#mircges

Nova was continuing to pass around the copious flowers. Nova couldn't help but notice the brunette sitting by herself. Maybe no one approached her. But she looked so cool from here. Nova adjusted her basket and dress before approaching the other. Nova shyly approached her holding out a white rose. "For you." Nova stammered with an awkward grin.

"hey..." she said upon seeing her sister's form from the corner of her eye. she had hid away for days after her traid abduction. hidden in her safe little bubble she'd created with kaidan. escaped was more like it. now that she was outside of that bubble she felt more on edge than she expected to. she did not know who knew what had happened, having been saved the same night. but she knew her father had been there so she was sure her sister knew by now. what she didn't know and was worried to find out, was how she was about to react. eve tucked the blanket around her as the wind picked up, and finally braced herself to look over at andrea. "wanna join me?"

The forest was alive with sound—leaves rustling, distant birdcalls, the faint hum of something ancient beneath the soil. Henrik moved carefully between the trees, fingers brushing over moss-covered bark, eyes scanning the undergrowth for the herbs he needed.

Each plant he gathered was a small victory, a reminder that even in this strange timeline, he could survive. The sunlight filtering through the canopy caught on his hair, and for a moment, he allowed himself to simply breathe, to feel the pulse of the world around him.

A snap of a twig in the distance made him freeze, heart hitching. He adjusted the strap of his satchel, weighing the ingredients inside, and muttered under his breath, “Almost enough… just a little more.”

Even here, among the quiet of the trees, the past and the shadows of his family lingered at the edges of his mind, whispering that nothing—no matter how peaceful—lasted forever.

"You see, beer is the best drink," Georgie said matter-of-factly, tilting her head slightly as she took another sip.There was a certain conviction in her voice, the kind that didn’t leave room for debate—just personal truth, wrapped in sarcasm and a bit of bite.

"I’m pretty sure it runs in the Kenner bloodline," she added with a smirk. "Beer and hard spirits only. Anything else feels like betrayal."She paused, her nose wrinkling slightly in distaste.

"That wine crap?" she scoffed. "Tastes like battery acid. And everyone who drinks it talks like they’re auditioning for some posh afternoon tea party."

"hey, hun, what can i getcha?" the bar manager asked the patreon on the other side of the bar. unfortunately one of her bartenders called out for the night and the club was thriving as usual, which meant they couldn't afford to be down a body, which also meant that she was stepping in.

"oh crap." she muttered, slightly aggressively throwing her hand, that was holding her phone, in the air. she had just been in the middle of sending an important text when her phone died and today just happened to be one of those moments without a charger near-by. "hey, you wouldn't happen to have a charger would you?" she asked the stranger next to her.

@mircges || soft-hearted stars || taehyun → hojin !!

     vibrating phone breaks concentration and one glance to the caller id has nausea and upset curling beneath tightening chest ; he loves his father, he well and truly does, but the man has yet to not end their brief conversations with the same words that are all but embedded in mind like a script at this point. hojin has half a mind to let his phone go to voicemail, to delete the voicemail filled with critiques of his choice in major, of the childish imagination his father still thinks he succumbs to, but he already hears the way gruff voice spews the same things over and over into deaf ears - ‘why can’t you be like your cousins, who are business majors ? animating and making things for children will not get you anywhere in life. going to that studio will only lead to failure. it isn’t too late to change your major.’

     he swipes the answer button and lifts the phone to tuck between ear and shoulder, teeth sinking into lower lip and his father’s rambling tone jumping from cursory questions about his health, his classes, ‘that fine young man in his pictures’, and immediately into what hojin always loathes about these bi-weekly phone calls. despite struggling to tune out the same words, they’ve been burned into ears and among mind, searing smoke into thoughts until hojin questions whether what he’s doing is actually worth it, until it’s all he can do to wonder if what he’s doing is something his father’s ashamed of. his responses to his father’s words are hollow, thoughtless - a quiet hum here, a ‘no’ there, and ‘promise to call more often, dad’ over there and the phone call’s ended.

     phone slides from shoulder to land with a thud on wooden floor, hojin not even wincing at the dent or crack that might greet him. instead he stands from his desk and pads through the room, in search of a distraction in the form of cool touch and warm words ; he finds taehyun sat on the couch with a book in hand and, for a moment, he doesn’t want to be a bother. but then taehyun gives him a cursory look, a small frown, and waves him over and hojin allows himself to be pulled into taehyun’s gravitational pull, collapsing onto the couch at his side and dropping head onto shoulder. he feels a cheek rest against his head, feels cool fingers play with his own, and all he can get out is a mumbled, ‘my dad called’.

     those fingers still and suddenly the cheek is nuzzling against his head, a motion that would otherwise coax laughter from smiling lips if not for words buzzing ‘round mind. hojin allows himself the distraction of taehyun’s touch and presence, the unpleasant knot tangling in stomach loosening. however, something thorny and hot catches in his throat when he hears taehyun’s words, nearly muffled from the way his cheek is rubbing against hojin’s hair, but it’s clear as day and that something thorny loosens on a watery sigh ; he curls into taehyun’s presence, eyes blinking shut to combat the wetness he can feel misting behind his eyes. it’s something so small, a nearly mindless commentary, but it never fails to knock loose that discomfort and replace it with a reassurance ; he has to wonder if taehyun just knows exactly what to say to him to ease the knotted hurt in chest, and that thought sends warmth spreading through body.