#revante

[the-al-chemist]

•°☆Tis I, the Soup Fairy!☆°•

*trips and falls onto your balcony*

As it is wobu wed eve (like my naming convention?), I shall bestow upon ye last week's question so you may participate again tomorrow. Twice the fun!

What texture does your character absolutely hate? What about it makes their skin crawl?

My shared braincell with @lifeofkaze decided that we both needed to do some little vignettes for these asks, so here’s one featuring one of her kids as well as my own.

So Smooth…

It had been the warmest day of the year so far, and even now that the sun was setting, the air remained muggy. Reva had changed her mind about which dress to wear three times before eventually settling on a silk slip dress with thin straps in a grey colour that seemed to take on a silver hue in the light. She checked her eyeliner in the mirror before she put it on, the material sliding effortlessly down her body that it almost soothed her nerves. She hoped that the rest of the night would go so smoothly.

When she arrived at the gastropub Dante had chosen for their date — their first date, though the idea of going on a first date with someone she had known for years and already slept with twice was fairly ridiculous — she found him sitting on a table in the garden, the bright colours of his patterned shirt meant that he stood out from around the crowd.

He stood up as she approached him, a smile spreading over his face. “Don’t you scrub up well?”

“Rude.”

“You look fantastic,” Dante corrected himself. He leaned towards her, one hand moving to her waist, his lips towards her cheek. Before he kissed her, however, he abruptly stopped and moved backwards. “Shall we sit?”

Reva frowned, but she did as Dante suggested. He seemed almost twitchy as he took his seat. Maybe he was nervous. Certainly, there was something almost anxious in the way he quickly rubbed the hand that had just touched her waist rubbed against his shorts before picking up his menu. She decided not to say anything, and picked up her own.

The mood shifted as soon as they started to talk. The moment of awkwardness was soon forgotten, and they began to banter and laugh like the old friends they were. The drinks were freely flowing, the food was good, and the company even better. Reva was becoming increasingly at ease, and once their chairs had shuffled close enough together, she leant against Dante, happy to share his personal space and feel his body close to hers.

But, it seemed that the feeling wasn’t mutual. As soon as her side brushed against his arm, Dante shifted in his chair so that she wasn’t touching him at all. When she moved her leg to rest next to his, he moved away again.

Reva had never been one to mince her words. She stared at Dante in disbelief, and told him:

“I don’t have germs, you know.”

“That’s not true, everyone has germs,” replied Dante. He laughed in a self-effacing way that annoyed Reva even more.

“So, what’s with you flinching away every time I try to touch you? Do you not want to do this anymore, or—”

“What? No!” Dante shook his head. “Sorry, it’s just… This is going to sound so stupid.” He grimaced. “It’s your dress.”

“My dress?” Reva looked down at the offending item. “What’s wrong with my dress?”

“Nothing, it looks great, I just…”

Reva stared, dismayed, as Dante’s whole body shuddered, right down to the tips of his fingers. She could have sworn he almost gagged.

“It’s the feeling of it,” Dante continued, once he’d almost composed himself. “That material.”

“Silk?”

“Ugh, yes. It’s horrible.”

Before she could stop herself, Reva let out a loud laugh. “That’s ridiculous. Silk feels lovely. It’s so soft, see here.”

She took the hem of her dress and tried to touch it to Dante’s leg. He jerked away from her so quickly that he almost fell off his chair. Reva laughed again.

“It’s just silk. It’s not going to hurt you.” She ran her hand over the material, from the level of her ribcage to her hip, her expression deliberately coy. “See, it’s so smooth and silky.”

“No, it’s slimy and I hate it.”

One of Dante’s fingers was raised as if in warning, and his eyebrows were raised so high that it made his whole face look comical. Reva giggled to herself, before reaching out to touch his tattooed forearm with her hand, being sure not to let any part of her dress make contact with his skin.

“So, how’s this for a solution?” she asked. “We pay the bill, and go back to mine so I can slip into something more comfortable?”

Dante relaxed. He nodded his head, and Reva removed her hand before adding under her breath:

“Or maybe I’ll just forget the clothes altogether…”

[lifeofkaze]

HPMA Appreciation Week - Day 3

MY FAVOURITE SHIP

On this wonderful third day of @endlessly-cursed HPMA Appreciation Week, it's all about love and our favourite ships. Seeing as I only have three HPMA characters and two ships in total, I figured ignoring one of them would be kinda rude, so we're going with both of them today!

DYLANIELLE - Dylan Amari & Danielle Parkin

Dylan and Dana are my only ship consisting of two OCs that are both owned by me. Their my personal epitome of childhood-friends-to-lovers, and from the very beginning of their concept, they were meant to be nothing but fun and without any real drama (screw Dana for blowing my plans, but that's another story), and that's exactly what their charm is about - their reliability. Dana is the notoriously romantic, sometimes slightly ott girl who maybe lacks a little sense of realism at times, while Dylan is the stoic, fuss-free, cba-kind of guy, who usually doesn't get what all the drama is about. They are two sides of the same coin, and while they are both so different, there is nothing that could separate them not even entitled little sisters.

Bonus: I swear that the faceclaims for Dylan and Dana have a lot of material together because of their roles in GoT was a coincidence. Honestly. But I'm not exactly complaining about it, either.

REVANTE - Reva Amari & Dante Lopez Briarwood

Who is even surprised at this point that Reva wiggled herself into this post, too? I genuinely wanted Dylan and Dana to have the spotlight today (because let's face it, having a ship between your own two OCs gets somewhat lonely at times), but the thing with Revante is - they're special. Reva and Dante were never meant to be. In fact, Reva was already in a ship by the time Dante came around, and Dante was created by @the-al-chemist with the intention of branching out to interacting with other creators outside our usual group. But... Reva wasn't happy and her ship no proper fit for her anymore. She decided she wanted to go travel the world. Dante had done so. He told her where to go. And before either Al or I knew it, these two had flaunted all our plans and had fallen in love, despite our best attempts to convince them that this wasn't the plan, guys. But ever since then, Reva and Dante have brought us nothing but joy, headaches, and laughter, and if two OCs go to such lengths to be together and be fabulous about it - what else can you do but roll with it, really?

[mlgneverdies]

This week on crack-ass crossover shipping:

Sweet innocent girl that's fathered by a grumpy bounty hunter and is practically a walking bulletproof nuke if you get on her bad side

Plus broke-ass half-demon dog owner who always wants more from life (most notably p00n t4ng) and is just like Biggie Man from Splatterhouse fr

[gir-sims]

A house party takes place at the Fowler household!

[trollbreak]

heehoo and aurrel neow!!! /lh

Ouh u pick an interesting pair!!! This going under cut bc teehee details to build to the Pondering. Also this is all very train of thought due to the heehoo Lore so :P

SO UM!!! First up, some things abt Heehoo our lad! And Boohoo, who’s um. Kind of inherently tied to him! They used to be the same clown. Teehee sometimes ur church worships eldritch things and sometimes u do weird magic shit that makes one person two. And it’s a whole thing!! Like um. With Gedian and Echo it was. Less than great in the end. But Heehoo and Boohoo had a great go of it!! They’re besties and holding hands and siblings and heehoo will kill u a million times if u try to hurt boohoo and boohoo will send a god after u for the reverse. They’re silly little clowns together!!! Smth smth comedy and tragedy masks, smth smth two sides of a coin, I love them in short

NOW!! I’m gonna face this as like, just swapping Heehoo and aurrel, rather than the person that was there before Heehoo and boohoo, bc um. I don’t have the braincells to make aurrel 2 guys rn lmao

SO UM!!! The base person would ofc b very different. But also? Aurrel is an ass. Even when he cares someone. He’d um. Be mean to boohoo without thinking abt it and it would Crush him Every Time that boohoo is so niceys kind and 🥺 until he like. Chilled out. He’s still very bitey tho, there’s just less baring teeth beforehand. U get faces and rude words when he’s angry and in a Mood as he is, but as a clown? He’d be very >:3 until he’s actively trying to murder u. Also, by VIRTUE of clownness, he would actually do murder!! Like he doesn’t actually do that as a Revant!! He feels like shit if he hurts someone too bad!! But um. He’d be. Violently protective of boohoo, and that would be a very easy way for him to just be. Very violent in general. Dudes living up to the murder clown image and then some. Sir please stop bringing folks to church just to murder them with your teeth, ur scaring the hoes.

He would eventually mellow out a little with time! …Eventually. And only a little. He um. Would get evil abt it tho. I think he’d dip from the church he grew up in the Second that the Gaze wound up as the host for their resident horrorterror, bc he’s like. Wtf, you’re nice. This isn’t how this shits supposed to work. Fuck off. He’d go kind of just churchless after that, and just um. Would do a lot of murder till he got accepted into the fleet to do cullings for a reason beyond ‘i wanna’ again. Dude grows up to be malicious and fucked up abt it. His thing abt body horror is a point of shame, and um. He goes exposure therapy abt it by being more fucked up. Bestie that’s not healthy. Boohoo is um. Going to therapy abt how she’s. A little glad he left. Dude got scary.

HEEHOO THO!!! Um. He’s still silly little guy :3 but now he’s Ferret instead of Corgi and he go BOING!!! I think he’s still doesn’t really talk much bc he doesn’t have much to say! But he makes a LOT of noises sometimes. Also: fidget toy collection. Cargo pants of em. And now he doesn’t do any murder mostly!!! Not unless someone else starts it for suresies. I think Junie def adopts him quicker, due to the hes more roam around and hang out with random folks. And they’re climbing into places they shouldn’t together!!! Please imagine for me junie and Heehoo Revant sat on a rooftop together. Heehoo is on a box or smth so he can kicky his feet. Are u imagining it for me? He’s so fucking ^-^. He’s also very much involved in rebel activity but shhh we don’t worry about thaaaaat, what he’s got going on with Bill is his business, we don’t need to knooooowwwww-

[trollbreaknsfw]

Aurrel! Fav position? 👀💕

[He’s cackling for a good couple seconds before he opens his mouth wide, lolling his tongue out to trace the split of it with a couple fingers, before he pushes them as far into his throat as he can reach before knuckles bump against fangs, and he makes a show of lingering a moment and pulling off his hand before he grins up at you.]

“Ehe, never much had a favorite.”

[mahodo]

Solty Rei official box art scans circa 2007

[silveryair]

He xuan is smoker coded

[alphabetcompletionist]

no googling 'til youve voted as usual

[the-al-chemist]

Surprise Surprise

A/N: I didn’t think I’d be able to publish this one this week, let alone today, but here we are! It’s day 3 of @usernoneexistent’s prompts challenge as well as being Dana’s birthday. Reva has a surprise planned, and it looks like Dante will be dragged in, whether he likes it or not. Will there be “Watermelons” involved? You bet there will. Dana (in mention) and Reva both belong to @lifeofkaze. Warnings: language and mentions of alcohol.

Dante Lopez was a busy man these days. Ever since he had made the decision to purchase and completely renovate the grimy and somewhat dilapidated Hog’s Head Inn, he had been working day and night to get his new business underway. And now, finally, the end was in sight. Tomorrow evening, the Hog’s Head would have its grand reopening, no longer as a spit-and-sawdust type of pub, but a - hopefully - trendy cocktail bar.

Before it could do so, however, there was one very special event planned. It was Dante’s old school friend Dana’s birthday today, and he had agreed to have her surprise party held in the bar. This had not been his idea; if anything, he had been apprehensive about it from the start. He had enough on his plate, what with getting the bar stocked and renovated and decorated ready for its official opening. But, somehow, he had been persuaded.

“It’s a great idea, if you think about it,” Reva Amari, the younger sister of Dana’s boyfriend and organiser of the party, had told him. “This way, you’ll be able to show off the bar to people before it actually opens, and it’ll only be a small gathering, so it won’t be much work at all.”

“This is the thing,” Dante had responded. “I don’t have the time for any more work. I’m snowed under as it is.”

“Okay, maybe I phrased that wrong. It won’t be any work at all for you, because I am the one in charge of the party. It’s just that the party will be held here, in your bar. You will just be another one of the guests. Which will be great, because you’ll be too busy to enjoy the actual opening party, so this way you can relax and let off some steam. It’ll be good for you.”

Even if that hadn’t sounded tempting - after all, he did need a night off - Dante knew Reva well enough to know that arguing was a waste of his already limited time and energy. 

“You’ll really do everything?” he asked her with a sigh, a question to which Reva had nodded enthusiastically, her dark eyes lighting up and a smile spreading across her face as she did so.

“Everything. You won’t have to lift a wand, I promise.”

And so it had been settled. All Dante had to do was make sure that the bar was ready for use a day earlier than he had previously planned, which wasn’t a problem. And now, on the morning of Dana’s birthday, all he had to do was let Reva in to do her final preparations. But where was she? She had told Dante that she would be there at nine, and it was now almost ten. Had she forgotten?

Dante had almost given up hope of her arriving at all when he heard a loud knock at the door of the bar, and opened it to reveal both Reva and her best friend Zadie, each cradling a watermelon and using their wands to levitate a crate filled with several more.

“Sorry we’re late,” said Reva, directing the watermelon crate to rest on a table. “We both overslept.”

“It was my fault,” Zadie added. “I stayed over last night and we were up chatting and drinking.”

“You don’t say,” muttered Dante. The pair of them smelt like they had just come from a bar, not to one. He looked at the pile of watermelons with raised eyebrows. “Theme party, is it?”

“No, we just had this great idea yesterday afternoon. Basically, you inject them all with a load of vodka, and then cut them into slices. We did the spiking last night.”

“Fun,” Dante nodded. “Do you want a hand getting in the rest of the food and drink?”

“Ah, you see, that’s why this idea is so genius,” Reva grinned. “This way, we have food and drink covered.”

“Wait. You mean this is all the food and drink you’ve got?”

“Yeah,” Reva shared glances with Zadie, who was gnawing at her lower lip. “What’s the problem?”

“What if people don’t like vodka watermelons?” Dante asked, and Reva laughed out loud.

“Everyone likes vodka watermelons!” she said, her laughter fading as she looked at Zadie once more. “Don’t they?”

“Um, well…” Zadie frowned. “Maybe we should go and get some packets of crisps and a box of wine, just in case.”

“You are not serving box wine in my bar.”

Reva pulled a face, but shrugged. “Whatever. I’ll get a couple of packets of crisps and a few bottles of Butterbeer for the boring guests. How many crisps do you think I’ll need?”

“Depends. How many people are coming?”

“Not that many. About fifty.”

“Fifty?”

“Give or take.”

Dante’s jaw dropped open. “You said this was going to be a small gathering! Reva, that’s loads of people!”

“Is it?”

“Yes. You can’t have a party for that many people and serve them a crate of vodka watermelons, a couple of bowls of crisps, and some Butterbeer,” Dante shook his head. “Right. Let me speak to Madam Rosmerta, see if we can get more drinks sorted. I’ll rustle up a chilli this afternoon and chat to Saff on my way to the Three Broomsticks. She might be able to make a few vegan sausage rolls or cakes or something.”

“Oh, shit!” Reva grimaced and clapped one hand to her face. “I forgot to sort out a cake!”

“You forgot to sort out a cake. For a birthday party,” Dante repeated, quickly growing irritated. “Is there anything else you have neglected to organise? Music? Balloons? Is Dana even going to be there?”

The look on Reva’s face was all the answer Dante needed. She had organised absolutely nothing. He sighed heavily.

“Okay. Here’s the plan. I’ll do the food, drink and music; Zadie will make sure that Dylan gets Dana here on time; and Reva will put up some decorations. Everyone happy? Good.”

Before the girls had even had a chance to answer him, Dante had turned on his heel and left them in the bar to go up to his flat above, annoyed not only with them, but with himself as well. He should have known something like this would happen, he thought, as he took out a large cauldron and began to prepare the ingredients he would need for a chilli. The act of cooking soothed him slightly, and once the pot was gently simmering, he left the flat via the back door, and stepped out into the sunny Hogsmeade street.

He made his way to the Three Broomsticks via the Rabbit Food Café, where he spoke to Saffron Summers and explained the situation. Luckily Saffron, being both a baker and Dana’s best friend, had already made an elaborate birthday cake in the shape of a turtle without anyone having asked her to do so, and was more than happy to help with preparing more food for the party at short notice. On hearing about Dante’s plight, Madam Rosmerta, the landlady at the Three Broomsticks, was also very helpful, and so Dante returned to his flat and now nicely reducing chilli sauce feeling far more relaxed than when he had left it.

Unfortunately, Dante’s optimism quickly failed him on returning downstairs to the bar. 

“Reva,” he said, his eyes widening with horror as they took in the sight before him. “What the hell have you done?”

“I’m decorating. You told me to decorate.”

Dante would not have called what Reva was doing ‘decorating’; he would have been more likely to use the word ‘desecrating’. She was standing by the largest wall of the bar, cans of spray paint scattered on the floor around her, and the wall was now adorned with the words “Happy Birthday Dana!” in large, graffiti-style lettering. There were errant sprays of paint everywhere, on her skin, in her hair, on her clothes, on Zadie, and all over the bar. Dante’s perfect bar. His pride and joy, the very thing he had been working on day and night for months on end. He clenched his fists, not sure whether he wanted to cry, shout, hit something, or all three.

He struggled to keep his voice level as he said, “Yeah, I was thinking more along the lines of putting up some balloons or something…”

Reva shrugged and picked up another aerosol can. “Balloons are boring. This is loads better.”

“Is it?”

“Well, not yet. But it will be once I’m done.”

“I think you’ve done enough,” he muttered. Reva frowned, a confused expression that quickly hardened.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, her paint covered hands on her hips. “I’m only doing what you asked me to do!”

“Exactly! That’s all you’ve done, because I’ve done literally everything else,” said Dante, shaking now. “I didn’t even want you to have this party in here because it was putting extra work on me that I didn’t need, but you told me that you only wanted to use the space and would be sorting it all out. And then you two rock up an hour late this morning reeking of Peach Schnapps with nothing but a load of sodding vodka watermelons, saying that what you previously told me would be a small gathering is now a party for fifty people, and that you’d done sweet eff all to organise it.”

“That’s-”

“And now, after I’ve spent my only day off in weeks running around like a headless huntsman trying to get your shit together for you, I come down here and you’ve sprayed paint all over my bar, which I’ve just spent months renovating and am opening tomorrow night!” Dante made a strangled noise and held his arms out wide. “I mean, look at this! Look at my bar!” 

“Dante, it’s okay,” said Zadie, her eyes wide and anxious looking. “We’re sorry. We can clean this up for you, and we can help with everything else.”

“Really? Because so far today I can’t see that either of you have done anything to be helpful at all.”

“I did try to be helpful,” Zadie said, shrinking away from Dante’s angry glare. She lowered her voice and added, “I carried a watermelon.”

“I DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOUR FUCKING WATERMELONS!”

“Hey!” Reva, unlike Zadie, was not put off by Dante’s flare of temper. “Don’t shout at her! It’s not her fault!”

“No, it’s not. It’s yours,” Dante told her shortly. “So will you please just clean up this mess you’ve made and get the hell out of my bar?”

Reva opened her mouth to argue, but Dante walked away, his whole body trembling with rage. He slammed the door behind him and stomped upstairs to his flat, where he summoned a watering can and threw it into the sink. He turned the tap on so forcefully that the water gushed into it, muttering angrily to himself as he did so.

Dante had always felt at home practising Herbology, and as he tended to his many houseplants, he felt his temper begin to subside. By the time a quiet knock came at the door of his flat, he was almost completely calm again.

“Dante?” Reva’s voice called out from the other side of the door. “I’m really sorry. Zadie and I have cleaned up the bar.” She paused before adding, “Will you come out and chat?”

Dante put down his watering can and opened the door to find Reva no longer covered in paint and with a pained and remorseful look on her face. 

“I’m so sorry, Dante,” she told him. “I shouldn’t have left everything to the last minute like that, I just didn’t think about how much work went into this sort of thing, and I should definitely not have let you do all the work today. Not that I’m not grateful that you did,” she added, before Dante could say anything further. “And I’m sorry that I made a mess. Like I said, it’s all cleared up now.”

“All of it?” Dante raised an eyebrow.

“Well... Maybe you should come and see.”

Reva smiled and - somewhat apprehensively - Dante followed her back down to the bar. He was pleasantly surprised to see that the mess had indeed been cleared up - and then some.

The vodka watermelons had been sliced and were plated up on one table, another was laden with snacks that could have only been made by Saffron Summers, and the turtle-shaped birthday cake rested on a third. The bar itself had trays of cups and bottles of alcohol brought over from the three broomsticks, and strings of fairy lights and colourful pom-poms had been strung up as decorations. It looked ready to host a party.

“There’s a spare table to put your chilli on, and Zadie’s gone to get more plates from Saffron and Ros,” Reva informed Dante. “We’re going to take turns to be waitresses so that you don’t have to, and I promise that I’ll come back and clean everything in the morning. I’ll even help you get set up for tomorrow night, if you want.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I do. And I want to, anyway.”

Dante inclined his head. Well, if Reva wanted to help - actually help - he wasn’t going to stop her.

“Thanks for the offer,” he said, and he gestured around the room. “If you could make it look this good again, that would be great. You’ve really got a knack for decorating.”

“Well, there is one more decoration to show you,” Reva said. “It’s not for tonight, it’s more for you. A surprise, kind of. There, look.”

She pointed at the wall which had previously sported her birthday message to Dana, but had been completely repainted. Now, the wall was decorated with a graffiti mural depicting the sun setting over a beach, the image bordered by patterns like the ones Dante wore on his shirts, with hummingbirds and tropical foliage and watermelons interspersed amongst the details. It was colourful, chaotic, bold, and beautiful. 

“Wow,” said Dante, genuinely impressed.

“If you don’t like it, I can just paint over it tomorrow.”

“No, don’t do that. I do like it. I love it,” Dante told her, completely honestly. “Thank you, Reva. It’s amazing. The whole place looks amazing.”

“I’d say thanks, but you were the one who organised everything,” Reva gave Dante a coy grin. “I just spiked some watermelons with vodka and made it all look pretty.”

“Well, you did a good job.”

“I guess I did, surprisingly. Hey, we make a pretty good team, don’t we?”

Dante pulled his eyes away from the mural and chuckled at the proud look on Reva’s face.

“I guess we do.”

[walerihq]

Garou - Gitan

Цыган...

Je revais enfant

В детстве я мечтал

De vivre libre comme un gitan

О воле, будто бы сам цыган,

Je voyais des plages de sable noir

Представлял, что конь умчится вдаль по пескам,

Ou couraient des chevaux sauvages

Где прибой и пляж,

Et je dessinais dans mes cahiers

И я рисовал — где там тропа,

Les sentiers secrets des montagnes d'Espagne

И скрывал два листка — тех испанских гор план.

Gitan

Цыган...

Quand plus tard

И когда

J'apprenais mes premiers accords de guitare

Учился первый раз аккордам гитар,

Sur les routes je partais sans bagages

Налегке шагая, шёл к мечте,

Et revant d'autres paysages

Я пейзаж видел на холсте -

Ou je suivais les gens du voyage

Там кочевник скачет вдалеке,

Dans leurs caravanes

Жду я караван

Au son des violons tziganes

Под звук мелодий цыган.

Vivre ma vie comme un gitan

Пройти бы путь, как тот цыган,

Avoir la musique dans le sang

Чтоб звон струны лечил от ран.

Et pour l'amour n'avoir dans la peau

Любить всю жизнь светло и нежно

Qu'une seule femme a la fois

Лишь одну из женщин.

Vivre ma vie comme un gitan

Прожить бы жизнь, как тот цыган,

Vivre ma vie comme je l'entends

Прожить бы так, как будто пьян.

Avoir la liberte pour drapeau

Не потерять глоток надежды

"Sans foi ni loi" pour credo

И чтить закон как прежде.

Gitan

Цыган...

Je le suis et le resterai

Я цыган — таков мой жребий

Le temps de mon vivant

Тот что навсегда дан.

Mes guitares sont d'Amerique

Звон гитар из многих стран.

Et mes paysages de grands espaces blancs

Пейзаж плывёт бесконечно в даль.

Ou je roule seul dans ma caravane

Пусть идёт быстрей мой караван

En eternel exil

В долгий путь туда,

dans la jungle des villes

[lifeofkaze]

Milagro Navideño

What would this Christmas be without a word, a present and the biggest of hugs to my favourite person, my most cherished friend, and the person who awes me both with her kindness and sheer force of talent? Who else could I be talking about other than @the-al-chemist?

Al, thank you so much for another year of friendship, laughter, exploring, trading book recommendations, tearing each other's projects apart to make them better (lovingly) and getting completely soaked in the rain because if the outdoor museum doesn't close for another hour we're going to go in, no matter what.

I can't wait for next year's adventures. Merry Christmas. I love you. 🌻🎄

Warning: Plant abuse. Plant parents, look away.

December 22nd

“And you’ll promise to behave?” The smile on Dante’s face was soft as he spoke. “You’ll be a good girl and be extra pretty for me when I come back.”

“Are you quite done yet?” came a snort from somewhere behind him. With a decidedly more mischievous smile, Dante glanced over his shoulder.

“I wouldn’t mind you looking pretty for me, too, but I know better than asking you to behave.”

Reva snorted again, this time with laughter, as she pushed herself off the doorframe and joined Dante’s side. She pointed at the big plant he had been talking to.

“What’s so special about this one, anyway?”

“This is Milagro Navideño,” Dante said proudly. “That’s Spanish for -”

“Christmas Miracle.”

He nodded. “She is very rare and only blooms every few years at Christmas. I’ve been waiting forever for her to get these.” 

He affectionately looked at the tiny buds peeking out from between fleshy, green leaves. Reaching out to touch them, Reva chuckled at Dante flinching.

“If you want me to take care of them while you’re having a ball in Spain, I’ll have to touch them. You do know that, don’t you?” 

“I’m aware,” Dante sighed. “I really wish you could come.”

“So I can meet your family, or so someone else can water your flowers?” An indignant expression passed her face when Dante didn’t reply. “Oh, how hard can it be? I was a crack at Herbology.”

“You barely even got your O.W.L.”

“I wasn’t trying.”

“In any case, I made these for you,” Dante said diplomatically, pulling out a stack of colour-coded flashcards. “Black ink are daily tasks, the green ones have to be done every three days, and the red ones are emergency measures.” He gave Reva a look. “Please make sure there won't be any emergency measures.” 

“Who do you take me for?” 

Reva reached for the flashcards, but with a flick from Dante’s wand, they fluttered away and stuck themselves to their designated pots.

“Are you sure there aren’t any questions?” he asked again. “I can still ask Dana to do it.”

“Dana won’t arrive until Christmas Eve. Some kind of barkeep you are, wanting your plant buddies to go thirsty until then.”

“I need you to be serious about this, Reva.”

“I am.”

“No, you need to -”

“The only thing I need is for you to leave,” Reva said, turning Dante by the shoulders and marching him toward the door. 

“And you really -” 

Before he could finish, Reva grabbed him by the collar of his jumper and pressed her lips against his.

“Just go!” she laughed. “We’ll be perfectly fine, you’ll see.” 

December 23rd

The Montrose Magpies’ last match of the year was approaching fast. It was scheduled for Boxing Day, and if they were able to win against the Wigtown Wanderers, they’d be one step closer to the top of the League. 

When Reva returned from the training grounds after a long day of practice, it was all she could do not to fall asleep on the sofa. Across from her, her team- and housemate Rory McTavish slumped into an armchair, cracking his neck from side to side.

“Who knew your mum could be such a drill sergeant?” 

Reva sat up, wincing at her aching back muscles. “You know how she is when we’re playing Wigtown. She can’t handle the idea of losing to the Wanderers.”

“One thing’s for sure, the flat would have to go up in flames for me to move again.” Rory raised one eyebrow at Reva. “Not giving you ideas, I hope.”

“No, too tired for arson. The sofa and I are best friends now.”

“Rude.” Rory tilted his head at her. “Don’t you have something to take care of before you become one with the furniture?”

Reva frowned. “What would that be? Shit!” she exclaimed a moment later, almost falling off the sofa in her hurry to get up. 

“Wait with dinner,” she told Rory as she grabbed her coat and wand, “I’ll be right back.” 

Dante’s flat was quiet when Reva entered it. She switched on all the lights and looked around, not sure what she had expected. This was silly, she chided herself, they were only plants. She had left them unattended for just a little over twenty-four hours; not like they would wilt and perish from a bit of alone-time.

Humming a song she had heard Dante sing the other day, she set to work, watering the plants in the guest rooms, the kitchen, the hallway and the living room. She had never realised just how many plants Dante had actually accumulated, but she diligently checked each and every pot for instructions. By the time she reached the bedroom, her already tired arms were aching. 

She looked at the remaining plant pots thoughtfully. Surely they would be fine without that extra bit of water until the morning? Reva shook off the thought immediately. It didn’t matter whether she found all of this redundant or not. Dante cared about his plants, and she cared about him; she would do as he had asked her to. 

Adjusting her grip on the watering can, Reva worked her way along the shelves. When she turned to refill it, she misjudged her momentum and heavily bumped against a tall rack filled with succulents. She watched with wide eyes as it swayed, the plant pots on it sliding towards the edge. The shelf teetered, seeming to stop in mid-air for a moment, and came crashing to the ground with a mighty slam.

Her heart hammering in her chest, Reva took in the mess of splintered wood, ceramic shards and soil littering the floorboards. Her throat grew tight as her eyes fell on the colourful remains of what had been the pot of Dante’s Christmas plant, now buried beneath the upper edge of the shelf. Of the plant itself, nothing could be seen. 

Reva hastily took out her wand, repairing everything as best she could. Most of the plants looked worse for wear, but there was nothing to be done about it now. She inspected the broken leaves of the Christmas plant with a worried frown before turning it around so its good side was facing the room. Maybe Dante wouldn’t notice right away.

The only problem that remained was the flashcards. They had fallen off during the crash, and Reva had no idea which one went where. Eventually, she shrugged it off. There was no way to fix this without messaging Dante - which was out of the question - so she watered each of the plants ad libitum, with a little bit of extra to make up for the commotion she had caused. 

Satisfied with her day’s work, Reva switched off the lights and left. 

December 24th

When Reva opened the door to Dante’s flat on the morning of Christmas Eve, she found her hopes of finding the repotted plants up and well crushed.

There hadn’t been enough pot saucers for all plants, so she had distributed them at random. Now, puddles of water were covering the floor, while most of the plants were either hanging their heads or had collapsed onto the rims of their pots altogether. 

With a curse on her lips, Reva’s eyes settled on the Christmas plant. Because it was so special to Dante and she had been sorry for crushing it underneath the shelf, she had given it an extra generous amount of water; as a result, its leaves were now a yellowish green and hanging limply from the stem.

Panic was rising in her chest. She needed to do something, and she needed to do it now.

Once she had calmed down, Reva carried all of the leaking pots into the kitchen, magically desiccated them and picked the correct soil for each of them with the help of Dante’s books and her buried Herbology knowledge.

By the end of the day, Dante’s flat was clean, and most plants still a bit ragged but otherwise upright and well. Reva breathed a sigh of relief as she put the last of them onto the shelf. The feeling disappeared, however, when she turned to face her problem child. 

Milagro Navideño hadn’t appreciated Reva’s efforts at resuscitation. It had looked sickly before, but now its colour had changed from yellow to almost grey. It was on the verge of dying, even Reva could tell that much, but she refused to give up just yet. 

She had to save this plant, no matter what. 

***

The light coming from her parents’ windows was warm and golden when Reva Apparated to their front door. She paused to listen to the mix of voices and laughter drifting outside, a smile forming on her face that wavered only slightly as she adjusted the plant pot in her arms and entered. 

After a round of hugs and hellos, Reva’s brother Dylan nodded at the plant in Reva’s hands.

“Who has been naughty enough to get that thing for Christmas?”

“No one,” Reva said defensively. “It’s Dante’s.”

“I didn’t know you wanted to break up with him.” 

“What’s the matter with it?” Dylan’s girlfriend Dana asked sympathetically, after elbowing Dylan into the side. 

With a deep sigh, Reva handed Milagro to her and recounted what had happened. Nodding every now and again, Dana inspected the sickly plant, prodding and probing it carefully. 

“I don’t even know where to start with this,” she sighed eventually as she handed Reva the plant back. 

“Is there nothing you can do at all?”

“Nothing that would help short term. When is Dante coming home?”

“The day after Boxing Day.” 

“That won’t be enough time, I’m afraid.”

Reva hung her head. “Can’t we just give it a Growth Potion or something?”

A look of alarm flickered over Dana’s face. “It might work, but…”

“Let’s do it then!”

“No, there’s no saying what a Growth Potion would do after everything you’ve done with it. It might kill it for good.”

Dana wasn’t to be swayed from her resolution, so Reva let the topic drop. When the rest of her family had gone to sleep, she took the small bottle from Dante’s personal storage from her pocket. Holding the potion into the light coming from the window of her old bedroom, Reva thoughtfully tilted it this way and that. 

Then she shrugged, unstoppered it, and upended the whole thing into the plant plot.

It wasn’t like it could get any worse. 

December 27th

Like so often, Reva had been wrong.

On the morning of Christmas Day, she had woken to something repeatedly brushing her cheek. Thinking that Vega, her mother’s one-eyed calico cat, had snuck into her room, Reva had tried to push her away without opening her eyes.

By the time she had realised that whatever was bothering her didn’t feel like Vega’s fur at all, half her room had already been covered by thrashing Milagro vines. Almost falling out of bed in her hurry to get up, Reva made short work of the proliferating plant and hexed it back to its original state.

She hadn’t told anyone about her little mishap with the Growth Potion, and since she was now thoroughly fed up with Dante’s stupid plant, Reva had dumped it into his bedroom and decided to forget about it for the time being.

On the day Dante would return from Spain, she couldn’t push her bad conscience away any longer. She nervously waited for his Portkey to arrive, trying to keep her face straight when Dante took her into his arms and kissed her. 

After finding their way back to the flat above the Hogshead Inn, Reva’s joy at Dante’s return had turned into a nervous flutter in her stomach. As they were about to enter the door, Dante paused. 

“Are you alright? You’ve been very quiet.”

“Just the match yesterday,” Reva fibbed. “It got pretty late.”

Dante raised eyebrows ever so slightly, but didn’t comment any further. When he dropped his bag in the hallway and turned to her with a smile, Reva stifled a sigh of relief. He hadn’t noticed anything yet; another moment of calm before the inevitable.

“It’s good to be home,” he said with a content look around. His eyes settled on her. “I missed you over Christmas.”

“I missed you, too,” Reva sighed. “You have no idea how much.”

“So sentimental, that’s new.” The corners of his mouth twitching, Dante pulled a neatly wrapped gift from his bag, the paper as outrageously patterned as his favourite shirts. “I’ve been looking forward to giving you this. Merry Christmas.”

Seeing the present in Dante’s hands, Reva froze. She had gotten him something as well, of course, but over the drama of the past few days, she had entirely forgotten about it. Her thoughts racing, she took her gift and kissed Dante on the cheek. 

“I didn’t know we’d exchange gifts right here in the hallway,” she mumbled, frantically trying to come up with a plan. “I’ll just go and fetch yours. It’s… in your bedroom. Yes, that’s where it is.”

Dante laughed and placed his hands on her hips. “Shouldn’t I come along then?”

“It’s not that kind of gift.”

“Shame.”

“Just wait here, will you?” Reva begged, slowly backing away. “I’ll be right back.”

The moment she closed the door to Dante’s room, she had to fight the urge to scream. Resting her hands on top of her head, she turned in the middle of the room. She had no idea what to tell Dante about why she hadn’t brought - or even wrapped - his present. She was still trying to find a proper conclusion when there was a knock on the door.

“Reva? Is everything alright?”

Nothing was, in fact, alright, and Reva had a mind to tell Dante so, but before she could, he had already entered the room. His eyes widened as he looked not at her but the spot where she had put his overwatered, desiccated, magically-grown-and-cut Christmas plant in a fit of rage.

“What have you done?” he whispered, taking a hesitant step into the room.

Reva screwed her eyes shut. “I can explain.”

“I hope so,” Dante said as he moved past her, “because you’re a bloody genius.”

Baffled, Reva opened her eyes again. When she looked at the source of all her plights, her mouth dropped open. 

It seemed like the supposedly delicate Milagro Navideño had appreciated Reva’s desperate mistreatment, because what had formerly been a cut-down ruin of sickly green leaves now stood lush and tall. The leaves had regained their shine, new buds sprouting in place of the old ones, and there, right on top, the biggest one of them had opened.

Reva moved closer, touching her fingers to the velvety petal. It was dark red with white tips, looking like someone had dipped it in the snow. The blossom’s centre emitted a sweetly smelling sap, which sat in tiny drops on the petals and sparkled in the light coming from the window. 

“Unbelievable,” Reva whispered. 

“A veritable Christmas miracle,” Dante smiled broadly and put his arm around her shoulder. “Tell me your secret. How did you get her to bloom?”

Reva swallowed, hoping he wouldn’t notice the colour rising to her cheeks. “I took good care of it, I guess.”

Dante’s laugh was warm as he pressed a kiss against her temple. “That you did, mi vida. You’re full of surprises, you know that?”

At last, Reva’s lips curved into a smile. Chuckling to herself, she rested her head against Dante’s shoulder. 

“It looks like I am.” 

[mlgneverdies]

Buckled down and watched Chainsaw Man, then made this edit to celebrate

[officermaddie23]

Don't Fight Nanl

Nanl was minding his own business studying the levels of magic in the scarlet desert when all of a sudden the Sun Revants decided to ambush Nanl. However they learned the hard way why you should not fight Nanl especially since he is a master of elemental and draconic magic. The Sun Revants lost this battle and Nanl's research on magic continues on 

[trollbreaknsfw]

Still on paper bc I haven’t figured out how to draw on my tablet again in a way I super like yet so

[gmanwhore]

The Helltaker gang is revanting Justice's blog into a whole Helltaker fictive blog.

The tags:

Justice - diamonds and platinum;justice

Modeus - i swear i'm really trying;modeus

Pandemonica - you should've read the fine print;pandemonica

Azazel - high achiever don't you see?;azazel

Lucifer - i wanna slap your face;lucifer

The Loremaster - from the big boss of hell itself;loremaster

Ooooo nice!!!!!