THERE'S NO GLORY IN LOVE.

as polite as ever, "i'm not trying to impose."

it is glaringly obvious that pidgeen's knowledge of what a settled life is and willow's knowledge of what a settled life is differ in subtle if fundamental ways. for instance, as pidgeen sees it, willow is a settled person in the blank and blaring sense of the word, as all non-travellers are. but she understands what willow means, which is what makes her gaze grow distant.

The silent killer is the disdain for it all. Willow gets the urge to give the Irish Goodbye to her entire life almost daily.

Lately, that part has been getting a bit louder. She shrugs, staring off into the distance. There's a family of four in a minivan blaring Frozen somewhere off to the left, giving her a headache.

          “Asshole,”          Clover huffs, rolling her eyes. Then, back to the matter at hand:          “Anyway, that sounds really cool. I dig the drama of it all. I can’t wait to see what you end up doing with it.”

“Thanks. I don’t really — I find it a little difficult to talk about what I’m writing with people, so it’s nice that you… Yeah, anyways…”

Inside the shop, Willow picks up a ghost-shaped bong and examines it. Salem’s birthday is coming up; it might be a good little gift. She decides to hold on to it while she decides, taking a peek at the other art pieces and sculptures.

Whatever. She ignores them and chats with a live representative on the facility’s webpage. They’re willing to work with her on this, but the accommodations for couples are limited and require heavy supervision. No shared rooms and therapy sessions must be done separately, except on Tuesdays, when a couple’s counselor is onsite. Schedules will be arranged so that free time is shared time. 

          “They’ll allow it,”          Roxy says. She doesn’t find it necessary to share the details.          “Zero will be there regardless. If you’re in, Willow, I have to know now to reserve your room.” 

          “I’m not going.”          Z sounds like a little kid again.

          “Yes, you are. Should I get Angelo on the phone?” 

For now, though, she's silent.

But his vague annoyance at demonic flair cannot outdo fascination. Rarely does Willow offer him anything—he’s still trying to determine how to safely wrangle her into the lab—and these are very promising samples. He examines them immediately, working tirelessly for several days to unravel whatever riddles the blood has to offer. Then, when he’s good and ready, a message:

𝙹𝚊𝚛   𝙰:   𝚈𝚘𝚞   𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎   𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚌.   𝙹𝚊𝚛   𝙱:   𝚃𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜   𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢   𝚊𝚜   𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌   𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍.   𝙹𝚊𝚛   𝙲   𝚒𝚜   𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢   𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕   𝚝𝚘   𝚖𝚎.   𝙰𝚜   𝚢𝚘𝚞   𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠,   𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎   𝚒𝚜   𝚊   𝚕𝚘𝚝   𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍   𝚌𝚊𝚗   𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕   𝚞𝚜   𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝   𝚊𝚗   𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚞𝚊𝚕.   𝙸   𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎   𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗   𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐   𝚊   𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎   𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖   𝚢𝚘𝚞   𝚏𝚘𝚛   𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎   𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎   𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎.   𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔   𝚢𝚘𝚞.

𝙸   𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎   𝚊𝚗   𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎   𝚒𝚗   𝙹𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚗   𝚠𝚑𝚘   𝚠𝚊𝚜   𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢   𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎   𝚝𝚘   𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎-𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚛   "𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜"   𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍   𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐   𝚊   𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎   𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖   𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗   𝚝𝚑𝚎   𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝   𝚠𝚊𝚜   𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗.   𝙸   𝚠𝚊𝚜   𝚗𝚘𝚝   𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎   𝚘𝚏   𝚝𝚑𝚎   𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝   𝚊𝚝   𝚝𝚑𝚎   𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎,   𝚋𝚞𝚝   𝚒𝚝   𝚑𝚊𝚜   𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎   𝚞𝚙   𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎   𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑   𝚖𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕   𝚊𝚌𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎.   𝙸   𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎   𝚢𝚘𝚞   𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠   𝚝𝚑𝚎   𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝   𝚊𝚜   𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕;   𝚑𝚎𝚛   𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎   𝚒𝚜   𝚃𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚑   𝙺𝚊𝚑𝚕𝚒𝚕 - 𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚗.   𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢   𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜   𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍   𝚋𝚎   𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎   𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑   𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛   𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎   𝚊𝚜   𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕   𝚋𝚞𝚝   𝙸   𝚊𝚖   𝚞𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎   𝚑𝚘𝚠   𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚢 - 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚍   𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍   𝚖𝚊𝚢   𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚝   𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚜.    𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎   𝚒𝚜   𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘   𝚝𝚑𝚎   𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛   𝚘𝚏   𝚃𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚑'𝚜   𝚖𝚒𝚡𝚎𝚍 - 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚜   𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍   𝚝𝚘   𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍   𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑,   𝚊𝚜   𝚜𝚑𝚎   𝚑𝚊𝚜   𝚏𝚊𝚎   𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚜.  𝚃𝚑𝚎   𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚜𝚝   𝚠𝚑𝚘   𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍   𝚘𝚞𝚝   𝚝𝚑𝚎   𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚍𝚞𝚛𝚎   𝚒𝚜   𝚂𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚗   𝙺𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚒.   𝙸   𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕   𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚝   𝚝𝚘   𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚝   𝚑𝚒𝚖   𝚏𝚘𝚛   𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎   𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.   𝚈𝚘𝚞   𝚖𝚊𝚢   𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝   𝚝𝚘   𝚍𝚘   𝚜𝚘   𝚊𝚜   𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕.

When she gets Hyuntae's text, she's sprawled out on the bed. Trying to black-out the heat off summer in her underwear with a bowl of ice resting at the small of her back. It's not really working. She's glad for the distraction when her phone lights up.

It makes sense, she thinks. She used to faint in the shower.

His following messages take a little longer to process. Willow didn't know about Tallah, though she understands why something like that would have been kept quiet. She's not sure she would have reacted well to this information any other time. Somebody got out. And now she gets forever on terms that wont mar her soul over time. Willow lets out a little sigh.

There's no point addressing it. At least for now, the very idea of a cure for her seems not only completely out of the question but -- not even really an option for her anyway. She's already been to Hell.

[ txt to: hyuntae namkung. ] your associate wont see me again. sorry and you're welcome. what is it that you've learned from my current sample?

again feel free to switch around sender and receiver in these after pasting!

1)  sender takes receiver’s hands because receiver is cold,  rubbing and blowing warmth into them. 

2)  sender washes receiver’s hair while they take a shower together. 

3)  sender brings receiver a potted plant rather than a bouquet so it will last longer. 

4)  sender brings receiver a bouquet of flowers (feel free to specify what kind) 

5)  our muses are walking somewhere together and sender casually takes receiver’s hand,  bringing it up to kiss the back before simply holding it the rest of the way. 

6)  receiver is getting dressed and,  unprompted,  sender helps them zip up, attach a necklace, tie a tie, etc. 

7)  sender shows up at receiver’s door with homemade food to comfort them or because they aren’t feeling well. 

8)  sender remembered something receiver mentioned they liked and brings it or something related to it as a gift.

9)  sender randomly gives something to receiver that reminded sender of them (feel free to specify)

10)  our muses are talking and sender wordlessly reaches over to fix receiver’s hair without breaking concentration.  

11)  receiver has had a hard day and comes home to sender drawing up a bath and preparing their favorite comforting beverage. 

12)  receiver has had some task they needed to get done around their home and they find sender doing it for them unprompted. 

13)  sender wordlessly picks something out of the fabric of receiver’s clothing and then smooths it over while they’re having a conversation. 

14)  sender soothingly runs their fingers through receiver’s hair while they talk or are in a group setting. 

15)  sender brushes receiver’s hair out and fixes it for them. 

16)  sender places their hand on receiver’s thigh while they’re talking or in a group setting.  

17)  sender offers their arm for receiver to take while they walk. 

18)  sender slips their arm through receiver’s while they walk.  

19)  sender places their coat around receiver after realizing they’re cold. 

swamp gospel is a verse novel styled as a collection of posthumously published journals, essays, and poems. underpinning the feverish narration of personal decay is a bizarre and contradictory religious dogma—informed by sufi and carmelite philosophy, and populated by figures from norse and kemetic polytheist traditions. the final contribution is an apparently authentic police report filed with the monroe county sheriff's office regarding a body discovered in highly unusual condition along a tributary to the conecuh river.

He executes the thought. Buries it.

"It shall happen. She has been frequenting New York more often." Not always to see him. Sometimes she does not even alert him to the fact of her presence in his city. He has his ways of knowing, though. She taught him well. Letting his gaze return to Willow's face, he sees her looking away. "Perhaps one day I might convince you to stay for more than a handful of days."

Willow smiles, picks up a basket and then passes it to him. A gentleman after all, yes? She’ll use him to her advantage, plucking various vegetables from their places on the shelves and admiring them - Willow picks the ones that look just underripe and places them in Sebastian’s care as they wander through the isles.