anyone can be a hero.

Merle was being so casual… John was confident enough in his own insight to know Merle knew what he wanted to ask… Why? Why? Why? Why would he do that? Why would he brush it off like nothing had happened? Still, John recognized the dismissal and, fingers linking tightly to keep them from fidgeting– an annoying tick he’d not even managed to shake after eons of being out of himself– he did not press the issue. Perhaps he would analyze it himself later, try to pick apart what had gone poorly. 

“Ah, yes, the tailor,” he’d forgotten. Merle had remembered. The corner of his mouth twitched up for a fraction of a second but it controlled itself back to neutral almost at once. “I suppose I’m not, no. Still, I hadn’t expected it to be such a fiasco. I didn’t realize the tailor was such a… how should I put this… colorful? fellow?”

He’d just meant to pop in and get a new suit! He only had a few and though it wasn’t… ideal… to wear a suit while living on the beach he preferred it to the casual clothes the dwarves wore. If there was one thing he knew it was that even before being a world-eating evil entity he had never worn shorts. And that wasn’t about to change just because he’d found himself crashing with the first living person he’d spoken to in eons in this new hippie beach resort that was more often than not flooded with screaming adventure children. But the tailor had made such a scene of how tall he was, how thin he was, about how his measurements couldn’t possibly be right, and how all black made it look like he was going to a funeral, and wouldn’t a floral suit be more preferable?

              merle gave the pot one last stir before leaving it be for a bit. he hummed && considered what John said, how that his formal yet somewhat somber fashion && lanky appearance stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the more earthy, warm tones of the cove. he turned around towards him, wiped his hands on his apron && considered what he would look like in anything else besides his dark garments. it was a strange thought, but oddly pleasant. he finds himself moving closer again. it was strange how he always found himself wanting to be nearer to him. he wasn’t exactly cuddly looking! yet there was an appeal to him. angular in a way that humans probably found attractive. a little skinny, maybe, but it seemed to fit his whole aura.

“ yeaaaaah, he’s a pretty odd fella’ ! real big on patterns && stuff— maybe we should’ve gone outta town for that? ” again a somewhat knowing smile. he looked John over with an approving look. “ i think it’d be nice to see you in some different colors— though, i don’t think there’s much I wouldn’t wanna see you in, though i gueeeeess a dwarf can admit there’s some stuff i’d reaaaaally wanna see you in! wink wink.” he tried to wink but then remembered that was impossible with one eye, so instead he just shot a finger gun && hoped the explicit verbal cue was enough to convey it. then to make it a little less suggestive ( which was odd for him, he usually didn’t care about how inappropriate his words were. strange how that worked, huh? ) he then added. “ though I think there’s some stuff that would be weird to see ya in. like crocs. that’d be a system shock!”

        in the still, comfortable silence rainer’s eyes fluttered shut, cheek arching into the hand that gently ran across the soft surface. maddie’s hands were warm, && comforting && she smelled like home && something sweet. the palms had seen wear, most likely from her training as a healer. there was care in the way it moved from the apple of her cheek to her chin. 

       rainer’s own hand moved to take the hand from her chin && move it carefully to her lips, eyes opening now to look up at the other woman across from her. she softly kissed the first knuckle that her lips touched, leaving a pink kiss mark in the wake of her mouth.

 [ STARTER FOR @ethicsperformed ]

✒ 🔍 ✒

      Angus was taking his time with his studies for today, working on keeping up with what few cases he actually had now and whatever Madame Director needed from him. They were in between relics, which actually gave the boy detective a lot more free time than he had originally expected from his new job. He hadn’t heard anything from the director as of late, it seemed she was more concerned on training more of the- hand’s on employees. They were close now, they only needed two more grand relics and everything would be concluded.ONLY two more- wow- almost done. Certainly put a lot into perspective for the child, but also leads him onto thinking about a few other things. 

      So- he… knew of his three favorite people on the moon base, Taako, Magnus, and Merle- naturally. He knew from his sleuthing of Merle’s kids, a secret kept between the two of them under the guise of a threat. He figured out about Magnus’s new rougeish skills a good while ago- and he had heard of a certain magic mentor of his getting a date. He knew he hadn’t spoken of it before- seemingly to anyone else. He just… might have… seen him- with a certain mysterious figure at the Chug N’ Squeeze. So naturally the small boy was curious about who the man was, and what kind of relationship the two of them had. The Chug N’ Squeeze was seen as a date heavy spot… so- the date part was mostly an assumption of Angus’s. 

      So- this is why he was following a lead, of that said mysterious figure that he saw Taako with. Obscure and strange he seemed to be, it was honestly a spout of pure luck that let Angus even see him in the first place. But it wasn’t hard to make the connection that it was the same person. He was quite handsome, and had a certain vibe about him that was honestly hard to miss. Not to mention his whole… general fancy look. It wasn’t the same as Angus’s, naturally, but he still was dressed up in a nice suit and seemed very respectable. Now, it probably wasn’t the most respectable thing for Angus to be doing- following this very handsome stranger that went on a date with his magic instructor and friend. There was a moment where he questioned if he should generally be doing this… but, hey what the heck? He was curious and maybe he had his own mysteries about him. So follow on he would. 

         THINGS HAD BEEN VERY STRANGE THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS. PERHAPS, THE STRANGEST being that kravitz had actual felt himself falling uselessly for a man who he had met originally at the end of his scythe. he thought vaguely it was stupid for him to be gazing into the shop of the clothing store in front of him && contemplating what the elf would wear. he looked over a shirt with puffy sleeves, trying his best to think of anything but how nice the other would look in it. he felt a flutter in his stomach he thought had died with him. his job didn’t allow for many outside connections, && as a mortal he had been so busy so often he never even had time to have many romantic pursuits. 

         KRAVITZ was thinking about what would be alright as a gift after one date. he was considering this silently as he looked through the glass window of the shop until he acknowledged the small boy staring intently at him from a distance. his expression didn’t change, he merely observed him silently with the comfort his inspection would be hidden in the glass due to his body obscuring it. he racked his brain for who this kid could be, drawing blanks on anything. he was a gay man, so he obviously didn’t have any bastards of some kind. he also can’t place a parent he arrested having a child nearby to want some sort of revenge. usually he acted with as little witnesses as possible; one would be flabbergasted how irritating people wanting revenge for their dead loved ones became after the second one. even if he was some vengeance-seeking orphan, there couldn’t be a reasonable explanation for how he was aware of his flesh-suit. 

      still, a smile graced his lips && he shifted his head slightly towards the direction of the kid. “ i know, it’s a little bright out to be wearing all black. though, i’ve found lighter colors really kill my general image. ” he turned on his heel, now facing the child entirely. there was still a few steps between them, a good distance in fact. kravitz, like any reasonable adult, didn’t particularly want to get very close to a child he’s never met without some good reason, like the kid was on fire or something. luckily, while a pretty strict gig he was still allowed to extinguish children who were on fire. thank the queen for little blessings. 

merle slowly realizing his daughter might be gay bc she dresses like a dad && also whenever he asks about if she’s into anyone at school she turns red && begins stuttering rambly about an ambiguous “boy who’s very manly” && merle’s attempting to seem COOL && ok to talk to about this by talking abt how neat carey && killian are && mavis gushes 4 ten minutes abt how much she thinks they’re so cool.