#Reyna meets an eldrich god

[bluberimufim]

Find the Word tag

I was tagged by @stesierra (see her find words here), so let's go! My words were sympathy, cruel, kind, and rough.

Sympathy

The two siblings didn't take long to get used to the circus. In truth, it was as if they had been born to be there, dancing and spinning among its tents. To them, the work was as natural and comfortable as breathing. They couldn't imagine themselves without it. August found that Johann was actually a great person, all sympathy and grace. He couldn't even believe he'd once thought he was just like Nikolaus. He saw it was impossible now.

Cruel

He took a deep breath, laying his hands flat on his desk to stop them from shaking. He tried to look her in the eyes. "I want a divorce." Barbara looked at him with an undecipherable expression. "May I know why?" Had he been too cruel in his declaration? Should he have opened with something else? "Because I found someone. And I want to be with her." "Someone? She must be very special to make you void this marriage..." "Why do you say that?" "The Johann I knew wouldn't go against his parents' wishes if it saved his life. You were so obsessed with their plan that you couldn't even see what was in front of you. Who is she?" "It's Anna. Vogelmann."

Kind

"I don't need to inform you of all my hobbies. Besides, you should already know. I do card tricks all the time." Hugo searched through his memories, looking for times in which Darius had performed any kind of magic for him. He remembered, some months ago, that he'd bought a new card deck, which had increased his excitement towards the subject. He remembered seeing him doing strange but fascinating things with those cards, something he'd interrupt him with while he was reading the newspaper in the evenings. Just like now. He also had a memory, although rather distant, of Darius doing a magic show in one or two bars the two frequented. "Ah, yes... you're right... But why now? Why didn't you pursue this career before becoming a tailor's apprentice?" "Well... I didn't think it would pay very well. I was scared I wouldn't find a job. besides, I never had a chance." Hugo arched an eyebrow. "And you have a chance now?"

(I want you all to know that, in this discussion, Darius is saying the equivalent of "I can become Gordon Ramsey's sous chef with 0 cooking experience on my resume and I WILL", and Hugo is telling him that no, he can't) (spoiler alert: he did)

Rough

(this is another encounter with the Man in Black and White! Hooray!!!)

He walked quickly, but only because his legs were extremely long. In truth, his gait was slow and relaxed, as if the sway of his patchwork cloak was setting the rhythm of a lullaby. Even so, the distance between them seemed to be widening. No matter how much she walked, she couldn't catch up to him. In a moment of strength, she jumped ahead and reached out her hand. After grasping at empty air, her fingers met something solid. She caught him, feeling a rough fabric brush against her hand. She stopped walking. He did too. She'd grabbed his cloak. Between her fingers, she was holding a fistful of his cloak. She was so close she could almost see the individual threads and stitches. She was breathless. She didn't know what to do. It was then that he turned around. It was slow, as if the movement had been slowed down a thousand times until it became impossible. And he stared at her. He looked at her with his endless eyes and she looked into them, inside of them. His black and white mask held no expression, but she felt there was fury hiding behind it, born from the pits of darkness that were his eyes. He tilted his head, as if examining her, dissecting every part of her being to see what was inside. He stretched his hand towards hers and removed it from his patchwork cape. Then, he disappeared into the streets.

Ooooh this was my favourite Find the Word so far! I just really like the snippets I ended up with!

Anyway, I'm going to gently tag @squarebracket-trick, @sm-writes-chaos, and @words-after-midnight. Your words are dangerous, rain, knowledge, and skip.