#|| nard ||

Bird of Paradise Flower:  Does your muse have a good grasp of the bigger picture, or do they have a more narrow perspective on things?

Reynard prides himself of always being several steps ahead of any given situation, so he would probably claim to have a bigger picture. But in reality, his perspective is actually very narrow and near sighted. 

There are signs he ignores, or get skewed in his head. A lot of the time he only sees what he wants to see or fully believes, and anything suggesting otherwise is a trick. It’s a lovely mix of confusion and denial.

Camellia Japonica:  What does your muse excel at, and are they aware of/proud of these skills?

Strategizing and innovation, and yes, he is very aware and proud of these skills. When standing in a room, he’s probably already figured out escape routes and how to immobilize you while you’ve been talking to him the past five minutes, and how to utilize anything in said room to his advantage, including himself and you. He loves to play chess and any other strategy based games, and he enjoys taking things apart and putting them back together. He can usually make use of any tools he’s given.

This sounds like a very useful skill, but he’s SUUUUPER paranoid. It’s a blessing and a curse, for he never stops thinking or planning. 

Daffodil:  Has your muse ever gotten a chance at a fresh start at life? If not, would they make one if they had the chance?

Yes, and he blew it. If you think about it, he maybe had two chances, that melded into one. When he escaped his past, that was chance number one, for he was now free to do what he pleased. When he decided to work for the Royal Scientist, that was his chance number two.

But while he managed to destroy what was hurting him, he never really, truly escaped. Even now he’s still chained to the product of his history, plagued by its scars, and rather than seek new beginnings, he only sought to hurt others the way he had been hurt. 

Instead of friends, he wanted enemies. He believed everyone was an enemy. That mindset never went away, and he was determined to always be the one to strike first, lest he lose the advantage and once more become trapped. So when presented with an opportunity for something good, he didn’t see it for what it was and saw it as an obstacle instead, deliberately made to expose him and lower his guard. And he has been tempted. He has allowed the thought of a peaceful, fulfilling life of friends and family to cloud his judgement. He has wondered if, maybe, just maybe, he’d be allowed to have that. 

But he has been naïve before, and paid the price. Even now, if offered the opportunity, he’d sooner spit on the offer and threaten violence than accept it as truth. 

((Under a readmore due to sensitive material, please read tags))

You thought you would win, you thought you were right You thought you could deny, you thought you could fight Tell us how you planned the story to end  Tell us how you thought there were no amends 

You called it justice but it was disguised with lies You called it vengeance but you were the one who broke the ties Where is it now, or were you always intending to sin? What will you say now, or was the evil always within? 

Look around, and you’ll find where you have started  Hear us now, and know you have caused it  It could have been different, you could have atoned  You knew no better, it wasn’t set in stone 

     The “fox monster” was known to be a diligent worker. He practically lived at the labs, he was there at least as often as the Royal Scientist. Yet he had to be home at some point, because he was always clean and well kept, bright eyed and attentive. The assistant was known to help the Royal Scientist with his work, but he didn’t have half the stress that Valdemar Gaster carried. He was always calm and collected, some would even say easy going. 

     Something was different on this day. 

     The scientist assistant was subdued. Grim faced and weary. Many often found him approachable, but there was something about his aura that warned them he should be left alone. There were no pleasantries exchanged that morning. In fact, something very odd and rare happened: Reynard was late.