falconsvirtue

[falconsvirtue]

from my other blog. my grandmother passed away recently and i’m picking up the pieces. i’m really sorry i haven’t been around. i just cant put pen to paper for the life of me these days. hopefully someday soon i can write harry again. i miss all of my muses so much.

[ proof of life. ]

hello, folks. sorry i’ve been utterly mia. funeral arrangements have been a nightmare overall and i havent picked up a pen for art or for writing in god knows how long. swear to the heavens i tried to force out an excerpt or two last night and i just couldn’t get through it. the wind is totally out of my sails and i seriously wish i could continue some of my threads here. regardless, i’m wishing you all the best. i hope i can come back soon. i really miss cain.

[falconsvirtue]

[ update ] — my sincerest apologies to everyone who has been waiting on me. university has become extremely hectic what with the end of the instruction period and a variety of family matters i need to put more of my energy into, rendering me with my wheels spinning in mud for a while. i previously had to take an emergency hiatus, but i fear this absence—while not an emergency—may be slightly longer than before as i sort out end-of-year matters.

if you have threads plotted with me and would like to drop them during/due to this absence, i understand and will take no offense. i have a few people waiting on me and quite the well-fed inbox, but i will have to sort through my irl matters before i can allow myself to have any muse to write. i hope this interruption does not cause too much distress; i will be back as soon as i am able.

[falconsvirtue]

RED 2 Sentences

(Sentences from RED 2 (2013). Adjust phrasing where needed)

"You haven't killed anybody in months!"

"You are never going to be in danger ever again."

"Some would say I'm paranoid, but you have to expect a little of that when the CIA's dosing you with LSD."

"You know, coming up through the ranks, you were my hero. Given enough time, I guess everyone cracks."

"Wow, that's pretty good for a retired guy!"

"Has everybody lost their mind?"

"Remember when we had that conversation about how you were going to lay low?"

"Can I give you a little advice about women?"

"You know, I will shoot you! I will shoot you in the liver!"

"I was very touched that you cried at my funeral."

"Is there a human being in the trunk?"

"I have a job for you. If you want to stay alive, you're going to accept it."

"Do you have any idea how many people are trying to kill us right now?"

"MI6 has just given me a contract to kill you."

"Bald men are so sexy!"

"I used to be like you - driven by ideology and fear, with no love of what's beautiful in the world."

"You know, if you'd asked me to betray my country for you, I would have."

"It's hard for me not to follow orders."

"Feelings don't matter any more than right or wrong. Orders are what matter."

"Style is the only constant in life."

"Is that a stick of dynamite in your pocket?"

"You know, the next time you make a plan like this, you could at least let me in on it!"

"They said it couldn't be done, but I did it, you see?"

"I bet you didn't see that coming, did you, old man?"

"There is nothing sexier in the whole world than a beautiful woman with an incredible gun."

"No excuses. You're better than this. It's pathetic!"

"I'll let you know when I start having fun."

"I know there's a part of you that wants to do the right thing!"

"Falling in love is like jumping off a cliff; you just have to believe and let go."

"You do realise that if they catch you, they will kill you?"

"I know this won't be easy for you, but don't worry, okay?"

"At this point, you must be beginning to comprehend the stunning totality of your failure."

"Can you drive this ridiculous thing?"

"You blew up my plane!"

[falconsvirtue]

Slow Horses Sentences, Vol. 2

(Sentences from Slow Horses (2022-). Adjust phrasing where needed)

"I think we both know these kind of conversations are not my forte."

"When an agent dies, every scenario has to be considered."

"The reason I picked you is because I thought you were the only one of my team with a decent pair of bollocks. Obviously I was wrong."

"Basic field training would tell you that social drinking is an easy way of softening up a target."

"You're asking me to give you something that could be used against the Secret Service?"

"Scurry back behind your desk. You're too naive for this work."

"If you're going to talk this big, you need to get a better suit."

"Shut up, or I shoot you in the mouth!"

"I'm reluctantly impressed."

"I can't believe that this is happening again!"

"You can call me whatever you like. My real name is buried."

"I'm going to put the kettle on, and you can tell me who I just killed."

"Why don't we take off this weekend? Head down the coast?"

"You can push things away, but sooner or later, you have to deal with them."

"Secrets will always come out. There will always be a reckoning."

"Can you just think before you speak... And then perhaps not speak?"

"You just help yourself to people's ice cream, do you?"

"You're only making these dumb suggestions because you don't want to admit that you may have fucked up."

"If you hurt her, you know I'll kill you."

"You're the only person who can pull this off."

"Look, I get the impression sometimes that you don't like me."

"I'd like to see you eaten feet first by pigs."

"You are the bane of my career!"

"I know you think I'm a dick. I am - but probably not as much of a dick as you think."

"I hate to judge a person by their name alone, but he sounds like an absolute ponce."

"What is this place? Safe houses are usually empty and impersonal. This house feels lived in."

"You know, whatever issues that you clearly have, maybe you should just talk to someone? Because based on this, I don't think that violence is making you happy."

"Oh my god, you're so pathetic."

"I've tried the carrot. Do you want me to get out the stick?"

"I don't know why you're doing this, and I don't care - but I want it to stop!"

"Make this quick; I've got underlings to bully."

"God, your ego is such a blind spot."

"Sorry, since when did you start keeping a gun in the office?"

"I'm sorry, but this tea isn't strong enough. I could tell just by the look of it, but I was trying to be polite."

"Rather than just standing there, why don't you help?"

"Please do not stress me because I do not react well with stress!"

"That sounds like I shouldn't know that, so just forget I said it."

[falconsvirtue]

Slow Horses Sentences, Vol. 3

(Sentences from Slow Horses (2022-). Adjust phrasing where needed)

"Do we kill our own?"

"Did you put me in there as bait?"

"Can you talk me through your thinking here?"

"Are you mansplaining a gun to me?"

"Don't be upset. What I've done is the right thing to protect you."

"Look, I want to say thank you for saving my life today."

"You hide your sense of duty behind your cynicism."

"You don't want people to see the decent side of you because it makes you feel vulnerable."

"Fuck you! I quit!"

"It distresses me to say it, but thank you."

"Did you think I was going to ask you out?"

"The grapevine says a lot of things, but that's mostly the wine talking."

"This is a crime scene, not a chemists!"

"You are gross and inappropriate."

"I'm sorry, I've just never seen anything quite like this before with my own eyes."

"Do I look like I have company?"

"While we're unravelling this, I want you to come to me, and only me."

"With respect, I'm more than a babysitter."

"Are you doing this because I got the job? You're doing this because I got the job over you?"

"You can drop the act. I know you're not the shambling fool you appear."

"Where did you park your wings? Meaning you're an angel, in case you thought I was implying you were a seagull or a crow."

"I don't like to be touched."

"My one weakness is beautiful women, which is why you're no threat to me."

"You're not in charge of anyone. You're not employed here at the moment."

"Do you think it's appealing that the only time you open up to me is to give me orders?"

"Do you think it's appealing when you handcuff me to a car door?"

"You used to get people to do your killing for you. How does it feel to finally get your hands dirty?"

"I failed you. I should be punished."

"It's you and me. We're the only ones left."

"If I had to choose someone to save, it would have been you."

"I gave you all that cover and you only lasted a day!"

"What do you want from me? What is it that you expect me to do here?"

"I've been shot! Don't let me bleed out; I don't want to die!"

"We'll set an ambush! Just like the old days, yeah?"

"If you kill him like this, you might never sleep again."

"Why can't you grasp that it's over for you?"

"I'd invite you up into the office, but there were two dead bodies hanging about until about an hour ago."

[falconsvirtue]

Hannibal Sentences, Vol. 5

(Sentences from Hannibal (2013-2015). Adjust phrasing where needed)

"It's not your actions and betrayal that I resent; it's just the lies."

"I don't want him to think I suspect anything. I really shouldn't be seen speaking to you; I don't want to be perceived as a threat."

"If only every problem could be solved with a simple waltz."

"How does one politely refuse a dish in circumstances such as these?"

"I would like to remain not dead for the foreseeable future!"

"Those are just words coming out of your mouth. There's no weight to them."

"I have to deal with you, and my feelings about you. I think it's best if I do that directly."

"I find the trout to be a very Nietzschean fish."

"This killer doesn't think like anyone else. You'll have to find someone who doesn't think like anyone else to catch him."

"Doing bad things to bad people makes us feel good."

"I'm not complaining, but part of me suspects we ended up here to avoid where our conversation was going."

"Too much has happened for us not to talk about this."

"I would change many things, but not that we ended up here."

"You've fantasised about killing me? Tell me, how would you do it?"

"I don't want to kill you anymore. Not now that I finally find you interesting."

"At some point, almost every society believed that birds carried our souls to the afterlife."

"You're not alone. I'm standing right beside you."

"An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behaviour."

"With all my knowledge and intrusion, I could never entirely predict you."

"I can feed the caterpillar, and I can whisper through the chrysalis, but what hatches follows its own nature and is beyond me."

"No one can be fully aware of another human being unless we love them. By that love, we see potential in our beloved. Through that love, we allow our beloved to see their potential. In expressing that love, our beloved's potential comes true."

"I used to be afraid of losing my memory. What I wouldn't give to forget a thing or two now."

"Memory gives moments immortality, but forgetfulness promotes a healthy mind."

"A life without regret would be no life at all."

"Man is the only creature that kills to kill."

"It's cold. Do you have any whiskey?"

"What do you think about when you think about killing?"

"Without death, we'd be at a loss. It's the prospect of death that drives us to greatness."

"Did you kill him with your hands?"

"I've never felt as alive as I did when I was killing him."

"Do you know why you failed to murder him? You failed to murder him because you still love him."

"In love you take leave of your senses, but in hatred you must be present to calculate your actions."

"Someone with no boundaries is a psychopath... Or a journalist."

"You can't reduce me to a set of influences. I'm not the product of anything. I've given up good and evil for behaviourism."

"Tell me, did your heart race when you murdered her?"

"A low heart rate is a true indicator of one's capacity for violence."

"A boy's illusions are no basis for a man's life."

"How was my funeral?"

[falconsvirtue]

[ notice ] — just updated the verses page on harry’s carrd since it was sort of vague.

[falconsvirtue]

very simple and lazy ... selective-ish [ starter call ] for harry hart of kingsman. like ; for me to go through your memes and send in a meme starter. comment ; a random emoji (or whatever you'd like, really. if multimuse, comment which muse.) for me to go to your DMs and plot.

[falconsvirtue]

starter call 2.0   feel free to combine prompts !

for  a  happy  starter .

for  a  melancholy  starter .

for  an  excited  starter .

for  an  angry  starter .

for  a  soft  starter .

for  a  silly  starter .

for  an  angsty  starter .

for  a  violent  starter .

for  a  romantic  starter .

for  a  sexual  starter .

for  a  comforting  starter .

for  a  threatening  starter .

for  an  argumentative  starter .

for  an  action / adventure  starter .

for  a  flirtatious  starter .

for  a  loving  starter .

for  a  hostile  starter .

for  an  envious  starter .

for  a  fearful  starter .

for  an  injured / sick  starter .

for  an  urgent  starter .

for  a  celebratory  starter .

for  a  reunion  starter .

for  a  lazy  starter .

for  a  protective  starter .

for  a  domestic  starter .

for  an  intimate  starter .

for  a  weather - based  starter .

for  a  surprised  starter .

for  a  malicious  starter .

for  an  illegal  starter .

for  a  concerned  starter .

for  a  tense  starter .

for  a  sentimental  starter .

for  a  hopeful  starter .

for  a  hopeless  starter .

for  a  guilty  starter .

for  an  embarrassed  starter .

for  an  anxious  starter .

for  a  desperate  starter .

for  a  disappointed  starter .

for  an  aggressive  starter .

for  a  cautious  starter .

for  an  impulsive  starter .

for  a  resentful  starter .

for  a  suspicious  starter .

for  a  conflicted  starter .

for  a  provoked  starter .

for  an  awkward  starter .

for  a  dishonest  starter .

for  a  fatigued  starter .

for  a  grateful  starter .

for  a  flustered  starter .

for  a  vulnerable  starter .

for  a  manipulative  starter .

for  a  professional  starter .

for  a  mischievous  starter .

for  a  relieved  starter .

for  a  cooperative  starter .

for  an  uncooperative  starter .

for  a  moody  starter .

for  an  impatient  starter .

for  a  competitive  starter .

for  an  encouraging  starter .

for  a  sensual  starter .

for  an  interrupted  starter .

for  a  clumsy  starter .

for  a  tearful  starter .

for  an  affectionate  starter .

for  a  cozy  starter .

[falconsvirtue]

First Meetings Sentences, Vol. 3

(Sentences for muses meeting for the first time. Adjust phrasing where needed)

"I'm beginning to find you quite interesting."

"I'm not going to have this conversation, least of all with someone I don't even know."

"How do you know where I live?"

"Who are you and why are you being so aggressive with me?"

"Do you always make this good of a first impression?"

"You don't say much, do you?"

"Oh good, I'm not the only one who's late!"

"I don't trust you. I can't trust you. I don't know who you are or where you come from."

"You have an interesting accent. Where are you from exactly?"

"Perhaps you'd like to know my name?"

"I got here by accident. How did you get here?"

"You're pretty cute, you know that?"

"Is small talk a way you deal with your anxiety?"

"It occurs to me that I don't know the first thing about you."

"I've been warned to watch out for women like you."

"Seeing as you let yourself in, forgive me if it's forwards to ask, but who the hell are you?"

"Who are you to tell me what to do?"

"You don't know me. You only know of me."

"How do you know that name? I haven't used that name in years!"

"Oh, hello! I know you, don't I?"

"You know, it is a little bit strange that we hardly know each other, right?"

"Hey, I immediately don't like you."

"I don't think we've ever been alone in a room together, have we?"

"Odd as it may seem, I don't feel you to be a stranger."

"I think your name is beautiful."

"You know that feeling you have that we've met before? It's the same with me."

"I was hoping we could talk a little business. Would you like some tea?"

"I'm not sure we've ever properly met."

"I didn't want us to meet like this."

"I hear you've been looking for me. I'm flattered."

"Hello! I love your work!"

"I have the strangest sense we've met before. Do you think that's possible? In another lifetime?"

"What are you doing sitting here all by yourself?"

"I've heard so much about you that I feel I almost know you."

"If you know so much about me, then perhaps you would like to say who you are?"

[falconsvirtue]

Curious Sentences, Vol. 5

(Sentences from various sources for muses that are curious about each other. Adjust phrasing where needed)

"This doesn't seem to be bothering you. Why is that?"

"Will you be offended if I ask you something?"

"What are you doing sitting here all by yourself?"

"You must have been scared of something when you were young?"

"I take it you have never been in love?"

"Do you think we're reunited with loved ones when we die?"

"Are there others like you?"

"Do you carry a knife everywhere now?"

"If you only had one day to live, what would you do?"

"If you could be anywhere in the world, where would you like to be?"

"If you could change something in your life, anything at all, what would it be?"

"So, what are you running from?"

"What's your favourite book? You do read, right?"

"Could I have ever understood you?"

"Why do you want to be boring?"

"Have you ever been kissed by a man?"

"Why can't you go home? What happened to you there?"

"Why do you wear those gloves?"

"Not fond of eye contact, are you?"

"Do you ever think of me?"

"Do you find me unsettling?"

"How is it you seem to know more than I do?"

"Don't you want life to be exciting?"

"What do you want more than anything?"

"Who is he to you that makes you want to risk everything for him?"

"Is it all mankind you despise, or just men?"

"Tell me, would you ever say "stop" to me?""

"You have an interesting accent. Where are you from exactly?"

"How many hearts have you broken in your life?"

"Do you have a family?"

"What's that supposed to do?"

"Haven't you ever done anything stupid just for fun?"

"What were you like as a young man?"

"What do you want from your life, anyway?"

"Why are you so afraid to succeed?"

[falconsvirtue]

VARIOUS SETTINGS / LOCATIONS PROMPTS *  location based prompts for starters, adjust as necessary

[ 01 ] a crowded masquerade party, on the dance floor

[ 02 ] the narrow space between two dusty bookshelves

[ 03 ] a shady spot in the sand under a boat dock

[ 04 ] the cereal aisle of a neighborhood cornerstore

[ 05 ] a one-stall, one-sink bathroom in a noisy bar

[ 06 ] standing next to the only car in an otherwise-empty parking lot

[ 07 ] a field of ready-to-pick corn, the stalks making it impossible to see the space around you

[ 08 ] the sun-dappled, grassy edge of a small lake

[ 09 ] intermission at a broadway show

[ 10 ] seated beside each other at a nail salon

[ 11 ] a desolate field in the middle of nowhere, just before a rainstorm

[ 12 ] a lonely bus stop at 2am

[ 13 ] the garden center of a home improvement store

[ 14 ] the only two people at a hotel bar on new year's

[ 15 ] on a bench beside a large fountain and its lit-up water display

[ 16 ] the messy chaos of an all-you-can-eat buffet

[ 17 ] a city rooftop with lightning in the distance

[ 18 ] a rusty fire escape

[ 19 ] inside an ice cream shop

[ 20 ] at the entrance of a lost temple in the middle of a thick jungle

[ 21 ] the waiting area of a busy doctor's office

[ 22 ] a city street teeming with news vehicles, camera crews, and reporters

[ 23 ] a hammock on the beach strung between two palm trees

[ 24 ] a locked door. the key is under the mat

[ 25 ] the large, ornate rotunda of an official building

[ 26 ] an empty, run-down subway car

[ 27 ] the only gas station for miles

[ 28 ] an airport café during the breakfast rush

[ 29 ] a wine tasting event for couples

[ 30 ] the cliffside overlooking a magnificent, roaring waterfall

[falconsvirtue]

🐝  *  ―  𝑻𝑾𝑶 𝑾𝑶𝑹𝑫 𝑺𝑬𝑵𝑻𝑬𝑵𝑪𝑬 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑺.

❛  act natural.  ❜ ❛  be careful.  ❜ ❛  but why?  ❜ ❛  calm down.  ❜ ❛  come here.  ❜ ❛  do you?  ❜ ❛  don't ask.  ❜ ❛  don't cry.  ❜ ❛  don't go.  ❜ ❛  don't move.  ❜ ❛  for what?  ❜ ❛  good idea.  ❜ ❛  guess what?  ❜ ❛  hurry up.  ❜ ❛  i forgot.  ❜ ❛  it's nothing.  ❜ ❛  join me.  ❜ ❛  keep quiet.  ❜ ❛  leave it.  ❜ ❛  let's go.  ❜ ❛  not bad.  ❜ ❛  not now.  ❜ ❛  now what?  ❜ ❛  shut up.  ❜ ❛  take care.  ❜ ❛  take this.  ❜ ❛  that's impossible.  ❜ ❛  then when?  ❜ ❛  think quickly.  ❜ ❛  time's up.  ❜ ❛  try me.  ❜ ❛  wake up.  ❜ ❛  watch out!  ❜ ❛  well done.  ❜ ❛  what happened?  ❜ ❛  what now?  ❜ ❛  who knows?  ❜ ❛  why me?  ❜ ❛  your turn.  ❜ ❛  you're wrong.  ❜

[falconsvirtue]

It's Been Going On So Long

You are a Warrior. You are a Survivor. You are a Fighter. Against all odds, you are alive.

"For the love of God, you can't give up now!"

"What was the point of all this fighting, if it ends like this?"

"Why would I hang on if it was all a waste of time?"

"Do you have any idea how much I gave up to be here?"

"I've fought every minute of my goddamned life."

"Maybe it's not enough to be fighting. Maybe I want to rest."

"Don't you get it? It's over. It's finally fucking over."

"Win or lose, right or wrong, who gives a shit? We suffered."

"I want it to be over. I don't care which way it goes."

"I didn't sign up for this. Nobody did. It wasn't fair."

"You don't pick the side you're on in a fight like this."

"You gave it up willingly, that's what they say. Your life. It's bullshit."

"Show me a single person out there who truly believes this is for the greater good."

"So we kill, and we destroy ourselves, and we cast away heaven for a rich man who never even knows a moment of decay."

"I will carry this with me for the rest of my fucking life."

"I hope to god one of the other poor bastards out here takes me out first."

"I don't want to face what I've done. I don't want to be called a hero, either."

"I'm alive. Fuck, I'm alive. Why am I alive?"

"I don't understand why I was chosen to survive this. I was never special."

"Don't spin that shit about us being the chosen ones. We were here, nothing more."

"A million more lie dead and I am crawling through it all like a cockroach."

"There's nothing noble about this death."

"Why would you choose this? Why would anyone choose this?"

"My hands are burning. I can see the blood, every drop of it."

"Soft bed. Warm food. Hot water. Creature comforts, I think they called it, once. Makes sense."

"We're all little more than beasts out here, tearing open carcasses."

"And I'll do it, because I have to, because against it all, my head screams at me to survive."

"Pick it up, soldier. Point it, soldier. Pull the trigger, soldier. Don't ask questions, soldier..."

"I am not your fucking sacrifice."

"Go on. Do it. But can you pull the trigger when you look in my eyes?"

[falconsvirtue]

What could make you break your own moral code?

In any line of business involving murder of any manner of living, breathing threat, you tend to possess a rather flexible moral code. Thus, Harry was quite intimate with the idea of assimilating into whatever a mission required of him; the very nature of Kingsman often required lethal force, leading to the burden of judging guilt and--by proxy--manner of execution, in the hands of the man with the gun.

In his youth, he had foolishly believed himself to possess a steadfast code wherein he would never hurt an unarmed person, regardless of due cause. Fantasies of noble deeds and chivalrous manners die hard, after all. Push hard enough on the sore spot, and at one point, he might've even confessed that he believed himself capable of defusing any situation through silver tongue alone, no blood shed and no mess made.

Laughable, the delusion of it all.

His second mission--and in a morbid thankfulness, perhaps it was good that it was his second mission, for he was cured of such delusion so soon in his career--he raised his gun against an unarmed woman reaching for a detonator. Had it gone off, perhaps all of London would've been sunk by an intricate bombing of the underground.

"You don't have to do this."

The words left his mouth like a script. The grief, the furrow in his brow, the human-like waver in his tone.

"I can protect your family, just tell me who's put you up to this, just-"

For a moment, recognition seemed to flicker across her helpless visage, her tear-streaked face. Salvation was right before her; freedom, finality. But her hand surged for the controls, and her foot shifted one wrong way.

Harry's ears were left ringing with the bang of the gun, but in his mind, the thud of her body hitting the floor was more to blame.

[falconsvirtue]

[ 🕯️ ]ㅤ.ㅤwhat memory do they replay when they’re alone ?

"Sir, there's something moving in the trees to the west."

Blinding amber lights dawned upon the swaying figure of a young man drenched in what could only be described as perhaps the bodies of every godforsaken man to have crossed his staggering path, haggard breaths weighing down every crumbling bone in his ragged uniform; and crumbling they were, for one broken hand had plastered itself to a black-soaked shoulder, the edges of his garb bitten red with bone and blood.

As if the world itself fell still, unsure of what to make of his sorry state, the man hardly could lift his head to speak--to greet--to salute. Instead, the voices of the personnel recovery squadron spoke for him, widened, sweat-haloed eyes following alongside swathes of gloved hands.

"You're one of Captain ███████'s boys," their faceless voices spoke as if to dispel the possibility that he might've been a ghoul rather than a man. "Chain says we lost contact with you lot a week ago, but look at you now..."

"Dead," the voice that crawled from the depths of his throat was not his own.

"They're all dead."

The man slumped forward into their waiting arms, and the world dulled along with his body. A cacophony of calls for medics drowned out any possibility of dreaming; from then on forward, his mind became occupied by a ceaseless white static.

"Name?"

"Harry, sir. Harry Hart."

"Ah, you're ███████'s boy."

It was a cold November morning, and twenty-one year old Harry Hart had just had his shoulder put back together in the hospital. The bandages still required frequent maintenance, and the doctors were--at first--rather reluctant to let him back out into civilized society. He was fragile; of course, his body had been stitched back together (even if some parts still never quite felt like his own again), but his mind was hardly accounted for.

'Humans don't like encountering a black box. Your mind very much is one.' ███████'s hand settled upon his shoulder, though who it was always escaped his mind. It was nothing more than a blurry visage filtering in and out of memory. Every scene of him felt like a dream. Something Harry had long forgotten; something he shouldn't have remembered. 'You have to understand their position, Harry. Imagine knowing for years that everything you've ever seen, encountered, disassembled, reassembled; that you could eventually, one day, figure out its intricacies. That there remained the promise of knowing what it truly meant--and then one day, you meet something that defies that expectation. That they meet you.' The hand squeezed at his shoulder, then slowly retracted as it always did. 'The world will try to put its assumptions upon what you are--what your purpose is--because it is a nightmare to comprehend the incomprehensible. Do you know what you have done to yourself? Can you comprehend the state of your own mind?'

He had learned rather quickly that he would not have his way through being expectedly kind, and so caused enough of a nuisance in his room so as to be kicked out rather than let go. He had made all sorts of fuss and rantful ravings about demons and hauntings and hallucinations of the devil in his ear, until finally, the doctors' patience thinned and the respectable young war miracle who'd been thrown into their care was no more than another wild stranger.

Thus now he stood, one stitched up shoulder and hollow eyes, nose tilted up like some noble falcon perched at attention; if you ignored the fact that he still stood a little too meekly, that he tended to slouch just a fraction more than the others, that he struggled to meet the eyes of everyone around him.

"You're here on behalf of Galahad's will, boy. Don't forget that."

What you mean to say is I am a substitute. Reduced to something comprehensible; something comfortable.

"Yes, sir."

[falconsvirtue]

[ 📿 ]ㅤ.ㅤwhat superstition or ritual do they cling to ?

The looming burden of duty often allowed little room for superstition or ritual in a line of work as arduous as his own, so it was often that rituals were not quite of one's own making but instead an amalgamated, somewhat contorted form of pre-existing protocol.

Such was how Harry operated, ever since he was a little boy pressing push-pins through the abdomens of dried out butterflies. There was a certain beauty in how--to any intelligent animal such as himself--to be fooled by the gaudy patternings of their wings and warning cries rendered himself a fool as well.

Butterflies were no different to his own ignorant manner of self-defense in his youth; a little boy had no technique, no strength, no hidden power to protect himself. In fact, all a little boy could do is act larger, scarier, more monstrous than he really is, and butterflies did that rather well; they were the masters of it. They contorted, mutated, flashed their flamboyant, wind-battering wings, until they became something off; a mimicry, a recreation of something much larger, much scarier, much more real.

There was a macabre fascination to be found in that contortion, that extension beyond the base form of self.

Harry had dipped into this pond plenty of times; he was a careful child. There was always a point of return from decimating oneself into rebirthing anew. He could call himself a different name, change his hair, slouch a little more, a little less. Dress in different clothes, speak in different voices.

His ideologies remained steadfast, of course. These things were of the heart; he had never quite strode past waist-deep. In his mind, he could never--would never--cut deep enough into his sense of self to change that. The very idea of turning that blade he called "duty" upon himself was centuries away, a concept hardly his own.

Except eventually, and in such rapid succession that he could not even fathom it having been otherwise before--the blade became very much real, though in the form of a gun shaking in his hands during an oh-so-fateful test.

A test, of course. That's what it was.

"Two to the chest, Harry." A hand lays firmly on his shoulder. "One to the head."

Two to the chest.

One to the head.

Two to the chest.

One to the head.

His hands tremble, palms clammy with sweat. A man is tied on the ground in front of him, and Harry is just nineteen. The man is begging in a language that Harry can't quite understand, and yet, down the ironsights of his rattling Tokarev, he feels his lips moving, begging in tandem. His voice is not his own, mirroring the tearful, beaten warble of the person in front of him.

Two to the chest.

One to the head.

I've never killed a man before.

The hand on his shoulder squeezes tight one more time before letting go.

Two to the chest.

One to the head.

Harry Hart left the basement that night with an empty magazine and clothes drenched through with sweat up to the collar. Too soon had the water reached his heart.