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"nothing hurts more than trying your absolute best and still not being good enough."

NAME: Henry Knight AGE: 30 years SPECIES: Earth Witch OCCUPATION: currently unemployed FACE CLAIM: Logan Lerman

from the moment henry knight was born, his shoulders were heavy with the weight of expectations.

his parents, who had worked their way up to the highest ranks in politics, where they represented the witches, would only ever expect the best of their sons.

henry did not do well with this weight on his shoulders though. as a young boy, he already noticed that when he tried his best, it wasn't nearly enough. there were no words of encouragement, no sign that anyone around him even noticed how hard he was trying to be good enough. it seemed no matter what he tried, the only thing he was good at was failing.

compared to others his age, henry was smart and well-read. but for his parents, that simply was not enough.

it did not help that Henry ended up having absolutely no interest in politics once he was old enough to dive into it. he found it boring, the conversations dry, and saw no point in trying to pursue a career he despised. even if his parents expected otherwise from him.

henry was a lost soul, unsure what his place was - if he wasn't good enough for anything, then what was he even here for? he found passion in art, mainly pursuing drawing and photography. but he did so quietly, in secret, as he knew his parents would never approve of him going down the creative route instead of stepping into their footsteps.

once he was old enough, henry moved out of his parents' home in the hopes of being able to find his own meaning and life in his own apartment. here he spent his time with his art, took care of plants, and tried to pursue a good life. but his parents shadows loom over him every single day, and keep weighing down his shoulders wherever he goes.

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"but without the dark, we'd never see the stars."

NAME: Julien Montagne AGE: 34 years SPECIES: Air Witch OCCUPATION: Lawyer FACE CLAIM: Casey Deidrick

for his family, Julien's birth was more a necessity than anything else. His parents weren't known to be the paternal types, and if it hadn't been for their family legacy, they probably never would have chosen to have children. Stemming from a powerful witch coven in France, his grandparents were the ones to move away and start a new life. And a law firm. It only took them two decades to become one of the most prestigious law firms in the area.

Julien's parents married for business rather than love and took over the firm from his grandparents. And they knew they needed children to further lead the family legacy after them. Julien is the oldest of three. He never learned what a happy, loving childhood was like. He grew up between nannies and tutors, the only love he knew the one between his siblings and him. Quickly enough, he learned to despise his parents, and everything they stood for.

As a teenager, Julien started dabbling in the grey areas of magic. Never fully going into the dark side of it, he often enough toed the line of what his parents would deem acceptable and what was not. Julien quickly learned that he was powerful. More powerful than his parents, though he barely showed them what he was capable of. It was his well kept secret, and he thrived on knowing what they did not know.

Julien liked being rebellious. His parents wanted him to go to one college, he chose another. His parents wanted him to hold a speech, he'd throw in some passive aggressive comments only they would understand. Julien wanted nothing more than to work for their rivals, but his father ended up using all his influence to make sure no other law firm offered Julien a job. The truth was, he didn't even want to be a lawyer. His rebellion only ever went so far. He never fully went through with it. And so, despite absolutely hating everything about his job, he still got his degree and started working in his parents' firm.

His free time is still spent diving into the darker sides of magic, whether it be with research or practicing. He likes attending parties, enjoying himself, living his life to the fullest in the aspects his parents can't control it.

Only recently, his parents decided it was time for Julien to be engaged and get married. And of course, his parents wanted to choose the woman for him. A woman Julien couldn't stand, and definitely couldn't see himself spending his entire life with. So instead of doing what was expected of him, as so often he did the opposite. There was a woman who he had been more or less promised to as a child. One who had disappeared, and reappeared just in time for him to once more show his parents they could not control him. Because she was no longer someone acceptable for him to marry. Which was why Julien went through with the engagement, hoping that maybe one day, his parents will no longer control him.

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"who we are and who we need to be to survive are two very different things"

NAME: Ceyhan Küçük AGE: 35 years SPECIES: Human OCCUPATION: self-defense / boxing instructor FACE CLAIM: İlhan Şen

ceyhan believes that he was born with a curse. a curse that sooner or later everyone he loves leaves him - in one way or another.

the reality is that he was born into a very loving family. his parents were quite young, and his mother's pregnancy entirely unplanned. but they poured whatever love they had into raising him, and he couldn't really complain about missing out on anything as a child.

his grandmother on his mother's side was the only one who supported his young parents. she looked after ceyhan whenever his parents had to work at the same time, and he loved her dearly. but she was the first person in his life who left him. one afternoon when he was seven years old, when ceyhan was spending time with his grandmother, she suffered a heart attack. he thought she was sleeping on the kitchen floor and tried to wake her up. in the end, he called the ambulance, and rode with his grandmother's dead body to the hospital, where he was eventually told that she died. he blamed himself for being unable to help her, no matter how young he was, and his parents never managed to convince him otherwise.

still, life went on. and ceyhan was a lucky child. he grew up to be a happy teenager. but at age fourteen, the biggest catastrophe of his life happened. while he was at a friend's birthday party, his parents were out on the town. later on, ceyhan was told that they had a car accident on their way to pick him up. hints were given that alcohol was involved. to this day, ceyhan is unaware that his parents were nothing but collateral damage in a supernatural happening.

as there was no one left in ceyhan's family who wanted to take him in, he ended up going into foster care. but he was too old for any family to want to keep him. he brought too much damage. at night he screamed, caught in nightmares of losing his parents over and over again. during the day, he barely spoke, caught in a black cloud of depression and doom.

ceyhan switched families more often than his underwear, at least that was what it seemed liked. he forgot what it felt like to have a home, a loving one to that. he didn't get to settle, to make friends, to build a stable life.

at age eighteen, he worked three jobs to be able to afford a tiny dirty room, as he was thrown out of foster care. he barely managed to pass school, and kept working several jobs for years.

after losing his parents, ceyhan often found himself in fights to let out his frustrations. he kept doing that even when he got older. and at age twenty-three, one of his opponents invited him to a boxing studio. here ceyhan learned to put his anger and frustration into something more productive.

he trained day and night, and eventually was offered a job to help out as a trainer. eventually, it became his full time job. he offered boxing classes, but there was still this idea in his mind. he couldn't place its root, but he desperately wanted to teach self-defense classes. so he got a qualification and these days almost teaches more self-defense than boxing. he has managed to find a certain stability in his life. he is still very much a loner, but he is content. and ceyhan thinks that is all he can ask for.

ceyhan is unaware of the supernatural world and has not learned of its existence up until now.

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CASEY DEIDRICK as RYAN PETERSON Wedding Season (2023)

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İlhan Şen for Retouch Mag (May 2022)

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logan lerman as jonah heidelbaum in hunters (season 2, episode 8)

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everything below this is archived.

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kemal & rüya​:

For almost half of her life, survival had been the goal, the thing the witch strived for, what she worked so hard for. Work, study, try and get a few hours of sleep, repeat – for years, it was something that was engrained into an integral part of her being, and even now with a stable job and home, she had a hard time getting out of that mindset, but with Kemal… Kemal was the breath of fresh air she never knew she needed. When Rüya was with him, the worries of day to day life just melted away and she was able to just be. She wasn’t bogged down with unease about work, or weird supernatural storms, all she had to worry about was how foolish she looked being the same shade as a tomato, or how her cheeks were sure to ache from smiling so much. Or heart palpitations, with the way he was looking at her, that was a very big concern. “ You know Mery and Rey wouldn’t have let me miss tonight even if I tried. “ The brunette noted lightly. She was a homebody at heart, but in this moment, she was thankful for her friends who were not. “ Maybe… “ Rüya murmured, taking hold of his hand and guiding his fingers to the inner part of her wrist where her pulse was thrumming away. “ It’s working. “ A rather bold move for the witch, but she really wasn’t good at hiding her thoughts or emotions, especially when her reaction to him was so easily painted on her face, trying to start now seemed like a silly idea. Her lips parted with the gasp that was drawn into her lungs at the accusation, a bashful grin breaking across her features shortly after. “ Who told you that I was coming as Tinkerbell? “ She countered, her hands falling to rest on her hips. 

      “It sounds like I should thank Mery and Rey for dragging you out here then.” Knowing the twins, Kemal also guessed that they were partly responsible for the costume Rüya was wearing, and he definitely had to thank them for that view. It would have made any sane guy go crazy. Kemal on the other hand already thought Rüya was the sexiest woman he’d ever seen when she was wearing plain wide clothes. This though, was a whole other level. It caused fantasies to sprout in his head, and he had a hard time not drifting off into less innocent dream worlds. His eyes moved to her hand that took his, and when she made him feel her pulse, he couldn’t quite understand how she had suddenly grown so confident to flirt with him. Because that’s what she was doing, right? He wasn’t just wishfully hoping she was flirting, she actually was doing just that, no? His mouth felt dry as he felt her pulse quicken underneath his fingertips. He enjoyed that for a few moments, before he pressed the palm of his hand against hers and entwined their fingers. “I have my sources,” he said jokingly, winking at her as he leaned in slightly. “I guess your costume is only half perfect without me, so no matter if you want to or not, you’ll have to stay by my side for the rest of the night.” He whispered the words into Rüya’s ear, before he then decided to let go of her hand only to be able to wrap his arm around her waist. “Now, what do you want to do? Are you hungry?”

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talia & sanem​:

That voice. It tickles the back of her brain, travels down her spine like a spider, something familiar but out of reach — but only for a moment. Clarity strikes before she even turns to look, something that freezes Talia in her steps, the normally hostile werewolf suddenly thrown off-kilter. It’s all too easy to find herself back to that night, the last time she had seen her former girlfriend; the wolf’s eyes were sharper, committing every line of the huntress’s righteously furious face into detail, freezing the image in her mind to be replayed over and over again in quiet moments. She had never intended to see Sanem again after that. The world was so big and so wide, to disappear into it without a trace was a skill that Talia had learnt long before meeting the other woman. But here they stand, in the same sphere of each other once again, and the werewolf almost finds herself subconsciously reaching for the bullet scar in her side before stopping herself, as if the wound had reopened. A permanent reminder. A romantic might even call it a love mark, that their relationships could never be forgot, to say — I look at me and see you. “Sanem.” Dark eyes finally move to meet the gaze of her ex, finding the other woman equally halted in place. “You’re here— why?”

     Sanem had not expected to ever see Talia again. Especially not here of all places. When the other woman disappeared into thin air, the huntress figured she’d left for good. Gone to explore the big wide world, just like Sanem had dreamt of doing before her sister was killed and she turned to this lifestyle instead. But here her ex-girlfriend stood, looking as mesmerizing and hauntingly beautiful as she remembered. It ripped open a barely healed scar on her heart. Her skin felt cold, goosebumps rising all over her body, and her mind was blank as she found herself at a loss for words. Had she daydreamed about a reunion, gone through hundreds of scenarios from good to bad on what she would say to Talia -- she’d never pictured herself standing still with no words on her tongue. Her mouth felt dry, and her costume suddenly felt ridiculous on her. She was acutely aware of the weapons strapped to her body. And even if her ex would see them and think they were fake, she couldn’t help but feel uneasy having them so close to the other woman. “Why?”, she echoed, and that was when the anger kicked in. The hurt animal inside of her roared its head, and a fake laugh escaped her lips. “I live here, in case you forgot. I think I’m the one who should ask you why you’re here. Or rather, where you’ve been.”

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rüya & kemal​:

It didn’t matter the affirmations she uttered in the mirror, or how often she reminded herself that she was worthy of everything good in her life, there was always a lingering weed of doubt awaiting to bloom. The fact that Kemal had been thinking of her, looking for her, was no different, but he always seemed to manage to come along and pluck it right out just as the idea began to sprout. “ Really? “ Rüya squeaked, the admission doing terribly wonderful things to her tummy, and butterflies occupied any excess space in her chest that her organs had left. He always had the right words and with the the warmth radiating from just how close he was standing, the witch probably could have stayed there all night, but it would have been absolutely awful to not get a glimpse of his costume, and downright devastating to not see his beautiful face. Though upon turning around it was clear she hadn’t been prepared for the leaves that did very little to cover his chest, or the tights that looked like they could have been a second skin and her lips popped open, awe and shock glittering in the green of her eyes. “ Ohmygosh. ” She blurted, a mortifying shade of crimson painting itself across her features as she brought her hands up to cover her mouth. Rüya was fairly certain at least half the attendees could hear her heart hammering against her ribcage at the sight that stood before her – Kemal looked divine, potentially in the most sinful way possible, and the colour heating her skin only deepened when she finally managed to meet his gaze. “ I swear it’s like you’re trying to raise everyone’s heart rates. “ The words murmured sheepishly as her eyes finally lifted to see the little hat that made itself a home of brown wisps of hair. Click. “ Peter pan. “ 

      Kemal could have lied and said that he wanted to hang out with his friends. Hell, maybe he should have lied. Because admitting just how much he was craving to be in her presence was a weakness he’d promised himself to never commit to again. After how his father had hurt him, he never wanted to give another person the ability to make him feel so broken. But with Rüya, it was as if he couldn’t help himself. One look at her and all the reasons seemed to disappear. “Really.” A smile appeared on his lips as he lifted a hand to brush a stray curl away from her face and behind her ear. “I won’t lie, I was already starting to worry you might not be here. My night would have looked a lot more grim if that turned out to be true.” Instead, it felt as if the world had been lit up by her smile, by her eyes, by everything about her. She was certainly the most beautiful Tinkerbell he’d ever seen, the costume suiting her incredibly well. But it was also distracting, as his eyes kept wanting to travel from her face further down to the cleavage of her dress. It took all of Kemal’s self-control not to let it happen more than twice. Therefore, it only seemed fair to bring out a similar reaction from her. It was the biggest compliment to see her cheeks turn red, to see the look in her eyes. Because maybe, just maybe, it could mean her heart beat the same way his did when he looked at her. “You’re welcome,” he teased, lifting the small hat from his head as he performed a small bow. “Maybe I am. Or maybe I was just trying to raise your heart rate.” His voice was playful, underlined by a wink. “Now tell me, who told you I’d come as Peter Pan? This is too much of a coincidence to really be accidental.”

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raphael & laila​:

for: raphael ekker / @midnightmadncss​

“Get out of the way,” Laila spoke distractedly, reaching for Raphael’s shoulders to shove him out of her path. She could have been rougher, she supposed, but the action was still forcible— sometimes one had to be cruel to be kind and her attention was fixed upon the shadow that curved behind a wall and out of sight. A low curse slipped from her, visible from hot breath in cold air, before she turned back to Raphael. “There’s a demon here tonight.” Whatever expression she set upon him was something crazed and unsteady, dark eyes darted behind him once, and then twice. “She looks like something loved, but lost.” An uneasy smile curved at her mouth, bearing too many teeth. “Sometimes, she sets the world on fire. Have you seen her?”

       Raphael stared at Laila, and his expression very much resembled that of someone who had just seen a ghost. He followed her movements with his eyes, and his arms wrapped around his waist as he slowly started to shake his head. Was she trying to scare him or was she actually going crazy? Maybe with magic still pumping through his veins he would have known, but like this he was at a loss. “Are you... okay?” Probably not the right question to ask -- definitely not the right question to ask. But he didn’t really know what else to say. Because a demon, really? Even he knew those didn’t actually exist. “I haven’t seen anyone. Except you, of course. There’s no one here, Laila.” At least no one he could see.

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mia & reed:

for: mia sommer / @midnightmadncss​

The seventy-two hours had passed, and Danny was officially declared to be missing. Sleep evaded her, and worry seemed to consume all that was left. Hours trickled away and the sun rose and set as though it saw nothing wrong with the landscape that it painted in broad strokes of yellow and orange: it continued to bring day, oblivious to the fact that someone within it was missing. They’d always been close, twins often were— they grew up side by side and tangled together as they stamped through Grand Manan, every corner that she knew by heart was one she had discovered with her brother by her side. Now, when she spoke she felt that her voice echoed as a result of the great emptiness that his disappearance had caused.

She didn’t know what to do. She was scaring Daphne, she knew that well enough. Her daughter had crawled into her bed each night and tucked under her chin as though she was a little girl again— doing the comforting in place of what Reed felt was her duty to soothe the worries she would have about her uncle. The lack of sleep made her clumsy and last night’s attempt at making dinner had lead to a casserole dish shattering against the linoleum as she dropped it, leading to an outburst of tears before they had simply ordered pizza.

When Daphne was at school and the house was at its quietest, she felt at her worst. The island seemed to echo the loss and press her fears into her chest as though they were shoving her breath back into it, not even drawing the curtains shut offered reprieve. It was noon when she flung her jacket on and raced outdoors, paying little attention to where she was going. One foot cast out ahead of the other until she stood in front of the bakery, clutching her hands in front of her as she peered inside. Mia was behind the counter, and flour brushed white against her cheek as she worked at the slicer. She was laughing at something that someone said inside, and Reed desperately wanted to hear it, to feel the chime of her joy.

For the first time in a week, she felt a small measure of peace. She knocked at the glass, daring not to enter inside— not when she looked how she did, half-crazed and unsettled for it. When blue eyes found her own, she gestured out to the bench, indicating that when Mia was done inside, she was there waiting.

       To say Mia had been worried about Reed would have been an understatement. She was worried sick, unable to properly think about anything else but the brunette -- because she knew she was suffering. It was only understandable in her situation, but the witch wished she could do something about it. She wished she could help, make it go away, get Reed’s brother back. But the bitter reality was, there was nothing she could do except be there for her. And that didn’t feel like nearly enough. The blonde had been extending branches left and right, ready to jump in the moment Reed wanted to lean on her. But, as cruel as that sounded, life went on. It didn’t stop, not really. Not for Mia.

             And so when she had to go into the bakery for her shift, she did. When she had to put on a smile for her customers, she did. When she almost put salt instead of sugar into the dough, she ignored that her head was anywhere but here. Somehow the witch always managed to end up with flour all over her face and apron at some point of her shift, her blonde hair gathered in a messy bun at the nape of her neck. Some strands had loosened while she had been preparing some new pastries. An elderly woman walked in and complimented the cupcakes she bought, and just when Mia thanked her with a wide smile, she caught sight of a familiar head of brown hair outside of the window.

              She had never been so quick to throw out an older woman. Wiping her hands on her apron, she switched the sign at the door from open to closed -- her boss would never know, and if she found out, she probably wouldn’t care. She was the best boss Mia had ever known. “Hey,” she said softly, walking over to the bench and taking a seat next to Reed. Mia purposely left some distance between them, unsure how close the other wanted her, or how she should greet her aside of that simple small word. “What are you doing here? Is there anything I can do?”

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kemal & allie​:

The couple arguing on the outer bounds of the party held an iron grip on Allie’s attention before the shift, head canting off to the side only at the sound of someone’s approach. She hadn’t expected to see anything more entertaining than the Bonnie and Clyde dishing each other out just a few feet away from her, but Kemal materializing in something green and leafy was quick to change her mind. “And if it isn’t one of the Lost Boy’s finest.” Allie met his greet with a grin as she turned his way, effectively ending all interest in the drunken pair in favor of one of the few humans whose neck she didn’t feel like sinking her teeth into. “Of course I’m drinking.” That much was a given even if she did have to double up on cups just to feel something. And if Kemal was looking for someone to turn his good night into a better one, then he came to the right place, to the right gal. “And you’re off to a late start.” Allie petted his hand with some mock affection as they linked arm in arm. “Which means you have lots to catch up on. How’s your stomach with tequila?”

      “Well, I gotta say, it took quite some time to rock this outfit, that’s why I’m late.” Kemal could tell the story of just how long it took him to put the tights on, always on the verge of ripping them, but he decided against it. Maybe that was too much information for Allie -- they were good at drinking together and having fun, not boring information exchange. “But it was worth it, don’t you think?” He gestured at himself with a playful grin on his lips, right before he linked his arm with hers. “You look amazing too, of course,” he winked in her direction, adjusting the small hat that throned on top of his hair. He’d almost lost it once already, so he figured the chances of not going home with it on when all of this was over were very high. “Tequila? You’re insulting me.” The human playfully rolled his eyes at the insinuation that he might not be able to handle tequila well. “My stomach loves tequila. I’ll start with a double if that makes you happy.”

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kali & allison:

She saw the disaster right as it happened; the witch with the bad attitude from the night of the storm bumping into someone unknown playing out in scene just a few feet before her. How someone could be so entirely unpleasant no the matter the circumstances was beyond the vampire, but instead of dismissing the sight with a simple turn of her heel in the opposite direction, Allie met the witch just as an apology was sounded, cutting between them and the unlucky bystander before a conversation could take root. “Well, aren’t you just a regular terror to society.” And while the taller of the two had no intentions of sticking around to experience any more of the witch’s delightful personality second-hand or otherwise, there was something needed to be said now that Allie had her within grasp. “Your cat,” You know, the one you left in the middle of the night during the storm? “Moonlight? Midnight?” The pet’s name fled her the more she tried to think about it, but Allie continued on without missing a beat as if it hadn’t. “Think you’d want to pick the little guy up sometime soon or do I need to place a call to animal services with some tale about reckless abandonment?” 

      When the woman approached Kali, it took her a moment to remember her. Honestly, the memories of the night of the storm were all quite jumbled, but she was missing a huge chunk -- or rather, how she had gotten from standing in a hallway, to suddenly being somewhere completely else. Ever since, she hadn’t been the same. And she had been missing Moon. She’d already gone looking everywhere for her cat, but when she couldn’t find her, she had been even less pleasant to be around than before. While Kali didn’t care about most people, she greatly cared about her cat. So when the other started talking about the situation so casually, she was quick to move forward, until there was barely any space left between them. Her eyes glared at the other, and she pointed her finger at the woman’s chest. “You have my cat?” Out of all people, that really hadn’t been an option she considered. Granted, she wouldn’t have known how to find her anyway. “Reckless abandonment? It sounds to me like you stole my cat.”

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kemal & rüya​:

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Out of her element, that was the only way to describe how the young witch felt. She wasn’t sure how she had managed to let Mery and Rey convince her that tighter was better, but she had half a mind to steal the sheet off of a passing ghost to help cover herself. Unlike the faerie she was dressed as, attention wasn’t something Rüya craved or sought, well there was one person… but she hadn’t managed to catch a glimpse of him all night. The brunette had almost made the executive decision to make the little trek back to the Witch House, cuddle up with the cats and watch Halloweentown from under the comfort of her duvet, but that idea vanished the moment she felt the warm breath and words against her skin. How Kemal was always so adept at sneaking up on her, she would never know. A rush of air left her lungs when she finally convinced herself to breathe again instead of focusing on his close proximity, or the way he said my Tinkerbell, though she couldn’t force herself to move in fear of ruining whatever illusion surely she had cooked up in her head. “ You’ve been looking for me? “

     Kemal wasn’t very well known for being outspoken about how he felt. That was mostly due to the fact that he had grown up in a family where emotions were ignored or degraded, a place where he had never learned to talk about them. But he was certain that even if he had been better at talking about how he felt, he would never have been able to put into words how being close to Rüya made him feel. It was scary how his entire body was pulled to her like a magnet, how his happiness was seemingly bound to hers. But it was also incredibly addicting. Just like Kemal chased the high of adrenaline when he jumped off a cliff, he chased the rush of a high when he was with her -- no matter how hard the fall might be one day. “Of course I’ve been looking for you.” His hand brushed against the small of her back, and his lips were temptingly close to her cheek. Almost close enough to graze it, but he refrained. “You’re the only company I want for tonight.” Then he pulled back slightly to bring some more distance between them. “Aren’t you going to turn around to appreciate my costume?”

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reyhan & zekai​:

“Well good on ya for forging a path all on your own!” he wasn’t entirely sure if he’d use the word forging correctly but he liked the way it sounded. There were many things he liked about Reyhan’s company, though one that stood out was he never felt inferior, that and she hated the idea of working just as much as he did. “You think my hair is beautiful!” a lopsided grin outstretched on his face and he fished his phone from his pocket. “Can you say that again? So if Meryem ever gives me shit I can play this!” His head moved to look around them on the off chance it had just fell off her head. Unfortunately it felt the size of the crowd was growing by the hour, and the last thing he wanted was to search the ground because Reyhan asked with that convincing and pretty smile of hers. “C’mon, let’s check there then!” he reached for her hand as they stepped into the moving people. “How are you liking the party so far? Missing hat aside of course?” 

     Reyhan rolled her eyes at his antics, though she couldn’t stop a small smile from tugging at the corners of her lips. She’d always enjoyed good company, and she’d be lying if she said Zekai didn’t fall under that category. The fact that he never seemed to get tired of hearing her complain about work was definitely a plus. “Oh, hell no. Take the compliment and never forget it, because it will be the first and only time I’ve said it out loud.” She playfully pushed at his phone, though not with too much force -- Rey was so attached to her phone, she would never want to be responsible for breaking someone else’s. When he agreed to go looking with her for the hat, her smile only grew, and she was quick to join him by his side. “Oh, I love it! Actually, I haven’t had as much fun yet as I thought I would have. But I’m sure I can still turn the night around. What about you?”

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leon & riven​:

Though the compliment was appreciated just as quickly as it was given, Riven couldn’t help but let a laugh slip out between them. He knew how he looked and pretty good wouldn’t have been any of the words used when his ‘costume’ could very well double as his own everyday wear.  Nothing special in the slightest, but who was he to disagree when a smirking blonde clearly thought otherwise? He’d be lying if he said he didn’t like it just a little bit, expression turning keen as he visibly became more at ease. The tap to his mask made him push it further away from his face before stuffing it as best as he could into the back-pocket of his jeans, still silently praying for it to be dark enough outside to mask whatever stubborn bruising that continued decorate the side of his face. “That better?” There was that word again; Pretty. And Riven had to bite his tongue back from objecting kind words a second time; settling instead for an dismissive shake of his head and roll of his eyes, a lift to the corners of his lips to soften the look. What a flirt. “I dunno, I guess you just have that look about you,” He answered finally, attention returning with a hand motioning out again to the other. “You even got the golden halo of hair working in your favor.” Rosy cheeked and blue eyed, too. Now it was his turn for sweeten words. “I like it, though. The costume. You look good.” 

       Leon wasn’t shy, he’d all forgotten about the meaning of that word when he had fled his home, and he’d never looked back to the boy he had been before. Life was too short to hold back. But maybe, just maybe, the drinks he’d already consumed that evening were helping him push a little bit more -- step a little bit closer, smile a little bit wider. What did he have to lose, really? If all else failed, he could just blame the alcohol for being a bit more flirtatious than he should have been. And anyway, hadn’t Riv started with the compliments? He’d lost track of that. Leon’s eyes took in the view of the other’s face unmasked, and though most of it was hidden by shadows, he still nodded, the smile lighting up his face a little more. “Much better. I like your face more without the mask.” Yes, that was definitely the alcohol talking -- and touching, as Leon’s hand brushed against Riven’s cheekbone. Only fleetingly, but still long enough that he couldn’t deny it had happened if the other brought it up. Leon’s head tilted to the side, and he rested his hand back on his hip. “Well, wouldn’t it just be a very easy costume then? To go for the obvious?”, he asked teasingly. Then he leaned forward slightly so that Riv could hear him even when he lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “And you know the whole saying about devils in disguise.” Still, the compliment was one that warmed his cheeks a little more than the alcohol already had, and he did a little bow to accept it. “Thank you.” Leon hesitated for a moment and let his gaze travel around them, before it ended on the other’s face once more. “Do you want to drink something with me?”