let darkness consume you

@mpxshuhua

So Jade had informed her she’d be leaving the island to go do some travelling and figure out her new reality, something that Adaline had only been able to agree with and accept. It had been a little strange, but she had accepted it was for the better and that was all that really mattered, wasn’t it? She wanted her friends to be happy, even if it meant they had to leave her side.

The last thing she expected to happen was for her to be out one evening walking off all the troubles from the past couple of months, only to come across another old acquaintance that was very closely related to Jade.

“Shuhua,” she says the second she recognises the other girl, eyes widening slightly in surprise as she pulls her hands out of the pockets of her thick coat to pull back the fluffy hood she’s wearing against the biting cold of the night air. “I can’t believe you’re here as well!” Hadn’t she... Hadn’t she died?

mpxdiana​:

(...) “I’m getting peach green tea, I think. You can never go wrong with the standard milk tea, though. Or anything strawberry.” She had enough trouble trying to figure out her own order, so she probably wasn’t going to be that helpful to Adaline in that regard.

“Me?” She counters Diana’s return compliments almost instantly. “Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately, woman?” She shakes her head with a clicking of her tongue, as if she can’t believe the utter nonsense Diana is uttering right then. “You’d follow me into battle perhaps, but I’m most definitely waging a war to make sure your precious face does not get harmed!” She tugs a strand of Diana’s hair just so she won’t take hold of her friend’s face all over again, because she is tempted to, she can’t deny it.

She is both blessed and cursed with the most beautiful friends, after all. If only Diana weren’t so very taken she might have ventured an attempt at seduction, but as it is she’ll have to make do with friendship. It is also a very nice and comfortable thing, after all.

“Oh I like the idea of anything strawberry. Order me whatever strawberry thing you like best, I’m sure I will love it as well!” She’s never been difficult with flavours or consistencies, so she doesn’t think Diana could pick her something bad, which is all the reassurance she needs, really.

@mpxdiana continued from here:

Diana gasped when a body suddenly crashed into her, nearly dropping her wallet as arms circled her and pulled her in close. She had been distracted, listening to an audiobook while waiting in line to get a bubble tea in the mall food court, so she hadn't even heard someone call her name. Even so, a smile spread across her face when she looked over her shoulder to see that Adaline was the one clinging to her.

"Oh, Adaline! You startled me!" She accused with a laugh, wiggling an arm free to pull out her headphones. "What's up? Doing some shopping? Or do you just come here for the bubble tea, too?"

She laughs when Diana gasps, seemingly convinced at least for the first few moments that she’s about to get robbed or murdered. It luckily takes only one look at her face for her friend to decide it’s not quite such a gruesome turn of events, and so when Diana laughs she grins right back and then leans in to press a sweet little kiss to her friend’s cheek.

“I came here to judge men and spend money, but bubble tea and shopping sounds like a good alternative,” she replies jokingly, easily slipping her arm through Diana’s once she lets go of her friend and siding up with her to join the waiting line. The people behind them might not like it so much but she doesn’t give two flying .... Well, her father wouldn’t approve of that language, probably.

“What have you been up to, girl? It’s been, like, forever, and here I was praising my lucky stars to have come across you on this island instead of just in my dreams.” She lets go of Diana’s arm again just so she can cup her friend’s face and hold it for a moment. “Look at that absolute masterpiece. That is a thing of fantasy right there. God. Jealous. Love you.” She lets go of Diana’s face again in order to hook their arms once more and sighs deeply.

mpxcharlotte​:

(...) “If you want really sweet, my sister Claire likes those frappuccino things,” she continued, smiling fondly as she spoke. “Otherwise, caramel macchiatos are good?”

She laughs when Charlotte says she tends to only drink anything with lots of espresso shots. That, to Adaline, doesn’t sound entirely healthy and most definitely also not delicious because she’s not a big fan of the bitter taste of coffee, but she’s the last person to judge another person’s taste. The suggestion of a frappuccino like ‘my sister Claire’ is a lot more agreeable, however, and so she grins lightly as the beautiful girl finishes her suggestions.

“Your sister Claire sounds like a person of good taste and amazing genes,” she says with an easy laugh, not at all embarrassed to throw in a little hidden flirt here and there because who is she if not a girl who takes her chances anywhere they come? “However the caramel macchiato is also a very good suggestion. I’ll have to think on it on our way to order.”

mpxjade​:

(...) She stays there for a few moments. “I don’t think I will need to let you know. I’m sure you will be able to tell, but if that is what you want, I will let you know.” Jade speaks, and slowly, she turns her head so that she can press a tender kiss on Adaline’s cheek. As she finally pulls away, she rests against the couch as she looks at her.  “I have missed you.”

Her cheek is cupped and she’s told Jade wants her in her life and here, but though she agreed to give her friend time, she’s not sure if she’s even capable at all of lowering her expectations of her. Jade has always been... Well, Jade. Strong, vengeful, won’t let anyone mess with her. To have her replaced by a Jade who would be not that is the strangest though she could ever have mustered.

But still, when Jade pulls her into a hug, she leans in easily, wrapping her arms around her friend as well and holding her close for as long as Jade wants to be held. And though she’s used to hugging her, it is strange to do it in a setting like this, all of it such a large change in scenery that for the first little while she’s not quite sure what she should think or expect of it all.

Then Jade pulls away, resting against the couch, telling her she missed her, and she half-forces a smile, reaching out a hand to run her fingers over her friend’s cheek, unable to stop thinking about all the times these kinds of touches have led them somewhere entirely different than where they are now.

mpxinvidia​:

(...) He leans back after telling her all this and adds at regular volume, “And yeah two weeks was like a blip of time when they’re whacking the shit out of your hands as you recite what you consider to be nonsense back to please them. And somewhere in there is probably the reason I turned out to be pliant in the workplace to pain but that’s another story. And as far as the other story goes– tell me another about you first!”   Invidia nudges her with his knee gently, “Would you believe me if I told you I’m shy about my life?”

He clarifies to her straight away that the girl didn’t die but simply didn’t return back to school and so some of her temper eases, and then he states he would’ve committed murder had she died and the rest of her shackles also lower. She takes him in for a long moment as he reassures her of how he did what was necessary, and though she still feels a couple of knocked out teeth shouldn’t have caused him to feel bad, she softens down again to him instantly.

“They should have wacked the shit out of his ass,” she still comments with a little disgusted twist of her mouth at the thought of the idiot guy, before her easy demeanour from before returns to her in full force. Her smile follows when he tells her he’s shy about his life and she lets it be followed by a little laugh of delight.

“Not in the slightest,” she tells him, reaching out to pick up her drink and have another sip. “But then also yes,” she says once she’s put the glass back down. “About your personal life, I could see it.” She gives a single nod of her head before thinking of her own life and the stories she could share.

mpxinvidia​:

(...) Invidia reaches up with one of his hands and fiddles with his necklace out of habit before he talks again, “So I was going to actually suggest we go to the bar earlier but that was … four hours ago!” He laughs and then goes on, “And I admit I’m fairly lazy tonight so, would you like to join me for a walk to the park?”

He lifts his head just enough to be able to look at her and then they’re standing there holding on to each other but not quite hugging anymore, and it’s such a strange position to be in that soon enough she’s just laughing. “You can say whatever you want, I’m sure,” she tells him, before shaking her head with some amusement and then letting go of him fully.

“Go to the bar?” She asks when he tells her what he had wanted to suggest. “Four hours ago? Are you ever anywhere other than the bar?” The question is asked with laughter clear in her voice once again, making it obvious she’s just joking. His other suggestion, though, has her humming in consideration.

She didn’t expect to be suddenly wrapped up into Valentina’s arms, but she also wasn’t going to complain. Sometimes her love for women won out over her need for things to go the way she wants them to. Well; most of the time. After all, women get a lot of free passes with her to do what they feel like doing so long as it doesn’t cross any of her boundaries.

It’s only when she’s being pulled away a little and suddenly feels an intense blaze on the few parts of her that aren’t covered by her friend’s body that she realises Valentina isn’t just hugging her out of nowhere, but that she had perceived whatever it is bursting alight and had decided to save Adaline from the fate of being burned alive. She appreciates that, for sure.

So she stays tucked away until Valentina finally releases her hold, which she thinks must mean the imminent danger has passed, and then she lifts her head carefully to look up at her friend from where her head was unceremoniously smushed against her friend’s bosom. Also not a place she had minded being much, it should be noted.

It seems like the entire island’s been drenched with a hugging potion, and she would suspect uncle Eros of it if he hadn’t already told her he had nothing to do with it. As it is, Adaline has been hugged by quite a few people so far, but none as unexpected and as random as this one.

The tall, lanky man clinging to her must be at least two heads taller than her, so how he is managing to hug her is possibly the biggest mystery of them all, but more so than that he had looked so composed in his perfectly styled suit, fancy watch and neatly combed hair. It had seemed like nothing would be able to ruffle him.

Except just three steps later he’d suddenly leapt back and grabbed on to the first thing in sight - her apparently - pointing at whatever it was that had scared him and uttering some incomprehensible sounds that she presumes are supposed to warn her of the danger.

The only issue is... She can’t see past his tall frame to whatever it is.

having received joyous news, sender turns to receiver for a delighted hug.

She’s in line for her mandatory Monday morning coffee at the Flower Mill when suddenly the girl waiting in front of her squeals, turns around and throws her arms around Adaline’s neck. Now if it were anyone else she might have frowned at them very deeply, but Adaline has always been soft for pretty girls. Which means that she hesitates only a moment - giving the girl just enough time to realise if she clung to the wrong person - before wrapping her arms right back around her as well.

Adaline is not sure what happened exactly. One moment she’d been walking from the university over to the bakery, the next she’d spotted a child running around giddily, heading straight for the busy road. It had been instincts more than anything else for her to leap across the distance and grab hold of the child’s shoulders, pulling it away from the road and back to the safety of the sidewalk right as the bus was about to hit her.

For a moment she’d just stood there with the girl in her arms, a little stunned herself by what had transpired, before she’d put the girl down again and checked her over. It hadn’t taken but two seconds before the man had come over to take over that duty from her, and from how he spoke she could tell he must be the father. After first checking over his daughter, then scolding her, then hugging her super tight, he then apparently decided to transfer his gratitude to Adaline next.

The conversation between her and the demigod now across from her had been quite entertaining and lasted well into the evening - and even night. What Adaline hadn’t expected was for him to seem to have decided she is now one of his friends. But she doesn’t really mind. He’d been kind, fun and had a bigger understanding of boundaries than even some women did, so she didn’t mind him.

And now with his arms opened for her and the hopeful expression on his face, he is as adorable as they get for sure.

So she can’t help laughing lightly, and then opening her arms widely as well before walking over to him a little faster than usual so she can wrap her arms around him and pull him into a big hug.

noticing that the receiver has received terrible news, sender offers them a hug as a means of comforting them during this difficult time.

Adaline leans somewhat lifelessly into the woman’s arms. She is vaguely aware that this is Amaterasu, a goddess she knows well considering she’s uncle Eros’ wife, but that’s as far as her brain is capable of processing right now. Just moments ago she’d received a call informing her of the death of an old friend and no matter how much she’d been prepared to hear about it - the woman was after all already of quite an age and very utterly mortal - it still hits her like a sledgehammer blow to hear she has truly come to pass.

Taking a moment or two just staring ahead of herself, she then slowly turns her face up to look at Amaterasu. It is as if seeing the goddess right there in front of her suddenly gives the reality a way into her brain and within moments the tears flood her eyes. She does not fear death, does not fear anything, but she does know loss and pain and emotions, and this is definitely a thing she doesn’t know how to handle right now.

sender gives receiver a relieved hug

It had been an introspective time for Adaline, after visiting Jade last. She’d left a little confused and a lot weirded out, but once home and with the space and time to really think it through without needing immediate decision or action, she’d eventually come to the conclusion that even if Jade was having a hard time - or especially because - that meant she could just try to be a supportive friend. If only by reassuring her friend that she was in fact still a friend of hers.

Such friendship of course started with going over and apologising for her off behaviour, which she had done without hesitation and also while holding a flesh-eating succulent. It was hard to explain to someone who just went through something horrible that having no fear sometimes meant not understanding certain reactions, and so she hadn’t, she’d just apologised and told Jade that she should take all the time she needed and Adaline was around for hugs or whatever she wanted.