#shakesquad

romeo refused to meet her companion’s gaze with her red-rimmed eyes ( from crying or smoking? hard to say ). it wasn’t about her food and he knew it, but that didn’t mean he needed to know just what had gotten her into this state --- he’d just MOCK her for it anyway.

credence dropped her hand hurriedly ( likely only seconds before she realized she didn’t want him touching her ). ‘ it’s good to meet you, ’ he said, small but genuine. perhaps a year ago he would have asked her what she knew of witches, whether she accepted jesus christ as her savior ; now, he only offered her an uncertain smile.

‘ ophelia, ’ he asked, ‘ were you going somewhere? ––i would like to buy you a coffee in apology & to thank you for helping me, if you’re not busy? ’ the girl seemed kind ; perhaps she could stand his company for a while longer.

ophelia tried to hide her disappointment as he released her hand, which had grown warm in his ( probably because you’re still blushing ! her mind shouted at her ). she rubbed her cheeks hurriedly as if to fight off the cold. she was about ready to make a hasty and somewhat embarrassed retreat when his words stopped her.

coffee? not a proposition, not an excuse to take her home ( be my muse love ! i’m dying to paint a creature as beautiful as you ! ) but a simple honest request for her company? she couldn’t help the bright smile that overtook her face.

‘ i would be delighted, ’ she replied, dropping into an ironic curtsy.

tybalt’s face twists into an irritated frown, an expression which is not commonly directed at his younger cousin. “ this is the THIRD time i’ve had to cover for you. your father expects ME to be responsible for your wellbeing. ”

ophelia studies the other girl, catching the distant expression in her eyes that her smile could not quite reach. she did believe wendla, that she was happy for her, but there was something behind the statement that her friend was not communicating. ophelia’s smile drops to a slight frown.

‘ and what about YOU? ’ ophelia puts an emphasis on the sign, not hiding the concern in her eyes. ‘ when will you find YOUR peace? your HAPPINESS? ’ her hands drop from the sign to take wendla’s in hers. her eyes search the other’s face, earnest and open.

ophelia’s face breaks into a smile as a thought hits her, and she swings herself and wendla in a circle around their clasped hands. she lets go in order to sign, her excitement overflowing into her movements: ‘ come with me !! ’

          She did not need to remind him of the prince’s absence, when it so keenly weighed on his mind. In the past month, he had been by his side constantly, bearing with his dear friend in his time of grief and mourning, and now there was naught beside him but thin air. But to return to Wittenberg now seemed callous, not when so many were suffering. ( Not when she was suffering. ) “His absence was not wished for, by his person or myself,” he reminded gently, vision blurring into dreamlike shapes as he brought one hand to place over hers.

          Horatio blinked the tears from his eyes, a broken smile twisting his lips painfully. Oh, what he would give to have her well again! The rational Horatio was found powerless in the face of such heartbreaking madness. This was one illness that had no remedy. “If there is anything you require, my lady, speak only a whisper and it shall be done.” Emptiness swam in his voice, a man who is left to pick up the pieces. “Your brother, Laertes, is in much distress over your condition.”

          this was not what he wished for --- who CARED what he wished for? him . . . he . . . he’d lost any right to have his wishes mean anything to her. what about what she wished for? what she wanted?? she had plans, so many plans for her life, for her and hamlet, and none of it mattered in the face of an utterly chaotic and uncaring universe where your boyfriend is a murderer who utterly abandons you --- who kills your --- who KILLS ------

          her mind met a blank wall as that train of thought dissolved into a blinding white nothing. she stared blankly at the individual in front of her suddenly struggling to comprehend who she was or how she got here. what did she require? only a whisper and it shall be done.

          “ I want my life back. ”

          “Speak with her.” This was the plea, no quite an order, that’d spilled from the queen’s lips as desperately as the tears from her eyes. That Ophelia was mad, that she was driven to babbling, that the mind of a dear friend was gone — these were facts that Horatio knew intellectually, yet he resisted with his heart. To hear of her condition was one thing, but to confront it was another.

          His lungs seemed to fail him as he quietly pushed open the door. Ophelia, childishly capricious, her shimmering voice corrupted by insanity — this could not be the same Ophelia he remembered. “Dear lady,” he whispered, an entreaty in his eyes. Kneeling, Horatio took her hand gently and swallowed his heavy grief like wine and ground glass. Something of her must have remained. He searched her eyes for any sign of recognition or a spark of her old self. “What sorrows have tormented you to reduce such a woman to such a state as this? I prithee speak and remember me, for I am not a mere traveler but a friend.”

          the girl flinched at his touch, dipped her head as though to hide behind sheets of hair. but at his entreaty, she resurfaced; eyes wide and curious, though tearstained. her mouth twitched, and she repeated his words like a mockingbird, voice incredulous and almost her own.  “ what sorrows------? what SORROWS? my lord, he---! ”  she hid her face in hear hands, letting out a half-hearted shriek, voice too broken to give it any power as it dissolved instead to sobs. “ o, no more! LET’S HAVE NO WORDS OF THIS --- no words of this... ”

          she struggled out of her own grasp to look once more upon him. with trembling fingers, ophelia took the crown from her lap to place upon his head, letting her hands stray down to cup his face. a smile broke its way once more through her torment, though this one seemed more familiar than before.  “ speak not to me of what I know. I know you for a friend, that is enough. he left us both here... ”

SELF.

name. Edgar of Gloucester age. 26 gender. female orientation. lesbian flaws. credulous, trusting, idealistic, vindictive strengths. honorable, resilient, compassionate, clever, loyal skills. quick-thinking, improvisation, swordplay, combat hogwarts house. hufflepuff or ravenclaw mbti. ENFJ humour. sanguine tarot. the hermit, strength

FAMILY.

father. Earl of Gloucester (half) brother. Edmund of Gloucester mother. deceased godmother. Queen Lear

FAVORITES.