the rooftops here possessed an impertinent quality that made her footing falter. it was perpetually cold up here, the stones slick with something that never quite dried, and the winds felt almost sharper here. inej found it surprising that her feet cared about this difference in atmosphere. some things, the body was simply supposed to remember. maybe you're getting out of practice, kaz's bitter voice echoed in her head. her fingers curled in to tight fists, teeth gritted. maybe you need to mind your own business, she snapped back at the version of him inside her head. it was objectively an unhinged thing to be doing, arguing with an imaginary version of brekker while being more than at least a few good miles away. imaginary kaz, however did not back down, true to his character.

night wrapped around them like a cloak, shielding them from the eyes of trespassers. marina had not expected any visitors, but a quiet sniffling sound rang in her ears like a bell tolling somewhere in a church — a loud clanging noise that reverberated in her chest. she detested it more because it had woken her from slumber, though sleep had not been an ally to her for some decades now. she rose from the waters at the shore and walked towards the source of the noise, seaweed wrapping around her feet like ribbons. the sight of blood made her stop in her tracks, ponder for a moment, and resume her leisurely pace.   ❛   are you hurt?   ❜ she whispered in a way that seemed to echo from around them, the words accompanied with a rustling of leaves.   ❛   or have you come here just to fall?    ❜

inej didn't knock anymore. it was a realisation that set in mid-bite, when the fork full of spaghetti was just about to meet her mouth, but a smile had reached there first. she was sat atop the counter in mack's kitchen, legs folded and with a plate on her lap, cradling it like a new-born child. she would argue that there was truth in that comparison, precious as the food was and a blessing to feel her stomach fill. she made a noise of approval as she gulped it down without chewing properly, as though it could vanish out of her grasp at any moment.     ❛   this is really good.   ❜ she mumbled, her mouth already full again.   ❛   is this store-bought? I have got to know where you got this from.   ❜

gansey had been in the middle of something. some would say he was always in the middle of something— a new theory, a new location, a new thought. something always an arm's length away from him, always just far away enough to be out of his reach. this was another night that would last till 4 am, gansey observed to himself when the clock on the table struck 2:03 am. the lamplight flickeried with the might of its last remaining breaths, the maps laden out around him like a flattened, vanquished fort.

❛   I've heard about you lot.   ❜ he says with the false conviction of someone who had most definitely not heard about her. all shadows seemed to shift in her presence, causing the hairs at the back of arthur's neck to stand up. he was made of iron and steel, grit born in the gutters of londinium. and above all, the mages once outcast had shown him the way to save the country, had put the divine intervention shaped like a sword in his hand. and hence, he approaches this conversation with respect, devoid of hostility. and perhaps also with, to stay true to his roots, just a tinge of audacity.    

ari rathod had never been inclined towards having eyes on him. even as a child, he'd hide behind his mother as the women of the village would want to pinch his cheeks. it was a quality that had served him poorly ever since. the village was now replaced with larger rooms, the women with their reaching fingers had been replaced by people whose attention carried considerably higher stakes. years later, here, today, he knew he was being watched again. but the instinct had remained — the discomfort that started at the back of the neck & worked its way forwards whenever he felt the weight of someone's gaze settling on him like a hand he hadn't invited.