Processes are usually standardized for efficiency and mass production.
Efficiency lies in making everyone equally vigilant. What gets mass-produced, however, are those deemed unfit.
Lohen: Standardized Test
"Editor of Magical Memory Bubbles," "Staunch Supporter of Squirrels," "A Super-Creative Who Needs Only Think to Get Things Done"...
…
"Alice? Why are the titles on the spell formula getting longer and longer?"
To Lohen, there is no such thing as a superior weapon or tactic — only what works best. If the situation calls for a hidden shot, he uses a bow. If it calls for a direct strike, he takes up his spear. Though nothing quite compares to the feel of a spear tip piercing through armor, efficiency always comes first. Ambushes, poison, surprise attacks, infiltration… So long as they secure victory, he makes full use of them all.
The heavenly throne has deceived us.
Our sovereign is neither all-knowing nor all-powerful. Nor are his plans without flaws.
Nicole: The Silenced Golden Strings
۶۟ৎ a warm, lazy day with kinich.
— like 455 words! reader called silly girl and said to have hair long enough to fall like a curtain! xilonen mentioned v briefly. unedited. for my beloved vy happy birthday <33
The sun is surprisingly gentle today, filtering through the canopies overhead and leaving dapples of light over Kinich’s tanned skin—enough that he looks golden where it diffuses over him. His breathing is steady under you, synced perfectly with the gentle way his right hand’s fingers trace up and down your spine while his left arm keeps you tucked against him.
It’s his favorite way to rest, with you close and safe (and, more importantly, though he’ll never name it, slotted against him like the space in between his ribs and the dip of his waist was carved to make room for you). It’s a lazy kind of day, the type you’d tease Xilonen for taking a nap in a tree on. But that’s exactly what you’re doing, with smooth bark whittled away from years of growth and age comfortable under you and cool, and Kinich soft and gentle when he meets your adoring gaze.
His eyes flicker to meet yours, then down to where your nail tickles against a bit of skin on his hip where his clothing has ridden up, then back up. “Comfortable?”
“Mhm,” you don’t feel much like talking, and he seems to catch on to that, only shifting his weight to turn more to face you so neither of you have to crane your necks.
He jerks a little when your touch makes the skin sting and you giggle softly. “That’s enough, silly girl.”
“Is it?”
“Yeah. Any more and I’ll have to charge.”
“You drive a hard bargain… what’s the price?”
His eyes study you, helplessly fond and too soft despite his attempts to make his expression stern. “The lowest I can go is a kiss. The interest rates will be pretty steep, though.”
You beam at him, shifting to press a palm against his chest and sit up—hair falling like a curtain that cages the two of you into a world where it is only the two of you, and a gentle breeze and warm sun, wrapped in the embrace of tree boughs and birdsong. “Sounds like something I can afford.”
Kinich swallows, gaze falling to your lips. “You must be quite rich.”
“I am.” Wealthy, even lucky, because I have you. He seems to catch on (surely from the years he’s spent at your side, educated in every subtle twitch to your muscles), smiling as you bring a hand up to trace the lines of his face and snicker at the slight prickle of stubble on the corner of his jaw that’s grown in since the morning. “Can I make my first payment?”
“By all means.”
The gentle press of your lips to his and the sweet seal between the two of you promises forever.
۶۟ৎ nyx's notes: TOTALLY NOT TAKE 2 OF WRITING TODAY BC I SCRAPPED THE OTHER ONE entirely. i would never flop like that.
It's been three years since the Astral Express set off on this journey with you. As the Navigator, I'm grateful to have you traveling alongside us. I wish you — safe travels!
Since the outcome can't be changed, how I get there doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Every crossroad I've foreseen is a curse, so the best I can do is chase a little happiness in the unknowns between them.
I offer my blood to consume this vendetta. I offer my heart to shoot down this injustice. I, Lead Hunter La Mancha, call upon you in the name of the Star Hunt oath! O Skybow, gaze upon this broken-legged wolf!
janainaart
yousharknotpass
theartofmadeline
dededos
