heartinhands.

DO YOU THINK LOVE CAN BLOOM EVEN ON THE BATTLEFIELD?

[heartinhands]

hi and welcome to ren and/or cloud's very lowkey low-effort 21+ multimuse. | slower activity, writing more on forums rn!

rules under the cut. muse list here & linked at the bottom of my rules.

...Sleep peacefully, my beloved witch, Beatrice.

ren and/or cloud, 26, they/he. my other blogs are @/fortruechaos (shadow the hedgehog), @/songsofreason (vergil dmc), @/devilletting (headcanon-dependent matt murdock), & @/4everfour (gundam+mech anime-centric multimuse). if i am not here, i am probably on one of those blogs.

21+ only. mutuals only. my hope is to write threads that exceed 1-2 replies with people with the goal of hopefully finishing one every once in a while. slowness is totally acceptable. i won't always be sending in new asks or writing new starters if i feel we have other things that should be explored/written together first. my ultimate goal is to see threads at least even halfway-through to make sure dynamics can be fleshed out farther than the initial 'setting' or 'scenario' post.

my preferred/default style of writing on the dash is usually: break the ice with a starter or an ask, write the starter thread between our muses for ideally somewhere like 5-ish replies, then jump around the timeline/plot more ooc from there once we get an idea of what the initial dynamic might look like. a first writing thread doesn't have to be a first interaction (esp if our characters know each other canonically). everyone writes their muses differently, this is just to make sure our writing styles vibe

i am very comfortable writing conflict and fights and muses who hate each other. i am comfortable winging threads and just throwing new plot ideas into the mix to see if they stick. i try to balance internalization with externalization in my replies so i can explore my muses' internal worlds but also give my partner something concrete to reply to.

i don't interact with mains calls, affiliates calls, dynamic calls, shipping calls, etc. i also don't tend to like plotting calls with new mutuals, the reason for this is because i find ooc chatting is sometimes used in substitute of writing ic together, and that's not what i want from rp. my partner is spirestar and we live together irl so they will inevitably feature more often on my blog. i do not practice any form of rp exclusivity. i expect chemistry in shipping and tend to only ship with people i am friends with.

dark content and adult themes are welcome to be explored and will be written with courtesy and nuance. i am not interested in writing incest, minor/adult ships, or graphic depictions of sexual assault. these things being included in your muse's backstory or impacting them somehow is fine. triggers are tagged "cw tag //" . nsfw content is put under a read-more and tagged as "usft //" . suggestive material is not put under a read-more and tagged "suggestive //" . please use generic nsfw tags for your own nsfw instead of a fancy one

i don't care about graphics or formatting as long as it is simple and legible. please note that formatting that a lot of people consider to be "par for the course" in rp tumblr circles is not usually readable for me.

i tend to follow blogs that typically have more ic than ooc content, or, if there is more ooc than ic, it is rp or muse related or a meta/headcanon/etc. post. a fast-paced dash with lots of ooc is overwhelming for me. i do not follow people who vent a lot or post excessive negativity.

i am very crossover, oc, and duplicate-friendly. i do not tend to follow duplicates first on my singlemuse blogs just in case people aren't comfy with duplicates. my multimuse is a spot for muse exploration and voice testing so if you are not duplicate friendly please note i can't promise i won't ever write your muse, even if that's just for a singular thread.

i softblock if it seems like we aren't going to write ic together, there is no interest in my writing or my muses being conveyed (to me this can be as simple as liking my ooc meta/headcanon posts), or if there have been attempts made at getting threads going for more than 1-2 replies but they don't seem to carry longer than that (basically, if it seems like our 'wants' out of being on rp tumblr aren't meshing). if you state in your rules you prefer a hardblock i will hb you. you are always welcome to write me things or send things in. you don't have to wait for a starter call to be made to interact with me. if you feel you are putting more effort into engaging with me that isn't being reciprocated you are welcome to msg me about it. i try to mix up who i am replying to when i'm going through my drafts but sometimes things slip through the cracks (and frankly i rarely delete things from my drafts so i have a ton of them). i typically try to juggle my reply speed based off your own activity level to prevent either one of us from getting overwhelmed, so this means if you are slow, i try to also be slow, but i never want people to feel like they're being ignored.

you are welcome to hoard asks or not reply to threads for weeks, months, or even years. i just ask that i feel that there is continued interest in my writing and my blog. if that interest dies at any point, please just sb me. i never take it personally

please note I DO NOT HAVE TUMBLR MOBILE so i am often off the dash in evenings and on weekends, which is usually when most people are online.

icon credits: dresspheres for the umineko icons (they have like every character, do yourself a favor and check them out if you need icons for a wtc muse) ; errantic for sending me the spike and gojo icons (tysm).

muse list here.

[heartinhands]

literally said i wasnt gonna buy re9 until it goes on sale and now 3 days before my bday

[sugurustatic]

Those eyes of yours could swallow stars, Galaxies and universes. What hope did I ever have?

[openness]

@heartinhands

[serapime]

𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐣𝐢𝐧𝐠. @heartinhands , from medraut : “ i don’t like the way ishgard talks about you. ”

𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, sephiroth discovered that she had teeth growing from her back.  she’d tried craning her neck against her half - flattened goosedown pillow and found that there was a tugging against her nape when she tried to extend too far, like her hair had wrapped itself around something in her sleep. already, this was strange; she’d stopped wearing anything with buttons or clasps on the backside years ago, sticking to shifts and formless pullovers in the pale linens that line her small, modest wardrobe. sitting up, she slipped from bed and made her way to the mirror in the corner of the room, pushing the stone wash basin aside with her foot and turning away from the reflective surface.

her fingers wandered, searching for whatever her hair had caught on, and her fingertips brushed over several spots that were hard and protruding. unlike a scab, these were smooth. the body seemed to have no need for scabs, anyway,  maybe it is disgusted by them or sees them as redundant,  because that step gets skipped whenever something manages to wound sephiroth.  curiosity seizes her like any girl. there is no excitement like that which ignites when she lets the blade graze her, or holds her arm too close to an open flame. but where her heart remembers the electricity produced by these encounters, her body remains unmoved. no sooner has her skin split or twist does it thread itself back together with a neat suture, and hours later, not even the puffy flesh of a scar remains. with her back facing the wash basin mirror, face turned over her shoulder, that made the discovery of these abnormalities even stranger. what could have happened to make her body remember the genetic sequences for teeth, of all things? gingerly, she caressed the new pieces of herself, sticking out from the quiet brown of her flesh at random, considering what to do with them. someone should have thought a little harder when they built her. they’d put her together all wrong.

with a silver teaspoon pilfered from a medicine chest, she pried the teeth from her skin one by one. bloodless, they popped out with little resistance, even with their long roots, which must have been buried deep into the muscles stretched taut across her back. this made little sense to her. sephiroth is, however, not in the habit of asking questions that she would rather not know the answers to. so, she pushes her unease out of her mind and shuts the door in its face.

the spoon rested in the folds of her gown, in her lap. her hands were shaking. six total:  two incisors, two front teeth, a molar, and a milk tooth. only one of them looked to be from a man’s mouth, a front tooth. the rest were too sharp and small, like an animal’s. these were wrapped carefully in a tissue and tucked under her robes.  when they first clattered into the cream saucer set on the smooth stone floor, she’d wanted to throw them out. but the longer she stared at these white growths, blinking in the uneven dawn lights, the more they seemed to gain some kind of meaning, the kind that she feared would be immediately understood by anyone who may stumble upon the discarded things in the trash. they would know that they were hers and that they were right all along to treat her like the unfortunate result of her father’s meddling in the matters of gods. the safest place for them, then, was on her person.

they hang around her waist even now. sephiroth considers presenting these to medraut, shaking them in her face.  ‘ see?  i am a monster. ’ instead, her hands remain folded over her chest, her face dark under runaway bangs, which have grown too long. the purplish bruising below her eyes has worsened and her face is long and gaunt as a ghost’s, she knows. the warrior is just showing her a small kindness because they can see plainly that she is teetering on the precipice of some dark pit. but she is not accustomed to this human decency and balks at it.

at first, her eyes do not meet medraut’s. the grass below their feet is soft and smells of damp earth and astringent herbs. “ it doesn’t bother me. ” the lie comes easily enough. it is a protective reflex, because if her heart is concealed, then no real harm can be done. she will be wrapped in white and hidden from view and, most importantly, free from the pain of the other girl seeing her for what she really is. sephiroth is an image on the water’s surface. a stone is dropped and she disappears in a ripple.

“ it’s natural,  being afraid of what you don’t know. ” all races, elezen or not, are feckless and barbaric. other, distant shores both excite and terrify them; sephiroth was fashioned from the sand and clay found in these places, and so she is desired and seen as repulsive in equal parts. in the pillars, they whisper behind cupped hands that she is of the devil. the more forward types force their hands and mouths onto her. “ i’ve grown used to their—, ” she stops, considering her words carefully, like inspecting an open wound on a fresh corpse. is this what killed them? she would ask herself, pointing to puncture wounds in the chest, or a hole in the head. presently, the woman shakes her head and her voice falls like an apple that’s grown too heavy for its stem. “ cruelty—  if you could call it that. ” ‘ i am no saint, ’  she thinks.   ‘ i hate them for what they’ve done to me. i could kill them for it. ’ and so,  she would call it as much.  this is another truth that must stay concealed.

head tilting, sephiroth looks at medraut, right at her. “ does it upset you? ” there is an unnatural glint in her eye. it turns her gaze to a predator’s; she is risen on her haunches and ready to bear down on the exposed artery on medraut’s scaled neck. those emotions could be her own. the barrier between them, the thing that divides her from them and makes distinct their own private bodies, it is permeable and designed to be breached. just one little push. their flesh could collide. that’s all it would take.

[openness]

𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝗴𝘂𝗿𝘂’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗮𝘁. his face is big and bright and burning. is this what she meant? she watches satoru draw up to his full height, or rather, the shadow that he casts, which stretches itself thin and makes its way over to where she’s stopped. her own is blacker than black. in her eyes is a vast sea of emotion with his approach. this is lost on satoru. he is more concerned with the white - footed cat, straggly and underfed, who scampered away upon her own arrival, albeit briefly. the lower half of his face is already broken in two, and beneath his glasses, he can imagine those eyes: glittering, blithe, unconcerned. nothing seems to stick with him for long. this is one of many differences between them, because any of her attempts at indifference are poorly thought of and executed.

their shoulders brush; not quite flush like they once were since satoru’s is an inch higher than her own, or maybe less if she stands up straighter; a recent and grating development. they resume their walk, loose gravel dislodged from the aging pavement and gritting beneath their feet. his demands are those of a child and his bag nudges suguru’s shoulder blade. she falls on her sword. there’s no resistance. “ do i really have a choice? ” the corner of her mouth twists up into something like a smile, though it is neither as effortless or big as his.

a stray strand of hair falls into his face as his head tilts down towards the sun - streaked ground, the upper half of her body shaking a little with a forced and silent laugh. “ unlike you,  i have to study. ” he says, but doesn’t really mean it. satoru is right. they are the strongest. things have come easily to suguru for as long as she can remember. when he sits down at the small desk in his dorm, he flips through notes and textbooks not to commit anything to memory, but to check off that box: fulfilling the duty of a good student, and a diligent sorcerer. it is always a mere going through the motions. as a child, shadows opened their mouths and shared secrets unbidden. now, they put their fingers in his mouth and force themselves down his throat. they leave her stomach heavy and her limbs stiff, with swollen joints and an unrelenting nausea, and still. still. he is better than the rest, present company excluded. suguru is no fool. he has her beat at every turn. all she has is her resolve. she makes more of an effort than he ever has— and ever will.

extricated from satoru’s side, she walks a little bit ahead, towards a side street with the green and orange - awninged shop at its corner. she doesn’t have to say anything: he had already started to turn off the main road. no matter how hard she tries to get one step ahead, he’s probably already arrived at their destination. this should upset her. instead, all he does is level satoru with an admonishing look over his shoulder. “ it looks bad,  you know.  not putting in any effort. ”

[heartinhands]

Suguru moves ahead, adjusting her pace just to linger ahead and that's how Satoru knows that he's in for yet another lecture. And sure enough it comes, delivered in tones that Suguru pretends he believes in but makes no effort to sell. He rolls his eyes. "'I have to study,'" he parrots back, making his voice sound sort of like hers. "I've seen you study, Suguru, and I can promise you: no you don't." Satoru hates talking to people's backs, but what good is it gonna do if Suguru's gonna turn it on him? He's not so desperate to run ahead of Suguru and wave his arms in her face.

Still, he follows him, turning towards the tiny konbini--and his stomach growls at the second Suguru shoots him an icy glare from where he's now just ahead of him. Satoru grins... and sticks out his tongue. A rolling shoulder pops noisily and with much friction as his bag shifts in his hand, maneuvered from one side to the other. "You don't think it makes people feel worse to see you pretend to try harder than you actually have to? Isn't it like you're toying with them, acting like you exist on their level when you're really so much farther ahead than them all? C'mon, Suguru. Be real. It's cruel."

Somehow in the time he's spent returning Suguru's rebuttal Satoru's managed to close the infinite distance between them again, his blue eyes piercing through Suguru's dark gaze even with the helpful shield of his sunglasses. A byproduct of his cursed technique or simply something else? Which is how Satoru gets to bump his shoulder playfully and meaningfully against his friend's as he passes him by and through automatic sliding doors and into the air conditioned building, and that's how Satoru Gojo wins against Suguru Geto yet again. Another tack on slights Satoru isn't aware he's stacking up. That is the power and the isolation of the strongest.

Inside is the scent of fluorescent lights and refrigerator breeze and recycled air. And somewhere, if Satoru focuses, curry mix and veggies stuffed in between fried pastry dough. Hell yes......

Satoru's gaze tilts back in front of him to find his prize in the rows of heated to-go items ready for consumption on a walk. One last thing to say about it: "No one falls for it." And: "Where's the curry buns?! I'm starving!"

[hautevaux]

@heartinhands || 𝕃𝕀𝕂𝔼𝔻 for a 𝕊𝕋𝔸ℝ𝕋𝔼ℝ for Dante

━☆・*。"Well, aren't you tall, strong and mysterious-" Vaux announces his presence with a complement, soft composure narrated by a dazzling smile. He takes pause on the main floor of the boutique, eyeing the late night visitor with no small amount of curiosity;

━☆・*。"What can I do for you this evening, darling-?" His posture shifted, hands clasped in front of his person, smile not wavering. Eyes cast, briefly, toward large windows that appeared dark with the sheer amount of rain hammering against the pane - the weather abysmal. Some would take a storm such as that as an omen.

[heartinhands]

"Hey, sorry to drop in unannounced--," Dante's sopping wet, rain running from his hair into his eyes, pooling in his leather coat and drip-drip-dripping onto the floor. Out of respect to the poor boutique owner, he hangs out by the door, not wanting to get too much water in the place. "It started raining like crazy and--well--your shop happened to be unlocked when I tried the door in my desperation." He does a sort of half-turn to look at the 'closed' sign on the door (of course, the closed sign being flipped outward, so he's actually reading the word 'OPEN' on the placard).

Dante speaks as he watches the pattering of rain outside. "You can keep closing up--I'll just wait for the storm to pass and be on my merry, merry way. Nice boutique you got, by the way. Don't worry, I won't touch anything." At least the rain's washed any residual devil blood off of him so he shouldn't appear frightening.

[heartinhands]

honestly might just make a gundam multimuse. theres a lot of characters id like to write from it and then i also kind of have a space to put thoughts especially since im gundampilled enough to watch more than just the 3 things i originally planned on and it's ok cuz gundam is like weirdly niche online now irt finding people who are actually normal about it/have good takes about the series given the themes of war and stuff that it deals with. but i know its also not really something most people who follow me here would be interested in interacting with probably KLJDFKJD

unicorn or war in the pocket are probably next then on to turn A i think

[heartinhands]

this is happening purely because i got a sexy url for it

[heartinhands]

if you would be open to interacting w gundam muses (yall know i love a crossover and verse making & pretty much everyone is easy to do that sort of stuff with) feel free to check out @4everfour (also ritsuko akagi)

[heartinhands]

honestly might just make a gundam multimuse. theres a lot of characters id like to write from it and then i also kind of have a space to put thoughts especially since im gundampilled enough to watch more than just the 3 things i originally planned on and it's ok cuz gundam is like weirdly niche online now irt finding people who are actually normal about it/have good takes about the series given the themes of war and stuff that it deals with. but i know its also not really something most people who follow me here would be interested in interacting with probably KLJDFKJD

unicorn or war in the pocket are probably next then on to turn A i think

[heartinhands]

this is happening purely because i got a sexy url for it

[heartinhands]

if you would be open to interacting w gundam muses (yall know i love a crossover and verse making & pretty much everyone is easy to do that sort of stuff with) feel free to check out @4everfour (also ritsuko akagi)

[heartinhands]

honestly might just make a gundam multimuse. theres a lot of characters id like to write from it and then i also kind of have a space to put thoughts especially since im gundampilled enough to watch more than just the 3 things i originally planned on and it's ok cuz gundam is like weirdly niche online now irt finding people who are actually normal about it/have good takes about the series given the themes of war and stuff that it deals with. but i know its also not really something most people who follow me here would be interested in interacting with probably KLJDFKJD

unicorn or war in the pocket are probably next then on to turn A i think

[heartinhands]

this is happening purely because i got a sexy url for it

[heartinhands]

honestly might just make a gundam multimuse. theres a lot of characters id like to write from it and then i also kind of have a space to put thoughts especially since im gundampilled enough to watch more than just the 3 things i originally planned on and it's ok cuz gundam is like weirdly niche online now irt finding people who are actually normal about it/have good takes about the series given the themes of war and stuff that it deals with. but i know its also not really something most people who follow me here would be interested in interacting with probably KLJDFKJD

unicorn or war in the pocket are probably next then on to turn A i think

[kitamars]

“then grant all those ignorant people your so-called wisdom!”

[zmhati]

look to those that walked before / the land waker, a lost hero of cartenau. z'mhati zheli, a final fantasy xiv character &. local warrior too stubborn to quit. 21+ only, extremely crossover friendly and oriented. / to lead those who walk after.

[evilanew]

[ 5PM ] a [ restaurant / diner ], interior lights flickering under a fierce storm. (from dante if i havent sent something from him yet already! icr. anyways they should be bitchy besties)

@heartinhands [ ℒ ]

ㅤㅤWintry climes bring about the early setting of the sun, a turbulently winding flurry of snow exacerbating conditions despite the chill being inconsequential for the undead, a cloying heaviness to the inky grey sky that’s nigh foreboding  (  comme si la main lourde du ciel descendait pour répandre sa colère—  ).  And yet there’s something altogether  wrong within this setting, a stillness present as the blond attempts to steady his easily meandering concentration, the din of cutlery meeting with crockery amidst the fading of indistinct chatter. Animated violet eyes peer through the broad window adjacent to the pair’s booth, tracing past the border of condensation settled around the edges, a haze present due to the comparably warming presence of mortal bodies and whatever  pungent sustenance is being prepared upon the griddle.  “ It smells terrible in here, I would not bring my dog to such a place. And yet, the food interests you. ”  Lestat remarks bluntly, cheeks hollowing while worrying at delicate flesh at the innermost corner of his mouth, line of vision not leaving the sight outside, noting how individuals walked in odd patterns.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤThe vampire hones in on a woman in a crimson coat seemingly passing through the blustery street for what appears to be the fifth time, stuck on a loop with her dog who always barks at a particular pitch when passing a hydrant, the timing of trotting paws a little off by his estimation. The blond finally drags himself away from the spectacle, glancing back to Dante seated on the opposing side of the booth, a low breath drawn out as another plentiful plate of food is brought to the table, a comparably humble cup of coffee placed before Lestat.  “ When you enquired of my availability for a hunt, this is not what I had envisaged. ”  Cool hands curl around the vessel for the mere contentment of its warmth, the tip of a sharp nail peeling away at a layer of grime that had accumulated from ineffectual cleansing of grease  (  cet établissement est répugnant  ),  the motion catching the surrounding light.  “ How much longer do you anticipate we are to wait? ”

[heartinhands]

"Patience, Lestat, patience," Dante chides, hands curling around fork and knife. "I wouldn't have wasted your time by calling you out to my favorite diner if I didn't have a good reason for it. Although, it is my favorite, so--be nice, yeah?" Dante shoots a look up at the vampire from beneath his bangs, his more muted blue irises meeting Lestat's icier ones. He smiles, long and complacent and patient, a stark contrast from Lestat's impatience.

He called Lestat out for a reason, but hey...it's not often Dante's travels bring him to this side of the city, so the devil slayer is intent on indulging first. And this place has THE BEST strawberry-whipped cream pancakes. Breakfast for dinner fucking rocks!!

Dante cuts a delicate little triangle into his stack of pancakes and pops the first bite into his mouth, moaning with delight in a way that would embarrass anyone not named Dante and earning a slightly incredulous look from someone unfortunate enough to walk by them at that exact moment. Of course, Dante does not notice (more realistically, he just does not care).

The lady with the crimson coat walks by again. "You know," Dante jabs at her silhouette beyond the window with his knife, swallowing before he continues, "I really like that lady's coat." Because of course he does.

At this point he's just trying to stretch Lestat's patience even further before he explains exactly why Devil May Cry needs Lestat de Lioncourt's help. It's fun playing hard-to-get!

[heartinhands]

i put up the info about my gyaruo skiier on loreinhands if anyone would ever like to interact with him at any point :relieved emoji:

[heartinhands]

it's probably fairly obvious from my writing of him but i don't acknowledge leon's tragic backstory about him being an orphan and apparently losing his family in some sort of crime backstory by the way. i think it's silly

my leon's backstory tldr: he's from smalltown usa in the middle of nowhere and grew up bored out of his damn mind with nothing to do except start drinking way too young and get lost in the plains or the woods or whatever. he had a sort of epiphany at like 19 that if he didn't leave now he was probably going to wake up and suddenly be 50 and still stuck in smalltown usa and eventually probably die in smalltown usa and the academy was a surefire way to get out of smalltown usa. so he signed up and requested assignment to raccoon city. that's it

his parents are alive but divorced and he didn't have great relationships with either one of them so when he gets picked up by STRATCOM it's not really a big deal.

vibes are telling me there is an older sister kennedy but that's lore i've invented as of 2 seconds ago and she probably also does not talk to him at all. we'll see if i keep that

[heartinhands]

i'm finally almost done with zeta gundam and also fer has been rewatching 0079 with me so everyone watch out

[heartinhands]

its also fun because like. well obviously gundam has heavily influenced metal gear, that doesn't need to be said, but a lot of the ways gundam talks about war and esp snake's weaponhood before his personhood are really reminiscent of the whole conversation around developing the gundam and thus the creation of newtypes in the universe so. i like to also take my new knowledge of gundam to influence metal gear because honestly. as much as i like metal gear. and as long as i have liked metal gear before i ever considered watching gundam........ you kind of cant separate them

[2pistols]

THERE WAS A WARMNESS WITHIN THE LOUNGE THAT SPACES LIKE THESE OFTEN HAD. escapist fantasies for those who could afford the privilege, a safe haven with an elitist edge peeking through its corners. clients finely dressed as far from the news of world-altering events as anyone could be, they feign normalcy without all the guilt looming over their heads. laughing it all away. indulging in their pretty tastes and swirling their glasses with bright, even smiles. it was a fine place to speak about a world that didn’t exist in their minds. she told him they should meet; to ask the sommelier for her and she’d soon show. it took time, but when she appeared from a back door she locked eyes with kennedy quickly, and opened the door leading downstairs.

the cold is felt as they enter the wind cellar, only the two of them—their conversation didn’t warrant any outside ears or hired help. she leads @heartinhands down rows of deep mahogany racks, as the soft piano from upstairs muffles its way through the cracks. one could tell without having to look in her eyes how on-task she was. clad in her black cocktail dress with posture that could only be acquired from the finest finishing schools, and a gait like a panther’s. she reaches a stopping point past the aged wine barrels, turning on her heels to meet kennedy face to face. he bore the color of a man newly returned from battle. his eyes seemed strong, hardened. from what she remembered in his file, valdelobos was a rough welcome. it’s not long before they engage in back and forth, feeling each other out.

LARA: it’s funny, i thought your government would have had everything under control by now. LEON: what do you want me to do, count three like they do in the movies? 

he prompts a small, bitter laugh out of her. ❝no, of course not. i suppose i just expected more from the ones that started all this.❞ whether they liked it or not, the united states government was as intertwined with bio-weapon incidents as the moon is to the tides. it was meant to be. ❝aren’t you tired of being their errand boy, mr. kennedy?❞ she studies him now, shifting closer. she would not be surprised if he said the word no. he was like a formidable k-9 sworn to his creed. ❝no matter. some people prefer taking orders, it keeps their minds busy. i’m sure you’d agree.❞ a grin slowly appears on her face and quickly vanishes. she clears her throat. ❝tell me how was that trip to spain?❞

[heartinhands]

It's a good thing that Ada Wong was one of the first people he met when he branched into this world--when he first got picked up in the whole bioweapon affair he felt wholly out of place slipping between etiquette dinners whether as a planted pretend-socialite or as the bodyguard at the stairwell with a wire-comm in his ear. It's something he never would have imagined for himself growing up amidst rows of corn fields and county fairs; not even when he took the job offer at Raccoon City was he stupid enough to imagine fancy dinners as a possibility in his life. At this point though? Leon's good at pretending it feels natural. Even the darkly hued scent of the mahogany barrels clings to the borrowed suit STRATCOM's fitted him in today (Hunnigan loves to treat Leon like a Ken doll these days). He walks down into the cellar first, permitting Lara to shut them within its confines.

The back and forth is natural too but not borrowed; Leon's always had wit like a whip and its sting has only sharpened in the past few years and especially since his recent trip to Spain. That of course Lara takes upon herself to bring up, her smile honed like a knife before it disappears across her features again.

"Oh, you know," he intones, voice not quite sarcastic but not quite not sarcastic either, straddling the line of banter comfortably, "I got way too drunk--I barely remember any of it. Partying with the locals. Do you know if they've got any more of that wine here? it was something special. I'd like to take a bottle back to my colleagues." Of course, wine meaning Las Plagas, but Leon's not going to say it so obviously.

Pointedly he ignores Lara's quips about his loyalty or her perception of it. Arguing about free will is so freaking boring and he's not a philosopher. Leon's got bigger fish to fry, like getting any leftover samples back home for STRATCOM to test. And he'd rather not walk down the Spain-flavored memory lane with Lara. It was kind of a shitty set of days and he's lucky he made it out alive. Others were not so lucky.