#dark necessities are part of my design — ( ic : rafe montaigne. )

[realitybled]

“you’re bleeding, mate.” for rafe!

brows knit together as eyes slowly drift downwards to the edge of his shirt that’s untucked itself from his belt. he pushes up the shirt further to reveal the slash just above his hip bone, oozing deep red over his fingers. one of them had nicked him just in the right spot to miss the extra layer of protective gear worn underneath on every hunt. clever, or more likely, a spot of luck. rafe grunts as he steps forward, now all too aware of the inflammation gathering at his side. it will heal with ease but the immediate discomfort is enough to sour his mood further from the pits it was already in. ❝   no doubt thanks to one of your friends.   ❞ his shoulder shoves into kenzi’s to pass her, enough force that it is not an accidental maneuver. that’s the closest to a thank you she will get.

[realitybleeds-a]

          he fills the small lobby with his presence alone,  much less his height.   the halls of the magnus institute always seem to grow smaller each year he visits,   although it is more likely attributed to misconstrued memory.   fingers drum against the reception desk,  half heartedly looking around for someone who might know what they are doing...  and here comes one now.   ❝   excuse me,   ❞   rafe carefully places a hand on the man’s back as not to alarm him too much.   ❝   i have an appointment with mr bouchard. he should be expecting me.    ❞

@meinliied​  gets something random! ( for martin )

[realitybleeds-a]

mohlinas   (  julie  )

      ❛ um, not exactly comforting? ❜ probably not a good idea to snark at the guy who apparently not only somehow knows exactly what’s going on, but could also stop it in its tracks ( apparently, and she’s not exactly keen on figuring out just how ) — but julie’s common sense tends to lose the battle when stress enters the picture. indifference being the only thing standing between her and the possibility of losing her boys sets a fire in her, and she can’t dim it enough to stand behind the manners her parents had spent so long instilling in her. with a mental apology to the both of them, she straightens up to her full height ( which, granted, is pretty unimpressive on its own and wholly unimpressive against a full grown, very tall man ), arms crossing against her chest as she glares up at him.

      ❛ look, i know you’re only worried about your daughter, but they’re totally harmless, okay? they’re just regular ghosts, and we play music together. that’s it. ❜ a thought crosses her, and her face shifts, eyebrows furrowing. huh. ❛ i mean, if you want to be pointed towards a dangerous ghost, i can do that. butonly if you promise there’s no way they’d get caught up in the crossfire. ❜  

          there was a very specific reason he preferred not to deal with children.   having ellie placed into his care was sprung on him by the syndicate,  a way of keeping him tied to this life even in retirement.   his initial anger subsided after understanding the nature of her magic and the two of them had come to...  an agreement of sorts.   rafe had still yet to tell her the full extent of what his work had entailed.   one can only defeat monsters for so long before a piece of that monstrosity enters their own heart.

          his arms are folded across his chest,  sleeves rolled up to his elbows to display the tattoos on each forearm.   expression barely wavers from the blank stare even as she stands up,  nostrils flaring as he sighs.   there is a moment’s pause before he speaks,   ❝   miss molina, i will mention it to you again that i am retired. even if i was not, i am unable to see spirits, much less fight them.  ❞   the sight was somewhat of a genetic gift and one that the montaigne line never possessed.   why some hunters were able to interact with ethereal beings was still a mystery,  perhaps related to distant magic in the bloodline.  ❝   the reason i came to inquire about your... bandmates,  ❞   his gaze shifts from her to the three beings in the back of the garage.   their forms were not corporeal like the videos ellie had shown him,  but he had developed enough of the sight to perceive their presence,  defined edges shimmering as the light refracts around them,  ❝   ... is because there are spirits who act benign in order to possess a living body.   ❞   rafe holds out one arm towards her,  tilting it to show the french script inked along the syndicate’s symbol.   ❝   we protect those who cannot protect themselves. it is part of the oath i took, and when it comes to spirits, eleanor is not trained enough to protect herself.  ❞

[realitybleeds-a]

@mysteryprone said:     ‘ i don’t want to let go of you. not now, not ever. ’   /  growling suggestion

               he glances down at the hand clamped firmly over his wrist before back up to search caroline’s expression.   there is a fierce intensity in her voice that he rarely hears in quiet moments,  and rafe forces himself to bite back an involuntary sigh.   her unwavering faith in him is something he had never quite understood.   it extends beyond their work,  beyond the dynamic of two monster hunters.   he has tried so many times to keep his distance from her for both of their sakes,  the tenets of the code swimming unspoken on his tongue,  and yet she makes it impossible.   after a beat,  there’s a tiny shake of his head as he tugs back his hand.   arms wrap around her smaller form as rafe pulls her into an embrace,  resting his head on the crown of her hair.   a sigh escapes from his lips as they stay there for a moment,  his focus directed towards stilling his hands from shaking.   ​❝   you’re the one who wanted me to retire. doesn’t mean you’re never gonna see me again.   ❞   a gentle teasing edge creeps into his words,  a force of habit to try and reassure her.   it hadn’t quite sunken in yet that this was the end of the line for him while she was continuing on.   would caroline really miss him that much?   it’s not like he was dying.   quite the opposite really.

[realitybleeds-a]

               ❝   caroline.   ❞    the name is entangled with a deep exhale,  eyebrows furrowing deeply as he processed the sight in front of him.  he was the last person he expected to see when opening the door, and hardly knew how she had found him.  it was as if a ghost had appeared, encroaching back upon the life he had built since resigning from the syndicate. a reminder he would always be tethered somehow.   ellie was at a friends’ house for the evening which was a small blessing;  he wasn’t sure of how to introduce his ward to caroline.   belle quietly padded over to sit by rafe’s side and gazed up at the woman,  tail swishing from side to side lazily.    rafe clears his throat,  the realisation he had been standing there staring at his former partner with a dumbfounded expression hitting him.   ❝   what-- can i ask the reason for your visit?   ❞

@mysteryprone​   liked for a rafe starter!

[realitybleeds-a]

               the corner of his mouth twitches as he notices the youth standing nearby.   he bares none of the telltale markings of any supernatural syndicate he knows of in london,  but the eye tattoos are nonetheless unsettling.  rafe stands up straight from his perch by the door,  leveling his gaze with arms folded across chest.    ❝   can i help you?   ❞    the response is curt but the intention is clear:  he was not taking kindly to those who were lurking around.   regardless of any affliations he might have.

@bookburnt​    ♡’d for a starter!

[realitybleeds-a]

@mysteryprone​ said:   2 cheek kiss ...... from caroline for rafe >:3c   /   kisses meme

                one hand curled around the barrel of the rifle,  the other hovering delicately above the trigger.   this particular sniper was a bit finicky when it came to the force one needed to pull the trigger.   it required utmost precision,  something to be honed over years of experience and careful handling.   rafe had been using it for close to two decades,  a simplified version of the montaigne crest etched into the stock.   handling it was like second nature,  settling into the stillness as he scanned the horizon for the target.

               he did not notice the shifting beside him,  razor sharp focus pointing directly down the sights.   his tendency to become dead to the rest of the world was precisely why he employed a spotter that he trusted highly.   of course he should hardly been surprised when a certain fellow hunter tries to distract him for no reason other than she feels like it.   no visible reaction comes from the sensation of caroline’s lips grazing his cheek,  a faint grunt escaping behind lips pressed thin.   his focus barely wavered,  finger absolutely still millimeters from the trigger.   ❝   would you still have done that if i had this pointed at you?   ❞    he muses out loud,  not turning to look at her.   she knew him more intimately than anyone he could ever court;  all the small details and behaviors that one not trained to spot them would miss (and even then they still did).   that’s how she knew what she could get away with.   she had always known too much about him.

[realitybled]

robin swann  ( @herends​ )   ——   “if i wanted help, i would have asked.”

     jaw clenched tight,  forcing out a sigh through his nose.   many people over the years have pointed out that he has a short fuse.   they have been wrong;  rafe simply doesn’t tolerate idiocy.   only a few people are able to genuinely get under his skin,  breeding distaste deeper than just a surface level annoyance,  and she is his natural opposite.   dedicated to protecting creatures who should not be protected.   she has never seen their true nature,  not like he has for four long decades.   ❝   need i remind you that you are not the only person in this room with supernatural experience.   ❞    he starts,  words working out slowly,  a hand still resting on top of a paper stack as he leans against robin’s desk.   ❝   i don’t work for the syndicate anymore. but if you are more concerned with maintaining your pride, that’s fine with me.   ❞

[realitybleeds-a]

               visiting the magnus institute was one of the stranger parts of a very strange job.   he wasn’t ever sure of how the duty had fallen to him,  but while he was on a mission in the early nineties he’d been asked to stop by and ‘check in’ as it were.   he’d been checking in once a year ever since.   after a while rafe had come to realise why the syndicate kept tabs on this place;  while not directly connected their lines of work tended to... overlap.   if the institute began to tread too far off the path of research,  the syndicate would not hesitate to involve themselves and they wanted to ensure that this agreement would not be forgotten.

               a hand rests against the front desk,  eyes slowly drifting around the room.   same ancient decor as always.   both reassuring and somewhat creepy.   when she enters and stops at the sight of him,  rafe clears his throat and folds his hands together in front of him.   he hadn’t seen her during a visit before but he was aware that archival assistants often worked short terms here.    ❝   i’m here to speak with mr. bouchard.   ❞   he doesn’t bother with trying to sound american as he usually would,  sounds from his native tongue slipping in around the english words.   it was a somewhat refreshing change of pace that he could be more candid within the walls of the institute.   ❝   would he be available?   ❞

@portraiyal​   liked for a rafe starter!