[closed] we shape our buildings; thereafter, they shape us

[ignoreher]

WHO: Malkuth & Others
WHAT: Various threads for April (hmu for starters if needed!!!)
WHERE: Pretty much anywhere
WHEN: Anytime during April
WARNINGS: probable violence, drinking, cannibalism, sex, spoilers for Lobotomy Corporation & Library of Ruina will be marked as needed

Comments

[ignoreher]

[ that train of thought, again. she remains where she is this time, afraid (in a way) of what might happen should they be too close, and shakes her head. even if malkuth would like to put herself under his hands again, prove a point. ]

I'll take my chances. You weren't born with that reputation, and you don't need to be defined by it.

[ simple as that.

besides, more quietly, she doesn't think the Abnormalities that share her book will let him so easily. they're more untamed than in the library. as long as she a strong enough response, they'll come to her aid. even if they can't rend a Color Fixer unconscious... they can protect her.

malkuth doesn't mention so though, the theory only just that. ]

I won't define you by it, anyway.

[immortalpoet]

...

[If it were only so easy. He thought he achieved that. Even as a Color, he had people who treated him as a person, children who held his scarred hands and gave him drawings and cried in his arms.]

[But the City still had its dues. He can't run away from who he is.]

I...appreciate that. [A long pause, his chest filling with air, expelling with a sigh.] I do.

[ignoreher]

I thought you might.

[ anyone from their city would, she thinks. malkuth knows she would. her gaze dips to her hands, blood unseen, and remains there. ]

I won't ask the same if you can't give it though. Even if I'd like it if you could just see... me.

[ not the role she's played, or the reputation the library gained. they're still things that make up her, that shaped her since the day she joined a research group so long ago, and she won't ever deny that. she'll speak as plainly as he does his color business if asked.

... but it'd be nice to be seen as herself, too. for whatever that's worth. ]

[immortalpoet]

...I've already cast my gaze on you, Miss Duck.

[An altogether ridiculous phrase, but he means it, in the sincerity of it. Whatever this is...it's already decided.]

[He almost sounds a little bittersweet - there's the weight of tragedy, beating its wings in its eternal cage.]

We're already intertwined, whether you like it or not.

[ignoreher]

Ooh, how scary.

[ but it swells in her chest anyway despite the teasing tone, yearning to close their distance, and she looks at him for a long moment before throwing a circular frog plush at his head. ]

Get out before I do something you'll regret. I haven't kissed anyone yet and you're asking for it.

[ even if she'd just kiss his cheek, the threat is there. but she does appreciate it, more than words could ever say, twisting the blanket idly and relishing quietly in the way his eyes have always followed her. ]

[immortalpoet]

Ow.

[(didn't actually hurt)]

[The plushie bounces off uselessly. He barely blinks. He could've caught it, but, well, where's the fun in that.]

[The so-called threat, though...now that's the thing that threatens to skewer him here, a little pleasant needle to the heart. He said before that she didn't make him feel young, but with everything here, the flirting (fuck, that's absolutely been flirting), there's some heated rush that feels like itching below his sallow skin.]

[Fuck.]

[This is the kind of stuff that shouldn't be a thing when sober. This is very, very dangerous. He opens his mouth, closes it, and feels like his lips are too dry when he hoarsely says, in reply:]

Don't....make threats you won't act on, Miss Malkuth. That won't look good on you.

[But he's already standing, almost a little too quickly, because if he stays here, even just for a second longer, he's going to do something he hates. He already hates this, in a sense. Does he hate it?]

[He's moving to the door, glancing behind him for a moment.]

Get some rest, okay...?

[ignoreher]

[ how many people can make a color turn tail?

it's almost funny to see him move so fast, but it also... kindles something in her again, the way the hand in her hair, against her neck, squeezing her calf so purposefully had done.

he'd kiss her, wouldn't he.

would he? his hand gentle on her cheek, thumb under her jaw, or maybe gripping ever so slightly her chin, drawing her up while he leaned down...

malkuth sinks where she lays ever so slightly, swallowing hard. ]

I will. Take care, Mr. Gaze. Don't work yourself too hard.

[immortalpoet]

[There's something in the air that's changed. He came here to return a pin.]

[He just came here to return a pin, simply, effortlessly, without any expectation for anything more.]

[But she held his hands, she embraced him, she buried her head sweetly into his chest, she draped her arms around his shoulders, he touched the nape of her neck, he touched her ankle, he touched her calf, and-]

[He needs to stop this before he finds himself in the pit, so to speak. (Well, he's already been there from the beginning, perhaps. The pincers of an antlion can look like mountains, from here.)]

[The pin she placed on him feels so heavy as to drag him down further.]

[A noticeable swallow.]

I won't.

[And, just like that, he's gone, like a ghost.]