#crosseddestiny

"You gotta stop smiling or else I can't paint your face!" He rests the heel of his hand against her cheek, primed and ready with his little paint brush. "If you move, you're getting a crooked flag, and that is NOT my fault— I want that on record."

@crosseddestiny said:

i can't tug it loose without tearing it. (from Kay for anyone!)

❝ LIKE MANY THINGS, IT REQUIRES PATIENCE. ❞ PIOTR kneels beside kay and inspects the wing of the wriggling bird, caught in a tightly knotted tangle of fishing twine. a trap. ❝ mind your fingers, ❞ he murmurs, voice much gentler than one might expect from a man of his size and stature. ❝ this creature is afraid. things that are afraid often lash out, so don't get caught in the path of its beak. ❞

it is almost comical, the juxtaposition between piotr and the young girl beside him: nearly seven feet tall and as muscular as a circus strongman, every inch of his skin covered in tattoos, the hand that reaches for the bird's wing easily three times the size of the thing itself. his bald head and salt-and-pepper beard give him the appearance of some murderous escaped convict. yet his motions are as delicate as an acrobat's, or an expert thief's, as he produces a scalpel from seemingly nowhere and begins to cut away at the snare. ( between the two of them, he is not the one who has escaped from captivity. )

💚 - friendship (for kay?)

💙 - kinship ( blood or symbolic familial bond ) (for frank)

//you know i'm always down for all the plots - we can have more than one of your muses have the same relationship with victor if you want. no need to limit ourselves!

@crosseddestiny sent: “I don’t really care which side wins.”

"No...that's not true. Honey, that's not true, look at me."

His hands haven't trembled this badly since he stopped using, but he grips onto Manfred with all the strength in his body. With a shuddering inhale of the stale air, Klaus can feel Death nearby. It's a feeling he's gotten used to since his days in the mausoleum; after 30 years on this earth, he and Death have learned to keep a gentlemanly distance. He lets her take her fill, never intervenes, doesn't even dare to look in her direction if he can help it. And mostly that's been just dandy— on the few occasions she had come for him throughout the years, he never put up much of a fight, never begged or cried or bartered. He went with her, every single time, and every single time he ended up right back where he started— back on the ground in an alleyway, back on the gurney in the ER, back in the bathroom stall at the dingy little club.

But that was always fine. Really, it was. Klaus never could be convinced to care too deeply about his own life.

Maybe that's why it's all the more jarring, to see her here, in their house, on their couch, with her arms around his...his Manfred.

Don't you fucking dare! he wants to scream. This one is mine! Take anyone else, you can't have him!

"You're not gonna let that side win, you're gonna stay and fight." He digs his nails into the flesh of Manfred's arm. "Not tonight, it's not your time."

The words burn in his throat as he feels the cool breeze, watches the black mass shift closer out of the corner of his eyes.

―  𝑹𝑨𝑵𝑫𝑶𝑴 𝑫𝑰𝑨𝑳𝑶𝑮𝑼𝑬 𝑺𝑬𝑵𝑻𝑬𝑵𝑪𝑬 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑺 𝑷𝑻. 𝑰. - ( ACCEPTING )

"Kay?" He wasn't sure why he even said her name like that; obviously it was her standing there. It was seeing her standing there, soaked to the bone and crying her eyes out that had taken him by surprise. It was just as well he'd accompanied Milo outside while he did his nightly business — he'd been able to spot her right away.

Before the mansion's guards could say anything or decide to take action and unlock the gate, Wylan was already rushing forward to do just that. Eyes focused on the lock, he spoke up, soft voice at the ready to try and bring some sense of calm and comfort to the situation.

"What happened? No, it's okay, we can wait until we're inside." Had she ran all the way from the Slat? Where's Kaz? Wylan spared a glance to the Geldstraat but there was nothing to be seen but the glow of the street lamps. When the gate swung open, he whipped off his jacket and threw it around Kay's shoulders. It wouldn't do much considering how drenched she was but it was better than doing nothing at all.

"Let's get you inside. You're safe here." He didn't know what could have possibly happened to have caused this reaction but he could sense the gravity of the situation, eyes drawn to her shaking hands, her wobbly legs...

It was a bit of a walk back to the mansion's front door and Wylan couldn't imagine her making it all the way without giving into her body's urge to collapse. He wasn't exactly a Matthias or Jesper type when it came to carrying those who needed it but he could at least support her on his back. Crouching down for easier access, he urged her on.

"Hop up, I don't want you to collapse before we get there." This poor child. A thousand questions ran through his head but he bit his tongue for now. Once Kay was safely in his grasp, Wylan began to jog the rest of the way to the entrance, already making a priority list in his head about how best to care for her when they got inside.

"That'll ruin the whole game. What's the point in playing if I help you?" Rang was still learning how to best deal with the small creatures known as children but he was getting there. Gradually. "You have to learn to do things by yourself or you'll just end up behind in life." Even in matters such as casual children's games like this, it was still something she should figure out on her own.

After a moment of staring at each other like some ridiculous stand-off, Rang sighed and nodded to the jigsaw puzzle spread out on the table. "Look, if you can't figure out the next step right now, then you should take a break and come back to it later. Sometimes that helps."

"Or sometimes you just get mad and smash the whole thing against the wall. Whatever makes you feel better in the moment."

Cue the offended noises from Lee Rang, his eyes widening in surprise. "What was that for? I'm a fox, not a dog who's been badly behaved." Well, he'd been a little badly behaved but that didn't deserve to be booped on the nose!

"You should put those skills to better use. Like... scaring people until they go insane." How fun that would be. Rang would like to see the chaos that would unfold as a result. Things were getting to be too boring around here; they needed something to, ironically, liven up the place.

"I know a few people you can target." Of course, Yeon was at the top of that list.