#conflictedrealities

     he sees him everywhere, still, even knowing now, as he does, that bucky is S A F E with t’challa. ( DESPITE that steve’s always been more of a dog person, t’challa has done more than steve had any right to expect.)

          it STARTED when steve recognized bucky the first time--KNOWING the other man was alive translated into seeing him EVERYWHERE; the supermarket, the park, even in the tower. the thing is, steve’s no stranger to being HAUNTED by bucky, but this is something different---

     this man is VERY MUCH real and alive, not an echo steve is projecting ( which is what sam calls it, projecting which is a very nice way of saying ‘guilt-induced crazy and imagining things). point being, this bucky lookalike is not only EERILY accurate, he’s not a ghost. 

               STEVE KNOWS, logically, that it isn’t bucky--no missing metal arm, for one--but he stares too long at the STRANGER and has to stutter an apology when he gets caught.

                                   “ -----i’m sorry, you look-- ”

      familiar, he thinks, but the words die in his throat, get stuck on their way out and steve’s never been short on COURAGE ( or as his mother would say, steve’s never been short on pig-headed bravado ) but COURAGE isn’t enough to push the words “you look like my best friend but with less metal” out of his mouth. he settles for another apology.

     BELLE was walking to her next class, a book open in her hand & her head down as she read, when a scarf flew into her face. Sputtering in surprise & her book falling to the leaf covered sidewalk, the bookworm pulled the scarf down from her face. Looking around quickly, she saw A MAN walking towards her & a polite smile bloomed. 

Yours too??

OTP

             though it was meant to be HER happiness, fissures spread to create a chasm within the very fabric of her being. the countless warnings she had received prior to enacting the curse came to terrifying fruition. as her former Huntsman’s hands grasped her flesh, the heat his lips blazing trail after trail on her frame, nothing stirred, the hollow of her chest just as vacant as his own. in the wake of grim desolation, dimming embers longed for the spark to ignite, to conjure the once consuming inferno. 

             how dull all of this had become ; a ( QUEEN ) MAYOR demanded entertainment & excitement.

              one resident of this town her curse created was plucked from his imprisonment within another land to reside in another cage - a padded cell in the bowels of the local medical center. he was a victim of her wrathful revenge. his crime ?  showing a darkening heart a shred of light, hope, compassion before tossing its remain shards to the dismal abyss.  his MADNESS would rival her own. the nurse’s reports often revealed his pleading, screams longing for release, for the materials to complete the hat to return him to his darling daughter. 

                vile was the simper colouring her visage, a nod of recognition given to the nurse seated at the desk, the key provided to grant her entry discreetly. arms woven beneath her bust, espresso-tinted irises observe his frazzled self for a moment, exhaustion forcing him into a restful state only to be shattered by the sound of her voice. 

                     ❛      ————    well, you’ve certainly looked better.                                           what happened to you, Jefferson ?     ❜

                   ♛ —-  ;   tendrils  of  onyx  have  crept  beneath  ivory  flesh,  slithering  beneath  to  coil  round  the  bones  imprisoning  a  lump  of  muscle  &  sheer  folly.   it  was  only  meant  to  lead  her  astray,  a  useless  piece  of  her  former  existence  as  her  master’s  teachings  would  impose.   all  the  result  of  a  fiendish  scheme  the  once  reluctant  was  not  privy  to.   ice  corroded  the  vessels  of  the  organ,  stone  slowly  hindering  its  influence  -  a  process  facilitated  by  a  string  of  deals,  payments  made  for  loss  of  light  &  soul,  hope  obliterated.   her  transformation  was  underway  -  a  MONSTER  in  the  making.

                      . . .  yet  the  towering  walls  which  surrounded  her  still  remained  a  PRISON,  a  CAGE  rife  with  desolation  &  disenchantment.   an  eccentric  being  had  once  crossed  her  path,  one  with  freedom  at  his  fingertips,  the  adventure  she  often  craved.   with  the  procurement  of  his  passport  to  traverse  her  kingdom,  she  ordered  the  Hatter  to  guide  her  on  a  journey  -  one  last  chance  for  her  raven  wings  to  spread.