death. even one as adorable as yours."

a hand falls over hers, along with the light in his eyes. the waitress comes, and alice's head turns, sunshine bright in the way her voice lilts that they've got everything, thank you so much! before squeezing back at the same time, as if both oblivious and unbothered. only one could be true, and she has a feeling! he'd pick the most disingenuous one. people could only ever see AS FAR AS THEY HOPED FOR themselves. "what's a problem to you, light~ existing, living, knowing? is it that your soul can't stand the idea of someone knowing your secret self? too bad! without a little threat to yourself, would you even find this fun?"

★— ATTN: @dramatiique

He always knew that dealing with a Shinigami would have a catch but kept telling himself that it was all for the greater good. If he didn't become the owner of the Death Note and deliver justice to those who rightfully deserved it all because he was too afraid of the consequences he would suffer, then that would just make him nothing more than a pathetic bystander. And Light could never allow himself to be passive.

"What I want to know is why you're so calm about all of this. No, it's not just about being calm... It's like you enjoy this. The thought of me doing this." It was one thing to want to take the lives of criminals into one's own hands, but Alice seemed to get excited about the very idea of killing without even a hint of reluctance. She wasn't afraid of it either, or of him and what he could possibly do if he wished.

A strange girl who was only getting stranger with each conversation they had. Although, there came some relief at knowing that she wasn't about to cause a scene, screaming about the Death Note to anyone who would listen. In that, Light could find some peace, even if he was pretty sure Alice wasn't quite right in the head.

After a few long moments of doing nothing but sizing her up, a small sigh filled the silence. "Okay, so what exactly do you want? You want to be an accomplice?" Because with the way her eyes were shining, it was no secret that she wanted to get in on this in some way. Light had never thought about having an ally because most people wouldn't understand his mindset and why he had to do this. They'd call him wrong, evil, a monster.

But not Alice. No, she seemed... into it. Like this was all a fun game that she couldn't look away from. The one thing he did know was that if she ended up tagging along with his plans, Light would have to keep a vigilante eye on her.

honestly the whole thing was like, weird. at least maddy was handling it... "honestly, what in the fucking 90s disney bullshit was that." rue, rolling her eyes, almost in disbelief over the whole thing because like, how fucked up was that? maybe she would have expected this in like... rue wasn't sure... the south? florida, maybe? but like, regardless, carrie definitely DIDN'T DESERVE the treatment she was receiving right now, rue left to kick her heels back against the pink-tiled wall as she waited for the other girl, her expression halfway bored, then keenly alert as the other girl came out from the stall. "hey." rue's voice, perhaps, a little rushed. she was awkward - how the hell were you supposed to react to something like this, anyways?

"hey, um - hold on. let me..." rue's hands are held out, almost awkwardly, as if offering them up to help. but she knew what to do, motioning for the girl to take a turn, her palms FILLING UP with soap, trying to froth it up as best she could ( regardless of if it was that cheap pink shit that smelled so intensely chemical and like the interior of a car wash ). carefully picking through the slick red in her hair, cringing past her own feelings to froth her hair up, rinsing it out as best as she could. but was it amazing? absolutely fucking not. but at least it was something. wondering if she was going to be comfortable opening up, or like... well... not.

rue could imagine the why not more then the why, if she's being honest. pity was always something that had caused rue to PULL INWARDS, hating the way that it seemed to poison every interaction. she seems to shake at the idea of verbalizing anything and like. yeah. rue fucking figured. "um... do you have a way to get home?" not that rue did either, she'd gotten dropped off by her mom, who was probably at home maybe two glasses of wine deep with both rue and gia at the dance tonight, but it didn't mean that there wasn't someone who they could call.

"look, i can um... i can call my friend and he'll pick us up. and then yeah." rue's already texting fez, texting lexi. i ned a rde and we nd 2 get 2 ur moms w the new grl respectively. well. it's enough to get the message through, her phone buzzing with maddy texting their group chat with a picture of the girl that had apparently done this in the first place looking up at the camera of maddy's phone with a split lip, rue giggling quietly. "SHIT. well. okay anyways, yeah, we can get to lexi's and she's about your size? or her sister is so you can just wear something while they fix your dress." if it could be saved that was. fuck. red was a bitch to get out, she hears.

★— ATTN: @dramatiique

#redemptioninterlude #&; ( carrie ic )

Being helped was alien to Carrie, and there were some mixed feelings there. None of them were ungrateful, though. How did she react in a situation like this when she had never been in it before? The heavy feeling of being a nuisance was weighing down, and it took everything in her being to not turn on her heel and flee down the street. A part of Carrie knew that if she did that, she might never stop running, might never look back.

Rue said that friend could pick them up, and Carrie tensed when she heard it was a "he." Being in a boy's car... no, it would be fine. Rue was there, and Carrie herself knew that boys weren't the demons that her momma made them out to be. Some boys were, but that didn't mean all could be painted with the same brush.

"I should just throw it away," she said, glancing down at the stained dress in the bag. "I... I'm the one who made it, so it didn't cost a lot of money..." Well, the fabric she had bought had been a bit of money, but she could cut her losses. The main thing Carrie was worried about was showing up back home without proper clothing. She could just tell Momma that she'd been sick at school and had felt it best to wear something that the school provided. That was the cycle Carrie often found herself in: her mind always coming up with ways to fool Momma. It was a terrible sin, she knew, but she had no other choice. It wasn't like the lies came from a place of ill intention.

Brushing strands of blonde mixed with watered-down red behind her ear, she awkwardly stood at the edge of the road with Rue. What must they look like? She didn't want Rue to be dragged into any rumors or have people talk bad about her.

"I just need something to wear back home, and then I'll bring it back tomorrow washed and ready to give back." She said it in a rush, as if trying to prove that she might be worthy of wearing borrowed clothes.

oh, what a silly boy he was. so self serious! bristling with some sense of self righteousness, he thinks he deserves to wear! alice loved to READ PEOPLE, and light, oh, this strange strange boy didn't seem to be lacking in confidence. but the mask he wore was so little like the boy beneath, so purposefully smudged, he was clever and a half for sure more than most, but it wasn't as if he suffered from some great tragedy that might tear him so severely from humanity. "if not your friend, why bring him about? you don't treat him like a game, a weapon... i mean, he really even ought to be here."

it seemed as if he wore caution in so many ways. obscuring himself, his motivations, even this as a project date! a waitress there to take their order, she beams and points and gasps and giggles with her, the two girls pouring over the menu in an intense back and forth that ended within a tight minute. that's what he wanted, she can tell, but suddenly, oh, he was so close. as if he wasn't the way he imagined a human to be COMPOSED, the blonde wanting to dig in her fingers, to break it all apart.

"well. aren't you presumptuous!" alice almost looks BEMUSED. "the world you know isn't really the world you know it as. there's always been a seam, a gap, between this world, and that side. you live here~ they live there. of course, there's things that go from there, to here. here to there is almost impossible without the whole dying part, but... sometimes there are things that exist here." the seam, the gap! purgatory, by another name. "sometimes, things fall through~ like your book. like a tree, planted. like a line to god himself. now. what a thing to know~ and you. you plan on writing names within that book, don't you?" i wouldn't bother with mine, but why say that part out loud? he didn't yet seem the type, did he? "he'll keep a ledger too, you know. your friend."

★— ATTN: @dramatiique

She knows too much. About Ryuk, the Death Note, and what Light planned to do with it. All of this was something that nobody should know, and yet this girl, this weird and unnerving girl, somehow knew it all. She didn't have a book on her; she'd mentioned that she didn't actually own one, but how could he be sure? She could be lying through her teeth, and this was all just another facet of Ryuk's game. Make two Death Note owners face off. See who could win out over the other. Light didn't carry his around with him because it was too risky, but maybe he should start if this girl, with the knowledge she had, was running free...

"So, you know everything about it... and what do you plan on doing with this information?" He'd stopped playing the innocent student role the second she acknowledged Ryuk, so now Alice was seeing the beginnings of his true self. The boy underneath who was disillusioned with how the world was turning and wanted to make a difference in it.

"What will you do if I tell you that I'm going to continue writing names?" It wasn't like he was killing innocent people; it was criminals that were dying by his pen. Murderers, rapists, and everything in between... didn't they deserve it?

She knew he could write her name if she tried to go running to the police. No, it wasn't the police that concerned Light. The only person who could become an issue was this L character who had suddenly appeared on the scene...

Light's mouth curved into a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "We're not going to have any problems, are we, Alice?" Just after his quiet warning, the waitress came back over, so he rested his hand atop his "date's" and raised his eyes to thank the waitress.

Just a boy and a girl sharing a tender moment.

mariogirotti

Django, Prepare a Coffin (1968) dir. Ferdinando Baldi

#&; ( arthur visage )

in between the graves she goes! weaving, ducking, that slip of the soul. who's here today, but a soul looking to pluck a reward from the hands of a family that long felt that she was DESTINED for the madhouse? the sound of a voice tearing at the silence of this place, a cut through the dust, the cold of the mausoleum floor against her knees as she crouched, that suspicion painted beneath the sly narrowing of her eyes.

he has a gun and she doesn't want to trust he won't use it. right? blue eyes blinking too fast, listening to him speak. oh. so he thinks her just a waif then, doesn't he? perhaps that's the advantage to turn to her side, stumbling out, eyes already teary with built up emotion "y... you saw me?" that STUMBLING, forwards, her hands at his arms with a gasp and sob that rattled from the back of her throat. oh, isn't she so pitiful now?

hands at his gun, she drew back as she held it up with as steady an aim she could with something so HEAVY. "did they send you!?" paranoia, shot through her voice. "i'm not going, i said i'm not going there! you can't make me, i'll shoot you where you stand-"

★— ATTN: @dramatiique