ᵖᵃᵗᵗᵉʳⁿ ⁻ ᶠⁱⁿᵈᵉʳ !

↪ @lucisking, snow villiers ⁽ ᶠᶠˣᵛ ᵉᵈⁱᵗⁱᵒⁿ ⁾ .

when news had travelled that the prince of lucis had returned to them, alive and well, a fire re-ignited in his chest. bigger and brighter than any he had felt before, implanting a steadfast determination that they would make it through this. that they would one day see daybreak with their own two eyes, that the daemons might finally be pushed back enough to resume some sort of normalcy in their day to day lives ... that perhaps they could rebuild what they lost, if they were so lucky.

the former glaive is one of the first to greet his highness when he pulls up to the braced city. time has had it's way with him, however. he no longer dons his trademark black bandana, unkempt locks instead cascading around his face and reaching his shoulders. rough stubble grows in uneven patches around his jaw, that cocky, confident, all - teeth grin of his now far more subdued and weary; more of a curve of his lips now than anything else. his attire has shifted as well, sporting something resembling a tattered suit. but when he lays eyes on noctis - even those that were scarcely on a first name basis with him might notice that familiar, old glint return to his eyes.

↪ @lucisking, aranea highwind.

... pretty boy seems different, now. mopier, maybe? the former empire muscle can't quite put her finger on it. it wasn't as though they'd been close, after all. a couple of run-in's and some pretty sloppy battles were enough to give her a general idea of the four man squad's dispositions ... but not much else.

if she's honest, she kinda prefers the old version of the group. there's a kind of doom and gloom surrounding the current three that the fourth, loud one seemed to keep at bay. now, there was a tension so thick that she swore she could cut it with her lance. but, hey. makes sense. shortcake's missing in action and from what news she could gather, altissa was ... well.

↪ @glacierites, annabella rosfield.

loathe as she was to admit it, the girl was a natural.

taken in as a ward of rosaria - an unnecessarily gentle way of calling her their political hostage - to quell the aggressions of the desperate northerners, jill warwick was a thorn in annabella's side from the day she first stepped foot in the castle.

elwin insisted the girl was raised as one of their own, alongside joshua and his brother. yet she posed no worth, did no service. in annabella's opinion, she was just a glorified savage and another mouth to feed. it was proposed that she might take joshua's hand in marriage, that perhaps one day they could unite the two lands and strengthen rosaria's name. annabella would sooner see her hung as the savage she was than allow joshua even the chance of courting her. thankfully, if she proved unworthy - which annabella was certain she was - then perhaps they could simply wed her to a local noble. annabella liked that option best, as it ensured the girl would be out of her hair within just a few years' time.

much to her dismay, however, as the duchess of rosaria the task of raising jill fell to annabella - and her handmaidens, of course. a truly daunting task. she tried to hand her off to her maidens as often as she could, but elwin insisted she spend more time with the girl.

so here they were, two hefty books balanced atop jill's head, her posture disgustingly straight and her gait surprisingly graceful for one so young. but as quick of a learner she might be, jill warwick was still just a girl like any other.

   he only half-registers motion once it stops. his mind, its restoration, came at the cost of a slow-receding haze, and he’d take that over going back to who he used to ( not ) be, any day. nanaki’s back is a steady place, and it keeps him balanced even as he tries to slide down, find his footing on the highwind’s floor. and then something, a mortifying memory, dawns on him. like liquid trickling down, it pools by the edges of his mouth: the urge to apologize, over and over. it’s hard, at first, to find his voice and not cough from its disuse:  “  .  .  . ’m sorry.  ”  he wishes it didn’t sound so much like a murmur, and that he could explain it beyond trailed-off sentences: “  back then, when i .  .  . the black materia. i’m sorry. ”  @seintels​ + lift.

he acts as his companion’s anchor,   helping him maintain his stability as he wobbles his way down onto the highwind’s floor.   nanaki can sense a    ...    tension,    in cloud that feels all too familiar.   a weight in the pit of his stomach;   an ache in his chest.   a memory that worms its way back into the forefront of his mind and poisons his thoughts.    

the black materia.

the fur along his haunches stands up at the thought of it.   now prickly and dense,   he wills himself to relax so as not to upset his friend further.   with a sharp inhale and a deep exhale,   he shifts,   turning just enough that he can see cloud’s downtrodden,   guilt-ridden expression.

there’s a short silence between them,   but it feels like it goes on for an eternity.   nanaki’s tail softly thumps and swishes against the floor,  yet another tell-tale sign of his unease.  cloud wasn’t the only one who felt guilty,   of course.   nanaki had been so foolish,   so naïve,   so   easily manipulated   by sephiroth that he could hardly stand to look meet the gazes of his fellow party members for weeks after the fact.  so he shifts his weight a little,   licking his chops.   a low growl rumbles in his chest and he finally opens his fanged maw to speak  —

↪ @wistrea , annabella rosfield.

prim and proper as ever, the duchess of rosaria saunters through the plethora of tents and steel seated just outside the castle's doors. it would help the men's morale, she was told. and so she does her duty, the way she was taught. but it doesn't mean she enjoys the task, of course.

" rosaria thanks you for your indefatigable loyalty. "

despite her sentiments, the soft smile she bears fails to reach her eyes. not that the shields notice, what with the way they rush to bow their heads, hand nursing their guts. a shoddy display of respect and loyalty, in her mind. not since he was born; rejected by the phoenix. her firstborn failure. a disgrace to the entire rosfield line. how the shields had snickered and gossiped behind her back, the dim-witted oafs thinking their whispers fell upon deaf ears. yet she heard them all, and as such, spared no love in her heart for them. after all, they were naught but glorified dogs to do their bidding.

that's when she spots her. the foreigner.

brought in from the neighbouring empire of hazakura by a long-time shield and lord of rosaria. given his status, elwin had approved she be trained to follow in the man's footsteps. annabella disagreed - but what was her word compared to her husband's? lady - like features sweeten at the sight of her, yet the thin-lipped smile that creeps across her visage still fails to meet her eyes, gaze unflinching and cold as ice.

sam's ⁽ ᵐᵒˢᵗˡʸ ⁾ friends only multi - muse. featuring characters from: various square enix properties*, comics, video games, & animanga. will be iconless, i need a nap.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ...ㅤ 𝙸'𝙼 𝙰 𝚃𝙾𝚃𝙰𝙻 𝚃𝚁𝙰𝚂𝙷 𝙼𝙰𝙼𝙼𝙰𝙻 !

@staghollows​               ( hatake kakashi )

                                     ❛   k  –  kakashi  -  sensei  .  .  .    ❜

fingers tap ‘gainst one another , simply , as she approaches him . she stares downward as she’d not dare to meet his gaze . instead , she greets her eyes with the dusty ground beneath them , & shyly makes her approach . 

         ❛   i  .  .  .  i haven’t seen kurenai  -  sensei at all today  .  .  .  & since  .  .  .     ❜

she pauses , darkness looming overhead .

                                        ❛   i was just wondering if she will be okay  .  .  .     ❜

“ ah ... “

jaw is set beneath mask,   watching the girl closely as she approaches.    after all these years,   she’s still shy,   it seems.    but,   her worry is not unfounded considering the recent turn of events.    sure,   kakashi had never been exceptionally close to kurenai or asuma,   but he felt the   sting !   of the latter’s absence nonetheless. 

it was kakashi’s conjecture that kiba must be suffering from terrible ennui if he was prone to pick fights so randomly. “ please, i’m not going to argue with you over whose ninken is better. if you’re bored, just say so. ”  @staghollows.

SMILE THAT TILTS PETER’S LIPS    is    crooked    ,        [    𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎   𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍        &        weight  lifted    ]        .  .  .        𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘺    of    questions    ᶜᵃᵗᶜʰᶤᶰᵍ  ʰᶤᵐ    off    guard    .            ❛ ❛    what   ?      no    ,      no      —      there   were   definitely   no        .  .  .        ᵘʰ    ,        vats  of  spiders    .    ❜ ❜            while    the    notion    of    𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐  𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜  𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘  𝚎𝚡𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎    is    one    peter    might    ᵃʳᵍᵘᵉ  ᵃᵍᵃᶤᶰˢᵗ    ,        he    doesn’t    leave  those  three  words    to    hang  in  the  air    longer    than    𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺    .            ❛ ❛    -    i  uh   ,     got  bit   .      by    just  the  one    .    ❜ ❜

“ . . . “

vexation plagues boyish features,    eyes screwed shut as  @goldwhisker​ goes on  n’  on,   n’  on  about  whatever cool move jiraiya - sensei just helped him learn.    maybe if  he  or one of the other konoha 11 ever got such attention,   they’d be making quick progress too.     “ yeah,   yeah,   y’ told me that already.    y’ know,   the old you was more fun.   i barely see ya nowadays     ...     remember when we used t’ skip class n’ play pranks on iruka - sensei?   yeah.   those were the good ol’ days,   weren’t they,   akamaru? “