On the way from who knows when

On the way from who knows when Down the road from never been On the way and movin' in Found the spot where love begins Tasha | 23 | PST

[warmandstill]

@shadcwdancrs​

Seven hours. Seven hours, Lana had to try their best not to mess up the makeup all over their body. Had to avoid touching her face, eat anything messy, wipe her clothes on anything. But, finally, it was time to get ready for the party, and when she glanced in the mirror, the only thing she had to fix was her lipstick. Leaning towards her mirror, she carefully lifted the tube to her lips, letting the product glide over her skin. There it went, the last bit of natural, visible skin that was left of her.

From there, it wasn’t a long trip to the palace. She called a taxi, who was very surprised to be taking her where she asked to be going, but after promising she knew people, it all seemed to be fine. After paying the man, speaking to two different guards about who she knew and who had invited her to the Halloween party, and an extremely thorough search of her belongings, she was finally allowed inside the palace. Not that she expected anything else - she had people she cared about inside, and if they didn’t screen their visitors in such a manner, there would be issues. 

After shooting both Lex and Thalia texts to let them know she got in okay, Lana let out a soft breath, tucking their phone back into their pocket. They were inside, they were heading towards the party. It had all gone fine. They hadn’t needed to text Lex to come let her inside, it had all gone fine. 

The brunette shook out her hair with her gloved fingers, glancing in a mirror next to the door to make sure everything looked alright. Nothing looked out of place, at least for now. Her hair was falling in familiar curls, her blazer was sitting just right, her makeup didn’t seem to need any adjusting... and the rumble of music was calling her name. So, after taking a deep breath, she reached for the door handle, and pushed, entering the room. 

Immediately, her eyes scanned the room, making note of all the familiar faces from the gold ball. Of course, this time, they were decked out in much different garb. She chuckled a bit, eyeing some of them. No one could call the royals uncreative, she would give them that much. She paused, however, when she realized that she couldn’t spot Lex or Thalia... or even Sanem, for that matter. Was the party really that big? Was there a section of it she was missing? She pursed her lips, and pulled her phone out of her pocket again, quickly shooting Lex another text. Hey, I’m inside! Just sitting at a table by the doors. And with that, she supposed she would wait.

[warmandstill]

@shadcwdancrs​

Brielle smiled as she excused herself from her current conversation, seeing her betrothed walking away from the drinks table with two cups in his hands. “Are those for me? Wow.” She said jokingly, reaching as if she was going to take both of them from him, at first. She dropped one of her hands last minute, though, taking only one of the cups with a playful expression on her face. “Thank you, mon chou.” The brunette gave him a smile, more genuine this time - the playfulness fading away to be replaced with affection. 

“How are you enjoying the party?” She asked curiously, moving to his side so they could continue moving away from the drinks table. Her spare hand reached up to take his arm gently, weaving through the crowd of costumed party-goers. It was interesting, being like this with him with other people around. Not strange, per say... strange wasn’t the word she would use to describe it. Different, though. Different for sure. The French princess had been like this with him in private, kissing his cheek and cuddling, and kissing down his jaw... but even just taking his arm at a party, that was more than they usually did with others around. At least, this many others. 

It wasn’t like it was a secret that they were together. They tried for a day or two, and then they told their families, and now they may as well let everyone else find out. What was the harm? She certainly didn’t see it. She doubted anyone else would really care, frankly - she didn’t care much when other royals got together. She figured no one else would either. So why, when anyone looked their way, did she assume they were looking at them? She forced herself out of her own thoughts, making herself look up at his face. “Candy really did do a lovely job, you know. You look excellent.” 

[warmandstill]

@stargazerwriting

Dressing up as Catwoman certainly wasn’t something that Aleyna ever thought she was going to be convinced to do. However, she really was a pushover, she was learning this - it didn’t take much for Eden to convince her to do it. She’d been embarrassed, at first, when she arrived at the party. Her face was all red, and she kept feeling like she had to cover herself up somehow. Though she was entirely covered - it was just all skintight. However, after little while, she was starting to get used to it. Not as many eyes were on her as she thought there would be, so she was finally able to start relaxing. 

And, she was relaxed. Until, of course, she got herself another drink, only to turn around and see someone standing directly behind her. She gasped, jumping a little bit - the makeup threw her for a moment, before she realized who it was. “Oha, Alejo.” She breathed out, her whole body relaxing and a smile coming to her face. “You scared me half to death.”

[warmandstill]

thiccachu​:

It wasn’t really about the money. Sally was fortunate enough with her business for that. Benefits of being the only seamstress and cleaners in Sleepy Hollow. Working for the theater was more of a passion project more than anything. A way to make her ordinary life a little more glamorous. Plus it didn’t hurt she would get to see a certain actor she may or may not have a crush on. But that was a whole other story. “It’s fine. I’m not expecting Broadway budgets for my work…just yet at least.” She replied with a laugh. “I’m sure you are. I look forward to seeing the show. And again, it’s no problem at all.”

Zero laughed a little bit at her words, nodding. “Good, I’m glad... just wanted to make sure. But I’ll definitely give your name to the people at the theatre, and hopefully they’ll give you a call. Otherwise... I’ll come in and we’ll end up paying you anyway, when the repairs they need done are too complicated for me to fix myself.” They refused to look up YouTube tutorials to figure it out, most of the time. They were just too busy, at this point - if it wasn’t a simple thing they could learn in five minutes, they were getting someone else to do it. “Well, uh, I don’t want to keep you. How much stuff do you have left to do the rest of the day?” They asked, assuming she likely had quite a bit of work ahead of her - the day wasn’t over, after all.

[warmandstill]

@whiskeysfire

Kolya sighed dramatically as he sat down on Sam’s floor, looking over at her with a bit of a pout. “Okay, I know it’s October still,” he started, his head turning towards the window, “but can’t monsoon season be over now? I want to go for walks outside without getting drenched. And it’s not like you can use an umbrella, it just gets destroyed in the wind.” He was just whining, he knew that. He knew he was being unreasonable - the Thai royals were being absolutely lovely for hosting them, and it was bratty for him to be complaining about the weather of all things, as if any of them had any control over it. 

Taking a handful of chips in his hand, he wandered over to said window, looking down at the street for a moment, only to jump after a moment. “О Боже!” He exclaimed after a moment, starting to laugh. “Oh, I shouldn’t laugh, that’s not--” He couldn’t help it though. “You have to come look, there’s this huge puddle. It doesn’t look very deep, but this person just stepped in it, and got almost all the way to their knee wet... poor guy.”

[warmandstill]

moonandstarsrps​:

“The fire is nice,” she agreed with a nod of her head. “It is still very warm tonight but it does help to fight off the chill that could approach.” As she said so, a shiver ran up Tetyana’s spine and goosebumps formed on her arms. Laughing softly, she scooched herself closer to the fire just a bit in order to get some of that warmth. “The wind is cooler than you may think.” Her gaze settled out over the water, wishing she could see a bit more, but knowing that the darkness was calming.

“I did,” Tanya admitted, turning her head to smile at her brother. “I thought about going right back to my room afterwards but thought it would be interesting to see what this after party was,” she explained. “Did you enjoy yourself?”

-

“I think we just lucked out that it’s not raining, for once... they weren’t kidding about monsoon season, honestly.” Nikolai admitted, with a little bit of a laugh. “Otherwise, there would be no fire... and we’d all still be stuck inside.” He wasn’t sure where the afterparty would be, in that case. He was sure it would still be happening, he had no doubt in that fact... he had too much faith in their siblings’ abilities. “It does, you’re right. The sea breeze, and all that.” As he saw her shiver, he blinked, immediately glancing around for his suit jacket. “Do you want this?” He asked, holding up the jacket. “I haven’t been using it, the long pants help.”

“Oh good, I’m glad.” He said with a smile. “I thought the same thing, but Kostya really wanted me to make an appearance... so here I am.” He admitted with a chuckle. “I did, yeah. It’s really nice to see some people again, after so long.”

[warmandstill]

oraclexwrites​:

Topher had talked ZiZi into coming with him to the bar. It was still on his time to guard him so he agreed, of course. The music was good at least… “Listen, I am telling you right now, Topher, I give that drunk idiot over there exactly twelve more minutes of striking out with that red head before she socks him. You see how her fists are by her sides and how tense those shoulders are? She is a snake waiting to strike at this point.“ He sipped his soda, not one to drink while guarding Topher, even if they were at a bar. “Look, look, look, she’s taking a step back now, she’s getting in position to rock his shit, I bet.“ @warmandstill​

Topher wasn’t usually one to go to the bar, at least not without being convinced themselves - but they did figure that ZiZi deserved a bit of time to relax, and some time that didn’t just involve his bed. “What?” Topher asked first, laughing at the concept as they tried to figure out who their guard was talking about. “Oh, shit, maybe you’re right...” They admitted, once their eyes finally landed on the unhappy couple. Honestly, by how drunk the guy looked, he couldn’t blame the redhead. He doubted the flirting was going very well. “Have you ever tried to flirt while you were that drunk?”

[warmandstill]

tangodancerxindie​:

Something broke.

As Anna would have described it days before, she had been very “well behaved” or very “good.” Ignoring the ever-present feeling of abandonment that seemed to be slowly swallowing her whole had been no easy task, and while each distraction was growing a bit tired, she hadn’t broken. Not fully. The occasional spiral with someone she dearly trusted did not a breakdown make. In fact, it was nothing compared to the shit Rowan was used to from her back in Ireland, where she nearly killed herself medicating the pain away. Guilt, deep set guilt that her friend had to see that still plagued her, and she’d come to Thailand determined that they wouldn’t have to, again. That her friends wouldn’t have to know how bad she was hurting. That her family would be mostly in the dark, for all that’s left of them. She was determined to be bright, easy, fun, and hard to leave behind.

And look where it’d gotten her.

The silence in her room had all but driven Anna insane as she stormed back into it, red hot tears spilling down her cheeks. Shaking hands had shut the door behind her, hardly acknowledging the force behind the shove and jumping at the noise left in its wake. Shoulders tensed, hands balling into fists for a brief moment before they began walking towards the window, determined to get a breeze. Get some ambient noise. Get something besides the sound of her own trembling breaths. Rowan had been texted in the hallway, warned to get there to her, and as she waited for her friend, her guard, her dearest confidante… She couldn’t help but feel endlessly alone.

Her hands moved to the windowsill, supporting her as she looked out into the darkness of the island’s night, as if it could offer her some clarity that Lucille hadn’t been able to. They hardly knew anything, but if Aidan was betrothed… He was back. He had to be back. And all of the feelings she’d been bottling inside felt uncontrollable now, insurmountable. The sound of the door opening behind her hardly gave her pause, as the familiar footfall, the sound of panting… Rowan had always been attentive like that. 

“–Aidan’s back. Or he’s not, I don’t fucking know.” It was easier to let it out now than babble, though her watery tone, trembling lip likely gave away how she’d been crying. “Grab a bottle from my cabinet, please, Row.”

a starter for @warmandstill​ ( rowan & anna )

-

I just need someone.

That was truly all they needed to see before shoving their phone in their pocket, and dropping the remnants of their mostly-finished sandwich onto the plate in the dining area. Quickly, they stood and dropped their plate off in the area for dishes, before heading towards the door. They waited until they were in the hallway, they weren’t a savage, before they started running. It wasn’t a full sprint, but it wasn’t a jog, either. Anna didn’t often admit when she actually needed someone, though. She wasn’t one to admit when she needed attention, needed love... She was quieter than that. She would ask quietly, reach for you and hope you wouldn’t pull away. So the fact that she was asking them to come over, saying she was going to be crying... they were worried. And it warranted running.

It didn’t take long for them to arrive at Anna’s room - they only wished they hadn’t been eating at the time that they texted them. They would have been only a few doors down, if that was the case, right there... but no, of course, they were across the fucking palace. Knocking on the door first to announce their presence, they tried the doorknob, panting slightly from the running. “What happened?” They asked first, eyes wide as they looked at her. She didn’t look good... and that worried them, definitely. 

If they hadn’t been panting, the sound of Aidan’s name would have made Rowan’s breath stop in their chest. However, it only caught for a second, causing almost what sounded like a hiccup, before they kept breathing heavily, their chest rising and falling, though steadying slowly now that they were just standing. “What?” They asked first, frowning. “Annie, he’s... what?” How could Aidan be back? Or not? How could that possibly be the case? “Oh. Uh. Yes, of course.” The guard immediately moved to her cabinet and opened it up, grabbing the first thing they saw and moving back towards her.

“Oh, Annie, I’m sorry.” They said softly, their face suddenly melting when they saw her expression. They handed her the bottle, before putting a hand on her shoulder, looking down at her face. “Do you want to tell me what happened, or do you not want to talk about it? Either is fine.” They told her, their voice gentle. “Whatever you want.”

[warmandstill]

kaylawritesthings​:

All he could say was at least he didn’t look uncaring. His expression didn’t change, the slight crease in his brow giving off the impression that Luka was a bit worried, but he was ecstatic about the fact that Bri wasn’t willing to share what was on her mind. The German didn’t feel like being bored to tears. “If you say so.” He left it at that, drink brought to his lips so he could sip for something to do. Luka had to give it a moment before he moved on to the next topic.

At least Bri could agree with him on certain topics. It was something about her that he seemed to like and one thing that kept bringing him back to her. Proper, prim, pretty, and someone who had a brain…all good enough qualities he supposed. “Agreed. It’s a bit daunting having so many around here. I get this place is for safety but it’s not like they didn’t go to great lengths to keep our location secret.” He wasn’t even sure if his parents knew what island they were on. Thailand had many. 

“Not gold flakes, but I did see a drink with glitter in it earlier. It looked disgusting.” And anyone who decided to drink it could choke on it. With mention of Bri’s room the shadow of a smirk appeared, Luka letting his eyes flit towards the bar before they were taking in the princess once more only to make sure no one was around to overhear. “Is that so? You’ll have to show me sometime. Though, I have a feeling the view isn’t the beauty I’ll be staring at.”

-

Brielle watched his face curiously for a moment, trying to get a read on his expression, but she didn’t press. She didn’t want to talk about it, and he wasn’t pushing - so why was she so interested in the way he was looking at her? As he brought his drink to his lips, she did the same, sipping at her wine yet again and allowing him to use this as an opportunity to change the topic. And thank god for the opportunity, to be honest.

The brunette nodded a bit, sighing at his words. “There truly are so many, and it just feels... suffocating, almost? Maybe that’s too much of an exaggeration. I’m sure we’ll get used to it soon enough.” She had to hope that they would, at least. Otherwise, this was going to be a very miserable experience. “I truly don’t understand how they’re keeping this a secret, though. Of course, there are so many islands, but there had to be so many ships and planes coming here, is that not obvious to those who are looking?” Did they have decoy ships, or were they making multiple stops? 

“Oh, goodness, no. No drinks with glitter, it all sinks to the bottom, it gets stuck to your teeth, in your stomach... no. I’m shocked they’re even allowed to serve them.” She admitted, wrinkling up her nose slightly at the thought of it. No, she would stick to her wine, thank you very much. At the expression on his face, however, she looked at him curiously for a moment, before realizing his angle. Her cheeks warmed ever so slightly, though she doubted it was enough to be visible. And, if it was, she could blame it on the wine. “Flatterer.” She teased, shaking her head at him playfully. “But, perhaps that can be arranged, at some point.”

[warmandstill]

kaylawritesthings​:

So many things her mother had said over the years had started to repeat, the woman’s voice loud and clear with that anger she could exhibit through her tone flawlessly bringing shame to the princess. Her cheeks were flushed as she resigned to sitting there and taking the small abuses set upon herself like the good daughter that she was but when her brother’s voice seemed to cut through seamlessly Kolya was somehow able to extinguish the hurtful ghosts of Nathalia’s many chastising words throughout the years and she couldn’t more grateful towards him in that moment whether he would ever know why or not.

“Kolya…I’m fine, really.” Aksana shook her head and tried to wave away his worries, forcing that fake smile she had perfected over time even though she knew her voice had that watered down feel of someone who was about to cry. “It’s nothing, it’s just a small cut. I’m more worried about the jeans, I think. They were some of my favorites.” Actually, were they even hers to begin with? They could have very well been something that Anya or Erica had let her borrow for the night which concerned her even more. 

Worrying her lip, she reached down and gingerly started to lift the fabric as much as she could, only stopping when it was too constricted around her knee. Luckily the cut had been just under it and she was able to start carefully wiping away specks of sand from the outer perimeter. “Do you think it’s going to scar?” 

-

Kolya sighed at her words, his eyes moving up from the gash to her face. “’Sana...” He said softly, a frown on his face. He didn’t even consider the jeans, they weren’t a priority. They weren’t his clothes, so maybe that was why, but still... his focus was on her, making sure that she was okay. “Don’t do that...” He said first, hearing the tone in her voice. He knew that tone. He was extremely familiar with that tone. “We can get you another pair of the jeans, I bet. If that’s really the problem.” 

Somehow, however, he doubted the jeans were the real problem. He remembered, once, when he was a little younger, running away from Valya. He’d rounded the corner in the gardens, they were playing hide and seek and it was his turn to hide while she counted, but tripped on his way around. Down he went, down onto the concrete, and he scraped up both elbows in the process. He didn’t scream or call out, or at least, he didn’t remember doing that... but when he sniffled to himself, and kept walking through the gardens to find a grown up, he came across his father. How could he be crying over something so small, he asked? Something so little? Couldn’t he be tougher? It was just a couple of skinned elbows, how long was he going to embarrass him like this? 

As his sister started lifting the jeans to reveal the cut, he helped her, gingerly clearing away some of the sand. “I don’t think so.” He admitted, softly. “It shouldn’t need stitches either, I don’t think. It’s not too bad. But we should go get this cleaned up. Or maybe one of the guards has a first aid kit?”

[warmandstill]

kaylawritesthings​:

Relief washed over him as if the small waves in the ocean were cleansing Julien of this entire situation without him having to ask. This being Aleyna didn’t make his actions okay but he knew the princess and she seemed to understand his predicament without too much resentment. “I nearly gave myself a heart attack. Fuck.” It was almost enough to kill his high…almost. But after he started to calm down a little, Julien could feel those euphoric emotions starting to creep back into the back of his mind and down his body, the boy closing his eyes for a moment to let it too wash over him. 

“Anna.” The name left his lips automatically in response to her question but when his eyes flew open and they landed on the princess he started to smile softly. “Decided to join the degenerates for a night?” Without thinking his eyes raked over Aleyna to take in her attire, not ashamed in the least about being fully nude himself. “It is a nice night for it.” Julien raised an eyebrow at her, his smile lifting cheekily, voice lowering to a soft tease. “Though you haven’t fully joined us yet, have you?”

-

Aleyna didn’t know what all Julien was on, if it was just alcohol or other things, and she knew that even that fact, nor the darkness, didn’t make it all okay... but it was just a mistake, she knew that. It was just a little mistake - and repeating that was enough to make her heart stop racing. “Maybe check someone’s face next time.” She said softly, only half teasing, as she turned to face him properly now, her eyes flicking up towards his eyes. Where was Zehra with those drinks? She should be back soon, right? 

“Oh, Anna...” The princess squinted, trying to search the water for the Irish duchess, but couldn’t spot her. There were simply too many heads, too many royals in the water... too many royals in general, really. How were the guards keeping track of who was who? “I was convinced.” She admitted, smiling shyly. “It is a nice night for it. And the water is so warm, it’s really nice.” Besides, it was dark - and, as he was pointing out, she wasn’t fully joining them. “I haven’t gotten quite enough alcohol in me yet to fully join you. I’ve still got some of my shame.” 

[warmandstill]

thiccachu​:

There was so much to keep up with. Names, titles, birth order. Unnecessary overcomplicated royal bullshit Ingrid couldn’t care less about. Not like she took this job because she wanted to actually help the poor defenseless swiss princess out. She couldn’t care less about royals. They didn’t deserve her attention after years of taking advantage of all the poor civilians they ruled under. Unfortunately for Ingrid, she couldn’t let that spite for royals be known. She had to happily play along. Just how she was taught by the Parisian rebels. Hands falling to her hips she leaned over to let her lungs catch up. Standing back up straight. “You’re the first person I’ve seen. Sorry.” See. She could play nice. Sometimes.

Brielle nodded slowly at the other girl’s words, but sighed. Even if she wasn’t sure if she believed her, based on the stance, the tone, the speed in which she answered the question... she wasn’t going to push it. She would just keep looking elsewhere, that was fine. Whatever. She wasn’t going to push a stranger for information. “Alright, thank you. I’ll keep looking. If you see them, can you tell them their sister is looking for them? Brielle, not Aurélie.” She told her. There was definitely potential for Charlize to stop by the gym again, so why wouldn’t she warn the only person there that they might stop by? It only made sense, it was only logical. 

[warmandstill]

wildhcvrts​:

let’s just lose our minds, forget the time whilst we’re in our primes ( ollie + elijah ) ! ( @warmandstill​ )

In spite of the fact that they were a year apart in school Ollie had found a kindred spirit in Elijah Bones and very nearly from the moment they met had done his best to strike up a friendship with the younger man that had solidified into something warm and comfortable in all the years they’d known one another. It was often easiest for Ollie to wrangle Elijah into spending time with him, at least it seemed a bit easier than trying to get some of his other friends to work their schedules around him but he understood being busy and had never held it against them when plans were difficult to make. It helped that Elijah was always willing to tell him about the most interesting creature he’d run into at work in the time since they’d last seen each other and Ollie, as a long-time adorer of creatures of all sorts, could always be counted on to listen to his friend’s stories with rapt attention.

That evening Ollie had made the short walk to the Three Broomsticks shortly after closing his own shop for the evening, quietly reading a book that had been recommended to him by a customer the day before as he waited for both the drinks he’d ordered and Elijah to arrive. Timing seemed to favor him that evening when both his friend and their drinks arrived at roughly the same moment and Ollie flashed Elijah a crooked smile as he tucked a bookmark between the pages of the book in his hands and tucked it away to give the younger man his full attention. 

“Alright, mate? I ordered a butterbeer for both of us– I wasn’t quite sure what you wanted but if you’re looking to have something else I don’t mind covering that either. I figured we could start small and that wouldn’t hurt much, eh? I’m certainly not trying to get pissed in the next ten minutes,” the redhead explained, shrugging his coat off as the warmth of the pub began to make itself known. “How’s work been? Anything exciting since last we spoke? I’m guessing they’re still being a bit shit about letting you work with dragons.”

-

For once, Elijah wasn’t running late for a meeting with Ollie. He felt dreadful about the whole thing. He wasn’t sure what it was about the other, he wasn’t late with nearly anyone else - in fact, he was usually early. But something about any plans with Ollie, something always went wrong. A dragon went into labour two weeks premature, or a bowtruckle’s tree got destroyed in the wind storm, or there was just a major line to get out of the ministry... and he was always late. He’d apologized profusely, of course - Ollie wasn’t unimportant to him, and he wanted to make sure the other knew that, so he told him, a few times now. However, this time, he planned for this. This time, he made sure he wouldn’t be late. He accommodated an extra twenty minutes into his travel schedule, he made sure he left work on time - and so, even when a work colleague stopped and chatted him up for fifteen minutes, he actually walked into the Three Broomsticks about two minutes before their chosen meeting time. 

“Did I do it?” He asked first, looking down at his watch once he finally arrived at the table, before back up at the clock in the Three Broomsticks. “I think I actually did it!” He pulled out the chair across from his friend, a big grin on his face as he sat down, proud of himself. “Not that that’s a very big accomplishment. Anyway, butterbeer is brilliant, perfect, exquisite, phenomenal. I am exhausted, I need the sugar right now.” He admitted, laughing a little bit as he spoke. 

“Oh, work’s been good. That ridgeback baby’s been doin’ amazing, by the way, he’s really taking after his mum. Chases after the biguns as if he’s one of them.” He recounted, big smile on his face as he explained. He wished someone had a camera to capture it, instead of it just being the couple of dragonologists around. “Oh, you know, a little bit, yeah. The dragons that we have, they’re fine with... it’s the traveling to work with them, that’s the problem. That’s what we really want to be doing. We need to learn more about them, how they actually behave, how they want to actually behave. But we can’t when they’re here.”

[warmandstill]

wildhcvrts​:

let’s go to your house, just hang out, waste a couple hours ( lou + elijah ) ! ( @warmandstill​ )

“Lye– d’ye see ‘im over there on your end?” Lou squinted as she peered into the closet of the elderly woman who’d called the department to request she have a niffler removed from her property. It was, ordinarily, Lou’s absolute favorite thing to do over the course of playing animal control with Elijah on any given day; truly, if she couldn’t work with dragons as regularly as she’d have liked to then she would happily settle for nifflers– especially when they seemed to take a liking to her as quickly as they often did. “I dinnae where he’s gone now. I’d gotten him here with a galleon or two but he’s not ‘avin it right now.” She sighed, glancing over her shoulder to look at Elijah with an imploring expression before she moved away from the closet and stood with her hands on her hips, frowning at the hardwood floor beneath her boots with uncharacteristic somberness.

“Have you found him yet, dears?” 

Lou blinked at the sound of the elderly woman’s voice and cleared her throat, stepping towards the open bedroom door, “We’ll ‘ave ‘im out of your hair in no time, Mrs. Breckinridge! He’s just bein’ a bit naughty at present but we’ll find him soon! Promise!” She thought she heard a distant hum of confirmation as she fished around in the pockets of her jacket for a handful of coins– pulling out two galleons, three sickles and six knuts. She flicked a galleon to Elijah with a grin before she shifted to lie down on her stomach with another galleon between her fingers, “C’mon, mate. Mam promised us tea after this and you’ll make us late,” She grumbled under her breath as she peered under the bed with the galleon outstretched, the coin pulled from her fingers just as she got caught a glimpse of the little creature they’d been sent to catch.

“Lye, he’s under the bed! Can you see him from where you are? You’ve longer arms– you should be able to reach ‘im!”

-

Elijah let out a heavy, audible sigh as he heard his partner’s voice from the other room. “Nope!” He called back, having just finished up a thorough sweep of the living room. He headed into the bedroom, to join Lou inside, leaving the door open behind him for a moment. Usually, they would leave doors closed, to keep the creatures from sneaking past them, but he was watching, for now. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, scowling into the room. Usually nifflers weren’t too much trouble, you just dropped some galleons on the floor, hid, and waited. This one didn’t fall for that, at least not at first. “He’s got to be in here, Lou, he’s not in the rest of the flat. We’ve checked everywhere.” He pointed out, pushing himself up from off the wall and joining her on the floor to continue looking. 

Just as he was peeking under a dresser, however, the elderly woman’s voice could be heard from the doorway, and he jumped, bonking his head on the wood. “Ouch.” 

“Promise.” He seconded, once his head was no longer stuck underneath the dresser. He attempted to catch the galleon Lou flicked towards him, managing to catch it in his left hand with a fairly loud “Aha!” before realizing he should likely be quiet, to catch the niffler. He was good at his job, he swore. “Tea. Tea and biscuits. I’m so hungry.” He whined, letting his head fall back down towards the floor. They had been searching for this niffler for ages. “Mm?” His attention was grabbed again, as she mentioned that the creature was under the bed, and he immediately nodded, army-crawling in the direction of the creature. He covered the galleon with his palm at first, only uncovering it once he was within sight of the creature. “Hey, little guy, see this?” He spoke softly, slowly, making sure to catch the galleon in some of the sunlight. “You want this?” 

Slowly, he saw the niffler start to crawl towards him from under the bed, and Elijah gave Lou a thumbs up from behind his back. 

[warmandstill]

melodiesandmemories​:

Open Starter! Marauders Verse, Astrid Cromwell (Herbologist)

As Astrid stepped outside of Dogweed and Deathcap for her lunch break, she was grateful to see that the fog that surrounded Hogsmeade early that morning had burned off into a beautiful partly-cloudy sky. At the edge of the town she could hear birds tweeting as they flitted about from tree-to-tree and she felt an indescribable peace wash over her. These were the days that she lived for, doing a job she loved and being close enough to nature that she could enjoy it in all of it’s majesty when she had a spare moment. With that thought in mind, and her small lunch basket on her arm, she headed toward the edge of town to find a bench upon which to perch and eat her lunch. 

Gaze ever toward the tops of the treeline, scanning for the signs of life from various creatures, she’d hardly realized there was anyone around until her body collided with another person’s. Instantly an embarrassed flush spread up her neck and across her cheeks. “Oh! I am so so sorry! I did not see you there! Are you all right?” 

As much as Rowan was enjoying their accommodations, it was nice to be able to go out for a walk. It was a nice day outside, despite the fog in the early morning. They’d first sat outside in that fog with a cup of tea, but now that it was nicer, they figured - a walk may be just what he needed to get going. They needed to figure out a plan for what they were going to do now that they really were back in town. They needed a job - they had funds saved, but it was only going to last so long. They smiled as they felt the breeze blowing against their cheeks, and they let their eyes close just barely a moment. 

This was, evidently, not the smartest thing to do. Closing their eyes while walking - what an idiotic move. They found themselves colliding with someone else, and gasped, stumbling back quickly. “Ah, fuck.” They said, before they could stop themselves. “No, no, that’s my fault. One hundred percent my fault.” The admitted. “I’m fine, are you?”

[warmandstill]

@tangodancerxindie​

After the way things went with Duncan, Rowan wanted to handle things different with the other people they were close to. They couldn’t let their reunions just happen in the street, it just couldn’t happen that way - so, they asked around, figured out people who knew Anna, and, they were actually able to find her address. Now, they just had to hope that the familiar redhead (would her hair still be red?) was home when they arrived. 

The brunet could feel their heart racing as they stood in front of the door, their palms sweaty. They felt both too warm and too cold at the same time - like they wanted to take off their jacket, but like they needed to shove their hands in their pockets. It was a strange feeling, one they didn’t have time to feel during their reunion with Duncan. But this time, there was plenty of time. They could stand there as long as they wanted to, really... or not at all. They could turn around and leave, do this another day... send a letter. They wouldn’t, but it was an option. 

Stop dawdling.

Rowan took a deep breath and raised a fist to the door, rapping on it a few times, before letting their hand drop again. It was too late to go back now. Well, disapparition did exist - but that was childish. It felt like eons went by, from the time that they knocked on the door, to the time that they heard footsteps approaching - but they were also convinced that it was likely their mind playing tricks on them. And then, suddenly, their mind didn’t have time to spin anymore, because there she was, in front of them.

“Oh. Hey, Annabird.” They said quietly, all of the things they had in mind to say suddenly dropping out of their brain.

[warmandstill]

wildhcvrts​:

—

“Don’t,” Duncan ground out through gritted teeth, his chest burning in time with the lump settling in his throat and the heat that seared its way into his throat and behind his eyes. “Don’t you fuckin’ lie to me. If this is a joke I haven’t done anything to deserve it– you don’t have to be cruel.” 

He felt a desperate need to breathe– his own breath caught in his chest in a vice grip of both panic and disbelief that he couldn’t shake even as he tried to focus on Rowan– no, he thought fiercely, it can’t be them– through the tears brimming in his eyes. If he was going to have the world’s most embarrassing outburst in response to seeing a ghost as best he could tell, or being punished by someone higher in Voldemort’s organization for some unknown slight– something that genuinely could not be happening given the fact that he’d never told anyone else he was dating Rowan to begin with. Still, the grief at imagining someone impersonating them was enough to rip all logical thought away from him and it was all he could do to take in strained, bedraggled breaths as he fought to focus on their face. He pressed his forearm harder against their throat out of reflex, his grip on his wand tightening as he waffled between allowing an explanation and hexing whoever this was without hearing another word at all.

After a long, tense moment, Duncan seemed to crumple in on himself with a strained sound somewhere between a sob and a groan as he stepped back and further into the hall; if he was going to have a mental breakdown in public, he thought wildly, he would at least do so where no one could see him. He pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers as he began to cry in earnest, his breathing interrupted by hiccups as he tried and failed to collect himself several times over before he looked up again to meet Rowan’s eyes, a desperate mania in his expression. 

“What do you want?” He asked weakly. “Why are you doing this to me? I can’t let you go if I keep seeing you like this, Row.” Duncan swallowed hard, rubbing an arm over his face to rid it of some of the tear streaks he could feel beginning to cool and stick to his skin. It was that moment of pause that allowed him to recognize the fact that ghosts weren’t solid… that no one impersonating Rowan could smell like them or give him the same sense of deep comfort that they’d always inspired in him– all things Duncan could feel when he stared at them and shook his head in disbelief. “Are you really here?” He asked softly, his voice hardly above a whisper and choked on the tail end of more tears. “Are you real?”

-

Rowan had never seen that kind of fire behind Duncan’s eyes before. Or, at least, they’d never been on the receiving end of it. It was like that fire was shooting directly into their lungs, stealing all the oxygen - because, for a moment, they couldn’t breathe. They couldn’t breathe, speak, anything… only shake their head - until they saw the tears in his eyes. No, that sent all the air back into them, that let them speak. “I’m not lying.” They said first, practically pleading with them the way they were speaking. They needed Duncan to listen, to process.

It had taken months, years, even, to admit that they weren’t going to receive letters back from the people they cared about. They didn’t understand it, and honestly, they had finally begun to accept that maybe they were never going to understand it. They’d written them so many times at the beginning, recounting the new house, the city, how different everything was... how much they missed everyone. How empty everything felt, being away from everyone they knew and loved. And yet, they heard nothing back. They even inquired, first to their grandparents here and there, asking about if they’d received any mail, but the answer was always no. Then, to the ministry. The answer from them was no as well.

As tears began to fall down Duncan’s face, Rowan took a few steps forward, their instincts telling them to wrap their arms around him, despite his wand just having been pressed to their throat. Instead, they stopped themselves in their tracks, just watching them, though there was a pained expression lacing their features. Their bottom lip was trembling as they struggled to fight tears back themselves, seeing Duncan this way. The fact that his first assumption was that they were some intruder, being used against him... what had been going on since they left? 

“Nothing.” They said first, at his question. You would have been closer to the truth, but he asked them not to be cruel... and they knew that would be a cruel thing to say, after all this time. They stood, practically frozen, as Duncan stood and stared at them. They hadn’t expected this day to go this way. All they wanted was a drink, to get settled... and then start to find everyone. And now, in spite of everything, there he was. “I’m really here.” They finally whispered, their own voice breaking as they answered the question. They took a couple more steps forward, desperate to be closer to him. They hadn’t realized it yet, but tears had also begun rolling down their cheeks. “I’m real. It’s me.”