flowers bloom until they rot

LIFTEDRELICS +++++ An Independent, mutuals only multi-muse blog. +++++ CARRD.

He'd never really seen himself in this kind of situation either. Well, he had an idea that other vampires existed, of course, but he'd never even met any others, much less co-conspired with them. It was kind of thrilling, the idea of it all.

But for the sake of their skins, and any others like them, this guy had to go.

He grinned at her and saluted. He would keep a look out, but it was quiet out. The sun was almost completely down, leaving that pretty purple-blue tone on everything. The bugs and frogs would've been singing if they weren't in the middle of the city.

She kept a reasonable distance from him at first and played the part of some random human girl sitting at the bar alone and having a drink. She made sure that their eyes briefly met, turning back to her half-empty glass with an awkward little smile. That's when he made his move, and she knew she had him. Hook, line, and sinker.

› prompts from rachel gillig's novel the knight and the moth (2025). feel free to tweak as you see fit , bartholomew.

❛ you don’t have to be good, or useful, for someone to care about you. ❜

❛ when you do the right thing for the wrong reason, no one praises you. ❜

❛ we all want to be special.”

❛ what is right and wrong depends entirely on the story you’re living in. ❜

❛ which is more intricate? the designs of men, trying to reach gods, or that of gods, trying to reach men? ❜

❛ people who love you for your usefulness don't love you at all. ❜

❛ you want to throw me down. ❜

❛ i, prideful, disdainful, godless. ❜

❛ i want to drag you into the dirt with me. ❜

❛ you know this story, (name,) though you do not remember it. ❜

❛ to tell a story is in part to tell a lie, isn't it? ❜

❛ it's hard to see who i am when i am lost in what's expected of me. ❜

❛ fear not, (name!) every day has its dog. ❜

❛ if you only ever look up at something, can you ever see it clearly? ❜

❛ it is easier, swearing ourselves to someone else's cause than to sit with who we are without one. ❜

❛ take my hand, you strange little creature. ❜

❛ it sounds awful when i say it out loud. ❜

❛ you are more special than you realize. ❜

❛ i would do anything for you. ❜

❛ i cannot decide which i like best. the sunrise, or the sunset. ❜

❛ i was losing my faith in everything. ❜

❛ the two of us meeting… it felt almost divine. ❜

❛ i think her quite the bitch. ❜

❛ how undignified. ❜

❛ did anyone see me fall? ❜

❛ i want someone to see me. ❜

❛ i want it to be you. ❜

❛ no honor among thieves, and even less among gods. ❜

❛ i’ll do anything you ask of me. ❜

❛ if i were beside myself, there would be two of me ❜

❛ oh, (name.) he's dreamy. ❜

❛ do you want to know how it ends? ❜

❛ does it end? ❜

❛ it ends when you kiss me. ❜

❛ why do we do these things to ourselves? ❜

❛ you’re an incomparable fiend, (name.) a truly accomplished asshole. ❜

❛ i’d like you better if you were on your back again. ❜

❛ it is not like me to be the bearer of bad tidings. ❜

❛ am i all that you imagined? ❜

❛ your hands are marked by the blood of my metamorphosis. ❜

❛ whatever my soul was made of was frail. ❜

❛ violence is a craft. so is compassion. ❜

❛ no is a sufficient answer. ❜

❛ anger is a fine weapon. ❜

❛ now have some soup. ❜

❛ i will shoulder any weight you give me. ❜

❛ would that things were different. ❜

❛ i think i would like to stop promising myself away, or else there will be nothing left of me to give. ❜

a hand drags lazily, in a half asleep half awake state, to what should be winnie. but there's no warmth or mumbles. that's enough for eyes to open slowly, glancing to his side where she had been. eddie doesn't need a clock to know it's early. his level of tiredness is telling of that, && the lack of noise from wayne. except -- there's a clinking from the kitchen. quiet enough that it can't be his uncle, who often takes it upon himself to be as loud as possible.

it's a step-by-step process to wake up; sitting upright first, blinking back to reality so the world isn't so fuzzy, listening to that hum in the kitchen, && finally, pushing himself to his feet.

the smell of coffee wafts through the air && early morning light spills in from the windows, lighting up the kitchen, the living room && her. winnie peers past the fridge door, greeting him quietly. " hey, " a mumbled response, voice still rough from being not quite awake yet && unruly curls sticking out in every direction. two opposites.

winnie's stayed before but this is different -- the light catching on her face && hair, the hour of the morning, her quiet words. like her presence has turned the place into more of a home with a simple offer. usually routines are rushed; wayne running out the door or eddie scrambling after, always late. dinners left aside to be eaten alone in the evenings or the fridge to be scavenged at late hours. breakfasts in the home weren't rare, but ... not common either. one awake before the other, someone's already left, or just a coffee && go. this is why there's a flicker of surprise in his expression, glancing between winnie && the coffee upon the counter.

Winnie caught the confused expression on Eddie's face, and she suspected the Munson boys didn't really do anything like this all that much. She imagined Wayne catching the highlights of the morning paper while Eddie downed a bowl of cereal, but that might have been it. That's what made it all the more exciting for her to throw this together for them. She stopped what she was doing when Eddie's hand brushed her waist and looked up at him, or at his bedhead. Her fingers delicately brushed through some of the wild curls. ❝ I don't mind. I want to. ❞

❝  HAPPY  ENDINGS  ARE  FOR  SHMUCK'S  who  don't  know  what  the  real  world  is  like.   ❞  a  jaded  answer  spoken  by  a  man  who'd  lost  EVERYTHING.  but  it  was  the  truth,  or  as  much  as  he'd  convinced  himself  by  now  that  it  was.  how  he  hated  that  he'd  become  so  worn  and  broken,  still  wondering  why  in  the  world  HE  was  chosen  to  be  the  one  to  save  humanity.

Unfortunately, their little band of evil-killing mischiefs knew how the world really looked. People didn't even have a clue what was out there. They were so involved in the mundane and dumb government conspiracy theories that they didn't even notice how EVIL things were in the real world. How many people had Ash tried to tell about the demons that killed and mutilated his friends? They laughed him off, or thought he did it. Nobody was ready for the truth.

❝ And do what? Go back to working as a cashier? ❞ Kelly laughed off the idea that her life even had a chance of going back to "normal." Sure, she thought about it from time to time. She could be living in some city, figuring out how to set up her 401K by day and going out with girlfriends at night. She could stress over bills and get into health fads. Because why not have a kale salad instead of french fries like everyone else?

Olivia felt for the girl – of course she did. It's the only reason she's still here, helping. She wouldn't be anywhere else, not when there's clearly something not quite natural going on here. And really, even aside from all of that? Nell is clearly scared. Olivia can't just leave her (she knows that feeling all too well).

The agent kneels in front of her, knees to the floor as she settles herself on the girl's level. She picks up one of the dolls and gently pets the hair back.

❝ I used to stay up all night, when I was your age. ❞

The first doll is set down, hair brushed and propped to sit all on its own off to the side. She picks up a second doll and does the same – carefully soothes the hair into place and then puts it down next to the first, close enough that their little plastic hands touch. She looks back up at Nell when she picks up the third doll.

❝ You wanna know the only thing that ever really helped protect me from the dark? ❞

He cradled her face, kissing her softly. ❝I love you.❞ He said, even as his hands traveled to hold her and keep her close, slow and secure, needing to be sure this moment was real. ❝I love you.❞ He repeated, a smile in his voice, a small laugh of disbelief as it felt so good to say.

He nearly forgotten what had brought all this on. Abraham lingered in her life like an old ghost, mooring her to her past life with him, even as she longed to be free and loved him instead. He felt a surge of protectiveness, wanting more than anything to keep her from going back there, even if it was to try and deescalate. He didn't care. He needed her to understand that they could face it together. Whatever came.