#greatsealed

Cassie loudly sniffles and hiccups, and then a blink, and…another blink. Doing her best to dry her eyes on her sleeve as her chest finds air and words again.

“Th-Thank you?”

[His “gifts” weren’t much; he’d gotten a handful of different treats from the sweets shop ( he wasn’t sure if Ken had a favorite candy or baked good, so he kind of bought them all ) and a few books from his adoptive grandparents’ Bunkichi and Mitsuko’s book store. Minato had a favorite story or two in mind, books that had gotten him through the rougher parts of his childhood…so it made sense to share them with a kid who was struggling the way he had, right?]

[Minato balanced his bag of assorted sweets on top of copies of “Kitchen,” “Moonlight Shadow,” and “Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World” in one arm, then used his free hand to knock on Ken’s door. Now he just had to hope that Ken would answer.]

{ happy birthday ken!!! }

Ken had just been sitting at his desk, absentmindedly petting Hamburger's head with one finger. The little party hat he'd made out of a scrap of paper had already been chewed up by the hamster, and he was debating making another one just to get his mind off things when he heard the knock at his door. Ken lifted his head, briefly wondering if he could get away with not answering it, but he didn't want whoever was out there to worry about him.

"Just a minute," he sighed, gently scooping Hamburger off the desk and placing him safely back in his cage before getting up to open the door. He was surprised to see Minato standing there, and even more surprised at the pile of stuff balanced precariously in his arm. Those weren't for him, were they...?

Well, that’s nice to hear; at least he doesn’t have to worry about his eternal damnation getting cut short.

“You’re leaving already?” Steven says without thinking, having to backtrack when he realizes how selfish it is of him to want or expect Minato to stay any longer than is necessary. The kid has a job to do, and he can’t hang around just because he stumbled across a needy, lonely spirit.

“I mean, uh… yeah. Yeah, definitely. Go get ‘em!”

Bell offers an encouraging smile and a courtesy glance toward the monitors out of habit. There’s no way he’s going to give the all-clear without double-checking first, and—

“Wait, um… how old are you, again?” Old enough, based on appearance. Steven considers anyone younger than 25 a kid, but the others certainly don’t see it that way; they might not immediately attack Minato if they see him wandering the halls, but they won’t view him as a poor, lost child, either.

“Never mind. Just watch out for the animatronics, okay? In fact… shoot, you’re here with a whole group, right?” He saw some of them on the camera feeds. “I should probably come with you just in case. They don’t really like when people come to visit, y’know?”

"Shadows can't have hearts." He knew he wasn't like other Shadows, and he knew he very much did have a heart. He could feel it beating in his chest. At one point he had been grateful for that, but right now he just wished he could tear it out.

Why did he have to be cursed with a heart? Why did he have to be cursed to care about the people he was destined to kill? The hand resting over his heart curled into a fist as Ryoji gritted his teeth, unable to stop himself from breaking down into tears. If only Minato would just kill him, that would hurt less than feeling these emotions.

"To save people, right? We're like superheroes, isn't that enough?" Junpei's smile was forced as he covered the wound in his arm, and it sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than Minato. He tried his hardest not to show weakness in front of their leader, but sometimes the fighting really did scare him. His newest injury would be fine once he could patch it up back at the dorm, but if it had been deeper? If he had been just a little slower in dodging the Shadow's attack?

It was a reminder that they weren't just playing superhero. They were risking their lives.

GRAVITY FALLS SENTENCE STARTERS (Accepting).

Oh, he was already digging into his pockets, alright! ❝ Of course! ❞ Why else would he always carry a zippo lighter around, if not to use it? Middle and index fingers held the metallic device as Pump pulled it out, shifting it to be inside his hand before lifting the silvery lid with his thumb for a purple-ish red flame to sprout.

How had the pumpkin-headed kid managed to convince a high schooler of hosting a demon-summoning ritual in his dorm room was anyone's guess, but he was not complaining! The carpet had been rolled and set aside, the wooden floor now covered by red lines traced with chalk: a pentagram surrounded by a circle of salt and even more chalk. A tall, red candle stood on each point, including a sixth one in the middle of the setup.

It was those very candles he began lighting up, prompting his tongue to stick out as he watched where he stepped in the process. He only had so much more salt and chalk to work with. With a metallic click! And all the candles burning bright, they were one less step away from starting the actual ritual!

The seven-year-old rushed to the room's main door, jumping! As high as he could to reach the light switch and turn the lights off.

❝ Much better. ❞ Thankfully, the candles were doing all the heavy lifting in the visibility department. With a mischievous smile on his face, he turned to look at the other, proposing: ❝ You can place the offering in the middle if you want! And I can say the incantation. ❞ Smugly, he tapped the side of his mask. ❝ I have it memorized. ❞

"No. There are no more chances, Minato. It's over." He thought he would at least be proud of himself for trying no matter what the outcome was, but to come so far just to realize all their efforts had been a waste in the end was crushing.

Ryoji fell to his knees, fighting back tears. This was his fault! He'd let his guard down for too long, let himself get carried away having fun being with Minato when he should have been more focused on what was really important. He'd known their time was running out, but he'd let himself lose track of time anyway, and now...

"We could cover the burned parts with frosting, but the cake still won't taste right. And there's not enough ingredients to make another one."

👻୧‿︵‿︵ sweet nothings sentence starters // accepting

They were sitting together, having some takoyaki from the nearby stand across from Bookworms, as Fuuka looked over at Minato and felt a smile appearing on her lips. "A-and I'll do the same with you, too, Minato-kun."

She took another bite of takoyaki and hummed happily at how delicious it was. Fuuka gave the small container back to Minato so he could have the next bite. "You know, that reminds me, maybe we should buy more blankets for the dorm. And maybe for us, we could build a blanket fort together, pick a movie or two, and..." Fuuka felt her cheeks blushing at the idea. It sounded so childish but it sounded so fun to do with him.