#//Becoming averse to it and his mission bc one of the most important people in his life wound up Not accepting him as part of it

[dutybcrne]

Thinking about Bby Kaeya teaching Diluc Khaenri’ahn dances in their childhood, just as Bby Luc taught him Mond games

[y-not-loki]

Managed | Loki L.

A/N: Ay, Cat is back again with a piece for @anxieteandbiscuits and @spiderrrling‘s 1k writing challenge!!!! CONGRATULATIONS TO BOTH OF YOU, YOU’RE BOTH AMAZING PEOPLE AND I LOVE YOU. Note for this piece: It won’t really make any sense unless you’ve read the first piece in this ‘series’. It’s called Mischief. (the ‘series’ is going to have four parts bc I just felt like it)

Warnings: Swearing and violence (I mean, it’s a mission, it kinda needs violence and blood and death).

Word Count: 3 213 (it’s so pitifully short T^T)

Blurb: Right after a Nerf war, the Avengers, (Y/N) and Loki are called in for a mission. Another Hydra base had been located and they needed some help.

Prompt: “Why didn’t you run away? Why did you have to come back for me?”

Holding a hand up behind her, and making Loki pause in his tracks, (Y/N) leveled her Nerf gun at the back of Steve’s head. He was currently whispering to Bucky, who glanced over Steve’s shoulder in time to see a foam pellet hit Steve in the back of the head and a rubber knife hit Bucky square in the forehead.

“Steve and Bucky have been eliminated, could they please report to the community living room until further notice.” F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s voice came from above, and Bucky groaned. Steve pat him on the shoulder and guided them towards the stairwell. During Nerf wars and these little simulation drills, the lights would dim, communication would go down and the elevator wouldn’t work.

And windows also refused to open. F.R.I.D.A.Y. wouldn’t open things for you, and only showed signs of still being online when she told the people who had been eliminated to go to the community living room.

So far, Tony, Bruce, Steve, Bucky, and Thor had been eliminated. Tony, Bruce and Thor had been a team, Steve and Bucky another team, Natasha and Clint a team and Loki, (Y/N) and Wanda a team.

Only Natasha and Clint to go and then this hell would finally be over. They hadn’t slept or ate for nearly 23 hours now. Tony and Bruce had basically given up, going back down to the labs to pack up and turn in because Steve was starting to send people to bed. Because we need to be fed and alert in case a mission comes in. Sure, Steve, how will the message get through, the Nerf Wars Protocol was activated. Because we still need to take care of our own health for the better of the world. FINE Stevie baby, go get your beauty sleep and let the mysterious (not-so-mysterious) forces of hair-health comb your hair into perfection before you wake up.

(Y/N) glanced around the corner and had enough time to grab Loki and reach for Wanda before she phased into In-Between and a tiny foam pellet hit the wall where she was. She phased a hand back into reality and grabbed Wanda, pulling her into the In-Between and shaking off the headache from sleep deprivation and dehydration, as well as the usage of her abilities now, that was coming on. Letting go of Wanda’s hand to massage her temples, (Y/N) watched as Nat and Clint dropped down from the ceiling and spread out, looking for them.

Wanda nodded silently at (Y/N) and (Y/N) phased her back into the Real. Hitting Natasha in the back with a foam pellet from the spares she had in her pockets to use as bullets when added with her telekinesis, she leaped to avoid the foam dagger Clint threw at her in response as Nat grumbled and walked towards the living room to get some food and water before going off to do Black Widow stuff.

No one knew if she slept or not, simply because she wasn’t in her room half the night and the other half would be spent trying to figure out how she disabled F.R.I.D.A.Y. in such a specific area that F.R.I.D.A.Y. couldn’t even tell if she had gone into her room that night.

It was annoying to say the least.

But not for (Y/N), and now Loki, because she could just phase through the wall. Even then, she tried not to prank Natasha too harshly, because who knew what Natasha could do to get her back.

Usually it was something small, like harmlessly dying her water red, or putting a sticker on her clothes while she slept. The sticker would end up on her forehead if (Y/N) was feeling bold and Natasha was showing the tiny signs of amusement at (Y/N)’s actions that meant that she’d let her off easy if (Y/N) tried to prank her.

(Y/N) and Loki had moved behind Clint and just as Clint was about to shoot a foam arrow at her with the toy bow that Tony had rigged up for safety and so that Clint didn’t whine, Loki phased back into the Real and ‘slit’ Clint’s throat with a rubber knife.

The second that the lights came back on, the alarm went off, red replacing white and blaring noises replacing the deafening silence.

(Y/N) flinched as her headache doubled in pain, and Loki glanced down at her, pressing a cool hand to her forehead. Energy immediately flooded her veins with a cold shock, and the floor lurched underneath her feet, causing her knees to buckle, before everything steadied and she had more energy than she would have with a full night’s sleep and a caffeinated coffee. (Loki’s prank was still in action; there was no caffeinated coffee anywhere in the Compound) “Thanks Lokes.” She whispered, smiling up at where he was a few seconds ago. Loki had disappeared, most likely to change into his battle-wear in peace, and she in turn, phased into the In-Between to retrieve her supersuit for the mission.

The blaring noises tapered off, and Fury’s voice came on over the noise. “Avengers, you must start taking some responsibility, keep your goddamn communication tech online at all times, there has been a Hydra base uncovered and we need you to destroy it immediately, before they realise we’ve found them. Honestly… those little fu-” the message was cut off suddenly, and (Y/N) shook her head, smirking. Classic Fury with the name calling, and classic Tony with the cutting-people-in-power-off.

(Y/N) decided to take the quick route from the little suit-up room by phasing into the In-Between and leaping up to the roof and helicarrier in two bounds. Travel was strange in the In-Between. (she may or may not have made a stop at Clint’s secret Girl Scout Mint and Choc Chip Cookie stash in the vents that she’d found an hour ago during the Nerf War)

Reappearing beside where Captain America was talking to the pilot, Phil Coulson, she gave both men a shock, before snickering and sauntering over to sit next to Bucky. Loki was yet to arrive, and had a strange aversion to flight, so he’d be taking as long as he needed. After the first time she tried to stay behind to keep him company, he’d refused to stay longer than the last person. He usually took a minute after the last person, before teleporting into the designated ‘Loki Area’. The only people allowed in the Loki Area were (Y/N) and Loki, and any offenders would be either punished on the spot or have a nasty surprise waiting for them the next morning.

Thor was the only repeated offender. The occasional slightly-drunk-and/or-sleep-deprived Tony would accidentally find his way in and then jump out.

Sometimes he wouldn’t and Loki would start scheming.

“Bucky, Bucky, Bucky, Bucky.” (Y/N) shook his metal arm and he rolled his eyes, pulling his eyes away from Steve and to (Y/N)’s face.

“What is it, sweetheart?” He asked, looking (overall) bored.

(Y/N) pointed at his hair, asking a Very Important Question, “Can I braid your hair?” in a Very Serious Manner.

Bucky sighed, before nodding and sitting so his back was to her. She started by grabbing one strand from his right side-fringe, and braiding it backwards towards the middle of his head, then grabbed a strand of hair from the his left side-fringe, braiding it back to the middle of Bucky’s head. Typing both off with a spare hair tie (she always had five on her at all times because they were surprising good weapons and useful) (and she liked to braid Loki’s hair, when he was around, and if he wasn’t, she’d braid Bucky’s hair), (Y/N) continued the pattern until Loki arrived (which was a few minutes, so she got maybe two rows, halfway through her third), before Loki teleported in next to her.

Making sure they were fastened properly, she turned around and hugged her boyfriend. “LOKIIIIIIIIII.” She dragged out the end of his name, and Loki looked mildly concerned.

“Who gave her sugar?”

“Meeeeeeee.” (Y/N) grinned, leaning her head on Loki’s shoulder. “I needed the energy.”

“Yes, but I already gave you a boost. Besides, where’d you get the sugar from?”

“You don’t need to know, Lokes.” She waved him off and played with his hair, running her blunted nails across his scalp gently and threading her fingers through his silky locks. He sighed and leant into her touch, the tension in his shoulders, which was barely visible to anyone who didn’t know him well enough, disappeared slowly, like water slipping through a cracked bowl.

(Y/N) hummed as Loki lay his head in her lap. “You’re beautiful, y’know. Very pretty.” She murmured, tracing her fingertips down his face, slowly over his cheekbones, then quickly to his chin, before slipping up to the edge of his lips, which were quirking upwards, even if his eyes were closed. “A very pretty boi.” She ran her fingers back up the edges of his face, and laced them in his hair again.

Somehow, his hair was the softest on the team. And it wasn’t as greasy as it seemed.

He kept his eyes closed the rest of the ride, and (Y/N) let her imagination run wild, thinking up new technique combinations she could try at this next fight, and trying not to think about the lives she could (would) take. They didn’t move from the Loki Area, and (Y/N) didn’t stop running her fingers through their hair.

The silence was comfortable and neither felt the need to break such a precious time. The preparation for battle was important. You had to be in the right mindset, be feeling the right emotions, and have the right amount of energy.

Because you could break down at any time in the battle if you weren’t emotionally ready. Because you could become a liability in the battle if you didn’t have the energy. Because you could bring the entire team down with negativity if you weren’t in the right mindset.

Because the team had to work together, in sync, with the right amount of strength, to win any and all battles they face.

They touched down and went towards the exits, meeting Fury there as planned.

It was a quick infiltrate and destroy mission, he had said. Get in, plant the bombs, get the data, get out, he had said.

(Y/N) had no clue how she got in such a situation.

She had done everything according to plan; she’d gone into the base through the In-Between and taken note of how many soldiers there were, and how many scientists, how many test subjects, civilians, how many of everything.

So how in the Nine Realms, did she get here?!

Well, here was in a long corridor, with locked rooms and guards at one end, and guards civilians, and innocents at the other.

And she was alone.

The guards hefted their guns up, and in one smooth motion, (Y/N) pulled out and extended a long baton, a long pole, that she swung around quickly to deflect any bullets that would come her way.

Then there was the running. She didn’t bother quietening her steps, instead letting them pound and echo in the metal corridor. The pings of bullets hitting the metal baton were almost comical, and the bangs of the gunshot were deafening, but she persisted, 5… 4… 3… metres away.

Leaping, she batted the gun of one man away, and as the men turned their guns towards her, seemingly in slow motion as she sped up, she disappeared into the In-Between seconds before they started shooting, so the bullets flew through her and hit their own.

Four down, three to go.

She phased back into the Real, slowing down long enough to hit the gunman on her right with the baton in the head, then continued spinning to hit the one on her left.

Shaking her head and pausing for a split second, she didn’t notice the bullet ripping through her shoulder until it was too late.

A blood-curdling scream could be heard, and she didn’t realise it was hers until she could feel her throat feel like sandpaper was rubbing against the sensitive walls.

The ground lurched underneath her, and colourful spots danced around in her vision.

And the pain. The pain that pulsed in her shoulder, it felt as if her arm had been ripped off, but it was only a small bullet.

There was a grim chuckle behind her as she lay face down on the floor, breaths shaky and painful, and grip on the baton weak.

“There’s nothing you can do to stop me from killing these children now, Cheshire.” He snarled, pulling her up from the back of her suit. “And I’m gonna make you watch every single one of them die because of you.” His voice was strange. Everything was strange.

But she knew something. There was gonna be an angry Loki, and it was all that she could do but hope that he would avenge their deaths.

She was just starting to nod off, her mind feeling numb as her shoulder pulsed with pain, the agony washing over her entire body causing all her nerves to spark, whilst all her muscles turned to putty.

Wasn’t the first time she’d been shot, but you don’t really build up resistance to bullets either.

This was the first time she’d been shot in the torso, though.

And it was not fun.

A sharp pain coming from her shoulder shook her back into wakefulness, the wonderful numbness of her mind shaken away. “Can you hear me, Cheshire?” There were a few curses, and what felt like fingers pressed into the wound on her shoulder.

A broken shriek pushed its way out of her shuddering lungs, through her sore throat, and fell from her lips.

She could vaguely hear the others panicking in the comms, but couldn’t hear anything over the man’s maniacal laugh.

She didn’t think you could die from a shot in the shoulder, but from what she could feel, death was already prodding at her soul. And it was not fun.

Huh, maybe she was bleeding out.

Honestly, she thought that she’d be more hysterical upon death, maybe sobbing or crying or saying goodbye as quickly as she could, but her mind was hazy, and her thoughts slightly stranger than usual.

“(Y/N)!” A familiar voice called out, a voice close enough (physically and emotionally) to shake her out of her blood-loss trance. There were grunts and the sound of bone crunching against metal, as well as whimpers and begs of mercy.

Heh, Loki didn’t know the meaning of mercy when his love was involved, and honestly, he didn’t care at that moment there were innocents and children watching, all he cared about was that his (Y/N) was dying and this scum was the cause of her pain. Of her agony. And if he didn’t dispose of his life soon, her death.

Seconds later, (Y/N) felt hands over her body, cool familiar hands. At least she hoped so, and even if she believed it wasn’t Loki who had won the fight, his panicked mumblings were the only sound to fill the hallway, so she was sure he had won.

“Come on, come on, come on, come on (Y/N), you’re strong, please be alive.” Loki muttered, voice cracking at the end. Letting out a shuddering breath, (Y/N)’s dry lips parted, and her eyes cracked open as a flood of Loki’s magic swept over her body in a familiar scanning spell that he always ran after a battle.

Then the cool-feeling magic focused on the bullet wound in her shoulder, stopping the bleeding, and somehow replenishing some of her blood supply. “(Y/N).” She could see the relief on his face as clear as day, even though he was only a blurry, dark shape. She could feel the relief roll off him and the way he moved; slightly shaky, but calmer. “I’m going to pick you up and teleport you out of here on the count of three.” Oh gods, (Y/N) thought, teleporting was never fun, but then again, it wasn’t like I have any other choice. She could hypothetically phase them into the In-Between, but then again, she might lose consciousness, and then they’d just be stuck in the In-Between.

“Three.” Loki hefted her up, holding her bridal style, and she couldn’t help the whimper that fought its way past her broken throat and through the daze.

“Two.” She felt his long, cool fingers brush a strand of hair out of her face, and leant into the touch, without opening her eyes.

“One.” The stomach-rolling sensation fell over her, and it felt like her shoulder was on fire, and the wound was aggravated further. Something similar to a scream wrought her throat dry and she couldn’t help but let the tears fall, streaming down her face as Loki pulled her out of the battle.

“(Y/N).” She peeked one eye open, she must have blacked out through the teleportation, because Loki was standing over her, and she could feel blankets around her. “I….” Loki swallowed, and her sight was clearer now, she could see the worry lines across his forehead appear. Raising her uninjured arm, she swept the tears away as Loki leant in for a kiss. Pulling back, he gave her a sad smile. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” (Y/N) took a deep breath in and out, testing the pain of the injury to see if she could continue speaking, before frowning. Loki looked concerned about her frown, and as he opened his mouth to voice his concern she whispered her question, “Why didn’t you run away? Why did you have to come back for me?” She remembered the innocents, the children, the families, the teenagers, the bystanders who had been kidnapped and probably tortured and experimented upon. “Why didn’t you just take the people and run?”

Loki looked angry for a moment, before he saw how she flinched and smoothed his facial expressions over. “You are my girlfriend, and I love you. That asshole hurt you and I had to kill him for you.” (Y/N) rolled her eyes at his whole over-protective boyfriend thing and hooked her uninjured arm around his neck and pulled him down slowly for a kiss, giving him enough time to pull away if needed.

Of course, he moved faster than she anticipated, and pressed a kiss against her lips, needy and hard, as if he wanted to make sure she was there, that she was alive and still with him.

He pulled away slowly, almost regretfully, but left his head pressed against her forehead.

“I’m still here. I will never leave you, Loki.”

Loki didn’t tell her that was a lie.

He didn’t tell her that his built-in lie detectors went off as soon as she started speaking.

He didn’t tell her how his heart broke when he felt that.

He didn’t tell her why his eyes suddenly started leaking.

Because today, today he just managed to get to her.

And one day, he wouldn’t be able to.

One day he wouldn’t be able to save her, he wouldn’t be able to get there in time, he wouldn’t be able to hold her again.

He didn’t need to tell her. She knew.

Tag list: @drakesfiance 

[florxdexcerezos]

small kat headcanons

under read more for length! bc i came up with so many!

1. kat is usually touch averse in public, very rarely shows physical affection. when she warms up to someone she is more likely to do smaller things like hold hands and cheek/forehead kisses. 

2. at home kat is more willing to give small kisses, and no matter what she says is quite cuddly. if you get to this point she likes you a lot! 

3. kat prefers to show her affection through giving people things. normally little gifts she think they will like or food. her greatest bribe is her mom’s baking. 

4. kat rarely makes eye contact. she’s not hiding something it just makes her uncomfortable (note: she eventually gets more comfortable with it with people she likes)

5. kat has insomnia in her teenage years. her anxiety makes it difficult for her to sleep so she doesn’t. she consumes red bull by the tonne and spends two nights not sleeping before crashing early on the third. 

6. when she’s up due to her insomnia, she creates profiles of her friends so that she can remember important information about their lives. anything she learns goes into the files. 

7. kat likes space, doctor who, and most importantly the stars and when she’s a teen she has glow in the dark ones on the ceiling of her room. 

8. kat gives up redbull after she finishes Julliard. 

9. homegirl hates coffee. 

10. kat loves very few things in life. but her one true love is highland cows. 

11. kat fangirls over david tennant. not like super crazy, but in a kat like fashion. 

12. she gets texan when exasperated or angry or even sad. 

13. she was the teen captain for the san antonio missions. 

14. also loves a bit of spiderman. lowkey wants to become spiderman. 

15. she lived with her brother after her adoptive parents divorced for two years until she went to college. 

16. kat can speak some gaelic but is not fluent despite meeka’s attempts. 

17. kat doesn’t play video games but she hangs out with her brother who does. her favourites are far cry 5, assassins creed odyssey and god of war.

18. much to Nikki’s dismay, Kat loves spiders. She has a favourite that lives on her brother’s balcony, his name is Gerard and she loves him. 

19.  kat’s ruthless in uno and will fuck you over just to fuck you over. she will not end on a +4 because she has integrity. 

20. her favourite character in mario kart is daisy. (”she a bad bitch.”)

21. when sick, Kat’s known to mix redbull and cold medicine because she makes great decisions. it’s lead to some dodgy dreams. 

22. kat knows how to skateboard! she did have a super tomboy phase where she would skateboard everywhere, wear a backwards baseball cap and wear nothing but plaid shirts and graphic tees. It’s evened out now, now there’s a mixture of things.

23. kat will cut a bitch if backed far enough into a corner or a button is pushed. 

24. kat’s a city girl through and through, but she likes the busier cities. she always tries to fill the silence with something. toronto, as much as she loves it, she hates because it is so peaceful and quiet. 

[donmikeleoraphh]

vertex the point of intersection of lines or the point opposite the base of a figure venal capable of being corrupted; “corruptible judges”; “dishonest politicians”; “a purchasable senator”; “a venal police officer” vainglorious feeling self-importance; “too big for his britches”; “had a swelled head”; “he was swelled with pride” virtuosity technical skill or fluency or style exhibited by a virtuoso veracity unwillingness to tell lies atrophy a decrease in size of an organ caused by disease or disuse analogous similar or equivalent in some respects though otherwise dissimilar; “brains and computers are often considered analogous”; “salmon roe is marketed as analogous to caviar" auspicious auguring favorable circumstances and good luck; “an auspicious beginning for the campaign” allegory ~ a short moral story (often with animal characters) ~ a visible symbol representing an abstract idea ~ an expressive style that uses fictional characters and events to describe some subject by suggestive resemblances; an extended metaphor assignation a secret rendezvous (especially between lovers) antipathy ~ a feeling of intense dislike ~ the object of a feeling of intense aversion; something to be avoided; “cats were his greatest antipathy” anachronism ~ something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred ~ an artifact that belongs to another time ~ a person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age anomaly ~ deviation from the normal or common order or form or rule ~ a person who is unusual ~ (astronomy) position of a planet as defined by its angular distance from its perihelion (as observed from the sun) afferent a nerve that passes impulses from receptors toward or to the central nervous system affidavit written declaration made under oath; a written statement sworn to be true before someone legally authorized to administer an oath acumen shrewdness shown by keen insight banal repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse; “bromidic sermons”; “his remarks were trite and commonplace”; “hackneyed phrases”; “a stock answer”; “repeating threadbare jokes”; “parroting some timeworn axiom”; “the trite metaphor `hard as nails’” boffin (British slang) a scientist or technician engaged in military research compunction a feeling of deep regret (usually for some misdeed) chuffed very pleased; “I’m chuffed to have won” competence the quality of being adequately or well qualified physically and intellectually cagey showing self-interest and shrewdness in dealing with others; “a cagey lawyer”; “too clever to be sound” ~ characterized by great caution and wariness; “a cagey avoidance of a definite answer”; “chary of the risks involved”; “a chary investor claptrap pompous or pretentious talk or writing demonstrative given to or marked by the open expression of emotion; “an affectionate and demonstrative family” delegation ~ authorizing subordinates to make certain decisions ~ a group of representatives or delegates denuded without the natural or usual covering; “a bald spot on the lawn”; “bare hills” dilettante an amateur who engages in an activity without serious intentions and who pretends to have knowledge draconian measures of or relating to Draco or his harsh code of laws ~ Draco ~ Athenian lawmaker whose code of laws prescribed death for almost every offense (circa 7th century BC) emphatic forceful and definite in expression or action; “the document contained a particularly emphatic guarantee of religious liberty” episiotomy surgical incision of the perineum to enlarge the vagina and so facilitate delivery during childbirth ephemeral anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day in its winged form eloquent expressing yourself readily, clearly, effectively; “able to dazzle with his facile tongue”; “silver speech” equivocate to be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information exigent demanding attention; “clamant needs”; “a crying need”; “regarded literary questions as exigent and momentous”- H.L.Mencken; “insistent hunger”; “an instant need” felicity state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy garrotter someone who kills by strangling gird To prepare oneself for a military confrontation germane relevant and appropriate; “he asks questions that are germane and central to the issue Gordian knot ~ any very difficult problem; insoluble in its own terms ~ an intricate knot tied by Gordius, the king of Phrygia, and cut by the sword of Alexander the Great after he heard that whoever undid it would become ruler of Asia galvanize to stimulate to action; “the loud noise startled him awake”; “galvanized into action” haberdashery a store where men’s clothes are sold inscrutable of an obscure nature; “the new insurance policy is written without cryptic or mysterious terms”; “a deep dark secret”; “the inscrutable workings of Providence”; “in its mysterious past it encompasses all the dim origins of life”- Rachel Carson; “rituals totally mystifying to visitors from other lands” intrinsic belonging to a thing by its very nature; “form was treated as something intrinsic, as the very essence of the thing”- John Dewey inculcate teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions; “inculcate values into the young generation” ingenue an artless innocent young girl (especially as portrayed on the stage) indolence inactivity resulting from a dislike of work inextricable not permitting extrication; incapable of being disentangled or untied; “an inextricable knot”; “inextricable unity” jejune ~ of insufficient quantity to meet a need; “an inadequate income”; “a poor salary”; “money is short”; “on short rations”; “food is in short supply”; “short on experience”; “the jejune diets of the very poor ~ lacking interest or significance or impact; “an insipid personality”; “jejune novel” ~ displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity; “adolescent insecurity”; “jejune responses to our problems”; “their behavior was juvenile”; “puerile jokes” knell ~ the sound of a bell rung slowly to announce a death or a funeral or the end of something milieu the environmental condition mores (mor-ay) (sociology) the conventions that embody the fundamental values of a group mesomorph a person with a well-developed muscular body meliorate to make better; “The editor improved the manuscript with his changes” magniloquence high-flown style; excessive use of verbal ornamentation; “the grandiosity of his prose”; “an excessive ornateness of language mercurial liable to sudden unpredictable change; “erratic behavior”; “fickle weather”; “mercurial twists of temperament”; “a quicksilver character, cool and willful at one moment, utterly fragile the next” myopic ~ unable to see distant objects clearly ~ lacking foresight or scope; “a short view of the problem”; “shortsighted policies”; “shortsighted critics derided the plan”; “myopic thinking” officious intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner; “an interfering old woman”; “bustling about self-importantly making an officious nuisance of himself”; “busy about other people’s business” oligarchy a political system governed by a few people; “one of his cardinal convictions was that Britain was not run as a democracy but as an oligarchy”; “the big cities were notoriously in the hands of the oligarchy of local businessmen” punctilious marked by precise accordance with details; “meticulous research”; “punctilious in his attention to rules of etiquette” Plaintive ~ expressing sorrow prescient perceiving the significance of events before they occur; “extraordinarily prescient memoranda on the probable course of postwar relations”-R.H.Rovere proclivity a natural inclination; “he has a proclivity for exaggeration” perfunctory hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough; “a casual (or cursory) inspection failed to reveal the house’s structural flaws”; “a passing glance”; “perfunctory courtesy”; “In his paper, he showed a very superficial understanding of psychoanalytic theory” ponderousness ~ an oppressive quality that is laborious and solemn and lacks grace or fluency; “a book so serious that it sometimes subsided into ponderousness”; “his lectures tend to heaviness and repetition” ~ the property of being large in mass pragmatic guided by practical experience and observation rather than theory proprietary an unincorporated business owned by a single person who is responsible for its liabilities and entitled to its profits perspicaciousness intelligence manifested by being astute (as in business dealings) salubrious ~ promoting health; healthful; “a healthy diet”; “clean healthy air”; “plenty of healthy sleep”; “healthy and normal outlets for youthful energy”; “the salubrious mountain air and water”- C.B.Davis; “carrots are good for you” ~ favorable to health of mind or body; “not the most salubrious campsite”; “one of the less salubrious suburbs” sanguine ~ confidently optimistic and cheerful ~ a blood-red color surreptitious ~ conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods; “clandestine intelligence operations”; “cloak-and-dagger activities behind enemy lines”; “hole-and-corner intrigue”; “secret missions”; “a secret agent”; “secret sales of arms”; “surreptitious mobilization of troops”; “an undercover investigation”; “underground resistance” ~ marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed; “a furtive manner”; “a sneak attack”; “stealthy footsteps”; “a surreptitious glance at his watch” squib firework consisting of a tube filled with powder (as a broken firecracker) that burns with a fizzing noise tacit implied by or inferred from actions or statements; “gave silent consent”; “a tacit agreement”; “the understood provisos of a custody agreement” turpitude ~ a corrupt or depraved or degenerate act or practice; “the various turpitudes of modern society” ubiquitous being present everywhere at once vanguard ~ the leading units moving at the head of an army ~ any creative group active in the innovation and application of new concepts and techniques in a given field (especially in the arts) vacillate ~ move or sway in a rising and falling or wavelike pattern; “the line on the monitor vacillated” ~ be undecided about something; waver between conflicting positions or courses of action; “He oscillates between accepting the new position and retirement” puerile displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity; “adolescent insecurity”; “jejune responses to our problems”; “their behavior was juvenile”; “puerile jokes”