cherry valley forever
todays bird
we're not kids anymore.
祝日 / Permanent Vacation
No title available
Stranger Things
⁂
shark vs the universe
🪼
$LAYYYTER
styofa doing anything
❣ Chile in a Photography ❣
Keni
trying on a metaphor
Show & Tell
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
pixel skylines
Jules of Nature
JVL
blake kathryn
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from T1
seen from Germany
seen from Italy
seen from Malaysia
seen from Germany
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from Netherlands
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Tunisia
seen from United States
@electrok1ll
HEI from the anime DARKER THAN BLACK reimagined as an ORIGINAL CHARACTER. Intended for DC COMICS / MARVEL / SCI-FI settings.
𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗶𝗻 . . . survivor's guilt, learning how to be human after being trained to be a living weapon, navigating newfound electrical manipulation powers & trying to find meaning in your miserable life. created sept. 2025 and rebooted/edited dec. 2025.
rules - character stats - backstory & verses - memes/prompt tag - headcanons
moved to @/ma1nmenu
moved to @/ma1nmenu
moved to @/ma1nmenu
sorry that it's taking me so long to add hei to my multi ( @/wr1teroulette). I'm so behind on my multi it's been making me anxious to log in. that being said I really do miss writing hei and writing over there. I just recently got a new job but hei return soonish???
a final decision on hei...
with how fickle my muse for him can be and because of the fact I at most have 5 thread with him (and I only currently owe a reply for one thread) I've made the hard choice to move Hei onto my multimuse blog: wr1teroulette.
because of work stresstors and other hobbies, instead of rushing the move I will make the move sometime in february when I have a little more down time
ty <3
I will write on hei again sometime after christmas <3
CHARACTER BACKSTORY @/electrok1ll was created Sept. 2025 and MAJORLY changed Dec. 2025. Original backstory.
Hei was four, and his older sisiter, Bai, was six years old when an international emergency occurred. Said emergency involved multiple countries on Earth getting hit with a series of large, unavoidable meteorites, resulting in the destruction of numerous cities and, in turn, the end of millions of lives. The destruction was so severe that 1/3 of the following countries America, China, Russia, India, Mexico, and Canada became uninhabitable. In addition to the loss of life and loss of living area/space, 20% of the world's population that survived the incident started to display bizarre powers and side effects. The international meteorite incident became known as the 'Heaven's Gate Incident' with people describing the falling meteoritres as looking like 'thousands of angels ripping the sky open.'
Hei is one of the survivors of the Heaven's Gate Incident who displays unusual powers and side effects. He, like many of those affected, feel both stronger and restless at night when the stars are more visible. He also has a 'soulmate star' or a star that he feels connected to on a spiritual level. Scientists theorize that stars such as Hei's star are larger and more distant meteors that meteorites bounced off of before hitting the Earth in the Heaven's Gate Incident. In turn, through scientific study and experimentation, researchers believe that the Heaven's Gate Incident linked people like Hei to the stars, granting them supernatural powers. People with such spiritual ties to stars and supernatural powers are often referred to as 'contractors' as they seem to have unspoken deals between themselves and the star which grant them special abilities.
Orphaned by the Heaven's Gate incident, Hei and his sister were passed from orphanage to orphanage, with no luck at finding an adoptive family. When Bai started to display electrical manipulation powers, they were taken by the Chinese government and further tested/trained in a secretive (and illegal) superpowered spy training ring known as the 'Obsidian Pact'. When he was 16, and Bai was 18, they were assigned a mission to kill a powerful Obsidian Pact spy gone rogue. Although Bai was powerful, Hei's lack of powers became a problem, and he nearly died. Bai made a new deal with her star, using her star's powers to save Hei's life at the cost of her own.
Bai's death and the Obsidian Pact's lack of care for Bai's demise would start Hei on a path to look for a means of escape. In addition to wanting to leave Obsidian Pact, Hei also started to question the Obsidian Pact because he was often tasked with killing 'dangerous' enemies just to find a contractor who didn't seem very violent at all. His questioning led to him discovering a grim truth -- the Chinese government and many other governments on Earth were either killing contractors or sending them to uninhabitable parts of the planet to make the non-powered citizens of Earth feel safer. Their goal was to keep only the useful contractors and eliminate the rest. Because of this the public thinks contractors/super powered people are more rare than they actually are.
Escaping the Obsidian Pact by faking his own death at age 22, Hei traveled the world, searching for a sense of self and a sense of purpose. No matter how far he ran, no matter what new identity he gave himself he found himself coming to the same conclusion -- he couldn't continue to ignore what the Obsidian Pact and other organizations are doing to contractors. Simple and unassuming delivery driver by day, at night, he alternates between fighting crime and fighting corrupt government organizations. After all, he can't save Bai but he can most certainly avenge her.
DC VERSE NOTES
In the DC universe, Hei loses his parents to a tsunami and is orphaned. He and his sister live in various orphanages until her powers result in the Obsidian Pact taking an interest in them. In the DC universe, the Obsidian Pact is a secret society that seeks to either destroy or take over both the Court of Owls/Parliament of Owls and the League of Assassins. To compete with such highly skilled groups, the Obsidian Pact utilizes both metahumans and talons. Although Bai was considered valuable due to her electrical manipulation abilities, Hei wasn't considered valuable. To make him valuable, the Obsidian Pact attempted to turn him into a talon. Hei's body rejected the transformation, and he would've died if Bai didn't use her powers to save his life. Much like his main verse, he starts to question/hate the Obsidian Pact after her death and leaves them at age 22. His new goal becomes to destroy the Court of Owls, the League of Assassins, AND the Obsidian Pact.
MARVEL VERSE NOTES
Similar to his main acceptance that the Obsidian Pact is an international secret spy society that harbors unregistered metahumans for their own grim purposes. Such a large spy ring can not be kept secret forever, and the world riots upon learning about the unregistered and dangerous superpowered spies/assassins. Some further reiterate the importance of the Sokovia Accords, and others claim that such an organization wouldn't exist if the Sokovia Accords were never signed into law. Specifically, some people think spies like Hei serve as a prime example as to why the Sokovia Accords are important while others believe Hei is a victim forced to kill for fear of being registered against his will. Although originally starting as a morally gray character in this setting, Hei does eventually come to align himself with the X-Men. Although his powers were transferred to him from his sister, it is believed that Bai's ability only works on fellow mutants, making Hei considered a mutant as well.
DISPATCH VERSE NOTES
I have three different ideas for a Dispatch verse for Hei. You can read all three ideas here.
ADDITIONAL VERSES: CLICK THE VERSES THE BELOW TO READ THEM
general fantasy/supernatural // dragon age // avatar: the last airbender
𝔟𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔡𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔫𝔡 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔤𝔞𝔪𝔢 𝔞𝔭𝔢𝔵 𝔩𝔢𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔡𝔰 . reimagined as a multi-fandom original character. written by nika, 26, they/them, est. 𝔞 𝔰𝔱𝔲𝔡𝔶 𝔦𝔫 . . . surviving a natural disaster created by humanity itself, protecting yourself & others by any means necessary, finding resources (and love) wherever you can find it, and being unapologetically trans/queer.
rules - stats - backstory - verses - prompts - open starters - headcanons
𝗥𝗢𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗧 𝗝. 𝗥𝗢𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗮𝗸𝗮 𝗠𝗘𝗖𝗛𝗔-𝗠𝗔𝗡... Failed hero and 'dead' man turned dispatcher for the Superhero Dispatch Network.
𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗶𝗻 . . . trying to fill your father's footsteps, trying to make the world a better place than you found it, struggling to find your place in the world, overcoming self-hatred & self-doubt, and redefining what it means to be a hero.
[ rules ] - [ about ] - [ prompts ] - [ headcanons ] - [ open starters ] - [ wishlist ]
Please note: This blog is extremely headcanon divergent due to the game just coming out. This character is most compatible with Marvel / DC / Sci-fi settings.
Originally made July 2025 and rebooted October 2025.graphics credits. my old pinned post. previous pinned post.
CHARACTER BACKSTORY @/electrok1ll was created Sept. 2025 and MAJORLY changed Dec. 2025. Original backstory.
Hei was four, and his older sisiter, Bai, was six years old when an international emergency occurred. Said emergency involved multiple countries on Earth getting hit with a series of large, unavoidable meteorites, resulting in the destruction of numerous cities and, in turn, the end of millions of lives. The destruction was so severe that 1/3 of the following countries America, China, Russia, India, Mexico, and Canada became uninhabitable. In addition to the loss of life and loss of living area/space, 20% of the world's population that survived the incident started to display bizarre powers and side effects. The international meteorite incident became known as the 'Heaven's Gate Incident' with people describing the falling meteoritres as looking like 'thousands of angels ripping the sky open.'
Hei is one of the survivors of the Heaven's Gate Incident who displays unusual powers and side effects. He, like many of those affected, feel both stronger and restless at night when the stars are more visible. He also has a 'soulmate star' or a star that he feels connected to on a spiritual level. Scientists theorize that stars such as Hei's star are larger and more distant meteors that meteorites bounced off of before hitting the Earth in the Heaven's Gate Incident. In turn, through scientific study and experimentation, researchers believe that the Heaven's Gate Incident linked people like Hei to the stars, granting them supernatural powers. People with such spiritual ties to stars and supernatural powers are often referred to as 'contractors' as they seem to have unspoken deals between themselves and the star which grant them special abilities.
Orphaned by the Heaven's Gate incident, Hei and his sister were passed from orphanage to orphanage, with no luck at finding an adoptive family. When Bai started to display electrical manipulation powers, they were taken by the Chinese government and further tested/trained in a secretive (and illegal) superpowered spy training ring known as the 'Obsidian Pact'. When he was 16, and Bai was 18, they were assigned a mission to kill a powerful Obsidian Pact spy gone rogue. Although Bai was powerful, Hei's lack of powers became a problem, and he nearly died. Bai made a new deal with her star, using her star's powers to save Hei's life at the cost of her own.
Bai's death and the Obsidian Pact's lack of care for Bai's demise would start Hei on a path to look for a means of escape. In addition to wanting to leave Obsidian Pact, Hei also started to question the Obsidian Pact because he was often tasked with killing 'dangerous' enemies just to find a contractor who didn't seem very violent at all. His questioning led to him discovering a grim truth -- the Chinese government and many other governments on Earth were either killing contractors or sending them to uninhabitable parts of the planet to make the non-powered citizens of Earth feel safer. Their goal was to keep only the useful contractors and eliminate the rest. Because of this the public thinks contractors/super powered people are more rare than they actually are.
Escaping the Obsidian Pact by faking his own death at age 22, Hei traveled the world, searching for a sense of self and a sense of purpose. No matter how far he ran, no matter what new identity he gave himself he found himself coming to the same conclusion -- he couldn't continue to ignore what the Obsidian Pact and other organizations are doing to contractors. Simple and unassuming delivery driver by day, at night, he alternates between fighting crime and fighting corrupt government organizations. After all, he can't save Bai but he can most certainly avenge her.
DC VERSE NOTES
In the DC universe, Hei loses his parents to a tsunami and is orphaned. He and his sister live in various orphanages until her powers result in the Obsidian Pact taking an interest in them. In the DC universe, the Obsidian Pact is a secret society that seeks to either destroy or take over both the Court of Owls/Parliament of Owls and the League of Assassins. To compete with such highly skilled groups, the Obsidian Pact utilizes both metahumans and talons. Although Bai was considered valuable due to her electrical manipulation abilities, Hei wasn't considered valuable. To make him valuable, the Obsidian Pact attempted to turn him into a talon. Hei's body rejected the transformation, and he would've died if Bai didn't use her powers to save his life. Much like his main verse, he starts to question/hate the Obsidian Pact after her death and leaves them at age 22. His new goal becomes to destroy the Court of Owls, the League of Assassins, AND the Obsidian Pact.
MARVEL VERSE NOTES
Similar to his main acceptance that the Obsidian Pact is an international secret spy society that harbors unregistered metahumans for their own grim purposes. Such a large spy ring can not be kept secret forever, and the world riots upon learning about the unregistered and dangerous superpowered spies/assassins. Some further reiterate the importance of the Sokovia Accords, and others claim that such an organization wouldn't exist if the Sokovia Accords were never signed into law. Specifically, some people think spies like Hei serve as a prime example as to why the Sokovia Accords are important while others believe Hei is a victim forced to kill for fear of being registered against his will. Although originally starting as a morally gray character in this setting, Hei does eventually come to align himself with the X-Men. Although his powers were transferred to him from his sister, it is believed that Bai's ability only works on fellow mutants, making Hei considered a mutant as well.
DISPATCH VERSE NOTES
I have three different ideas for a Dispatch verse for Hei. You can read all three ideas here.
ADDITIONAL VERSES: CLICK THE VERSES THE BELOW TO READ THEM
general fantasy/supernatural // dragon age // avatar: the last airbender
Hei doesn't touch Leon so gently because he thinks he's fragile. He touches him so softly because every touch is filled with love and a burning desire to show Leon just how much he cares for him. "Worrying about you is a part of loving you," he murmurs, brown eyes molten with affection. He doesn't talk for a while, far too focused on fullfilling Leon's request for the other man to watch him strech and prepare himself to take Leon's cock.
His own cock starts to grow hard once again as his gaze meets Leon's. The other man's gaze is transfixed on him, watching his every move like he's the most precious thing in the world. Hei soon emits his own soft whine as he crooks a finger inside himself as the same time Leon murmurs his name in a tone that is laden with want. "Leon," he echoes, curling and uncurling his fingers yet again. "Leon..." A pleased shiver spreads throughout out his body as Leon whispers directions into his ear.
Hei's free hand drifts to Leon's chin, tugging the other man in for a kiss so he can utter the dirty words Leon is desperate to hear in between a flurry of kisses. "I want..." kiss, "to feel," another kiss, "you inside me." Yet another kiss. "I've wanted this... Wanted you for years." He kisses Leon again, although this time he makes a point to sweetly moan into Leon's mouth. "I need you now. Please don't make me wait."
HEI'S DESPERATE PLEAS FILL THE AIR with a layer of something sweet , sultry , and thick ; much in the way heated syrup feeling when it coats his tongue . accordingly , leon feels a low , broken MOAN squeeze past his throat ---- silenced only by the adamant ascent of his lover's lips upon his own in between each SINFULLY enunciated word .
he feels each syllable vibrate against the velvet skin of his lower lip ; every little sound of pleasure sending a wave of ELECTRICITY through his mouth much like that of hei's magic when it pulsates against his skin . the hand that grips his chin with an uncharacteristic URGENCY is one that leon finds himself leaning into , as such : fueled by the desire to be consumed ENTIRELY by the man crooning up at him with such filthy , sweet words .
❛ i love the way you say MY NAME .... ❜ he whispers , voice trailing off into a fog of breathless adoration . behind a thick curtain of sooty eyelashes , leon gazes down at him with an INTENSITY that bubbles like rolling lava overflown from the earth's crust . he drags the stump of his forearm down the expanse of his partner's exposed chest , committing the feeling of each sharp edge and soft mound as he BRUSHES past hei's stomach to slide TEASINGLY down the stiffened , pulsing length resting just beneath it .
making sure to draw his teeth against hei's KISS-SWOLLEN LIPS once more , leon at last relents and pulls himself back up . though , he chokes on something caught between a deep groan and a shivering gasp when the sight of hei's fingers working in and out of himself come into full and TANTALIZING view .
his body feels HEAVY , as if he's inhaled some kind of intoxicating cloud of smoke ---- his own cock growing so hard at the sight that the ache is nearly as PAINFUL as it is thrilling .
quickly , leon reaches past hei to knock over his bag , causing some of the contents to SPILL OUT in the process . fumbling , he at last manages to retrieve a small glass jar packed with COCONUT OIL .
❛ use this .... ❜ he murmurs against hei's lips , once again leaning back down to DROWN HIMSELF in another storm of passionate lips crashing against one another . his words spill hot and breathless into hei's beautiful , wanting mouth , ❛ to get me READY for you .... ❜
"Good. I'll say it more then," Hei murmurs as Leon compliments how Hei so needily calls his name. Hei adores Leon -- his intelligence, the way he fights, the sound of his voice, how he looks, and how Leon makes him feel like a person. His crush on Leon has been long and everlasting, soulcrushing and burning with want. His affection for Leon only grows as the two of them continue to be physically affectionaite for the first time.
Hei leans into Leon as he fingers himself, chasing Leon's every touch. Small, harmless bolts of electricity crackle in the wake of Leon's touch as Hei's control slips as he becomes distracted by his growing arousal. A needy whine escapes his lips as their kiss deepens, Hei feeling the telltale scrape of teeth against skin. The hand Hei is using to finger himself slows as he watches Leon reach for something... Then again 'reach' might be a bit of a stretch. Leon is so focused on him that the object he's trying to grab moreso tumbles out of his bag.
"Leon," he murmurs, taking the jar of coconut oil in hand. "Leon." He smiles into their kiss. It's a small but earnest smile, and one likely to linger on his face for the rest of the night. "I've got you." Pale fingers dig into the jar, although he doesn't use the oil on Leon quite yet. Instead he kisses a trail down his neck and torso. He kisses both sides of Leon's hips before kissing his inner thighs, near his cock. He kisses Leon's cock once in a light and teasing manner before finally wrapping his oil-covered fingers around him.
Hei's own cock is impossibly hard as he softly coats Leon's with oil. The idea of Leon being inside him soon, and Hei himself possibly thrusting into Leon as he takes a turn topping makes him only further aroused. "Leon," he says again, voice warm with want. "I love you."
𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗠𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗧𝗦 !
❝ Don’t look at me like that. ❞
❝ You know exactly what you’re doing, don’t you? ❞
❝ One day, your arrogance is going to be your undoing. ❞
❝ Try me, I dare you. ❞
❝ I hate that I can’t stop thinking about you. ❞
❝ Stay away… or come closer. ❞
❝ You’re trouble, wrapped in a smile. ❞
❝ Careful. I bite. ❞
❝ You make me want to break my own rules. ❞
❝ Keep talking. I might actually like it. ❞
❝ I’m warning you… this doesn’t end well. ❞
❝ You’re like poison I can’t quit. ❞
❝ If you walk away now, don’t expect me to follow. ❞
❝ That was a mistake… and you loved it. ❞
❝ You’re insufferable, and yet… irresistible. ❞
❝ One day, you’ll regret underestimating me. ❞
❝ This is war… and you’re on the losing side. ❞
❝ You look way too smug right now. ❞
❝ Don’t flatter yourself; I’m not impressed. ❞
❝ You’re dangerous. And I want it. ❞
❝ Don’t think I won’t remember this. ❞
❝ I can’t tell if I hate you… or need you. ❞
❝ You make chaos look like art. ❞
❝ Keep pushing, and see what happens. ❞
❝ I’ve survived worse… but maybe not you. ❞
❝ You think you can break me? Cute. ❞
❝ One day, I’ll get the better of you. ❞
❝ Stop smiling at me like that. ❞
❝ I shouldn’t want this… but I do. ❞
❝ Every time you walk away, I ache. ❞
❝ You’re trouble, and I’m addicted. ❞
❝ Don’t pretend this doesn’t excite you. ❞
❝ One wrong word… and it’s over. ❞
❝ You like seeing me lose, don’t you? ❞
❝ I can’t tell if this is a game… or real. ❞
❝ Stop tempting me. ❞
❝ You’ll pay for this… eventually. ❞
❝ I’m not scared of you. Not yet. ❞
❝ If we survive this, I’ll never forgive you. ❞
❝ Don’t think I won’t hold it against you forever. ❞
❝ You’re infuriatingly irresistible. ❞
❝ Watch your step… or don’t. ❞
❝ You’ve got a death wish, don’t you? ❞
❝ I hate how easily you get under my skin. ❞
❝ Try walking away now. I dare you. ❞
❝ I shouldn’t care… but I do. ❞
❝ You think you can play with fire? ❞
❝ This tension between us is unbearable. ❞
❝ You’re going to be the end of me. ❞
❝ Don’t test me… unless you want to lose. ❞
＊OPEN STARTER // any gender's fine, but muse must be 25+ for anything romantic !
Why did she keep trying these godforsaken dating apps? Was she a masochist?
Her nails tapped the restaurant table like a drum, loud enough to annoy the wait staff. Coffi had been waiting here twenty minutes. No call. No ❛ sorry, running late! ❜ text. Nothing.
Every. Single. Time. The apps gave her the same three kinds of matches: women who didn't know what they wanted, men who wanted one thing, and unicorn hunters begging her to rescue their dying marriages.
No — four kinds. How could she forget the people who set up dates then didn't fucking bother showing up, leaving her to waste gas and time?
Coffi's head hit the table with a loud « thunk ! » as she exhaled a long, deep sigh. ❝ If I get stood up again, I am going to find the creator of MatchEm and shoot him in the fuckin' head. ❞
It's not something people do often, espeically considering how social circle orientated most resturants are but Hei is sitting alone at a nearby table when he hears her frustrated mumblings. Coffi is alone too, complaining about the tough situation she's in under her breath. He's close enough to her that he can hear her despite her talking to herself. He can't blame her for her irritation, if he had to wait that long for a date or friend he'd be annoyed too.
Her comment about MatchEm makes his brown eyes light up with amusement. In an attempt to both keep himself occupied while waiting for his food and to ease some of her frustrations, he quietly jokes, "you see, I would've shot them in the head twice. First for naming their app MatchEm which sounds like the title of a middle schooler's fanfic, and a second time for creating an app that enables some of the most horrible people to find you and ruin your day."
they laugh once, dry but in agreeance. sheol was also tired, they were always tired. though he would be spared of those details. doctor glances back over their shoulder as they speak, "uh, the... it's not a, a, a very far walk from here, the, uh... cafe i got this from," fingers fidget, locking their phone before putting it away. bottom lip is chewed for a moment before looking back his way, "i'm, i, i'm gonna go and... get a new matcha now, and... they also have good... baked goods, if you have a, a, a sweet - tooth," a sheepish way to try and persuade him, selfishly. they're going to use this as a way to get themself another pastry.
Hei doesn't wear expensive clothes because he can't afford to. Besides, he can't be bothered to care about fashion. He wears clothes that feel comfortable. It's as simple as that. His lack of interest in fashion is part of the reason he's so unbothered about the drink that was spilled on his shirt. "Someone you sense that I didn't have breakfast," he jokes, picking up on the not-so-subtle fact that they are trying to further convince him to make it right by buying him some refreshments. "Well, if it is as good as it sounds, I think we should walk there together. Is there a specific pastry that you'd recommend?"
angst-y sentence starters
if you are sending to a multi-muse, remember to specify the muse that the sentence starters are being sent for .
“ I never asked you to save me - I asked you to stay. ”
“ You keep saying you’re fine, but I can still see the blood on your hands. ”
“ Don’t touch me. Everyone I love ends up broken. ”
“ I forgave you the first three times. There won’t be a fourth. ”
“ You weren’t there when I needed you most, so why are you here now? ”
“ I stopped counting the days since you left - turns out forever is shorter than I thought. ”
“ All those promises you made sound like lies when I say them out loud. ”
“ I kept your side of the bed empty for a year. It’s time to admit you’re not coming back. ”
“ You look at me like I’m a ghost, but you’re the one who killed us. ”
“ I would have burned the world down for you. You wouldn’t even cross the street. ”
“ Say it. Say you never loved me so I can finally stop hoping. ”
“ The worst part isn’t that you lied - it’s that I still believed you. ”
“ I practiced smiling in the mirror so you wouldn’t notice I’m falling apart. ”
“ You taught me how to trust again. Thanks for the lesson. ”
“ Every time you walk away, a piece of me goes with you. ”
“ I didn’t lose you. You threw me away the moment someone better came along. ”
“ Stop apologizing. The damage is already done. ”
“ I still reach for you in my sleep and wake up colder than before. ”
“ You said ‘forever’ like it was easy. ”
“ I keep replaying the last time you said my name, trying to hear love in it. ”
“ The silence after you left is louder than any fight we ever had. ”
“ I was ready to die for you. You weren’t even willing to live for me. ”
“ Tell me where it hurts, so I know where to stop touching. ”
“ You moved on so fast I didn’t even get the chance to miss you properly. ”
“ I built my whole world around you, and you just walked out the door without looking back. ”
“ The worst lies are the ones we tell ourselves to survive loving you. ”
“ I finally deleted your number. My phone still autocorrects ‘I’m sorry’ to your name. ”
“ You weren’t the villain - you were just cruel with good intentions. ”
“ I hate that I still check if you’re okay when I’m the one bleeding. ”
“ We didn’t break up. We slowly tore each other apart until there was nothing left to save. ”
“ You said you’d never make me cry. Look at me now. ”
“ I keep the voicemail you left the night everything fell apart. I’ve listened to it so many times I know your pauses by heart. ”
“ Loving you feels like drowning in slow motion while you stand on the shore. ”
“ I wasn’t enough to make you stay, but I was enough to make you feel guilty about leaving. ”
“ You came back like nothing happened, but I’m still picking up pieces you don’t even see. ”
“ I stopped leaving the porch light on. You never noticed anyway. ”
“ The saddest part is I still defend you when people ask why I’m not over it. ”
“ You didn’t just break my heart - you broke my ability to believe anyone else. ”
“ I finally understand why you always said ‘don’t get attached.’ You never planned on staying. ”
“ Every happy memory we had now feels like evidence in a crime scene. ”
“ I wish I could hate you. It would hurt less than this. ”
“ You keep asking what you can do to fix this. Start by going back in time. ”
“ I smiled in all the photos so no one would know you were destroying me behind them. ”
“ The hardest part of letting go is realizing you let go first. ”
“ I still flinch when someone says your name like it’s a curse. ”
“ You weren’t a chapter - you were the whole book, and now it’s on fire. ”
“ I didn’t lose feelings. They were murdered, slowly, every time you chose not to choose me. ”
“ I hope one day you look for me in a crowded room and feel what I feel every single day. ”
“ You walked away like it was easy, but I’m still here trying to remember how to breathe without you. ”
“ I finally stopped waiting for you. That’s the closest thing to healing I’ve managed so far. ”
Rex thought about it. Although he didn't recognize precisely who that emblem belonged to, he could at least try to make a guess based on available information, try to compare it with similar context to come to a conclusion.
"Matching tattoos in a particular style... if it's just two of them and they're chummy, might have followed after a shared experience. If that same symbol was recurring on the clothes of the others, maybe a patch or an imprinted graphic or something, it'd be easier to figure it for the mark of a syndicate."
He set a hand on his own chin. Mulling it over from what else he knew of street-level crime. Not that Rex never dealt with it, but he dealt with all manner of problems, grandiose in scope or subtle and out of the way. With an emphasis on the former as of recently.
"Well. Even without a definite answer yet, that's still a lead we can look for next time there's a bust-up like this."
Although Hei knew it was possible that the tattoos mean nothing other than the goons are close buddies, he can't shake the feeling that they're important. It's worth looking into at least. Rex voices his own thoughts on the matter and Hei finds himself nodding along in agreement.
"A lead is better than no lead," He replies, dark jacket fluttering slightly in the wind. Nighttime wind is always the coldest and most cruel. Even with his coat on he can feel the chill. "Did you notice anything else that might help us, or is this our primary lead for the moment?"
