as it was;

( sean teale. cismale. he/him. as it was & hozier. ) i heard nicolas parra singing the other night, though it didn’t sound like english. it’s so admirable that someone who’s only twenty-eight can sing latin so fluently! i hear they hang out with the noctis coven, but they’re also a(n) medical student at columbia university. when dusk falls, you can usually find them heading home to brooklyn by subway. ( cassidy. 25. she/her. cst. )

here’s the newest addition! click the source link for his full bio! if you’d like to plot with him, just react to the post xo // @duskintro

“i didn’t watch that movie until i moved to the city and let me tell you… i was quite terrified of those things.” she explains, shuddering to herself slightly. “i’m just glad that over the years the medical technology has gotten better…” saying as she thinks to how the surrounding villages were in poverty or close to that. “are you in medical school or a doctor?” asking, since he seemed to be knowledgeable.

“i think i asked my mom if i could have one as a pet, when i was younger,” he told her, laughing under his breath. “i thought they were cuddly-looking.” nic nodded his head in understanding, because he was grateful for it as well. it made his future job as a medical professional a lot easier. “school,” he confessed. “i’m about to be assigned my residency.” 

“There’s a multitude of reasons it spread, and a lot of it boils down to the fact people are, and always will be, idiots.” Though, the rats and their fleas absolutely had a great deal to do with it, too. She laughs, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. “I’d hope not,” she says, “I think I’d find you a little more strange than I already do. No offense.”

nic couldn’t help the snort that escaped himself as he fought through the laughter that threatened from her comments. he didn’t want to agree with her, but it was the truth. people were, in fact, quite idiotic. “none taken,” he said, shaking his head. “if we all aren’t a little strange, life would be quite boring.” 

silas nodded his head in agreement; he was being a tad bit dramatic. call him a hypochondriac if you must. he blamed his mother for that, she was the queen of thinking the common cold could put her in the hospital bed. “so, you are still a student? or do you work in the medical field now?” he asks, tilting his head towards him. 

“in my last year,” he admitted, nodding his head once as he continued down the street, toward where they had both been heading before rats had made him lose focus. “i’ll be matched for residency in the next month or so.” 

Her face showed her disgust at the scene in front of them. “It might help if people stopped dumping their trash on the sidewalk.” she sighed, disappointed by peoples lack of concern for their environment and the upkeep of the city. “I just don’t like the thought of my son catching sight of a rat and chasing after it thinking it’s a friendly little pet” she said as she grimaced at the thought

“i think that’s asking a lot out of people,” he confessed, because while he tried to believe the best in others (that was what his mother had taught him to do), he found that he was oftentimes disappointed. “domesticated rats aren’t so bad. i’ve been told they’re quite loyal,” he pointed out, if only to try and make her feel better. 

     BECCA PRETENDS TO CONSIDER, lips pursed and brow furrowed as she looks over to nicolas. “well,” she says with a huff, acting as if she’s come to a decision. “i think the only logical solution is for you to go back so you can tell me.” becca shrugs her shoulders before breaking out into laughter. “or maybe you can just buy me a coffee. that’ll work too.”

nicolas nodded, his expression one of fake-seriousness as he looked down at the ground, as if he was contemplating all the options. “that sounds fair,” he said, looking up at her with a smirk on his face. “coffee i can do. you pick the place, i’ll pay.” nic gestured to her with a nod. “ladies choice, always.” 

𝑲𝑨𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹𝑰𝑵𝑬   𝑪𝑨𝑵’𝑻   𝑯𝑬𝑳𝑷   𝑩𝑼𝑻   𝑮𝑹𝑰𝑵 ,      a   short   laugh   following   in   suit .      ❝      so ,      what   i’m   hearing   is   you’re   going   to   look   after   the   interns   once   they   start   running   around   like   headless   chickens ?     ❞      amused   at   the   idea   of   him   reigning   in   a   group   of   medicine   students .      ❝      i   doubt   that   the   cdc   nor   the   medical   board   WOULD   PUT   MUCH   STOCK   into   worrying   about   the   black   death .     ❞

nic scoffed, shaking his head as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his joggers. “absolutely not,” he said, shaking his head. “i tried my hand at babysitting in high school and i was terrible at it. i doubt i’d be any better nowadays.” he was smiling, indicating he was teasing her. “not yet. but imagine there’s a break out in new york city. they’d be inclined to pay attention to it then.”

The answer was yes, but Rhine wasn’t sure if he should share his searches for other portals to the realm with anyone else. He had also followed the wrong crowd once or twice to the darker parts of New York, specifically those that didn’t see the sun. 

“Here and there,” He admitted. “You’d be surprised what kind of fuck shit you’d find if you stop going where the tourists go.”

. 

nic gave him a look, smirking slightly. “i don’t know if i should be offended or not that you think i’m a tourist,” he admits, laughing softly under his breath. he’d lived in new york his entire life. “i don’t think that anything could quite surprise me about this place anymore.” 

          “  OH  THEN  I  THINK  you  should  definitely  avoid  looking  under  any  subway  platform  ,  ”  theo  scrunches  up  their  nose  .  definitely  not  a  pleasant  sight  to  see  but  it’s  not  new  york  without  its  rats  ,  right  ?  “  not  to  freak  you  out  more  but  carriers  of  the  bubonic  plague  also  include  mountain  lions  but  yeah  that’d  be  really  embarrassing  to  try  and  explain  how  you  contracted  a  disease  from  over  600  years  ago  .  ”

“those platforms have some of the most disturbing rat scenes in all of new york,” he agreed, nodding his head in understanding. nic raised his eyebrows in fake shock, placing a hand against his chest to emphasize his feux-surprise. “mountain lions? now, that’s definitely something you’re going to have to worry about in current day manhattan.” 

“WELL – IT STILL sounds like a fear of yours,” she rebutalled, recalling the slight hitch in tone at the thought of, not catching a deadly disease, but of having to tell people about it. There was something humorous in that ridiculousness that had Evie’s lips turning upward. “Just don’t go around shaking hands with furry friends named Ben or Remy, and definitely don’t allow them to cook you a gourmet meal.”

letting out a soft laugh, nic nodding his head, understanding the reference that she made. “right, of course,” he tells the other. “though i’ve heard that some rats make killer ratatouille. a bit unfortunate that it could come with a side of fleas riddled with the black death.” 

“dwight just exudes chaotic energy… and i honestly quite dig it.” sybil declared, a smirk forming on her lips. “between him and creed, i’m not sure who i admire more.” finishing her sentence. “yeah, momma durand had a way when it came to naming her animals.” 

“he is one of the best parts of that show,” he said to the other, nodding his head. if he was being honest, he found the office a little overrated, but there were some episodes that were alright. “did you have a number of pets growing up?” he asked, raising an eyebrow with curiosity. 

Why the hell were they talking about rats? Euryale silently pondered if she really wanted to live inland and not on Staten Island. If this is what normal city was like, maybe not. She stared at him with an intense expression, one that could be considered coated in apathy. On the other hand, it could come across with annoyance. “Maybe they’re following you. They chose you to be the chosen bubonic plague carrier. Congratulations, dear.”  She thinks back to her long years of living. The conversation was overheard many times, and it was entertaining to her. “Might I suggest a bubonic plague reveal party. Just use a skeleton jack-in-the-box, and a black cake.” 

nic snorted softly. “wouldn’t that be something,” he responded, laughing softly as he pushed his hands into his pockets. “is there not a old rhyme about a guy who rats followed because he played the flute or something?” he asked, but he wasn’t too certain that he hadn’t just thought that up himself. “a black death party. sounds... really fun. i wonder if they’d let me put fake rats on the cake.” 

.

babe was mid-snapchat video of the giant trash rat, eyes lit up with absolute joy (and a bit of pride) as it managed to pull out a whole leftover pizza slice. “what, would you be, like, embarrassed to get it? do you look at pigeons and think of, like, influenza?” they pocket their phone before saluting the rat and looking back up at nic, mildly thoughtful (though not much), “i think i had it last year, actually. i had to work with a lot of them during my taxidermy program since they’re like - so easily accessible - it was all like, super ethical, bee-tee-dubs, in case you were like, worried about that - but anyways, i was like super sick, for like at least a week.”

“i don’t know if i would be thinking about the embarrassment if i actually got the plague,” he admitted, shaking his head slightly. “i think that the flu is so commonplace that i don’t really associate it with birds. when i think of the flu, i just think ‘oh, it must be winter time.’” nic raised an eyebrow and looked at her with a skeptical expression, a small, amused smirk on his face as he listened to her ramble slightly. “you think you had plague?” he asked, making sure that he understood her correctly. 

𝐹𝐸𝐴𝑇𝑈𝑅𝐸𝑆   𝐶𝑈𝑅𝐿   𝐼𝑁   𝐷𝐼𝑆𝐺𝑈𝑆𝑇 ,      𝑁𝑂𝑆𝐸   𝑆𝐶𝑅𝑈𝑁𝐶𝐻𝐼𝑁𝐺 .      the   thought   of   rats   made   her   shudder ,      though   his   fears   were   valid ,      working   in   healthcare   it   was   hard   to   avoid   reading   into   everyday   things   as   potential   health   hazards .      ❝      it’d   definitely   be   a   conversation   starter .     ❞      katherine   jokes   with   a   nod   of   head .      ❝      i   hope   you’re   not   going   to   start   OVER   ANALYSING   everything   on   a   daily   basis   parra .      i   can’t   have   you   freakin’   out   the   other   medical   students   on   my   o.r .     ❞

nic rolled his eyes with a soft laugh escaping him, shaking his head with a good natured smile on his face. “i think that they deserve a good scare,” he said, scoffing quietly. “i mean, they should be prepared for anything, right? the black death is definitely something.”

+

“ok but… still – five thousand cases.” silas replied, eyes looking around and locking eyes on some rats that were scattering around. making a disgusted face he looked back over to the man. “what other different medical facts do you have stored in your brain?” a chuckle escaped him. 

“and there are more than eight million people live in new york city alone. i think you’ll be okay,” he offered, giving the other an amused yet reassuring smile. nic shrugged his shoulders, shoving his hands into the pockets of the jacket he wore. “a ton, considering all the schooling i’ve had. i don’t know if any are as entertaining as knowledge of the black death though.” 

“See, I am not all for the city rats.” Minh replied with a shake of her head. Sure she believed that every animal had the right to live, she just wished that they lived somewhere else. Minh often saw them scurrying around and it made her feel a bit uneasy. “That is the problem. There are a lot of diseases in general that they can carry, and it worries me.”  Minh added with a nod. “But yeah it would wouldn’t be pleasant to get the Bubonic Plague.”

nicolas listened with mild interest, chuckling softly under his breath. “touche,” he said in understanding, nodding his head at her statement. “though i feel like we’re quite safe, considering how much more we bathe than they did in the past.”

+

“You should see the ones in Cambodia.” Makara responded with a slight laugh. “They are about the size of a small poodle, it’s quite terrifying.” Thinking of the time she was face to face with one as a young girl. “There were some cases in a nearby village of mine, wasn’t fun for anyone.” 

“i’m just picturing the rodents of unusual size, like from the princess bride,” he tells the other, smirking at the thought of them. he nodded his head, moving to shove his hands into the pockets of the dark jeans he wore. “i would guess not. the pictures i’ve seen of cases are... brutal.”