#smartalic

september  18th  ,  12:32  ,  UNKNOWN

"  how  was  it  out  west  ,  anyway  ?  "  he  doesn't  envy  dylan's  choice  to  head  out  there  for  a  while  ;  truthfully  ,  while  it's  not  like  he  ever  spent  a  lot  of  time  there  himself  ,  it  never  quite  seemed  his  speed  .  dylan  ,  though  ,  he  could  probably  have  fun  .  not  that  it  matters  now  ,  with  him  being  back  &  all  .  for  a  second  ryan  things  about  mentioning  it  felt  different  with  the  other  so  far  away  ,  but  he  lets  it  die  on  his  tongue  ,  feeling  himself  sink  a  bit  into  his  more  reserved  persona  at  the  thought  .  "  more  relaxing  than  here  ,  i'm  guessing  .  probably  a  lot  less  talk  about  the  whole  ---  you  know,  news  stories  or  whatever  .  "

“ alright  guys,  we  need  to  be  taking  sunscreen applications  more seriously. nurse  laura  has  even  said  the  nurse’s  station is  running  low  on  aloe, and do I even need  to  tell  you  guys  about  my  cousin  mikey ? “  hands  on his  hips,  max  looks  at  the  group  of  kids  huddled  up  before  him.  he  spots dylan  in  his  peripherals and without a  word, grabs onto  his  arm and  yanks  him  over  to stand next  to  max. 

  “ dylan. wanna help  me  out  here ? we were just  discussing  the  importance of sunblock. “ 

     BEING AROUND HIM FEELS WOOZY. head spinning. the taste of ash and iron and panic and fear and - - - and after. circe hates this ; hates feeling like she pried herself into something she shouldn’t know or see when she didn’t try. attempts to shut the knowledge down, the insistent wheedling of the past and the future and the now and the - it doesn’t work. she can shift it, yes, to the thousands of feet that have trod on this ground before, or the hands that built the structures around them, or the things that will replace this place someday, but it will always be there ; WHAT HAPPENED HAPPENED, AND CIRCE CAN’T PUSH IT AWAY. not when someone is standing right in front of her. even in a college library where there are so many people who have passed through, but those peoples lives are ... quiet in comparison, largely. “sorry,” WAS SHE STARING? SHE WAS, WASN’T SHE. 

major arcana headcanons / always accepting.

16.  the tower  :  what event drastically changed your muse’s life ? do they resent that event or are they glad of it ?

a  shredding  ‘  why  ‘  capsizes in  his  head.  nick  was  a  lot  of  things,  but  asking  them  to  leave  him  behind  was  not  him  being  a  martyr. ‘ what  happens  when  I  get  you  guys  killed ? what’s  the  big  plan,  dylan. ‘  nick  wanted  dylan  to  recognize  the  torture in  his  eyes.  nick  has  never  felt  this  sick  in  his  whole  life, never  knew  of  an  animal  bite  that  could  do ..  all this. their  eyes  meet  and  nick  swallows  thickly. he’s  such  a  prick  sometimes.  “ m’not  playing  martyr .. I’m  just  saying .. I’m  a  heavy  weight.  you  won’t have  your  best  chance  of surviving. “ he  feels  cold.  maybe  that’s  why  he’s scrambling.  trying  to  get  it  out  before  he  croaks.