#° › DELIVERED ‹ 𝐈𝐍𝐁𝐎𝐗 * awaiting response ╲ MAIL .

[yakam0z]

@darkdevour's vasya ( accepting! ) ∘ ∘ ∘ ❝ are you here to kill me? ❞

the kippered breaths of vasya's pursuers swell to clouds of ashes around them. perhaps the other did not necessarily need the intervention, however, it never hurt to get rid of a nuisance before it struck. her nerves are taut and she cannot take any detours. the path is set and there is no going around it.

so mi does not expect any gratitude, not when the situation is laden with tension, not when communication between them is blotted with wariness. ❝ no. ❞ there is a cleft so mi does not dare to jeopardise. whatever happened that caused this distance is not to be stretched any further. in the perpetuity of the smoke, she approaches v and levels her hand for the merc to grab. ❝ why? you think there is a reason for me to kill you? ❞

she considers it natural to have doubts about the operation and so mi's motives. to decide to go against her when it is more profitable for oneself. this is how it always was, how it always be. the insipid taste of trusting strangers ─ anybody, really ─ is as old as time.

[yakam0z]

@crue11's yazoo ( accepting! ) ∘ ∘ ∘ ❝ is that blood? is it yours? ❞

sometimes, the aches of a body that should have long retired come through. but these are not normal circumstances, and his vitality is a fraud. ❝ yes and no. ❞ aware of the inaccuracy of his reply, vincent creates enough leeway for them to sit in silence and think about their past actions. dwell on the events.

relieved by the fact that he feels no remorse. ❝ it is mine in the way that i am responsible for it, yet it is not from my body. ❞ vincent did not expect that yazoo would know about this place and actually show up.

it was probably foolish to think there was any shelter for him to sit in peace and quiet, after getting involved with shinra's business again. vincent leans against the doorframe to his bedroom, he would have changed clothes already if it was not for their uninvited guest. ❝ you are not disappointed, are you? ❞

[yakam0z]

@mindsmade's vincent "v" ( unprompted! ) ∘ ∘ ∘

The nocturnal view of the city’s skyline against the backdrop of the night sky is only second to the crystal clear views of the starry tapestry. With a joint in hand and company to die for ( terrifyingly literally, Vince finds ), though, he doesn’t have it in him to be picky. In fact, he’d have no right to complain about the city lights polluting their view of the constellations far overhead. Blame it on the amount of grass he’s packed into that rolling paper or on the slow failure of his resistance towards his feelings for So Mi, but he’s spent most of the last ten minutes, ever since they sat down here, looking her way. He wouldn’t otherwise — too convinced she’d think poorly of him for not averting his eyes more often than not; for the longing she might see the moment her eyes meet his. It’s all a game of dodging his own vulnerability, but he’s far too slow for that now. Maybe she, too, is too slow — to even notice him looking at all. Some part of him hopes she is. The other doesn’t. As he holds out the joint for her to take, he leans his temple onto the palm of his other hand. A smile crawls onto his features, like a cat lazily stretching its body. ❛ So Mi … Thanks for comin’ over. ❜

she pretends to not notice his stare. when it comes to vince, there is nothing and no one else drawing her attention with such force. around him so mi feels safe enough to drop her guard. focus on the moment, focus on the way v shifts his weight when he has been still for too long, the way his fingers twitch in response to his own inner monologues. there are so many details to vince that she cannot shake off, even when she is seconds away from drifting off to sleep.

the joint finds its way between so mi's lips and as she breathes in the first layer of a calming veil she gets comfortable on one of the plastic chairs. legs straightened and resting on the elevated edge of the roof, and her arm held in a position, which invites vince to take the joint back.

her response is a thought almost breaking her composure. you're the only one left, who i care about. where else would you rather be than with the person whose heartbeat you can see in their eyes. whose pulse attunes to yours to a clave that can make all sorts of superstitions sound like facts.

❝ you called and i ─ ❞ she takes a moment to find the fitting words, smiling to herself while she thinks of all the possible variations. ❝ ─ had no other plans. ❞ her body leans in the other's direction, loosening. not close enough to touch vince but to sense his warmth gently grazing her side. ❝ why do we fear the consequences of speaking our minds? what can be worse than a great opportunity lost because of hidden truths? ❞ so mi looks at the moon as if she is expecting a reply, a whisper in her ear from a place that has seen everything of her.

[yakam0z]

@mindsmade's vincent "v" ( accepting! ) ∘ ∘ ∘ i’ll shuffle my music and respond with the song + my favorite lyric !

her hand rests on the brave set of v's chest when the deep orange of the morning sun shines warm through the gap of their van's opened window. the silence between them reveals everything, yesterday was a failure and by now they should have been almost done with their plans of a longer life together than they actually are. lost in the details of a future, she did not and still does not want to imagine, speaking words is like rolling boulders off her tongue.

❝ perhaps it consoles you just a little ... your face is in my memory. is it that easy to erase? absolutely not. ❞

oh, the world needs to shatter apart and crumble her body along the way, for her to lose the memory. the way it leaves kisses on the ball of her shoulder or its smile, becoming more confident and wider like ripples on the water. ❝ and i know, i know you think 'there is a knot in my destiny, is it that easy to untangle?' i'm telling you no, it surely is in our way. but it is damn worth trying to get rid of it. ❞

the thing with peace and happiness is that they are not an easy achievement. at least according to so mi's experience, though she doubts she is the only one to see it this way. for vince, she will endure, she will make a fool out of his fate, code it anew. she is determined, they are no longer fortune's brittle toys.

[yakam0z]

@mindsmade's vincent "v" ( unprompted! ) ∘ ∘ ∘

They’re just looking at the screen of his cyberdeck — Vince wanted to show So Mi a script he’s working on; some automations to ease their workload while breaking their way into Biodyne’s databases. Between opening the terminal and bringing it into view for her, though, he forgot about the distance he usually keeps ( out of respect for So Mi’s comfort ), and now he’s standing shoulder to shoulder with her. More importantly than that, he realises that if he were to turn his head so he could look at her, study her profile, he’d be close enough to … well, boop his nose to her cheek, or plant a kiss there. He’d want to; that’s the danger of it — but he does it anyway; turn his head, that is. He looks on like that for a while, drinking in the flutter of her eyelashes, the gentle slope of her nose, the plumpness of her lips, and — ‘beep!’ sounds his watch. Torn from his reverie, he blinks quickly, raising his wrist to reveal the small screen. ‘Elevated heartrate detected,’ it reads. Cue a furious blush tinting his cheeks!

so mi has long forgotten about the specific date. it does not matter what day it is or which one is ahead of them. it is about how much time she has already spent with vince and for that every moment in her wake and slumber is important. that is how she measures time, because whenever vince is gone the world stops anyway.

for now, it is just brief and he is never far from her, however, if they fail to obtain ─ so mi notices how v leans closer but whether he realises it or not his face does not reveal. the script he created is nearly perfect. some bits will need reworking and her ideas are running wild on additional applications, too. although she never tells him, so mi thinks his mind is brilliant, not only in the way it understands technology.

a variety of responses come down on her with the vehemence of sleet, freezing her on the spot but urging her to take action and seek the warmth of v's body. yet, so mi pushes her palms beneath her thighs, not tilting away her body. a mere shadow of her true feelings, a husk of her worries and desires.

can she even allow herself to succumb to such shallow sentiment compared to what vince has to deal with? it seems vanity when her focus should be on finding a cure. then, what if there is a chance that it is mutual. his voice becomes a distant sound and the display she is supposed to observe turns blurry. the strokes of his veins along his arms, curving over his muscles are suddenly way more interesting. so mi's gaze halts where they stretch over his pulse, revealing ... and she looks at him immediately when the alarm goes off.

so mi bursts into a chuckle at vince's caught-in-the-act expression, a grin left on the corners of her lips. she relaxes her neck, her forehead falling gently against v's temple, before she dares a glimpse at the numbers. for a second she forgot about his condition, a slip that will not happen again. fortunately, she cannot make out anything troublesome but what could have been the reason? ❝ wanna go for a walk? ❞

[yakam0z]

@crue11's yazoo : ❛ you didn’t have to. it’s the way you look at me. ❜

vincent cannot deny the occasional slip, the belief to be unobserved. who does not wish for a second of slacking, at least sometimes. to not forget themself. tucked into the corner of his lips is a weary smile. well hidden behind vincent's cloak, his masking collar.

the soft dents stamped into his cheeks only hinted at an accepted defeat. ❝ have i become this transparent to you? i must be out of practice. ❞ his gaze lingers somewhere beyond the other, earning himself a brief break from the white noised thoughts buzzing through his mind.

the look in yazoo's eyes is so bottomlessly concealed that vincent wonders whether spending more time around the younger would truly change anything. perhaps he needs to wait until yazoo allows it. coax him to do so, if he can. ❝ does it bother you? to know i avoid fighting you. ❞

[yakam0z]

@adamanteine's shams ( accepting! ) ∘ ∘ ∘ ❝ you look like you've got something to say. ❞

avoiding her gaze works only for so long, and prevarications are difficult to cross the tongue. anouar turns to face shams, because showing her his backside for too long would be just as suspicious as his guilt-ridden face right now.

what does he want to say? where should he begin? their emotions' complexity rots away the edges of their void. there is no possibility of filling it. even if they knew all the words of every language on this planet. ❝ i am tired. disgusted by what i have become. i used to have control, be in charge of myself ─ but now... ❞ they are madness.

in isolation, he has to live for his entire existence. with no chance of parole. locked up like a violation of one's morals. if there was a way to live differently anouar might take it. at least give it a try. they think of their bees and how tight they grasp to life so they do not judge his. the hand caring for them is just that, a provider, an assisting tool.

❝ what does it matter? complaining won't change the fact that i'm a cannibalistic monster in this society. humour me with your idea of a fun distraction. ❞

[yakam0z]

@adamanteine's shams ( accepting! ) ∘ ∘ ∘ ❝ i have confided this in you, please do not betray that trust. ❞

he remains unshaken, merely his shoulders relax ─ stretching his neck. from the cliff they rest on is a great view of the green riches in limgrave. it has been a long time since he last stood here, and he would have never guessed what had happened after.

for the moment his gaze is distracted opposite to where she stands, it veils harleigh's honest expressions but he finds his words enough reassurance to the other. ❝ i will not. i promise. ❞ nobody was given his allegiance and it is not received easily. the only one who ever held it is not himself anymore. for certain is that harleigh is devoted to all the secrets he remembers, whether they are his own or adopted. ❝ ... unless you give me a reason. the list is short though, i trust you will avoid them effortlessly. ❞

yet, doubts are a seeping contagion and take control of harleigh's tongue ❝ why even tell me this? is there something you want in return? ❞ if that is the case, she has taken a great risk for she might leave this negotiation empty-handed.

[yakam0z]

@strifiisms's cloud ( accepting! ) ∘ ∘ ∘ ❝ sorry, did you want to be alone? ❞

vincent's face dipped into the warmth of his collar, one can barely see the glint in their wake eyes.

if he truly desires to be alone, he is clearly doing a bad job at it. ❝ i won't mind when you sit with me. ❞ there is not always use in words when actions can do just as much, but he cannot demand the same way of thinking from someone else. that would be cruel, so he forgives the other for his intrusive inquiry.

occupying two armchairs, they move to the seat where their feet had rested a moment ago, making room for cloud to sit. a few soda cans are on the small table between them. ❝ help yourself. ❞ for temporary accommodation this place has a lot to offer. vincent wonders whether it is owned property, though the dust blanket suggests differently.

the gloom in this particular room reminds them of their coffin and the four walls surrounding it. they turn their head to face the other, only slightly curious why cloud has sought their company.

[yakam0z]

@divisendeux's widowmaker ( accepting! ) ∘ ∘ ∘ ❝ you are getting us in trouble ❞

her voice haunts his head with a warning tone. from her vantage point widow judges slavoj's progress and it seems that she is not impressed. ❝ that's why you're up there. we'll be fine. ❞ he mumbles through their shared connection.

walking in and out of a chateau where a pompous party is being held cannot be much of a problem for a superstar like him. though he should be mindful of his infamous reputation and ignore his voice of reason, which instead of keeping the rockerboy out of trouble prefers to lure him into discord and chaos. any other voice is silent or too quiet to be heard, drowning in the roar of his intrusive thoughts.

❝ don't see the host, can you spot them? ❞ it is not that slavoj is keen on introducing himself in person but if they are in their office, widow and slavoj need to devise a plan to lure them out. inside is a device crucial for their next step. if the band is not complete the distraction will not be successful. to clear the missing member of charges in time for widow's operation, they will need this recording.

in the moment of her silence, he considers all the exits for his urgent disappearance. not that anybody will care or even notice that he is gone, yet slavoj would still prefer to leave the property on its shortest route.

[yakam0z]

@lured-into-wonderland's nunnally ( accepting! ) ∘ ∘ ∘ ❝ if i've to think about one more thing today, my head will explode. ❞

they stand separately in a vast hall filled with a multitude of literature. it was difficult to smuggle nunnally in here, the guards not easily tricked by their companion's illusions but evren needed her in here, her expertise, more so the darkness that taints the woman's blood. she might not consciously feel drawn to the book evren is searching for, however, what is haunting her body might be curious enough to pull her in the right direction.

this quest of connection, to weave clearance into evren's existence, is a narrative that has been put on halt for far too long. their tired sigh echoes in the silence. only the answers evren has been visualising, tricking their mind with, can put the heir at ease. ❝ that could be a problem, take a rest ─ if you must. ❞ it would not be the first time evren has seen an exploding head, so they take the warning seriously.

to walk through this phantasmagoria of a library is already mentally exhausting for the untrained mind. the decoration and appearance of this room are not the same for everyone, it depends on where you are from, where your people store knowledge. it adapts to your comfort and gifts you with a sense of security.