signcfthetiimes

[signcfthetiimes]

daryl’s jaw clenched, his fingers twitching at his side like they wanted to grab a cigarette or his crossbow. something to keep them busy. he looked at beth, really looked at her, like maybe if he stared hard enough, he could make sense of all this. of her. of the fact that she was here, saying things that cut deeper than any damn knife. "nah," he muttered, shaking his head. "you weren’t just another dead girl." his voice was rough, almost like he didn’t wanna say it, like the words themselves hurt comin’ out. "ain’t never been 'just another’ nothin’, beth. not to me." he exhaled sharply through his nose, shifting on his feet, feeling too damn raw. "i just kept goin’. some days, that’s all it was. moving forward cause stopping meant dying. ain’t like i had a choice." his eyes flicked to hers, unreadable but heavy, full of something he wasn’t saying. "you had a choice. you made one. that ain’t somethin’ to regret." her question about judith pulled him out of his head, made him blink like he was shaking off some bad dream. his lips pressed together in a smile and there was something softer in his face. "yeah," he said. "she made it. she’s tough. grew up good. you’d be proud. she's here. i know she'd love to meet you."

"but at the end i was just another dead girl wasn't i..." she had arguably thought about that day far more than she should. it haunted her. knowing that she had been so close to freedom, but in an attempt to finally take this life in her own hands, to defend someone who mattered to her... it had sealed her fate. just another dead girl. "you were built for it. not that any of us knew it was coming but you were the one who knew how to survive, and you saved all those people because you did." beth said softly, as she stared up at him, taking him in as if she still couldn't believe she was looking up at him, that they existed again in the same space. she paused staring up at him meeting his eyes, the message behind his words falling onto her as well. "did judith make it?" she asks softly, always having a soft spot for the little girl. "did she survive?" she asks attempting to distract herself from diving too deep into the meaning behind daryls' words.

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daryl squinted at the guy, shifting the crossbow strap on his shoulder. "second street ain’t far," he muttered, jerking his head in the direction. "ain’t got no map, though, so don’t go cryin’ if ya get lost." his brow furrowed at the rest of what the guy said. "ain’t real big on warm welcomes neither." he studied the other, eyes narrowing. "don’t need your life story either, but if ya don’t know what a bus is, i’m startin’ to wonder if you hit your damn head too hard or somethin’." even if the other had come from somewhere without buses, the whole fake set of memories in everyone's head gave everyone a life in ivy cove. daryl was starting to think the other was just nuts.

"Second street? And no I don't care about warm welcomes we don't do that where I am from." He smirked mischievously. "Don't need my life story an update though would be very nice." Peter rubbed his head as he looked where the other was pointing. "A bus? What the hell is a bus?"

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azula shifted her weight onto one leg, arms still crossed, watching him with the air of a queen humoring a court jester. "you’re right. it is entertaining. there’s something almost... charming about how utterly ridiculous people can be when they think they have something worthwhile to say." her smirk widened as she leaned in slightly. "but tell me, how long should we indulge this little comedy before i get bored and decide to set something on fire?"

"Oh... Oh no" he replied shaking his head. "I didn't mean listen to him and do what he says" that was a very backwards way of looking at the world, and it wasn't one he would believe in. Besides, why would he ever tell someone to listen to anyone else, not when he made terrible decisions anyway. "I meant are you listening because he is saying absolutely ridiculous things. It's actually very entertaining".

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azula froze. just for a second. everything. the word hit her like a well aimed strike, precise and painful. her fingers twitched at her sides, nails pressing into her palms. she had expected resistance, frustration. ty lee always felt too much, but not this. not this raw, desperate honesty. her lips curled into something that was supposed to be a smirk, but it wavered. "oh, please," she scoffed, voice sharp as ever, but lacking the effortless cruelty it once held. "spare me the sentiment, ty lee," she said, her voice held together by fraying threads. "it doesn’t change anything. it doesn’t fix anything." she took a step forward, searching ty lee’s face for something. blame, regret, fear. anything familiar. but all she found was sincerity, and that made her uneasy. "you talk like it was ever enough." her voice dropped, quieter now, almost unreadable. she let out a short, humorless laugh, glancing away as if the very idea was absurd. "don’t say things you don’t mean," she finally said, but the usual fire in her tone had dimmed. "not to me." because if she let herself believe it, if she let herself think, even for a second, that she had been everything - then she would have to face the fact that she had lost it all. and that? that was a weakness she couldn’t afford. her fists clenched, shoulders tense, but she didn’t strike. she didn’t lash out. she just stood there, staring at the floor, hating the way something ached inside her chest.

"wow, so i was kinda like nothing to you, huh?" azula and ty lee

"oh just knock it off!" the girl instantly said her hands coming to fist at her sides. ty lee felt as if everytime she had a discussion with azula it made her break even more. she was tired of being treated like the enemy. "you were far from nothing, azula." she managed to get out. there were more things that she wanted to say, more things that were just sitting on the edge of her tongue. ways to blame azula for everything that had happened, ways to blame herself, or mai, or zuko. but the only thing that could come out was... "you were everything, don't you get that? everything!"

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anthony lets out a breath, his expression wavering between skepticism and reluctant consideration. he crosses his arms, his jaw tightening ever so slightly as he mulls over the absurdity of it all. "a fairytale," he repeats, voice edged with dry amusement. "i suppose that would be fitting, given how often my life seems to be dictated by sheer madness." he exhales sharply, shaking his head. "and yet, if magic is real, if all this nonsense has any truth to it, then what? am i meant to simply accept that the world is even more confusing than i already believed? that you truly are some long lost brother of mine?"

Maybe he should have been more worried about that. He had enjoyed the new locations as a way to paint them, but them arriving was unusual. "Perhaps it is a fairytale" that would explain Sophie, although that didn't really make sense either. "Worse then that, if magic is real... might mean all this nonsense is true".

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anthony exhales a quiet chuckle, though there is an undeniable heat in his gaze as he watches her. "kate," he murmurs, his voice carrying both amusement and something deeper, something far more dangerous to his resolve. "you wound me. do you truly think me so easily swayed?" and yet, as she hovers just out of reach, teasing him with her closeness, he knows she has him entirely at her mercy. he tilts his head slightly, his hand finding the curve of her waist with a touch that is as confident as it is gentle. "oh, i expect nothing, my dear," he continues, his lips ghosting just near hers once again, a deliberate torment. "but i do wonder, would it be so terrible if you did?" his smirk is positively wicked, though it softens at the way she looks at him, as if she too is losing this battle between them. his thumb brushes against her waist, slow and deliberate. "call me whatever you wish, as long as it is spoken with that very spark in your eye." he muses, voice dropping into something impossibly smooth.

A corner of Kate's lips lifts as she glances down at him. "Is it such an attempt if I can still manage to get a reaction out of you?" She inquires with a raised eyebrow, fully smiling now. "I cannot deny that." She admits, her lips parting once more as he leans in, moving forward to gently brush her lips against his until his words cause her to slightly pull back. "And who says that I will be the one getting bested?" She smirks, pausing only after catching that glint in his eye, honestly sure that she must be looking at him the same way. Despite how much he frustrated her, Kate was finding it rather hard to deny her feelings for him. "A slip of the tongue, I can only hope that you do not expect me to call you that so often."

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cordelia let out a breathy laugh, tilting her head as she watched him unravel beneath her touch. it was so easy, really. and god, did she love watching him squirm. it made a nice change than him making her flustered. "oh, please." her voice was pure, honeyed amusement as her fingers lightly traced along the back of his neck. "you were hot and bothered the second i sat down. don’t act like i had to try that hard." her smirk only deepened as his hands found her back pockets, her eyes flickering down at him with mock disapproval. "mm, bold move for someone who can barely sit up straight without wincing." she leaned in closer, her lips ghosting over his just like before. just enough to keep him hanging. cordy rolled her eyes, though the smirk on her lips betrayed her amusement. "dean, you can barely stand and you’re talking about throwing me over your shoulder? please." her breath was warm against his lips. "face it, tough guy. you’re completely at my mercy." even though she was very much fighting to keep her composure right now, considering how intimate things were. but she didn't hate it. in fact, cordy was very much enjoying it. and maybe should have expected it considering she had invited him to stay at her place.

Dean finds himself unable to stop smiling around her, everything she does simply captivating him in every moment. "I've got a hot girl in my lap, I don't give a shit about bravado." He shakes his head at her, his chuckle low. His breath shakes for a moment, the way her thumb glided over his lip. She was consuming every thought, craving her touch like he couldn't live without it. "Oh, you think so?" There's amusement in his voice, his hands slowly sliding down her sides, trying to keep his composure as he teased him with the faintest touch of her lips. "I think you just like getting me all hot and bothered." His hands slip around her waist, slowly sliding themselves into the back pockets of her jeans. He looks up at her with a smug smile, not so subtly giving her a light squeeze. "Until I'm better?" He groans playfully, tipping his head back in protest. "You keep this up, and I'm going to throw you over my shoulder and take you to bed, injuries be dammed."

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"i could get used to living in a place like this." (heleana and aerea) @tragcdyfallen

aerea let out a sharp, humorless laugh, though there was no real mirth in it. her arms were crossed, fingers gripping at the fabric of her sleeves as if she could claw her way out of this place with sheer will alone. "then you have never known what it is to truly be trapped," she said, voice quieter than before, but no less sharp. "it is easy to grow used to a cage when you have never felt the sky." she turned her gaze back to the horizon, where the sky stretched wide and free, mocking her. "places like this… they lull you into thinking they are peaceful. that you could stay, that you could make a life here." her jaw tightened. "but a cage with an ocean view is still a cage."

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aerea’s lips pressed into a thin line, her eyes narrowing slightly. she understood cages far too well. gilded or rusted, a cage was a cage, no matter how pretty the bars. "you think refusing is enough?" she asked, voice low but now edged with something slightly bitter. "i once thought so too. that i could simply fly free because i willed it, because i hated the hands that tried to keep me locked away." her fingers curled into fists at her sides, as if she could still feel the weight of unseen chains. "but cages are not only built from iron. they are built from duty, from expectation, from the things we owe to others and the things they demand in return." and now she was stuck in a different type of cage on this island. unable to leave. at least it could have been worse. there was some kind of entertainment with the strange stuff that happened here.

Perhaps she had judged a little quickly, but then her job had been to keep Padme safe and sometimes it had required rash judgements. Perhaps it was rash, but it had kept her alive. "No there isn't. Which is why I refuse to do it. Even in a town like this one" she'd seen stranger planets in her life, but a Jedi Temple was here, and this was unlike any planet in her galaxy.

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aerea’s gaze flickered over him, sharp and wary, like a dragon uncertain whether to take flight or bare its fangs. she had learned, too young, that familiarity was often a trap. one set by those who wanted something from her, who saw the silver hair and thought they knew what was best. "you speak as if you know me," she said, voice measured, distant. "but i have been many things to many people. few of them kind." her fingers curled at her sides, a restless, uneasy motion. "hair like mine is the mark of dragons, of the blood that is both blessing and curse. a birthright and a shackle." she studied him, trying to place what it was he saw in her that made him linger. whether she should know him or not. he was no targaryen, that was evident from his looks.

"i have a tendency of doing that, ya know?" he asks with a small chuckle. since being here, luke kept seeing to walk himself into corners with multiple people. it was as if he couldn't make sense of a life without being back home. "but, you just look familiar. and the hair, it was something that made my mom, her mom. and their whole family." besides them... which was besides the point.

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aerea’s expression softens. gentler than the sharp edges she usually wears. she tilts her head, considering the words, the meaning behind them. "not so strange," she says at last, her voice quieter now, the steel in it replaced with something almost warm. "to want to share something with someone who understands." she exhales. "i wandered too. it was easier, being alone. or maybe just… safer." a pause, her gaze flickering toward them, searching. "but it never made the loneliness leave, did it?" aerea hesitates for a moment, then steps closer, as if drawn by some invisible thread. "i’m here," she says simply. "you don’t have to share it alone anymore."

"i wandered. it was easier to do when it was just me." and she was chasing after listening for her goddess. knowing that she wasn't completely alone. even knowing her brother was here... they still couldn't help but feel completely alone. "i know this is weird, but you were like the one person i wanted to share this with."

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ivar let out a slow breath, his forehead pressing against hers, grounding himself in her warmth. she was everything. his anchor, his storm, his sanctuary, all wrapped up in one. and he knew, deep in his bones, that there was no coming back from this. no undoing the way she had taken root in him. "i don’t just want to be yours. i need it" his voice was low, a quiet rasp against her lips. his fingers traced slow patterns against her waist, his grip steady but not possessive. not in the way others might have been. because this wasn't about control. it was about belonging. "you say no one could compete with me, but, evette..." his lips ghosted over her cheek, a silent confession in every touch. "you are the only one who has ever mattered. the only one i’ve ever wanted like this. i'd tear the world apart if it meant keeping you." his hand drifted up, fingertips brushing along the curve of her jaw, tilting her face just enough for him to drink her in. to make sure she knew, without a doubt, just how deep she had buried herself in him. "so, if you’re giving up everything for me, then i’m giving up everything for you." his smirk softened. "i think we both know I never really had a choice." and he didn’t. because she was his, just as much as he was hers. and there was no world, no version of him, that would ever let that change.

She gently caresses the back of his hand, pouring everything she has to offer into the touch. Ivar reached her heart, a feat she believed to be impossible. The way he looked at her, not through her, how he always knew what was on her mind without the need of words. He knew her more than she knew herself. "Ivar." She breathes out his name once hers had fallen from him, his name rolling off her tongue like it had always been meant for her to say. The way her name sounded coming from his lips, she knew it had always belonged to him. The sight of his smile only made her heart jump, like it had stopped entirely for a moment, before its quick paced rhythm returned. Her own smile formed, but it looked different this time. It was only meant for him, its existence to illustrate to him alone just how much he flooded her system with a tenderness that was once unknown to her. "Good." Her voice is soft, her hand leaving his only to cup his face in her hands again. "Because I wish to be selfish," Her fingers are delicate against his skin, touching him as if he were a work of art. "I want to keep you all to myself." Her voice falters, something sweet slipping between the monotonous tone of her voice. "No one could ever compete with you, even before I knew you... no one could ever come this close." She repeats his own sentiment warmly, desperately wishing to convey everything she felt through words, despite how difficult she found speaking like this. "For you to be mine, is the greatest thing I could ever have." His openness with her sparked something deep within her chest. "I would give up everything just to remain in your arms."

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when they finally made it back to the bedroom, violet pulled os down on top of her, unable to contain her grin as she gave him yet another kiss. the warmth of his body, the steady rise and fall of his chest, the way his arms held her so securely - it all felt so familiar, so right. she had missed this. god, she had missed this more than she ever wanted to admit. "i love you," vi said again. probably for the hundredth time already today. it was like now she had finally said it for the first time, she couldn't stop. making up for all the lost time that she could have been saying it to him. and it didn't feel like a risk anymore, finally admitting her true feelings for him. she draped her arm around him once he settled next to her, hand resting over the scar on his chest. she had spent so much time wondering if she’d ever feel okay again, if they could ever be okay again, and yet, here they were. the fingers on her other hand found his, lacing them together as she let out a small, content breath. "feels good," she admitted softly, closing her eyes. "having you here again." it wasn’t just about the intimacy, the need they had for each other- it was everything. but then suddenly, she felt a pang of guilt in her chest. "i'm sorry," violet said. "about last night."

Os couldn't keep his thoughts clear, between the intense desire to be with her and the never-ending thoughts of having her back again, he was completetly lost in Violet. Everything about her was intoxicating, her voice, the way she touched him, her responses to him. "Oh, you wouldn't?" He can't resist the urge to tease, his fingers lightly squeezing at her thighs. When she tilted his chin up, locking their gazes together, he almost completetly loses it right there. She needed him, those words twisted at his heart like nothing had ever before. "I'm here, I'm right here." He reassures her, placing another kiss against her lips before he drops and settles on his knees. He did exactly what he said he would, taking his sweet time as well, and after he felt that familiar tug at his hair to indicate she was satisfied, he didn't stop there. He got back up on his feet, securing her legs around his waist again, carrying her to the couch and all but toppling over as he sat them down on the cushions. He kept her in his lap, intending to have much more fun with her here. "Love you, Vi." He mumbles against her lips as he leans into another deepened kiss, continuing the same intensity they had in the kitchen. He wasted no time in pulling off her clothing, and then his, continuing on his path of having her in every possible way."

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rhys had been playing a careful game, teasing, toying, watching her unravel piece by piece under his touch. he had intended to drag it out longer, to savor every moment she trembled beneath his gaze, but then she said his name like that - breathy, desperate, utterly wrecked for him. and he broke. before she could take another breath, his hands were on her. one pressing firmly against her shoulder, the other gripping her waist as he pushed her back against the couch. a slow smirk curved his lips, his gaze flickering over her face. the way she looked beneath him. she was beautiful. "careful what you beg for," he murmured, his voice thick with something dark and unrestrained. and then he kissed her. it wasn’t gentle. it wasn’t sweet. it was a claiming. his lips crashed against hers, his body pressing into her as his hands settled. one gripping her waist possessively, the other braced against the couch beside her head. his knee nudged between her thighs, pinning her there as he deepened the kiss, coaxing, demanding, taking. she was intoxicating. when he finally broke away, it was only enough to let his breath ghost against her lips, his forehead barely brushing hers. his smirk returned, though this time, it was darker, rougher around the edges, as if she had just undone something in him that even he hadn’t anticipated. "look what you made me do," he murmured, his voice low, rasping, still thick with desire. his thumb brushed against her swollen lips, tracing them as if considering whether he would let her catch her breath. or if he would simply ruin her again.

Safiye could feel her heartbeat thumping in her ears, her breath unable to find a steady and natural rythm. In the back of her mind, she knew exactly what he was doing, but the heat he was stirring up was clouding her judgement. All she ever wanted was to please him, to earn his affections, to be worthy of his touch. He was a king, after all. "Nervous?" She attempted to laugh softly, but her unease quickly tainted it, giving away her poorly executed attempt to seem put together. "A little, yes." She confesses in a whisper. The more he graced her with his touch, leaning in each and every time, the more she fell into the daze that was simply consumed by everything that was him. Her lips part at his question, staring at him with her doe like expression, trying desperately to from words to no avail. "N-No, I don't want you to be...gentle." Her voice, almost too quiet to hear herself, ridden with the compulsion to tell him everything he wanted to hear. To admit such things out loud only caused her blush to burn more. The intensity of the tension in the air made her dizzy. She watched as his hand slid down her arm. Such a seemingly innocent touch ripped at every seam that held her together. He had her dangling in front of him exactly where he wanted her, and she was more than pliable right now. She looks up at him, a haze in her eyes, lashes fluttering each time as she blinked up at him. "Rhys." She complies with his request, her voice trembling in a quiet whisper. A desperate wanting dripping from her words, one she couldn't hide. Her fingers tigthen their hold against his knee, her chest rising and falling heavily. "Rhys...please."

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seth let out a breath, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced away for a second, like he was debating whether to brush it off or actually address it. he hadn’t really expected her to hear him, let alone admit it. "yeah, well… i guess i do it more than i realize," he said, forcing a small, sheepish chuckle. "didn’t think i’d get caught, though."

❛ oh god. please tell me you haven’t just heard me talk to myself. ❜ seth clearwater and any @signcfthetiimes

Elain paused for a moment, only briefly opening her mouth to try to speak before quickly abandoning her thoughts before they could even form sound. "I did." She finally admitted, "But I don't mind it, I actually think plenty of people talk to themselves for various reasons."

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continued from here | @tcrturedpcet

ivar watched keegan toy with the guitar pick, the way his fingers moved over it like muscle memory. like something sacred. he didn’t have to ask to know what it meant to him. he saw it in the way keegan looked at it, in the way his voice wavered just slightly when he spoke her name without actually saying it. his tone wasn’t harsh, but it wasn’t soft either. just firm. honest. like he was saying something keegan already knew but refused to accept. "i get it. she got under your skin. made a home there. and now she’s gone, but you’re still carrying her around like she’s never left." ivar’s gaze flicked to the pick before meeting his eyes again. "you think that’s careful?" he let the question hang between them for a second before scoffing quietly, shaking his head. "you’re letting her wreck you without even being here to do it herself."

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luke stands there, silent for a long moment, her words hitting harder than any blade ever could. his jaw tightens and he looks away, as if unable to face the truth she’s laying bare between them. "i did think about you," he says finally, voice quieter than usual, rough around the edges. "that was the problem." his hands curl into fists at his sides before he forces them to relax. "i knew you didn’t need protection. you were always stronger than me, probably stronger than any of us. but that didn’t stop me from wanting to change things. for you, for everyone." he scoffs, shaking his head. "funny how that turned out." his gaze flickers back to hers, sharp and filled with something almost unreadable. "you think i wanted that war? that i wanted to see any of you bleed for something i started?" he exhales sharply, running a hand through his hair. "i made a choice, and yeah, it was the wrong one. maybe i thought it was the only one. maybe i was just angry. angry at the gods, at the camp, at myself. and in the end…" his lips press into a thin line. "in the end, i was just another pawn, wasn’t i?"

"i thought you knew me better that i didn't need protection from anything." she insists shaking her head. she had been able to handle herself multiple times, even better than percy and grover could handle themselves sometimes. she lets out a shaky sigh. "you didn't think about any of us worth staying for. the gods, they didn't care if they fought their battles, if we died for them. we all knew that but it didn't mean we had to kill each other." she insists shaking her head. "and that's what you decided. that we all had to die, if we didn't support you." she sighs looking over at luke with a bated breath. "but you did at the end luke. it might have been too late, but at the end you were still you. i saw it on mount olympus."