drrobctnik

[drrobctnik]

UNSEEN  WAR.

A  collection  of  angst  prompts  that  delve  into  the  struggles  of  soldiers  facing  PTSD,  survivor’s  guilt,  and  the  lingering  scars  of  war.  Themes  of  mental  health,  trauma,  substance  abuse,  suicidal  ideation,  hypervigilance,  combat,  loss,  identity,  and  alienation.  Feel  free  to  add  your  own  edits  as  wanted  or  needed.

" I  keep  his  picture  in  my  wallet,  like  it’s  gonna  bring  him  back. "

" We  were  all  just  kids  playing  soldier,  and  now  we’re  men  with  scars. "

" They  trained  me  to  fight  wars,  but  no  one  trained  me  to  live  after. "

" I'm  not  a  fuckin'  hero...I'm  just  a  guy  who  got  out  alive. "

" Doc  can  his  fuckin'  PTSD  and  shove  it  up  his  ass.  It’s  just  me  trying  to  remember  how  to  survive  in  this  goddamn  world. "

" We  joked  about  not  making  it,  but  it  was  just  that...a  joke.  Until  it  wasn’t."

" You  ever  wake  up  and  think,  'Fuck,  why  didn’t  that  last  bullet  hit  me  instead?'  'Cause  I  sure  do.  Every  single  night. "

" They  called  it  collateral  damage.  Like  it  wasn’t  somebody’s  damn  family! "

" Every  time  I  close  my  eyes,  I  see  his  face.  I  can’t  keep  doing  this. "

" I  miss  home,  but  y'know  what?  Can’t  even  remember  what  home  feels  like  anymore. "

" The  worst  part  isn’t  what  we  did;  it’s  how  normal  this  shit  is  starting  to  feel. "

" Don’t  fuckin'  tell  me  to  ‘man  up.’  You  weren’t  there!  You  didn't  see  what  I  did! "

" Sometimes  I  wonder  if  it  would’ve  been  better  if  I  hadn’t  made  it  back. "

" They  said  we’re  heroes,  but  I  don’t  feel  like  one.  Heroes  don’t  do  what  we’ve  done. "

" There's  nothing  wrong  with  me.  I'm  fine,  I  don't  need  help. "

" Even  back  in  society,  when  I  look  in  the  mirror,  I  still  see  myself  in  uniform;  covered  in  sweat,  dirt,  blood,  gunpower.  I  don't  think  I  ever  truly  came  back  home. "

" Goddamn  it,  I  told  you  to  keep  your  fuckin'  head  down!  The  hell  were  you  thinkin'!? "

" You  can’t  fix  me,  so  stop  fuckin'  trying  to. "

" If  I  have  to  fold  one  more  goddamn  flag  for  a  funeral,  I’m  gonna  lose  it."

" We  didn’t  join  up  to  be  heroes.  We  just  didn’t  know  what  the  fuck  else  to  do. "

" Fuck.  I  shouldn’t  have  told  him  it  was  clear.  It  wasn’t  clear. "

" They  keep  saying  it  wasn’t  our  fault,  but  it  sure  as  hell  feels  like  it. "

" Sometimes  I  forget  why  we  were  even  there  in  the  first  place. "

" I’m  tired  of  waking  up  every  day  wishing  I  hadn’t. "

" We’re  not  soldiers  anymore.  Now  we’re  just  survivors. "

" I  don’t  pray  anymore.  Not  after  everything  we  saw.  God  can't  save  me  from  that  shit. "

" You  can’t  just  ‘leave  it  behind.’  It  follows  you.  Every  damn  step  of  the  way.  It  just—it  just  never  fuckin'  stops. "

" I  don’t  even  know  what  normal  feels  like  anymore,  man. "

" He  didn’t  even  scream.  Just…  lights  out,  done.  Like  that. "

" No  amount  of  patches  and  medals  will  bring  back  what  I  lost  over  there."

" What  the  fuck  was  it  all  for? "

" I  see  that  goddamned  convoy  goin'  up  in  flames  every  time  I  close  my  eyes. "

" The  meds  don’t  do  shit  except  make  me  feel  like  a  zombie. "

" We  laugh,  we  joke,  but  deep  down  we’re  all  just  broken  toys. "

" Every  time  I  hear  a  car  backfire,  I’m  diving  for  cover  like  a  goddamned  idiot. "

" They  gave  me  a  medal but not  a  reason  to  fucking  live."

" Do  you  remember  his  face?  His  fuckin'  face  when  he  realized  he  wasn’t  gonna  make  it? "

" I  can't  walk  into  a  crowded  room  without  sizin'  up  exits  like  I'm  still  in  enemy  territory. "

" We  all  came  home  in  pieces.  Some  of  us  just  hid  it  better  than  others. "

" Don’t  fuckin'  touch  me.  You  don't  know  what  hands  can  do  when  they’re  scared. "

" The  shit  they  don’t  tell  you  about  surviving  is  how  heavy  the  guilt  feels. "

" It’s  just  a  patch  of  dirt  to  everyone  else,  but  to  me,  it’s  where  I  buried  my  best  friend. "

" Stop  asking  me  to  talk  about  it.  Talking  doesn’t  fix  what’s  broken. "

" One  more  person  says,  'Thank  you  for  your  service,'  I'm gonna lose  it. "

" They  say  it  gets  easier,  but  all  I’ve  done  is  get  better  at  pretending. "

" I  don’t  miss  the  war,  but  I  miss  the  people  I  fought  it  with. "

" I  feel  like  I’m  on  patrol  even  in  the  grocery  store,  scanning  for  threats. "

" You  know  what  the  hardest  part  is?  Knowing  they  died  for  nothing. "

" They  say  ‘thank  you  for  your  service,’  and  I  just  want  to  scream. "

" Sometimes,  I  wish  I’d  stayed  in.  At  least  I  knew  who  I  was  then. "

" You  don't  get  to  tell  me  what  I  saw  out  there,  alright?  You  weren’t  the  one  dragging  what  was  left  of  him  back  to  base! "

" Another  goddamn  name  on  the  memorial  wall,  yeah,  that’s  what  this  mission  fuckin'  accomplished! "

" Don't  give  me  that  'chain  of  command'  bullshit.  You  knew  it  was  a  suicide  run,  and  you  sent  us  anyway! "

" Get  your  hands  off  me!  I  said  I’m  fine,  stop  treating  me  like  I’m  fuckin'  broken! "

" You  wanna  keep  yelling,  or  are  you  finally  gonna  admit  you  fucked  up  back  there? "

" We’re  soldiers,  not  fuckin'  machines.  How  the  hell  do  you  not  understand  that  after  all  these  years? "

" I  can  still  hear  their  screams.  Every  goddamn  night.  Do  you  think  I  sleep  like  this  because  I  want  to? "

" Stop  telling  me  to  'let  it  go!'  You  didn’t  watch  him  bleed  out  while  begging  for  his  mother! "

" I  lost  another  one  today,  and  all  you  can  say  is  ‘it  happens’?  Fuck  you! "

" What  do  you  want  me  to  say?  That  I  don’t  miss  them?  That  I  don’t  hate  myself  for  living? "

" You  keep  saying  ‘it’s  over,’  but  it’s  not  over  when  it’s  in  my  fuckin'  head  24/7! "

" It  wasn’t  heroism,  alright?  I  didn’t  want  to  die.  I  didn’t  want  to  live.  I  just  wanted  it  to  fuckin'  end. "

" You  think  I  signed  up  for  this  shit?  No  one  signs  up  for  nightmares  that  won’t  go  away! "

" I  froze  out  there.  I  just…  froze.  And  now  he’s  gone  because  I  couldn’t  move. "

" You  call  it  a  mission.  I  call  it  a  slaughter.  Tell  me  where  the  hell  the  difference  is. "

" Don’t  you  dare  say  it’s  ‘just  part  of  the  job.’  That  was  someone’s  fuckin'  life! "

" You  really  think  any  of  this  ‘therapy’  bullshit  will  bring  them  back?  'Cause  it  won't,  asshole! "

" You  don’t  come  back  from  war;  you  just  bring  it  home  with  you. "

"If  one  more  person  tells  me  to  ‘move  on,’  I  swear  to  God  I’m  gonna  lose  it. "

" Shut  the  fuck  up,  I  can't  handle  your  sunshine  shit  right  now. "

" You  ever  think  about  how  we’re  all  just  disposable? "

" My  hands  won’t  stop  shaking. "

" I  don’t  need  your  pity,  I  need  another  goddamn  drink. "

" It’s  not  PTSD.  It's  just  me.  I’m  fucked  up,  plain  and  simple. "

" Fuckin'  civvies  don’t  understand  a  goddamn  thing  we’ve  been  through. "

" They  want  me  to  talk  about  it,  but  how  do  you  put  hell  into  words? "

" I  hate  myself  for  making  it  back  alive. "

" Don’t  give  me  that  'brotherhood'  bullshit!  Where  was  that  when  you  let  them  ambush  us? "

" Put  the  gun  down,  man.  Please.  We’ve  lost  enough  already. "

" You’re  right;  I’m  angry.  I’m  angry  because  I’ve  had  to  bury  too  many  good  men  because  of  your  decisions. "

" Don't  act  like  you  care  now. "

" The  blood  never  washes  off,  does  it?  It  just  spreads  around  until  you’re  drowning  in  it. "

" You  call  me  weak,  but  at  least  I’m  not  afraid  to  feel  something! "

" I  told  you  not  to  bring  that  up,  so  why  the  hell  are  you  making  me  relive  it  now? "

" Stop  saying  it's  going  to  be  okay!  It's  not,  and  it  never  fuckin'  will  be. "

" I  don't  need  therapy,  I  need  a  fuckin'  drink. "

" You  see  a  fun  fireworks  display,  I  see  flares  'n  mortars  tearing  us  apart. "

" I  can't  even  look  at  my  kids  without  wondering  if  they'd  be  better  off  without  me. "

" I  used  to  takin'  long  drives  at  night,  but  now  I  can't  even  get  behind  the  wheel  without  feeling  like  we're  about  to  hit  an  IED. "

" Every  time  I  close  my  eyes,  I  see  him...my  best  friend,  blown  to  pieces. "

" Yeah,  I  take  the  pills  and  wash  'em  down  with  vodka,  what  of  it? "

" I  didn't  sign  up  for  this  life;  I  signed  up  for  a  job,  and  now  I  can't  get  out. "

" You  want  me  to  talk  about  it?  Alright,  fine.  Let's  talk  about  how  I  watched  my  buddies  burn  alive. "

" The  VA?  Yeah,  they've  got  a  line  for  everything.  Too  bad  it  never  leads  to  real  help. "

" Do  you  have  any  idea  what  it's  like  to  be  terrified  of  your  own  goddamn  mind? "

[drrobctnik]

julius has met joker,

ya'll are fucked.

[drrobctnik]

at how the lankier man mentioned blood being appealing, julius hummed in agreement. "does it turn you on," he holds eye contact as he says it, voice dipping in that thinly veiled lust. "shall i spill more?" chaos energy kisses at his finger tips, sparks of red electricity arcing and dancing deftly across his left hand.

"i did, once." hadn't in years, but julius still remembers how much he had loved putting makeup on, only to have it defiled and smeared during his nights in the clubs. "been debating on whether i should again or not. a darker shade, you say? what colour do you suppose suits me?"

" that's a lot of blood. "

"indeed it is," his face and neck are covered in it. front of his shirt and bits of his jacket are drenched in that blood. "adore your makeup." particularly the lipstick, to say nothing of the accentuation around his eyes. "what brand do you use?"

[drrobctnik]

" that's a lot of blood. "

"indeed it is," his face and neck are covered in it. front of his shirt and bits of his jacket are drenched in that blood. "adore your makeup." particularly the lipstick, to say nothing of the accentuation around his eyes. "what brand do you use?"

[drrobctnik]

"I'm weak for you." Prompts

“I’d do anything for you.”

“Ha. Don’t think too highly of yourself. Just because I crave your company every now and then, doesn’t mean you’re my weakness. You’re not.”

“I can’t control myself around you. Don’t even want to.”

“Fiiiiine. I’ll do it. For you. Just for you.”

“Why do you have to make keeping a distance from you so damn difficult? I’m trying my hardest and you just…”

“That was but a moment of weakness. Think nothing of it.”

“Having a weak spot for someone doesn’t equate to wanting to be with them. Those are two completely different things.”

“Why can’t I say ‘no’ to you?”

“It scares me to see how far I’m willing to go for you.”

“No, wait. Stay- Stay back. I need to think rationally.” “...What’s that got to do with me?”

“You just can’t stay away from me for too long, huh?”

“My knees have gone a bit weak. Do you mind holding me?”

“It’s like… You have this power over me, and I- I guess I’m wary of where it might lead.”

“I don’t care about anything but you.”

“No other person makes me feel both weak and strong.”

“Stop it. Can’t you see that staying away from you is torture for me too?”

“I’m weak for you.” 

“You have me all wrapped around your finger.”

“I don’t want to scare you away with my… infatuation.”

“Right now I think you could probably talk me into anything.”

“You’ll be the death of me, [name].”

“You’re the only one I have opened up to like this.”

“Aren’t you at least a little ashamed of how blatantly you’re exploiting my feelings for you?”

“For you, I’ll take on any challenge.”

“(Fuck.) I need you to say that/make that sound again.”

“Just when I think you couldn’t make me go even weaker in the knees, you go and say stuff like that. Do you want me to collapse? Maybe melt into a puddle too while I’m at it?”

[drrobctnik]

Send 🔪 to pick a fight with my muse.

[drrobctnik]

When you are writing a story and refer to a character by a physical trait, occupation, age, or any other attribute, rather than that character’s name, you are bringing the reader’s attention to that particular attribute. That can be used quite effectively to help your reader to focus on key details with just a few words. However, if the fact that the character is “the blond,” “the magician,” “the older woman,” etc. is not relevant to that moment in the story, this will only distract the reader from the purpose of the scene. 

If your only reason for referring to a character this way is to avoid using his or her name or a pronoun too much, don’t do it. You’re fixing a problem that actually isn’t one. Just go ahead and use the name or pronoun again. It’ll be good.

[drrobctnik]

one of the best rp feelings in the world is when someone makes a tag for ur char/ship its like youve earned a little place with them and their portrayal of their character whether its an oc or canon and its so pure and good

[drrobctnik]

im yearning about you and there is nothing you can do about it (threat)

[drrobctnik]

"you're doing that wrong," without saying anything else, julius snags the firearm away from the other soldier. he sighs as he shows him how to properly pull apart the gun in order to be cleaned, "why do they bother hiring you guys if you're not properly trained." julius isn't even explaining what it is he's doing: he's showing the man the proper way physically. expecting him to remember through sight alone. if he couldn't even get this right, he wouldn't last two more days inside of this base. G.U.N were strict when it came to protocols and how to follow standards. knowing how to dismantle, clean and service your own weapons was one of those skillsets: there wouldn't really be a weapon's expert out on the field. so if your firearm failed you were expected to be able to handle that without needing assistance.

starter. for peter (@wolfensong) BASED ON THE PREMISE THAT JULIUS & PETER MEET WHILE JULIUS AND PETER ARE PART OF G.U.N & WORKING TOGETHER AT A G.U.N BASE.

[drrobctnik]

"sorry, i didn't realize this seat was taken," julius gave a softer smile, shuffling and moving his bookbag off the seat he'd set it on. his gaze lingered on the man in front of him, enjoying the way that his hair accentuated his face, and those eyes were beautiful too. he wondered if he had ever seen him around the eden club. julius cleared his throat, "are you, here with anyone, or are you waiting on someone?" realizing how bold that sounded, julius quickly clarified, "n-not that i'm! trying to, flirt or anything. i just thought if you had a moment, maybe we could try getting a coffee?"

starter. for roman (@blckfckinmsk) BASED ON THE PREMISE THAT JULIUS & ROMAN START DATING (before becoming bitter exes).

[drrobctnik]

USEFUL SITES FOR ROLEPLAYERS 2.0

This is an updated version of my original post since I've found some more useful websites since then.

roleplay formatter: Made by the awesome @rpclefairy. I honestly can't recommend this one enough. Great for adding color, changing the font size, and the whole shebang with bold + italics + underline + strikethrough. 10 out of 10 always use.

word html: I actually just stumbled upon this and am absolutely in love with it. It works a lot like roleplay formatter and has WYSIWYG, HTML, and SOURCE CODE options. 10 out of 10 awesome alternative.

fsymbols + emojipedia: These are both great for making your tags fancy and whatnot.

alt codes: This is genuinely great for teaching you how to make the symbols with your keyboard for everyday use so there's that. It's especially useful if you and/or your muses speak a second language so that's a bonus.

text color fader: *marge vc* I just think gradient effects on text is neat. *end marge vc*

list of colors (wikipedia): Has a list of an infinite number of colors and their hex codes. Very useful if I do say so, myself. But that's just me.

rgb color code: Just stumbled upon this one like I did with word html and is nothing short of interesting! Might not be one I'd use on the regular but it's definitely worth looking into IMHO.

And, as per usual, feel free to reblog and add more! <333

[drrobctnik]

like this for a starter. if you don't specify, i'll probably put it in any of my three verses & assume it's an AU if it isn't in his default main verse.

[drrobctnik]

Linkin Park Lyric Starters

IN THE END

"It doesn't even matter how hard you try." "All I know, time is a valuable thing." "Watch the time go right out the window." "I wasted it all just to watch you go." "I kept everything inside and even though I tried, it all fell apart." "It doesn't even matter how hard you try." "I'm surprised it got so far." "Things aren't the way they were before." "You wouldn't even recognize me anymore." "You kept everything inside and even though I tried, it all fell apart." "I've put my trust in you." "For all this, there's only one thing you should know." "I tried so hard and got so far." "I had to fall to lose it all." "But in the end, it doesn't even matter."

NUMB

"I'm tired of being what you want me to be." "I don't know what you're expecting of me." "Can't you see that you're smothering me?" "'Cause everything that you thought I would be has fallen apart, right in front of you" "Every step that I take is another mistake to you." "And I know I may end up failing too." "I'm becoming this, all I want to do is be more like me and be less like you." "I'm tired of being what you want me to be."

DON'T STAY

"Sometimes, I need to remember just to breathe." "Sometimes, I need you to stay away from me." "Somehow, I need you to go." "Forget our memories, forget our possibilities." "What you were changing me into?" "Take all your faithlessness with you." "Sometimes, I feel like I trusted you too well." "Sometimes, I just feel like screaming at myself." "Don't stay."

LOST

"I pretend it isn't there." "This is how I feel." "I'm trapped in yesterday." "I'm lost in these memories." "But I'm tired." "Lost all my dignity.' "I will always be afraid." "I try to keep this pain inside." "But I will never be alright." "I'm lost."

[drrobctnik]

protector / protectee starters

“no. you can’t go, it’s too dangerous.”

“it’s not dangerous. i’ll be fine.”

“i’m not going to let anything happen to you.” 

“you can’t keep me safe from everything.”

“just be careful.” 

“i’m always careful.”

“you’re going to get yourself hurt.”

“i won’t get hurt, i promise.”

“i won’t let them hurt you.”

“you can’t save me from this.”

“please try and stay out of trouble.”

“if anything happened to you…” 

“i’m not sure how to keep you safe.”

“i’m not going to let you out of my sight.”

“this is the only way to keep you safe.”

“you can’t keep an eye on me twenty four seven.”

“everywhere you go, i go.”

“it’s not your job to protect me.”

“it’s my job to protect you.”

“don’t worry, i’ve got you.”

“no one will hurt you as long as i’m breathing.”

“you don’t understand how dangerous this is.”

“please come back in one piece.”

[drrobctnik]

weakling. that word ALONE is enough to cause his irises to explode in a brilliant glow of red, visible even beyond those obscuring sunglasses like headlights on a dark lonely forest road. weakling weakling weakling WEAK-

breathes through it. can feel his composure threatening to fray and snap, but he stubbornly snags those fraying strands and tightens them together. good he keeps that composure because if he hadn't, perhaps the spindash towards him may have taken him out⸻

as it is, julius deftly leaps backwards, but instead of landing on the ground, he's flying. zipped up above the ground that the echidna goes dashing below him. only for julius to aim where the echidna is going to be, and firing a chaos sphere from his right palm, which will no doubt explode upon impact. either injuring the echidna or causing him to veer off course.

regardless, julius is swiftly teleporting next to the echidna and following up with a kick towards him, intent on sending knuckles into the ground.

@drrobctnik xxx

It was not his idea nor desire to tolerate one with a known tendency for betrayal, but the unfortunate aligning of temporary goals had led to an alliance just as temporary. Such is a concept he has a much harder time adhering to than his companions. But they aren't exactly around at the moment to share in his conflicted shift as a guard at the home of bases. Although, considering the agenda of tonight's activities thus far, this was more of a boon than actually unfortunate. Scraps weren't 'kosher' to some.

He's never considered the man a warrior. That 'work smarter not harder' attitude he exudes at times is one the echidna sees as an admittance to weakness if anything. After all, why not work harder if it makes one stronger in the end? Then the next task would be less hard, and less hard, and lesser still. Until every obstacle that dug in became little more than the weight of a dandelion seed stuck between the quills. It's why he's in such a punchy mood when this belief is belittled. He might not have the sharpest grasp on earth customs or most snide remarks made on his behalf, but he understands when he's being dishonored enough to retaliate. They'll explain to the fox and the hedgehog that they're having a training session. Any dispute could be seen as so - especially the minor ones.

The quickest exchange of blows merely leads to the shock of chaos energy meeting as magnetic fields opposite of each other does, knocking him back a ways with just the skin of his needled fists to slow the blow back, though the floorboards are irreparably shredded in the process. A growl garnered by stumbling back up onto twos leads the echidna's self serving power-bumps as his joined fists spark up bolts of molten amaranth around the exterior of his gloves.

I want to see what you can do.

How those words lived as long as the echidna tribe's long-carried legacy in his mind. His own father had spoken them to him not long in the days before he would fall in battle. The tribe was all too aware of the last born to their people and how a terrible power had been bestowed upon him before he'd even emerged from his egg as prophecy would demand he would bring the ultimate power back to the home of the echidnas. Even as a child he would make a formidable opponent to any adult, and yet...

The man's remark is met with a scoff, quilled dreads tossed one way and then another as the same shade of the chaos crawling through his knuckles slowly staining each pixel of a narrowed gaze. "You think you can say that to me? Weakling!"

He hadn't wanted to harm his father. Had refused. Held back. Maybe if he hadn't, then his 'time' to honor the tribe would have been during the battle in which they all perished. Maybe then, he wouldn't be the last of the echidnas- whether they survived the assault, or he did not.

"Show. Me. Your-" Each word excites more shocks of rosy electricity before the final exclamation of "POWER!" has him bolting a few clunky steps forward before he's seamlessly snapping into a ball of nuclear charged quills and bowling towards the pins of the other's legs.

[drrobctnik]

⸻ what are you.

a sentiment he has heard time & again. yet each word never fails to strike a match of disgust and horror that broils in his chest. makes that feeling of chaos energy jump and buzz in his body, like flint catching light. what are you; freak; monster; blight; curse.

"i am me." he says it with such a calm.

you wouldn't think to look at him, that those words had hurt him. that they had torn open a wound that never truly closed, long since festered and rotten and gangrene but unable to be amputated. always, those feelings of worthlessness and otherness and inadequacies exist and hover out the peripheries of julius' soul, his mind. demons never silenced, merely biding time until they whispered in his ear, what ARE you, you fucking disgusting waste of space. horrible piece of existence.

"why do you ask. you seem surprised and i can't fathom why."

Peter never considered himself a particularly sycophantic person until he met Julius. He's since come to learn that he just never met the person that he could look up to before him.

Everything Julius does is fascinating to him, primarily because he can't understand how somebody so brilliant would ever put time into somebody like him. He was a wayward child, a snivelling addict, a basketcase with only half a mind he could rely on after the things his mother had done to him— and yet he'd been allowed into his life regardless.

Now he lives and breathes the man. They occupy the same spaces despite the vast gap between their intellects; meet eyes despite their differing capabilities. The cold, dank bunker has become his house, but it's Julius himself that embodies home.

Perhaps it's too deep a sentiment for somebody he's only known for a year and a half. It reeks of the type of sentiment he used to turn his nose up at as an angry teenager; a pathetic reliance on mankind that he swore he'd never emulate. Now he's done it. The type of day he has, the kind of food he eats, the internal mantras he repeats to himself, they're all things dependent on Julius and his largely unreadable moods.

It's a question about power that brings him to his benefactor's side. There seems to be little else more important to him, and so it's important to Peter too. Anything he can do to connect is something he'll invest effort into.

❛ Julius, I— ❜ 

Lightning strikes inside of him as they look at one another. It occurs to him all at once that he's never seen the man with his shades removed— and what a sight it is. Peter gets the sense that he should be terrified, especially so soon after his encounter with Paimon, but he finds himself mystified instead. That adrenaline-seeking behaviour that became such a staple for him during his adolescence rears its head full force, heart thundering so fast that he feels dizzy.

❛ I— ❜ The sardonic comment rolls off of him like water off of a duck's back. All he can focus on is that Julius' stare reminds him of a black hole— and it's drawing him in. ❛ Sorry. I just— ❜ He moves closer gradually, like he's approaching a wolf with its teeth bared, his grip on his sceptre tight.  ❛ …what are you? ❜