mold the shadows

A moment later, a man appeared in her doorway. The owner of the shark, she assumed. She meowed in response to his confused questions, out of habit trying to respond as if he could understand her, but of course he couldn’t. She padded quickly over to a small side table near the door and jumped up on top of it and pushed forward a piece of paper towards him. On it, in the slightly messy handwriting of the neighbor who had accidentally trapped her in this form, read the words,

My name is Gaia and this is my apartment My neighbor accidentally turned me into a cat and couldn’t change me back It’ll wear off eventually

She meowed again, and this time, one didn’t have to be able to speak the language of animals to understand that she was irritated.

“Sup,” Skeeter greeted, his voice laced with casual nonchalance despite how put out he’d been. "Waiting? Oh, nah… Not too long, just enough time to perfect my 'mysterious visitor' act. Gotta keep you on your toes, right? Plus I made a couple of new friends with your neighbor’s dogs.” he chuckled lightly at his terrible joke. shifting his weight, he leans more comfortably against the wall, as he continued the banter. "Long day, huh? I can see it in those weary eyes. Why don’t you park that thing and we can go in and have a couple of beers, yeah?”

Skeeter then crossed his arms, his expression turning mock-serious. “I mean it’s been forever since we’ve hung out.” –– actually it’d been never since they’d hung out. he’d only ever hang out with the other in the presence of Gabs. it could be even suspicious that Skeeter was there to begin with without her but he ignores that fact, and begins climbing up concrete steps. the likely unwanted guest is ready to rest his sore feet, and sit on a nice comfy couch. “You got Xbox or nah?” 

His father’s voice in his head didn’t have to even say anything for Alexei to be able to tell that Artem was rolling his eyes in contempt at Skeeter. But Alexei, who truly didn’t know the guy well enough to make any kind of real judgment of him, just shrugged as he led Skeeter through the plain, empty lobby towards the elevators, past decades-old outdated interior decorating until they reached metal doors that dully reflected the fluorescent lighting. “Yeah, sure,” Alexei responded as he hit the call button. “I mean… I don’t have beer, but… if you want a drink, I have some bourbon, I think.”

When the elevator doors opened, he stepped in with Skeeter and hit the button for the fourth floor. “Uh… no. I don’t have Xbox,” Alexei told him. “Look, I’m gonna be honest, man. I’m cool with hanging out if you want to, but… why exactly are you here?” He’d never been unfriendly towards Skeeter, but it wasn’t exactly like they were actually friends or anything like that.

—“We can skip the pleasantries,” he said. “I’m not exactly here to be onboarded onto the Build-A-Bear team, now am I? We both know why I have to sit here. You caught me with my pants down, and now I’m here to not get screwed over.”

Gilbert paused.

“Unless…?” he teased. What could he say, the spymaster was incredibly good looking. You miss one-hundred percent of the shots you don’t take, after all. The likelihood of being able to flirt his way out of this predicament, however, was slim to none. For the past several months, the Vanitas Incident had loomed over his head. At last, it seemed Xavier was ready to cash in on his owed, blackmail-flavored favor.

“Ditching this kingdom on the next seedy airship held together by duct tape and a dream isn’t an option for me this time around,” he said. The thief’s coal-black eyes glint like two, hard stones of impish mischief. “So, what is it you want my sticky fingers to steal in exchange for keeping what happened at House Vanitas out of the tabloids? A painting? An artifact? A VIP ticket to see that sold-out Cece concert?”

And Gilbert may have been wanting to move past polite pleasantries, but Xavier was too set in his ways to do that, at least entirely. He could relent somewhat, but not completely. Xavier walked to the refrigerator to pull out a pitcher of water. He then pulled out two glasses, and poured himself a glass. He then set the pitcher down onto the counter and held his out towards it. “Have some water, if you’d like,” Xavier offered. “I know this isn’t a situation you want to be in, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be an entirely unpleasant experience.”

Xavier leaned against the counter as Gilbert spoke. “Well,” Xavier began, “what I want you to get for me isn’t a physical thing.” Xavier paused and knit his brows together in curiosity for a moment. “Do you actually have access to Cece tickets?” As serious as he tended to be, and as professional as he always puts himself forward to be, it didn’t mean he was entirely incapable of humor.

“What kind of ethics and morals do you think revenge falls into?” The room hadn’t stopped spinning for the past half hour, but that didn’t stop him from taking more swigs of.. Whatever sloshes in his tankard. It also didn’t stop him from opening his mouth to spew out the vile shit that kept bouncing around in his skull. Even if that meant speaking to person that unwound his diabolically shitty plan.

there were flyers around town about the event to be had in the town center. however, the business man and father of two had no time to remember dates other than those involving his family. father’s day was coming up and his anniversary would be soon, but it all blurred together when he realized what the crowds were for. the reserved and withdrawn man locks the shop up in no time, but upon entering the evening, he finds himself stumbling into the market. he considers that he has time to marvel at the various stalls filled with magical artifacts, potions, and mystical creatures.

it’s not unusual for him– partaking in casual run-ins of merchants who wish to make a customer out of him, but he stops at the one before him. cautiously he holds out a gloved open palm, ready for a flyer, or a free sample.

“I’m sorry I’m just on my way home– I’m in a bit of a hurry. My wife is with the twins by herself. They can be quite the trouble makers.”

Pax, being kind-hearted and empathetic, respects the stranger’s boundaries and maintains a respectful distance, but he also looks out for himself. “Have you been here long? What are some of the vendors that piqued your curiosity?”

But then another sight caught her eye that she couldn’t resist as well. And unlikely as it may have seemed, it wasn’t something she could just swipe and steal. A fortune-teller. Gaia knew that half of the time, they were probably bullshit and not real diviners, but still. It was just too much fun.

She hurried on over to it, but in her haste, almost bumped into a man stopping at another nearby stall. “Oh– Sorry.” She giggled a little at herself, running about like a little girl. “Don’t mind me. Just a little over excited.”

“Oh, not very long at all. Maybe twenty minutes.” She grinned wide at the stranger’s question. “I’m a sucker for fortune tellers, I must say. Just absolutely delightful. And you?” she asked him in kind. “What draws your eye? Maybe a couple little shiny things for those twins you mentioned?”

To  cross  this  bridge,  you’ll  have  to  pay  a  heavy  toll.

His eyes rolled the moment he read the words on the sign, an exasperated sigh accomapnying his actions as he straightened up. "Aye, we get it, there's a puzzle to solve." See, Tristan enjoyed himself a good riddle. What kind of aspiring wizard didn't love for themself a fun little puzzle? But when it was the third one in a row and he was in a hurry to be somewhere, a bit of reluctance had to be expected. He glanced under the bridge, making a face when he wasn't met with water running under it, but a very fluffy looking cloud. Cumulus. No. Cumulonimbus. Not that it mattered. There was no other way to cross the bridge. Expecially since he left his grimoire back in his room, and portal spells are tricky. He would only want to rip through time and space if he knew exactly what he was doing. "What are we going to do?" He sighed, glancing at Gaia before he bent his knees to reach down on the ground and start gathering some pebbles. "Cece's live is starting soon. They said she's going to announce something big. I mean I can solve it, I just need more time..."

hello and welcome everyone! to kick off all of these exciting acceptances, we’re also starting our meme weekend! we’re bringing you guys a weekend of ask memes, sentence prompts, and all around fun to get to know each others characters!ヾ(=`ω´=)ノyou’re free to send any asks or questions you’d, but we’ve also compiled a little list of memes to help get the ball rolling!

magic anons meme

myth and magic sentence starters

scenarios meme

tarot meme

spells of tribute meme

angsty starters

quote ask memes 

now, before we get to all the fun, just try to keep these rules in mind as you send!

make sure to let everyone know you’re participating! posting a link to your ask box is a great way of doing this ♡

try to send everyone else participating asks! we don’t want anyone to feel left out or like others are receiving more asks than them!

be kind! if you’ve received anything that makes you uncomfortable, please don’t hesitate to message us.

For GAIA: magic anons, myth and magic starters, scenarios, tarot, quote asks

For XAVIER: scenarios, tarot, angsty starters, quote asks