entwincd

[entwincd]

⁉️ shitley + royal au

attending a ball is probably last on shea abernathy’s list of favorite pastimes. sure, he’ll go for the promise of wine, but he’s not a huge fan of socializing among lords and ladies – especially the ones who just won’t give up the idea of buying their way into him marrying their daughter. he’s been quite explicit about not being on the market for that sort of thing, at least not right now, but still, every spring he receives letter after letter asking him to meet their loveliest daughter – which is especially funny when he receives more than one letter from the same family advertising multiple daughters to him. it’s degrading, for the girl and for himself, and embarrassing on their part for assuming his opinion would be swayed by any sort of bribe.

he’s managed to dodge conversations with most of the overzealous types simply by stepping out onto the dance floor. he’s well-versed in every dance there is – to him, it felt like his entire childhood had been encompassed by lesson after lesson of dancing or playing some instrument or sport. so he slides into the web of people easily, moving along with them in the necessary steps, and virtuously ignoring the excitement of the girl he’s inadvertently partnered himself with. don’t get your hopes up, he wants to tell her, but instead he just smiles politely and takes her hand.

he spots him out of the corner of his eye mid-twirl, and from that point on his attention is elsewhere. he’s seen him everywhere, it feels like – in the alley he takes as a shortcut on the way home from town, somehow appearing in the forest while he’s alone on hunting expeditions – and their interactions have always been… enchanting. the boy has always been so interested in him in ways he’s never experienced before; asking about his life, his childhood, his thoughts, his feelings. nobody has ever cared about him the way that he had, and the slight flutter in his stomach when he spots him just ten feet away says everything about just how lovestruck he’s become. 

he’s not going to let formalities get in the way, this time. they’ve been playing this cat-and-mouse game for far too long. his mind decides what he’s going to do long before he consciously does, and quickly, during a change in partners, shea swiftly moves past the girl he’s supposed to pair himself with and takes the boy by the hand, leading him into the next round of dancing. nobody seems to notice, but he knows they will, and soon – men don’t dance together, not like this. 

“ hi, ” he greets quietly, when he’s close enough that he can say things only for the boy to hear. he’s got to be quick about this. “ i’ve been thinking about you. i was beginning to think i would have to wander the streets for eternity and simply hope to find you. ” he smiles, and glances around to be sure nobody is suspicious of them. keeping in time with the rest of the dancers, he twirls the boy out in front of him, before bringing him back in – and, well, that’s when his mind really jumps ahead of his body. he kisses him, just barely visible to anybody else, the tiniest brush of the lips, but GOD is it electric. it’s accompanied by the gentlest of smiles, blue eyes impossibly bright, and shea looks absolutely SMITTEN. just for a moment, though, because he has to push himself away and act appalled – eyes are beginning to turn to them and the other dancers begin to slow, confused by what they might have just seen.

“ my mistake! ” he laughs out, encouraging the spectators to laugh along with him. “ i meant to dance with miss josephine but i must have stepped too far to the left. goodness me – i really should hold off on the wine, shouldn’t i? ” the crowd begins to laugh, seemingly convinced. he turns to blue, then, eyes softening into something earnest, hoping they’ll get his true message across. i want nothing more than to kiss you again, and again, and again, and forever and ever. “ i’m truly sorry for the mistake, sir, ” he says instead, putting on a warm smile. behind it, he wants to scream – please don’t disappear again. even if you do, i’ll come looking for you, and i won’t stop until i find you. i only feel alive when i’m with you. “ i’m – going to retire to my room, i think. please, continue with the festivities. ” he smiles forlornly at the rest of the patrons, waving a hand for the bards to continue their music as he retreats towards the nearest hallway, hoping absently that a certain somebody will follow him. 

[entwincd]

📅 for baby in superpower (talk about his ARM.)

📅 speak of a past experience.

“ you want me to talk about the arm, huh? you’re staring right at it. ” he chuckles, warm, low in his throat. “ well, it’s, uh —- it’s all titanium, and it actually reaches further into my body than you think. most of my ribs here on the left side are titanium, too. they had to, uh, ” he clears his throat, bringing his flesh hand up to absently rub at his nose. “ —-replace everything that was damaged beyond repair. ” he says it with a practiced ease, refined over years of having to explain it to curious children and nurses at the local clinic. “ it’s a bunch of smaller pieces of metal kept together with a fully-functioning, self-sustaining computer inside – right here, under this plate. ” he taps a large, rectangular plate right where his trapezius would be if it weren’t made of metal. “ the computer lets me to feel pressure and temperature differences, as close to real skin sensitivity as you could get back in the day. things are a lot more advanced now, but, uh, this one’s specially made for me, since my power is… well, here, let me show you. ” he lifts his flesh hand to levitate a spoon on the counter nearby, before crushing it mid-air into a useless scrap of steel, letting it drop back onto the counter with a metallic clatter. “ i control the arm entirely using my power. gives me a gnarly headache, but it lets me do what i need to do, and it was no-cost because of a charity thing they had goin’ on after the incident. so i’m real lucky, i think. ”

he’s silent for a few moments, then purses his lips in thought. it’s not his first time talking about it, nor will it be his last. he’s comfortable speaking about it at this point, but there’s still a solemn air to him, a melancholy furrow to his brow. “ you might already know. was a big thing, national news and all that. ” he lifts his metal arm, turning it over to look at his forearm and wrist, absently inspecting the plates as they whirr and click. “ this woman came through and was tearin’ up the place. reality warping, i think that’s how they described her powers. ripping the ground up like it was nothin’ more than wet toilet paper. they were workin' on reconstruction for months afterwards, i swear -- people couldn't even get around town, it was so bad. ” he nods slowly, eyes locked on nothing in particular, somewhere faraway. 

“ i wasn’t even —- that close to the main action. hell, i was just standing in my living room watching the live report on the news, and i was worried, of course, it sounded horrible – but —- but then my building started to shake. and then it felt like i was standing on jello. ” he pauses, lifting his flesh hand to rub at his lips, the solemnity on his face shifting to something like anxiety. “ and it was so fast, y’know? my therapist makes me tell myself that i couldn’t have gotten out, no matter how hard i tried. but i didn't ---- i didn't try to run, at first. i —- i was —- i was tryin’ to use my powers to keep the girders from collapsing. not just in my apartment, but in my whole building. i-i liked my neighbors, see, a couple of ‘em have babies so i —- i was tryin’ to keep them safe, too. but there was too much goin’ on, and my head felt like it was splittin’ in two, so i just… i let go. ” 

his lips purse together tightly and he shuts his eyes. unknowingly, his metal hand is curled into a fist, gripping the fabric of his pants so hard the seams creak in protest. “ nobody died. thank god nobody died. they said a couple people got beat up pretty bad, and the lady who lived below me got put in a wheelchair, said she broke her hip or somethin’. but —- ” he cuts himself off, his eyes drifting open, hazy and wet with pre-formed tears. icy eyes continue staring off at nothing in particular. he’s silent for a long, long time, and when he comes back, blinking rapidly like he’s just woken up, he forces on a weak smile. “ that’s how i lost my arm. ”

[entwincd]

⁉️ (hogwarts) graggie.

IT’S THE PURE, UNADULTERATED JOY that makes it an accident. just ten seconds ago she had been watching her happiest memories flickering on the backs of her eyelids, eyes tightly shut, wand pointed in the air. grayson's ever-soft voice, instructing her, had faded to background noise as she watched her childhood fly by – birthday parties, games of tag with her sister, hugging her parents – a gentle, peaceful smile on her face. it was the memory of her very first care of magical creatures class when she was a first-year, when the hippogriff had eaten right out of her hand ( which he hadn’t done for anybody else! ) that finally crossed the threshold for the spell to work. 

“ EXPECTO PATRONUM! ” she had exclaimed, firm and confident for the very first time, and blinding blue-white light had spouted from the tip of her wand and taken the form of that same hippogriff. her patronus – something she had been trying for years to summon. and even though, as she’d learned over time, only the purest of joy and love could summon a patronus, her heart swells impossibly in her chest and her smile grows wider, joyful tears pricking at the corners of her eyes as she watches the figure soar around her, galloping on air and illuminating the whole forest. 

she does a slow twirl to track it as it moves through the trees, ethereal and so, so enchanting, before her eyes land on the boy across from her – the one who had been so supportive, so lovely to her ever since they’d met. his proud smile, his kind eyes – something just clicks, and she decides RIGHT THEN that from now on, all she’ll ever need to think about to summon her patronus is him. in half a moment, she’s crossed the six feet between them and pressed her lips to his – and in half a moment more, she’s scooped up in his arms, laughing, crying, as her patronus dissipates into the twilight sky.

[entwincd]

Manhandling symbol starters

[entwincd]

❣️                             SOFT   INTERACTIONS  !

send  one  of  these  in  to  see  my  muse’s  reaction  (  add “ +reverse”  for  my  muse  to  do  the  action  to  yours ) .

[ crawl ]  for  your  muse  to  crawl  into  bed  with  mine .

[ flower ]  for  your  muse  to  offer  my  muse  their  favourite  flower .

[ slow dance ]  for  your  muse  to  ask  my  muse  to  slow  dance .

[ gift ]  for  your  muse  to  surprise  my muse  with  a  gift  ( & bonus if you add what the fit is ) .

[ homemade gift ]  for  your  muse  to  make  my  muse  a  gift    ( & bonus if you add what the fit is ) .

[ serenade ]  for  your  muse  to  sing  to  my  muse .

[ embrace ]  for  your  muse  to  pull  my  muse  into  a  tight  embrace .

[ caress ]  for  your  muse  to  gently  run  their  hand  down  my  muse’s  face .

[ caught ]  for  your  muse  to  catch  my  muse  wearing  their  shirt .

[ love letter ]  for  your  muse  to  give  my  muse  a  love  letter  they  wrote  for  them

[ boop ]  for  your  muse  to  boop  my  muse  on  the  nose .

[ date? ]  for  your  muse  to  ask  my  muse  to  go  on  a  date .

[ confess ]  for  your  muse  to  confess  their  feelings  to  my  muse .

[ sleepy ]  for  your  muse  to  slowly  fall  alseep  on  my  muse’s  lap .

[entwincd]

Send 💖 + a question to get relationship/romantic advice from my muse!

[entwincd]

Send in " ⁉️ " for our muses to accidentally kiss.

Just can't promise my muse will take it well.

[entwincd]

Send my muse an icon, and they will…

🎨 tell you a skill or talent few know of that they have

👻 tell a fear they have

🔆 say one of their dreams/aspirations

🎁 show off something they have

🚿 mention one of their shower thoughts.

🎭 say how they are really feeling

📅 speak of a past experience

🐱 talk about their favorite animal/pet

🌙 tell about one of their recent dreams/nightmares

🍀 regale a time when luck was on their side

👪 speak about their thoughts and feelings about someone they know

🔪 talk about a time when they were hurt physically, mentally, or emotionally

👄 whisper a secret no one else knows

🎓 say one thing they are proud of

😳 say one thing they are ashamed of

👀+ a question of your own!

[entwincd]

tyler & sebastian.

she knew that the holidays were a big handful. their house was packed with cousins, aunts, and uncles. she also knew that this time was exhausting for her boys, it was exhausting for her too. most of the family had moved on from the table and had migrated to the living room where they were all reminiscing and catching up. “seven,” she called softly. when he didn’t respond to her first call she switched to his full name, “sebastian.” his response almost stung, but she figured he was just tired of all these people. “would you like to help me clean up?” she asked once she finally had his attention. “and then once the table is clear and the kitchen is almost a kitchen again, you can go to your room until everyone leaves.” she hoped that would be incentive enough to get his assistance. 

IT’S ALWAYS ODD when his mother calls him sebastian -- she doesn’t use it in the stereotypical way like when he’s in trouble, but somehow she always gets across that she means business. he blinks slowly, glancing around and furrowing his eyebrows as he realizes most of the guests had gotten up and left; even his own twin brother at some point. was he really that deep in his own head that he hadn’t noticed at all? he looks back up at his mother, looking almost lost, and he nods once when she asks if he’d like to help clean up. normally, the answer would be a hard no, but the promise of solace once he’s finished is more than enough to get him out of his seat and rolling up his sleeves as he slinks towards the sink. “ wh-where’s ev? ” he asks as he turns the faucet on and picks up a dish and the dish sponge, glancing around for his brother; he can usually spot him in a crowd, but evander has been suspiciously out of sight for at least ten minutes now. 

[entwincd]

anakin & amoretta.

“   it’s called DUNGEONS & DOGGIES—   ”   anakin spoke as he burst through her ajar door, after explaining over text that he had something to share with her. his excitement halts the rest of the reveal while he crosses the room so that she can see the manual already pulled up on his phone. as soon as he shared his passion for the roleplaying game with etta quite some time ago, he’s been eager to bring her into the entire dungeons and dragons universe with him. mainly because with that came more time spent in each other’s company, which he was becoming really really fond of.   “   someone’s putting together a campaign for next semester and you’re joining with me. i’ll help you build a character,   ”   his rapid gesticulation wasn’t uncommon as he scrolled through the rules and builds, not giving her much time to actually look at anything but giving her a feel for what it all entailed. that was just the type of person he was—— hyperactive, especially about the things he loved. anakin stood back upright and paced toward the window in her room for no particular reason, slowly stuffing his phone back into his pocket after checking the time.   “   thought i should inform you since i already signed you up,   ”   a light chuckle parted his lips and he glanced back at her from over his shoulder, mischief taking over his features.   “   so, we going to get ice cream or what? i feel like i’m the only one ready to go and might i remind you, you’re the one that invited me here, yang.   ”  / / @entwincd·  

SHE’S SO STARTLED when he waltzes into her room that her phone slips out of her hand and clatters to the floor. she had just read the last word of the text he had sent her ( in his voice, because that’s just the way her brain works ), so it’s kind of an out-of-body experience when he just picks up right where her brain left off. “ dungeons and doggies? what happened to the dragons? ” she asks delightedly as she turns around in her chair, arms crossing over the top of it and resting her chin on top of her arms. her eyes track his phone screen, even if she doesn’t really get the chance to read anything -- but it’s fine, because anakin always does his best to explain it to her. “ you signed me up?! ” her eyes widen, but not in shock -- well, maybe a little bit of shock, but mostly excitement. “ do i get to be a dog? can i be a corgi? ” the few times she’s gone to play d&d with anakin, the hours had flown by simply because it had been so fun. though, staring at wet paint with anakin would be considered fun for her -- half because all she could compare it to was playing mahjong with her senile grandparents, and half because she just... really likes anakin’s company. “ well, excuse me for being in my pajamas at ---- ” she pauses to check the time. “ eleven fifty-eight pm. i need to change, i can’t go out like this! ”

[entwincd]

jaycee & caiman.

she pursed her lips as she continued to work. jaycee continued to gently apply eyeshadow to caiman’s eyelids. he didn’t even have to ask for this anymore, she always asked first. she saw how happy it made him, and it made her just as happy. caiman had quickly become a very close friend who she loved dearly. “almost there,” she spoke softly, her eyes still focused on him. “you’ve gotten a lot better at the sitting still thing.” she took one final look at what she had done and took a step back. “what do you think?” she smiled and gestured for him to take a look in the mirror. // @entwincd·

A WIDE GRIN spreads across his face when she says she’s almost done -- the reveal is always his favorite part. because, to be honest, makeup is just fun. he gets it. he gets why girls like to experiment with fun colors and put little jewels on their faces. it’s fun and it feels nice when people say you look great or that they like your makeup. ever since jaycee started ‘practicing’ on him, he’s made sure to compliment people on their makeup more often, just because he knows how nice it feels to be complimented now. “ i still don’t like the mascara, ” he protests, fighting the urge to blink and rub his eyes as she does something on his eyelids. when she moves away from him, he eagerly turns to look in the mirror, and his grin grows impossibly wider. “ woah, ” he exhales, leaning closer to the mirror and laughing in delight. “ this is ---- SO sick! ” he glances at her, eyes shining, and he leans back again to take in the look as a whole. “ i like the --- i like the thing you did with the eyeliner, ” he comments happily, turning his head from side to side to look at himself from all angles. then, he strikes a playful pose, and another, and another. “ i could be a model. but only if i looked like this. ”

[entwincd]

thalia & mary rose.

she was happy to be back at school for once. never in her life had thalia actually been happy to go back to school. it had taken her a long time to warm up to the halls of halston high, but maybe she actually had done it this time. maybe there was a chance her feet could stay planted in one place. she decided that for one day she’d just let herself be present. she’d let herself just be there and not worry about when the shoe was going to drop and she was going to have to uproot her entire life again. as she walked into the building she adjusted the straps on her backpack and spotted a familiar face. “mary rose!” she called out and walked a little bit faster over to her friend. // @entwincd·

PEOPLE CALLING HER NAME isn’t a new experience for her -- either out of annoyance or excitement -- but few voices make mary rose anthony more excited to hear than thalia’s. the girl had been tough to befriend, but not in a bad way; it was clear that she had just been through a lot, it seemed, and that something was holding her back. mary rose, relentless as ever, didn’t let that stop her from trying, and few things were more rewarding than thalia allowing her into her life. “ thalia! ” she grins excitedly, opening her locker door before she can get too distracted and have to start all over with the lock. then, she hurries over to the brunette and envelops the girl in a hug. “ perfect timing! i have something for you! ” she guides the other girl back to her open locker, pulling out a small box and thrusting it towards thalia. she had spent an entire weekend at the mall picking out gifts for her friends, and when she had seen the little set of pearl hairclips, she instantly thought of thalia; they just suited her, and she thought they were as beautiful as thalia was herself, so she decided she had to get them for her.  “ merry christmas! ”

[entwincd]

       grayson & margaret.                  ( canon )

his heart grew heavy every time he heard the yelling between his neighbor and, well, who he assumed was her boyfriend —— or ex, for that matter. at least, from the sounds of things today, it seemed like ex was the most fitting label for that moment. not that it was any of his business, she just didn’t exactly make it easy for him to ignore the yelling. it was a new piece of him since meeting his little sister, this newfound strength that gave him this drive to protect people who needed it. from what he could tell from his side of the wall, she was much stronger of a person than he could ever be but there lacked light in her life. that wasn’t something he could give her, but perhaps with a bit of pushing, he could be just a fragment toward her much healthier future. god, all of this felt so weird to think about. they’d barely even met and he knew almost everything about her situation. he felt wrong for knowing but he knew he couldn’t just stand by and let it all continue. so, when the yelling grew a bit more intense, he decided that today was the day he’d finally give a proper introduction. it was good timing too, because he had a pie baking in the oven ( whether or not it would turn out was a question for a later time ).   “   something tells me you apologize too much,   ”   grayson spoke in a gentle tone from his place leaned up against his door frame, a warm smile cautiously offered her way.   “   just came to see if everything was okay. i, uh, i hear the fighting a lot —— thin walls —— so,   ”   he trailed off with a small shrug, taking a moment to find the proper words to say in that moment. really he was just trying his best not to come off as disrespectful.   “   uh, i’m baking an apple pie? and really i’ve got no idea if it’ll turn out good at all, i’m still learning how to bake and stuff. you’re welcome to come over and have some of it if you want —— and talk —— no pressure though, of course. it’s just, i can guarantee good whipped cream, if all else fails. it’s spray can—— aerosol—— whatever the fuck,   ”   another pause followed as he feared overstepping. after clearing his throat, he pushed his door open a bit wider then took a small step back toward it,   “   i’ll leave the door open.   ”

HIS INITIAL COMMENT gets her all up in arms for some reason -- it’s probably because she’s just gotten off the phone with him, and, well, she’s always a little bit sharp after talking to him. it’s a terrible, terrible habit she’s picked up over the last six years; a fight or flight where the flight has been rendered useless. quickly, she tamps down that prickly feeling in her throat and puts on a smile, as shaky as it might be. “ sorry, ” she says reflexively, and instantly her smile falls, and she wants to smack herself in the face. instead, she shuts her eyes and lets out a defeated laugh, her hands coming up to cover her face once more. which proves to be useful to hide the beet-red flush of her face when he reveals that he can hear, and has heard, everything that goes on in her apartment. “ jesus, you probably think i’m a nutcase. ” she mourns quietly, muffled by her hands. at least the screaming matches with him have subsided since maggie got more serious about actually, genuinely cutting ties with him. now it’s just yelling into her phone at ungodly hours of the night when he refuses to stop calling. “ a pie? ” she uncovers her face, discreetly wiping the moisture from under her eyes as she does so. she does love pie. she clenches her jaw when she catches herself thinking ‘he’d be pissed if he found out i hung out with another guy,’ and instead of politely rejecting, she decides to let herself have this. if she has to throw away half of her groceries, she can at least let herself have some pie with her neighbor. “ i ---- yeah, i’d love to, ” she nods quickly, sniffling as she offers him a small, thankful smile. and then, the moment’s broken as she realizes that her groceries are still on the floor, spilled milk beginning to soak into her sneakers. “ oh, just -- um -- let me ----- give me a second. ” her voice is as hurried as her hands as she quickly begins to pick up her dropped groceries and deposit them in her kitchen, grimacing as she presses layers of paper towels into the hallway carpet to try to soak up the milk -- she’ll have to apologize to the landlord and maybe pay a repair fee, but. after she’s finished, she shuts her apartment door and practically tiptoes into her neighbor’s doorway ( with no shoes and fresh socks on ), peering inside and smiling wistfully at the scent of apples and cinnamon. she calls into the apartment, even though she can’t see him:  “ how’d it turn out? ”

[entwincd]

         grayson & ronin.           ( superhero au )

it was always troubling for the male when he heard he was being sent off to round up rorschach—— he fucking hated that name. why he hated it was obvious to those who knew the history of grayson and ronin. they were friends while both at the academy, despite how far apart they existed on the social hierarchy others implemented ( probably to establish certain powers as superior over others, which gray loathed entirely ). it was his rare organic-ice form that placed him higher on that scale, to his own disappointment. the entire notion set expectations that only he had to meet; he was destined to become a hero even if his heart fought to walk the opposite path he longed for. so perhaps that was why he hated going out there to fight his friend —— he envied the freedom of expression.   “   just another day at the office, man,   ”   his icy limbs crossed over the fabric of his suit, a material that was designed specifically for him and his powers,   “   trust me, this is the last place i wanted to be today.   ”   grayson eyed the ink as it was hurled his way, stepping aside easily and watching it slam against a vacant car hugging the curb behind him. despite the question now in the past, his mind still searched for an honest answer. what was he fighting for?  just because the thought process pissed him off, he shot a beam of ice in the other’s direction but focused it to his right just a bit so it would intentionally miss —— striking instead the glob of ink behind him. not that it had much effect anyway, apart from maybe a slight decrease in movement speed but the heat of that particular day left grayson at a disadvantage.   “   i’m fighting what i was trained to fight for. something we were supposed to do together,   ”   a sigh parted his lips, fixing his posture to stand more upright and ready for any surprises, he was far too relaxed in the other’s presence and with the team arriving soon, that would be bound to get him into some sort of trouble.   “   it’d be easier for everyone if you’d just keep your ink to yourself, you know. that shit takes weeks to clean up.   ”

HE OFFERS AN ABORTED LAUGH at the weak attempt at a joke -- how very hero of him to brush this off as just something he’s supposed to do. " what? am i not entertaining enough for you? ” he almost tacks on the word ‘anymore’ at the end there -- but that would be too cruel, even for ronin. not that he minds being cruel, but this is grayson we’re talking about here. one of the only people who offered ronin any kind of solace in the hellscape that was the academy while he was there. and -- and besides that ---- it would imply that they’re not friends anymore, and ronin just can’t bear to deal with how that makes him feel at the moment. he easily swings his body to the left to avoid the ice beam sent his way, chuckling slightly when it freezes up a section of his ink reserves. “ you should know better than anybody that i’d rather cut off my left big toe than do what i was trained to do. ” he spits out the word ‘trained’ like it's venom, and sends another glob of ink flying in grayson’s direction, going for accuracy this time. there’s a part of him that’s a little bit spiteful of the other man; he’d never hurt him, no, he’d never hurt anybody, not intentionally. but a part of ronin is hurt that they’ve ended up where they are, and he’s always had an issue with misdirected anger. “ and not share my talents with the world? isn’t that what your agency wants people to do? a bit hypocritical, innit? ” he holds his hand out with the intention to collect a larger amount of ink for his getaway -- he can hear other heroes beginning to call out to civilians to evacuate them, and he knows he’s running out of time, here. “ just saying ---- i think it’s a crying shame that you ended up there, and me here. ---- and deep down, i think you know damn well we’ve always been on the same side, don’t you? ”

[entwincd]

      jessie jovi & sebastian.                   ( canon )

THIS PLACE HAS A POOL. he’s not even entirely sure how high up he is, but god, this ritzy hotel has a rooftop pool -- the kind that doesn’t have a distinct edge so if you were to swim to the very end of it you could just look out over the whole city of new york and marvel for hours at how beautiful it is. not that he’s going to go swimming; it’s the middle of winter, far too cold to be getting in any body of water. but he is standing on a rooftop overlooking the city of new york on new year’s day, and he is marvelling at something beautiful. someone, actually. “ what can i do? ” he asks as he turns toward jessie and his back to the city, his voice soft, eyes warm and glinting with the reflection of the pool water. and maybe he doesn’t deserve it ( or at least, he tells himself he probably doesn’t ) but he reaches an arm out to curl it around jessie’s waist, more as an invitation to come closer than anything else. “ to thank you for bringing me here? ”

[entwincd]

       elodie & mary rose.                  ( canon )

“ ELODIE! ” her voice, shrill as ever, cuts through the cacophony of noise you’d expect from a christmas party. it’s a shame she hasn’t gotten a chance to see the blonde since she got back from very-far-away, but any opportunity to be upset about it instantly disappears as she breaks into a full sprint to nearly tackle the older girl to the ground on contact. she doesn’t know many of elodie’s friends, but she can tell they probably think she’s some nutcase that got into the party uninvited. she doesn’t care -- she just missed elodie a whole lot, is all. “ i missed you! ” she exclaims, a massive grin on her face as she finally untangles herself from the other girl and cups her face. “ you look different! well, no --- no you don’t, not really... but it’s been SO long! you have to tell me everything! did you meet any new people? are the boys cute? tell me, tell me! ”

[entwincd]

                                           FIGHT ALONGSIDE                                             YOUR FAVORITE                                                   HEROES!

                             the superhero academy needs YOU!

something about the billboard just irks him.

he doesn’t know what. maybe it’s just the font. or it could be the fact that it’s so poorly designed -- white letters on a pop-art style background, probably to inspire kids to try to become the next cover of a comic book. but it’s something, and he stands there on the side of the busiest road in the city, staring up at it for a full minute. and then a minute turns into three minutes, and then four.

maybe it’s the fact that they’re advertising an academy that you have to pay to even attempt to get into. maybe it’s the fact that they’re trying to commodify parts of people -- literal genetic mutations that cannot and will never be changed about them -- and even more specifically kids. kids who aren’t even sure who they are yet, some who haven’t even presented their powers yet let alone discovered how powerful they might be, and these -- these -- conglomerates are trying to turn them into pawns in some imaginary fight against the very people they turned away at the door because they weren’t good enough.

his jaw tightens, one hand placing a cigarette between his lips while the other flicks a lighter at the end of it. his eyes never leave the billboard, narrowing at it as if it’s challenged him in some way.

...

                                           ONE YEAR EARLIER

“why is he even here?” he hears over his shoulder. a group of students are gathered around the ranking board after another rescue class. twenty-five names are posted in a list, and RONIN SCAMPTON is displayed at the bottom as always. negative thirty-six points for “injuring a civilian.” it was a dummy mannequin, what does it matter?

“what would he even be able to do in the real world if something happened? like, seriously!”

there’s a small eruption of laughter. he’s not bothered, really. he’s standing off to the side, smoking a cigarette, which he’s not supposed to be doing, but he needs the nicotine.

“genuinely can’t wait to see his face on a most wanted billboard.” 

another chorus of laughter. he wants to laugh, too. and maybe it’s the fact that his lighter just won’t keep a flame, or the sun shining a little too bright in his eyes, but something clicks, and he walks over there with a wicked grin on his face.

three boys end up in the nurses office, he ends up in the headmaster’s, and a week later he’s lying pantsless on the couch at home with a smear on his permanent record.

...

his cigarette lights, and he inhales deeply as he shoves the lighter into his pocket. and maybe it’s the clouds in the sky, or the gentle thrum of nicotine entering his system, but something clicks, and he opens his left palm.

slowly, the billboard begins to change.

                                          FIGHT ALONGSIDE                                            YOUR FAVORITE                                                  HEROES!

he smiles, delighted with his handiwork. nobody’s noticed it yet, but they will. he gives it ten minutes before somebody takes a photo and posts it to some social media network. 

but then, he gets an idea. and nothing good ever comes from a scampton getting an idea.

...

“why did you feel the need to go over there and pick a fight with those boys, ronin?” the man asks, adjusting his glasses on his nose. all ronin notes about him is that he has a punchable face.

ronin is quiet for a long time, fingers interlocked over his stomach where he’s sprawled out on the little couch across from the man, taking up as much space as possible. his arm is tucked behind his head, eyes closed in a carefree, blissful expression. slowly, his lips draw into a smile. he shrugs.

“tired of trying to prove people wrong. thought maybe i could try proving them right.”

...

ronin smiles, letting the ink he’s collected on his hand drip to the sidewalk below him. he takes one last draw of his cigarette before he drops the butt of it, stomping on it absently.

as he disappears into the gathering crowd of people taking photos and videos of the altered billboard, drops of ink trail behind him on the sidewalk.

                                     RORSCHACH needs YOU!