He knows the best people to make a deal with are the ones coming in to do favors for others. Reece respects those people more to begin with, they're not just here to get a leg up, they're here in defense of something or someone. She's clearly looking to help her brother, clean up his messes, messes she doesn't seem to have caused.

The name she says doesn't ring a bell, but that doesn't surprise him. There are a whole lot of people in Nox that owe him money, some a little, some a whole lot more. But luckily that's why he's at his desk, a quick search and the man's file pops up, Reece scans the screen takes in the amount owed and if he's committed any other punishable offenses. Nothing too heinous.

"Your brother owes me over two million, are you aware of that?" He asks, looking her over. A lot of the times when people come in on behalf of someone they never actually understand how much someone owes. "And if that's just me," He clicks his tongue, "It's probably double that at least. So you're asking me for what four mil. Take a long time to work off money like that."

Reece trails off, this is usually the part where he sees who someone is. They'll either bend, accepting that their friend or family member can't be saved, some get angry at the person they're here for, and others lift their chin off and take this heavy sins down on their shoulders. His answer always depends on what they do at this part, half his staff is made up of people like her.

@silverflcme​ said:  🔥 marriage

Spilling the tea so you can send flame emojis as well as tea emojis

Oh boy...

Let’s get out the obvious: Marriage is not the be-all, end-all to personal happiness. Neither are romantic relationships. Marriage, in plenty of ways, can make your life far more difficult than remaining single would be and those are challenges you have to be willing to face, work through, listen, and most importantly, compromise with someone else. If you cannot do that, do not get married.

Additionally: if you are not on the same page with your future spouse regarding career trajectories (or at least what you’d be willing to change about your life in order to support them or take on a new opportunity yourself), financial planning, financial spending, home maintenance, understanding each other’s love languages, and children, DO. NOT. GET. MARRIED. Sincerely, someone in her thirties who’s seeing her friends going on their first round of divorces for several years at this point.

Now, with that out of the way...

...weddings are a complete waste of money, for the most part, for the couple getting married.

They mean everything to the families as a way to show off “LOOK WHAT MILESTONE MY OFFSPRING HAS ACHIEVED” but for the actual couple? Planning and participating in it involve descending into a special level of hell that, if you emerge unscathed, you’re probably going to succeed in marriage. It is a hell of a lot of money to sink into a single day’s celebrations overall (and that doesn’t include the showers. Or the fact that everything with ‘wedding’ attached to it has a giant price markup) when most couples could really use such funds for their future lives together.

Or, if you’re like my fiancé and I, would rather spend such funds on our future lives together and material goods and experiences that bring us joy. If I want to wear a ballgown, I’ll damn well do it for a costume. Bonus? I can wear it to multiple events! Wedding gowns are a one and done deal most of the time.

Basically: Do not sink a ton of money into a wedding unless your family is really pushing for it (and will pay for it). But understand that the whole event is really for them, not for you. Getting married in front of 500 people and having a grand reception is not a guarantee for happiness any more than getting married at city hall and having an intimate dinner with your closest family and friends is.

And for my final marriage hot take in this post: It is perfectly fine to not have diamonds in your engagement or wedding band. It’s perfectly fine to have lab grown stones. The diamond industry is absolute crap and has been pushing out absolute crap in its advertisements for decades.

However.

Do not shame your friends if they do want ethically-sourced stones in their jewelry. I cannot tell you the amount of shit I’ve received on Facebook and offline from ‘friends’ who either judge me or are jealous of me for using inherited/vintage/secondhand stones in my engagement ring, and will be using such stones in my wedding ring as well. I do want real diamonds in my wedding jewelry, but I refuse to purchase any brand new stones. Inheriting and sourcing secondhand pieces and having something custom made is my (and my fiancé’s) way of going about this that makes us feel good about how we’re spending our money and supporting the jewelry industry (and we’re going with a small, independent shop in our city that specializes in custom designs, too!).

tl;dr: Stop ring-shaming my jewelry just because you’d rather have a giant sparkly lab-grown stone and you can’t afford the real thing/don’t want to support the real thing.

Valentine’s day | accepting | @silverflcme

☠ - Tension!

Tension!

Oh. He could feel their presence a mile away if that was the case. That firm glance that could render armies into dust was centered directly onto him. Yet, a loss of will would only prove the worse to be true.

He can’t lose heart!!

“Let’s take a moment to calm down now. It’s better for mental well-being to not sweat over the small stuff. It’s fine, it’s fine, we’re fine, everything is fine.”

Except it wasn't, and even Nari was aware of this fact, although the part of playing a young woman nonchalant woman seemed to suit her well enough plans begun to form in her head. Though she couldn't quite gauge the other's reaction to their current situation, it was best to assume that a trace of fear etched into her heart as it would with anyone. Regardless, Lady Luck was unfavorable to both of the girls. It was as though they were surrounded by a hazy mirage that broke through the fabrics of reality, beasts with a wisp-like fear, dark as the night sky, surrounded the two. Drool slipping through their fangs, each of them ready to pounce at either of the girls.

"..."

Though encircled by them, there couldn't be more than three or four. It'd be easy enough to take out the beasts that seemed lowly enough and around the same size as a wolf itself, perhaps, a bit smaller. However, Nari narrows her eyes as a bead of sweat rolls down her cheek. She had no weapon. Magic hums in her veins. She had power beyond belief, the ability to control the earth itself. A force that should be reassuring in this case but; would only serve as a grim reminder that she cannot harm nor kill these creatures, not without retaliation on herself. She couldn't understand this power, more than likely those with magic didn't have to worry about the same drawback as she did. Rubbing her neck, she'd turn back to the young woman.

"Hey, how are you with magic? Can you use any magic for that matter?" Nari asked. "I'm able to use plants to create a barrier but..."

She gestures to the empty city streets. "Without any around us, there's not much I can do. And... I didn't think to bring my gun either considering I didn't think I'd run into shadow beasts this early in the night."

There’s a book in her hands which slumps lazily against a mostly-prone form, lounging catlike and easy— really, you’d think, this is a woman who could make herself look perfectly comfortable on a bed of hot coals. 

Which is a prudent comparison, under these circumstances! How readily the air sizzles, and the hairs at the nape of her neck rise along with her gaze; to find that truly delectable marriage of confusion and rage the knight-enchanter wears. She wished she could have a portrait of it to view again later, with the same nonchalant smile which briefly tugs at her lips now before it’s replaced by a mask of disappointment, some slight offense. Emphasized, of course, with the slant of her head and covering of her heart with the tome’s steady face.

“ now, now, have a care— aren’t you knight-folk supposed to be bleeding-heart for the people? you don’t even want to ask if I’m alright? what manner of distress could cause a thing like me to intrude on a place like this? ” she croons dramatically, finally deigning to move more than her hand and treacherous lips... if only as much as to swing her legs down and stretch high both arms. still all-parts relaxation and leisure, despite the fact that her shift now bares to light a scattering of little cuts and scuffs which mar a once immaculate outfit, and the (admittedly still splendid) skin beneath.

“ you can be forgiven for the mistake, as I hope you’ll forgive me, but I make it my business never to ‘come quietly’... unless I absolutely must. ” my gods, Lovelace, is this really the right time? she can’t be stifled for a moment. nevertheless, she relents a little, lifting her hands with a mockery of good-will. it couldn’t be mistaken for surrender, no matter how you tried to see it.

“ my ‘intentions’ were to get off the street, for the sake of my immediate well-being. and it seemed prudent, while waiting out that storm, to select a venue which promised the materials to preserve myself...