Hmmmmmmm… My gut’s telling me that ⁉️ would be a fun one for them >:)
[ ASK GAME ] || Divinneee ur gut was SO right lol it was fun! *jake screaming in the background* I had fun :)
Genuinely forgot that this was supposed to be like. a "date"/"romantic". uhm investigating is romantic! i think. if you ask Nox this was 100% a date...Jake is still not sold it wasn't another murder attempt.
also this is still kinda early in their relationship so they aren't 'together' or anything but the vibes are there. i hope.
╭──→ 💭 ── F/O DATE PROMPTS
│ 🌫️ PROMPT ❞ ⁉️ One whisking the other away for a surprise
It had been a rough couple of weeks. Whatever had attacked Brooke — if something did actually get her — had left its mark alright. Literally and metaphorically.
Obviously Nox was innocent. Sure, they had some…violent tendencies, but if he was gonna maim anyone, it’d be me. And, quite frankly, I could probably deal with whatever they dished out a lot better than Brooke ever could.
Considering the fact that Nox would do creepy ass shit on the regular, that scenario seemed a lot more likely.
“Remind me again why we’re hiking in the woods at night?” I asked, trudging after him.
“Because I’ve finally grown sick of your bullshit and am going to stab you to death.” Nox replied.
I scoffed. “Sure, okay. Can you do that after you show me the real reason you dragged me out here?”
“How do you know that’s not the real reason?”
“‘Cause if you wanted to stab me you would?” I answered. “You’re not exactly subtle about your hatred towards me.”
“You and I both know that’s not true.”
I grinned. “Aw, I don’t hate you either.” Despite his back being turned, I could practically see Nox rolling his eyes.
“No. If I wanted to stab you, I’d make sure I wasn’t caught. Take you to a secluded place—”
“Like the woods at night.”
He nodded. “Exactly!”
I knew there was no actual threat behind his words. Maybe a little, but Nox was hardly a fighter anyway. “Fine, okay. I’ll let you murder me after you show me this super cool thing that couldn’t wait until morning.”
Nox snapped their head back around, looking me in the eyes. He was glaring at me, of course, and I was trying to counter by staring him down.
I always knew Nox’s eyes were green. Davy pointed it out, once. We shared the same eye color. Different shades, of course, but he found some amusement out of it at the time. I never really got a good look at them until now, though. They weren’t just green. They were bright. Almost lime in color, maybe neon if I wanted to exaggerate.
I think most would compare green eyes to, like, grass or leaves, something from nature. I guess Nox’s eyes were like that. In the same way something poisonous would be brightly colored.
I wondered if Nox's eyes worked the same way.
I wondered if I was immune.
“Don’t be a dumbass.”
“I’m not a dumbass,” I mumbled.
“Then stop acting like one.” Was his reply. I rolled my eyes. Typical. Part of me hoped Nox was poisonous just so I didn’t have to deal with his bullshit anymore. Maybe then he’d feel bad for sassing me.
Probably not, but it was fun to pretend.
He continued to walk. “We’re getting close. Don’t freak out.”
I raised a brow. “Freak out? Why would I — hang on, is this related to those ghost powers of yours?”
Nox stopped in front of a tree. Little flowers grew around it, forming a ring. It was as if the tree sprouted in the middle of a fairy circle. He looked at me expectantly. I blinked.
“Uhm, nice tree?” He sighed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. Okay, dramatic. “Well, what did you expect? You dragged me out here in the middle of the night to view some stupid tree—”
“Willow, you’re going to have to reveal yourself.” Nox interrupted. A pause. He was looking to the left a little bit, as if someone was standing here. “No, he can’t see you.” Pause. “Because he’s lame, that’s why.”
“I’m not lame!” I was about to argue some more when a girl just…appeaered. She was young, couldn’t be no more than Davy’s age, with curly yellow and white hair, wearing a blue apron dress and white undershirt.
I took a step back. “What the…” Oddly enough, despite all my time hanging around Nox, I’ve never actually seen a ghost before. It was…unnerving, to say the least. An understatement, actually.
“Hi,” Said the ghost girl — didn’t Nox call her Willow? — giving a small wave. I returned the gesture, still a little too stunned to speak.
“Willow,” Nox said, grabbing her attention. “This is who I was telling you about, remember?”
A light of recognition went off in her eyes when she looked at me again. “Oh! Right! I remember now. Sorry, my memory is…not good.”
“Pretty rare for a ghost to have perfect memory.” Nox comforted. “Are you still okay taking us to Connor?”
Willow nodded. “Yes…though I don’t think he’ll be too happy about seeing you.”
“Well, he’s gonna have to deal with it.”
I swallowed, finally regaining my voice. “Do I want to know who Connor is?”
“You should. He’s what attacked Brooke.”
“What?!” My eyes darted between Nox and Willow. “You can’t be serious.”
“When have I ever joked about ghosts or murder?”
“Constantly! You’re always threatening to kill me!”
“Those aren’t jokes, I want you dead. Now, come with me to meet the murderous cannibal that lives in the woods.”
“What is wrong with you?” I asked, watching Willow lead the way.
Nox shrugged. “You’re the one that keeps agreeing to hang out together.”
“Maybe I’m hoping one of these days it’ll be, like, us going to the arcade or something.”
“Oh, and yet you call me the delusional one.”
“Hey, guys?” Our attention turned to Willow, who was floating up ahead. “Are we going to go, or…?” Right. Time to meet discount Hannibal. I made a mental note to never hang out with Nox again after this night was over. If I survived, that is.
Short little thing about Emory and how RoseWood haunts him as much as he haunts it. Not proof read or edited </3
RoseWood Manor is haunted. Anyone who spent more than five minutes in the place could figure that out. Those who stayed longer, the more permanent residents — one would be correct in assuming that they were the reason for most of the manor’s haunts.
Majority were only Ghosts. Poor Souls who somehow died in the manor, forever wandering its halls in search of an exit.
Others were stronger: Poltergeists. None knew more fame than Myriam — Mary, as the public now knew her. Haunting mirrors instead of the halls, she quickly earned a reputation for being violent, with those that summoned her ending up with gruesome deaths.
Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary. Emory couldn’t help but chant her name every time he walked past a mirror. Not that he would ever say it out loud, of course. Talking to Myriam did nothing but upset him. And even if he did wish to speak with her, finding a mirror his height was exceedingly difficult. He often had to jump onto the bathroom counter or find someone’s vanity to check his fur. Neither of which he did often. Not anymore.
When he first got turned into a cat, all those centuries ago, Emory was near obsessed with gazing at his reflection. Hours were spent just looking at himself, dissecting his appearance detail by detail. His whole body soft and squishy. Far more flexible — that took some time to get used to. As did walking on all fours. Going from a human to cat body was…an adjustment, to say the least. Now, Emory found himself with the opposite problem: if he were to gain a human body now, he’d have a hard time refamiliarizing himself with all the bells and whistles that form would contain.
But his newfound enjoyment of mirrors came to a close end. Like all things, it was Myriam’s fault. One too many times has she caught Emory off guard whilst he was trying to groom himself…Such things were better left to someone more qualified.
Unfortunately such a person was hard to find due to RoseWood’s ever-revolving residents. Daniel did what he could, as did Richard on the rare occasion he visited.
But there was always Delilah.
His dear little sister also haunted the manor’s grounds. Emory tried to avoid her, though unlike Myriam it was not out of hatred: it was out of guilt. He couldn’t protect her. He was too reckless, and thanks to his actions, his sister was killed.
Emory could never decide if her memory issues were a blessing or curse.
A blessing, for she didn’t have to remember the pain of dying. Didn’t have to remember Myriam’s betrayal of them both. Didn’t have to remember how Emory failed her.
A curse, for he couldn’t talk to her. She did not remember who he was, not fully, and couldn’t comprehend what she meant to him. She no longer remembered their parents, what it was like when they died. How Emory tried to care for her afterwards.
There were rare times where Delilah would say something, do something, or even just had this look to her — and for a moment it felt like his sister was with him again.
But then the moment would pass, and it was just another Ghost looking at the strange cat inhabiting RoseWood Manor.
And yet, despite all of this, she still sang while she brushed his fur, just like she did when he let her help him get ready for church.
If someone had told Emory back then that he would be living in a haunted house as a cat, he wouldn’t have believed them. Not that he would be blamed. A haunted house is one thing. Being turned into a cat due to your own arrogance was another. Combining the two seemed impossible. Here he was, however, amongst the poor lost Souls that were now forced to live within the manor’s walls.
Emory supposed that he, too, could be considered a lost Soul, in a way. He was no longer in his original body. The manor was the closest thing to a home he had now. There was no family to mourn him — Delilah hardly remembered and Myriam took great pleasure in boasting about what she had done to him. The only difference between him and the other residents was that he’s a cat, free to leave RoseWood’s grounds in search of something better.
Though Emory knew — as did all the Spirits — that he would wind up back within the manor’s walls sooner or later. He could leave for as long as he’d like, but he’d always haunt RoseWood.
There was nowhere else he could truly go, after all.
│ 🌫️ PARAS ❞ gaz dellacroy, natalia dellacroy, oscar dellacroy, irene dellacroy, seth dellacroy, luciana potenza, harley dellacroy, rowan dellacroy
│ 🌫️ PARACOSM ❞ eternal labyrinth
│ 🌫️ WORD COUNT ❞ 1,444
╰──────────── 🤍
Was gonna write about Cali meeting Rowan’s family for the first time, BUT it would’ve been a little complicated. The joys of having your paras go to an alternate reality for fun. THEN it was gonna be more infodumpy. And now it’s just a one shot of Seth acquiring a small child.
Technically a rewrite, since I did write about this scenario before, but that was back when Egyptian & Norse mythology was still part of this paracosm and obviously things have changed since then.
You know the drill. Not proof read or edited.
Seth knew he was in trouble when his parents called for him. Not serious trouble, hopefully, but trouble nonetheless. He swallowed, trying to push away the knot forming in his stomach. He was a grown man. For all he knew, his parents were just announcing that they were moving to the countryside.
Satisfied with the thought that their summoning of him probably had something to do with their retirement, Seth opened the door perhaps a little too eagerly, given what actually ended up being on the other side.
There were his parents, naturally, sitting next to each other. His brother, Oscar, and his wife, Irene. Harley, their son, was notably absent, though as he was only two, they probably opted for a sitter instead.
In the middle of the couch was Luciana.
It had been more than a couple months since he had seen her last. Really, he should’ve been more concerned that he hadn’t heard from her as of late. Then again, the two never had consistent contact with each other. Seth was sure he wasn’t Luciana’s only sexual partner.
“What are you doing here?” He asked. Luciana adjusted the ball of cloth she was holding. It was then that he realized — “Is that a baby?!”
Luciana gave a nervous look to Natalia, who returned with a glare before sighing and turning to Seth. “Yes. Luciana has reason to believe it’s your child.”
Seth wished he was sitting down. He should’ve moved to do so, but all he could do was stand there with a blank look on his face. “What.”
His mother raised her hand to stop him from saying more. “Nothing is confirmed yet. We will do a DNA test, and if the results say that you are the child’s father, then—”
Oscar cut their mother off, throwing a packet onto the table. “He is. I already checked.”
Natalia glared at him. “I told you, we were going to wait until—”
“I’m a detective, Mom. I had to know.”
“Don’t blame him,” Gaz said. “I asked him too.”
Before Natalia could scold both of them, their words finally sunk in for Seth. “Wait, you knew?!” He glared at Luciana. “You thought you had my child and you went to my parents?!”
Luciana shrunk, averting his gaze. “I wasn’t sure how you’d react. You always avoided the topic of having a family.”
“Yeah, a family with you.” Seth spat out.
“Enough!” Natalia exclaimed, regaining control of the room. “What’s done is done. Seth, honey, sit down. You look like you’re about to faint and I’d rather you have a short fall if that’s true.” Seth did as he was told, choosing to sit as far away as he could from Luciana.
Gods, he knew he should’ve been more careful when fooling around with her. He knew it. It was always in the back of his mind: wear protection, make sure she was taking birth control. But neither were the type to be cautious about anything. Maybe that’s why they never progressed farther than friends with benefits. Not that Seth minded, the benefits were enough for him. He didn’t particularly care for that lovey-dovey couple shit most chased after their whole lives.
Natalia sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I think questions are in order.” Luciana looked offended, and opened her mouth to say something before Natalia continued. “No. You kept my son’s child and my grandchild a secret. If you wanted privacy, you wouldn’t have come to us.”
Luciana seemed to accept this. Long enough for Seth to ask the one question his mind could think of right now: “Why didn’t you just…”
“Get rid of it?” He nodded and she shrugged. “Realized too late. Gestation period is different for Halflings. It only took four months for me. By the time I realized, he was halfway cooked.”
Seth’s eyes softened. “It’s a boy?”
“I haven’t named him yet. I thought—” She looked up at him. Somehow, Seth felt bad that there were tears forming in her eyes. “I thought maybe you’d have a name in mind.”
“If I had time to think about bringing a child into this world, I might even have several. We can — I’ll decide on a name later. After you’ve explained yourself.”
Luciana scoffed. “What else is there to know?! I got pregnant and had your son. That’s the full story.”
“You didn’t say why you came back,” Irene piped up. She had barely said a word, aside from the occasional whisper to Oscar. “While I’m sure we…appreciate you telling us, there must be a reason for doing so.”
She blinked. “Ah, haha,” laughing awkwardly, she looked around the room. “Isn’t wanting my sweet boy to know his dad enough?”
“No,” Seth said. “If you really didn’t want him, you would’ve given him up for adoption. Or, I dunno, figured out a way to abort him.”
Luciana closed her eyes and sighed. “Fine. I want you to take him. And, y’know, some money.”
There it was. Good ol’ Luciana.
“Hang on,” Gaz said. “What do you mean ‘take care of him’? And where’s this talk about money coming from?”
“Since I found out so late, I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare. I’m low on funds due to medical bills and needing to pay some friends back.” She paused. “As for ‘take care’...I—I don’t want this baby. I never wanted to be a mother.
Seth laughed. “Money. Typical. Is that why you didn’t get rid of him? So he could be a bargaining chip?”
“No, I—”
“Save it. I know you, Luciana. You only care about yourself.”
She shifted in her seat. “Th—which is why I can’t take care of him…?”
“Are you serious?!” Seth yelled. Oscar put a hand on his arm, perhaps a touch too firmly to keep him on the couch. Seth was thankful, for he felt ready to leap over and slap her.
“Please,” she pleaded. “I can’t take care of a kid.”
“And I can?!” Seth snapped. “Luciana, you can’t just throw this on someone!” She looked down at the child, avoiding Seth’s glare. He sighed, running a hand through his hair to try and calm himself. A hard task, it seemed. His mind could barely form a coherent thought.
Thankfully, his mother seemed to have thought this through already. “Luciana. You understand that if you give the child to us, you won't see him again?” Luciana blinked. “If you stay, then you and Seth would have to work out a custody agreement. We are willing to work with you on that. Gaz and I will even provide funding for you to repay your debts. But if — and only if — you stay and take responsibility.”
The room was quiet for a while. Luciana looked to Seth, as if to plead with him. He just glared at her. She looked down at their — his son. Seth knew the child was solely his when Luciana sighed. Her slowly moving to put the infant in Natalia’s arms was only confirmation.
She didn’t say anything as she left the room.
Oscar and Irene politely excused themselves, their presence as moral support no longer needed. Part of Seth wished they stayed. Maybe then this moment wouldn’t feel so…real.
“Save it,” he said when his mother looked at him. “I know what you’re thinking. I don’t want to hear it.”
Natalia hummed. “Well, if you already know what I want to say, then there’s no point in repeating it. Would you like to hold him?”
“Gonna have to at some point.” Seth mumbled, switching seats so he was closer to them.
Babies always looked relatively the same to Seth. They were small and wrinkly, with smushed faces and minimal defining features. And yet, there was something oddly endearing about the one he was currently holding. Maybe because he had some of Seth’s DNA, and Seth was, naturally, a handsome man. But as far as babies go, he didn’t mind staring at this one a little longer.
“I know it’s still sudden, but do you have a name in mind?” His mother asked. “It doesn’t have to be permanent. We can change it when all the paperwork is filed properly. But just for tonight, I’d like him to have a name.”
Seth thought, staring at his child’s unopened eyes. He never thought about having children. Thinking of names for someone that would likely never exist seemed like a waste of time. “Rowan sounds nice,” he said aloud. His parents nodded in approval.
He looked down at his son. At Rowan. “That was probably the easiest decision I’ll ever be able to make with you, isn’t it?”
paracosm // phantasmagoria [im not the one] || paras // blair ceres [crimson shadow]
I don't think you chose the name "Crimson" because of your hair. I think you chose it because you were supposed to be the one to die.
You are not just a shadow of her, either. You are your own person, new name or not.
But I’m not though, am I? I was always meant to be some dead girl. Gone before the story even starts.
That’s not true. You’re—
(He goes to comfort her. She swats his hand away.)
Don’t say that! Everyone needs to stop saying that! It is true! I was meant to die! I know it, you know it, everyone knows it! I’m supposed to be dead, with my sister. Not here causing my brother even more trauma by just existing.
(There are tears in her eyes. God, she is so sick of having tears in her eyes. Like a leaky faucet that can never be fixed.)
Is that all I am in this world? Someone born to die?
(Jace does not answer. Not immediately. Jace does not answer not because he doesn’t know the answer. He does. Jace does not answer because he knows the answer is “yes”. And there is no other way to answer her question. So instead, he stays silent, and pulls his — very much alive — friend into a hug.)
paracosm // mad as a crow [ghostverse au] || para ship // rosecrow [alice rose & jonathan crowley]
Their first few dates were simple dinner dates hosted by Ghost. They'd eat dinner, watch a movie, and then go to bed.
Eventually, Ghost got comfortable enough to ask Alice if she wanted to do something in the city. Uhm, do what? Good question! He did not think he'd get this far. Perhaps they could just walk around the city and see what interests them (preferably nothing crime-related).
Cue Alice dragging Ghost around the city like a child in a toy store (of which they visited 3. why does build-a-bear cost so damn much?!). They had dinner in a nice fancy restaurant, watched the sunset at a park....then it started raining, as it often did in their city. So the two took cover in an indoor mall.
They ended up running into Daisy and Harley, who were also on a date! Ghost was apprehensive to join them, as the night already wasn't going too well & the last thing he needed was them giving him shit for dating Alice (again). After the four of them walked around for a bit, Alice & Harley wandered off to try on some clothes, leaving Ghost & Daisy together.
“She does seem happy with you,” Daisy said after a while.
“Of course.” Ghost replied. “I treat her well.”
Daisy glared at him. “Taking advantage of a child’s nativity isn’t ‘treating her well’, Ghost.” He sighed.
“This is your problem. You treat her like a child.”
“She is a child! Did you not just hear what I said?!”
“Oh, really?” Ghost looked her in the eye. “Do children kidnap people, hypnotize them, break their brains to the point of insanity? Face it, Daisy. She stopped being a child the day she became one of us. A villain. That’s what she is, and that is what you should treat her as.”
Daisy looked down. Ghost continued. “I won’t pretend to know why you’re so overprotective of Alice. That is information I have no interest in. But let me be clear, Daisy: underestimating her is a mistake all her victims make. Don’t let yourself fall for it, too.”
“You really think she knows what she’s doing?”
He shrugged. “None of us did when we started. Perhaps if things were different, Alice and I wouldn’t even be dating. I’m sure you’d like to live in that reality more.”
“Maybe so.” She mumbled.
Alice & Harley return with some new clothes that they....stole?! Oh...they gotta get out of here! And so concluded Alice & Ghost's first "official" date. Did it go well? Sort of. Are they gonna do it again? With more planning, probably. Will Daisy stop being so overprotective of Alice for seemingly no reason? Tune in next time on: Mad as a Crow: Ghostverse AU!
“I can’t do it.” Adrien said for the third time, pulling the scissors away from his hair. He looked down to Emory.
“Well, I don’t have thumbs, so I can’t help you.” The cat said. “You could always just tell your family.”
“No! I-I can deal with it by myself.” Adrien pulled the scissors back up to his hair, which was in one long braid, stark white just like Rowan’s. It was nice. Just not for him. He looked at his reflection in the mirror before closing his eyes and snipping the braid off.
Okay, part one complete. The braid fell behind him, and Adrien wished he had just kept his hair down before doing this, as now his haircut was uneven.
“It doesn’t look too bad.” Emory said, trying to be encouraging. “A bit uneven, but I think you can work with it.”
“People are going to notice.”
Emory pawed the braid. “Yes. Your hair was quite long before.” Adrien looked down at him, tears starting to form in his eyes.
“People are going to notice and I’m gonna have to tell them — what am I gonna tell them? I don’t wanna tell people — this was a mistake.” He cried, sinking down to the floor.
“No it wasn’t,” the cat argued, “it was for your happiness. That’s never a mistake.”
“But I don’t feel happy!!!” Adrien sobbed. Emory curled up next to him, trying to provide comfort.
Then there was a knock at the door. “Adrien, hurry up!” His sister, Valerie, shouted from the other side. Adrien looked up, eyes wide.
“O-okay!” He looked to Emory. “What am I going to do?”
“Is opening the door out of the question?” Adrien let out a whine, standing up and looking back at his reflection. There was a knock on the door again.
“Adrie, we’re gonna go to DreamSet, c’mon!!” This time it was Gabriel, their brother. Frantically, Adrien started to cut his hair again, this time in an attempt to fix it. It didn’t work very well and Adrien ended up opening the bathroom door, crying again. Emory left the bathroom to go to whatever talking cats did when they weren’t acting like a therapist.
“Woahh...you good?” Gabe asked.
“Why did you cut your hair?”
“Uhm...I have something to tell you guys, but you can’t tell anyone else, okay?”
Val and Gabe looked at each other. “Okaayyy....”
“Okay, uhm...this is gonna sound weird, I think, I dunno, but uh...I’m trans.”
“Sssooo...you’re a boy?” Gabriel asked, to which Adrien nodded. “Then why’d you cut your hair?”
“Gabe!” Valerie scolded.
“What? Boys can have long hair.”
Adrien laughed, sniffling a little. “Y-yeah, but I didn’t like it.”
“Oh. Okay. You look like a mess, though. I-I mean, no offence, but, uh, I think Pater’s gonna notice your hair’s gone.” The three didn’t have time to think about it, however, as Rowan came into the hallway.
“What are you three doing?” And then he saw Adrien’s hair. “Adrien, what on Arcadia did you do to your hair?” Adrien opened his mouth to speak, but Gabe cut him off.
“Nothing! I, uh, pulled a prank and some stuff got stuck in h-uh, Adrien’s hair, so we had to cut it out…”
Rowan sighed. “Gabe, seriously? I’ve told you before not to pull pranks on your sisters. Not to mention, we’re about to go out! Why would you think that would be a good idea? You’re grounded.” Gabriel looked down in disappointment. Adrien felt guilty, he had just gotten ungrounded last week.
“Adrien,” Valerie said a bit forcefully, “yes it was. That’s why you were crying. Because you didn’t want to cut your hair.”
Adrien shook his head. “No, I don’t want you two to lie for me. Pater, I need to talk to you.”
“Okay…? You two can go wait in the car.” His siblings left, leaving Adrien and Rowan alone. Adrien explained to him that he was trans, albeit this time it was a bit more of a lengthy speech than what he gave his siblings.
“So that’s why I cut my hair.” He finished. “You can ground me if you want.”
“Well, firstly I want you to know that I love you regardless, and I’m not grounding you for cutting your hair. Should you have told me? I would’ve preferred that, yeah, but I understand why you didn’t. I’m not mad, okay?”
Adrien nodded. “Is it okay if Diana fixes my hair?”
Rowan nodded. “Yeah it’s...she’s gonna have a field day with that, all right. Anything else?”
“Yeah, could you tell Daddy for me?”
“Of course. Now, let’s go before Gabe blows up the car again.”
