#Xander Hasting | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

replicantdeviancy · 9 months ago

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The drive back to the station was agonizingly slow, even if it wasn't but a few scant miles away. Time seemed to pass like the exit signs over the highway, coming into focus & fading just as quickly. The detective's thoughts were helplessly distracted as his mind buzzed with timid excitement, eager for the evening ahead. Now apart & with a moment to himself to truly sit back & relive fragments of the encounter in his mind, Connor was still delightfully awestruck by it all. If someone had told him that today he would meet a man of god with him he would become so effortlessly infatuated with, he might have laughed. It sounded absurd, yet there he was, rushing back to the office going just a little over the speed limit to get his obligations in order so that he could meet the priest for a date. Thinking about it, the detective did laugh a little in stupid glee, & went to exit the highway towards the Central Station.

He entered the building with purpose in his stride, eager to get to his desk & finish his report. Yet he took a moment to wave to the ladies at the receptionist terminals as always, never the type to allow haste to sully his manners. They greeted the young man with waves & he tossed a charming smile their way as he stepped through the glass security gate & into the bullpen. From there, he made a beeline to his desk, only making small greetings in response to those of others, though he didn't stick around to chat. The detective was on a mission, & he was determined to get it done as quickly as possible. The lieutenant wasn't at his adjoined desk when Connor arrived, though he suspected he wasn't far . He slipped his blazer jacket off & neatly hung it over the back of his chair as he sat & made himself comfortable.

Checking his computer terminal, there had been no real news regarding Alan Moore. Only that the responding officers had managed to track down a distant family member, a cousin who lived in town. That hadn't produced any results yet. He wasn't holding his breath.

Pulling up the file for his initial report, Connor began filling in some notes on his meager findings, including one stating that he had contacted Moore's priest, though beyond the information of having seen the man within days of the body being discovered, there was little else the Father provided. The detective was careful to omit anything spoken of in their extended conversation, especially in regards to the supernatural. Besides the lack of relevance to the death, the last thing Connor wanted was to put a spotlight on the older man by giving those who might read his report any reason to question James' mental competency. That included other cops, legal counsel, or the district attorney. No, James deserved peace. Connor didn't want to drag him into his world, not into a dark realm where there were only suspects & victims, & trust was a dangerous game one dared not play.

Connor was quick to wrap things up & he snuck out the door just as quickly as he came, not speaking to a soul until he got to his car. There, he texted his brothers in their usual group chat.

Connor: I have a date tonight. [Delivered: 14:38]

There was no reply by the time he arrived at his apartment building downtown, though that wasn't unexpected. His siblings were working, as he should have been. Captain Allen likely had Xander going above & beyond, & Colin didn't get very good signal at the prison. He would have to wait to suffer their relentless teasing.

The elevator ride to his floor felt like a small eternity, the detective leaning back against the wall with arms crossed, his mind deep in contemplation. He considered what he was going to wear, what sort of place James would suggest to him when he arrived at this borrowed home of his. Perhaps he was going a little overboard thinking about candlelight & a quaint little restaurant by the river with a patio table for two. Admittedly, the young man was a bit of a dreamer & that vast imagination of his tended to delve, at times, into the fanciful. It was silly to fancy being romanced like a fairytale prince, but there certainly was a picturesque charm in courting a European, one that was learned, well traveled & full of experience. So, he let himself hold onto that fantasy as he left the elevator & headed into his apartment. He wanted to keep that mental image of the charmingly cheeky priest whose bright eyes seemed to see into him as no one else had. He felt appreciated when thinking of him . Not enough people could appreciate the real him.

Eager to wash away the scent of the precinct that seemed to seep into every pore of his milky skin, Connor stripped himself bare & stepped into a blissfully hot shower. He took his time, knowing that his date would appreciate the small test of his patience , as the reward would be well worth it. Patience was, as they said, a virtue, & he wanted to not only look his best, but feel his best for their date. No thoughts of work, no mentions of the strange case which had brought them together. Just two people meeting at a crossroads in life, lonesome souls seeking companionship that spoke to their inner self. Was James lonely? Though he didn't know him yet, the detective's instinct sensed a longing in the older priest. A want as equally great as a hidden fear inside of him, unknown by the detective but felt, regardless. What was he so afraid of, Connor wondered.

He dried himself with a soft bath towel & stood naked before the partially fogged mirror as he got ready. He felt excited & confident looking at the slender beauty beneath the cool lights cast in reflection, even though he looked just a little tired. Poor sleep from the evening prior had darkened his under eyes lightly, & he did what he could with moisturizer & a bit of concealer. He dried & combed his hair into that perfectly immaculate style of his, dark waves kept in place with pomade which had a subtle , soft scent to it. He chose a cologne with top notes of vanilla & pomegranate.

Only when the vapid perfectionist felt satisfied did he meander off to his bedroom & pick through his pristinely organized closet for something suitable to wear. While James had initially made suggestions that sounded casual, Connor wasn't the type that minded being overdressed. He chose a fitted dress shirt & black tailored slacks that accentuated the length of his lean legs, a skinny tie to match. He did consider the matching jacket hanging in his closet to complete the outfit, but as he scrutinized every detail of his attire in the mirror , hands busy fitting a neat little silver tie clip in place, he decided against it. This was supposed to be at least a little casual. He chose the leather motorcycle style jacket his brother had given him last Christmas. The same one that Amanda had said made him look like James Dean. He smiled warmly at the thought & slipped it on.

A final look in the hall mirror & he was gathering up his keys to head out. The trip down to the apartment garage was a blur & soon enough, the detective was on the highway. He considered calling the priest, but decided against it. He wanted to surprise him. It felt a bit spontaneous. It wasn't long before he was passing the church, noting that it seemed to be closed up tight. That was a good sign. He followed the instructions James had given him earlier that afternoon, eventually finding the little house with the dove & cross on the mailbox. He parked at the curb in front of the house & sent a text to the number the priest had given him as he got out of the car, informing him that he had arrived. The motorcycle standing in the driveway didn't go unnoticed. The detective felt his already present smile widen into a grin when he saw it. Once again, James had surprised him.

"I'm sure you are... but you know what they say, good things come to those who wait." Came the effortless reply as the priest watched his new acquaintance move towards the door, arms coming to cross over his chest with a thoroughly amused smile tainting the side of his lips. It almost felt surreal, how effortlessly the entire interaction had been despite the many hurdles that were placed between them. Not that they'd managed to get over all of them, the very real supernatural factor of it all was still very much up in the air when it came to the detective, but maybe that was for the best. In the meantime, he could at least keep an eye on the guy, even if only from a distance. It wasn't like he wanted to crowd him or stalk him, but there was a very real worry there as well. With his foot edged in the doorway, James wasn't exactly leaping at the chance of him stepping all the way through -- - for his own sake rather than the Brits' own. If he was going to step through, by whatever means, James was going to be there by his side.

But just watching the bloke leave, the suddenly empty space all around him felt as if the world had opened up to him again, taking away from the spotlight that had him honed in on Connor's very presence. It had been a long time since James had felt that way about someone, luring his undivided attention, teasing him with the promise of getting to know them better without even realising it. Or maybe he did, the man was smart, keenly so, which meant he was probably all too aware of what he was doing. But that was fun part, wasn't it? Trying to figure out how much was deliberate and how much wasn't.

With a heavy sigh, James returned to what he was doing, first moving the chairs to where they'd been previously, back to their rightful places that had been intended on the floor by now despite the connected building's relative youth. Just looking at the cold mug of coffee was enough to make him pause again for just a moment, half battling himself internally. Had he done the right thing? Throwing the man bone only for him not to realise that was what he was doing? Trying to gauge where he was on the whole 'demons are real' thing without fully committing that he truly believed himself? He'd hinted at it but hadn't outright stated it, likely leaving many questions unanswered, questions that could only be answered if someone believed -- - or if they knew.

Grabbing the two mugs and glass, he took them to the sink and gave them a good clean, letting them sit on the side where he'd put them away the next day, if he remembered, or noticed they were still sitting out. He really wasn't quite as finicky as his peer, the one who had practically been turfed out so that James could snoop around without raising too much suspicion. He liked things to be relatively tidy, things had their places, but he also didn't mind if something was sat out, as long as it wasn't in his way or bothering him.

He was just glad that the regular guy had a gardener who dropped by every week or so, both to tend to a few flowers and bushes around the church itself, as well as take care of the priest's garden as well. It didn't take much to imagine the old man doing his part too, out on a cool morning tidying up the place in the meantime. Given James' manner, some might think he'd laugh at such a thing, but surprisingly, he actually quite enjoyed the thought of being able to garden in peace and quiet. He still had a firm goal in mind that once he retired, he'd move back to the north of England, buy a little house out in the countryside and have his very own garden where he'd grow rhubarb and try his hand at making rhubarb and custard pie. It probably seemed silly to some, maybe even cliche, or plain and ordinary, but to James? He didn't have a great deal of faith that he'd even reach retirement age, let alone live long enough to die of old age beyond that, so he held onto it as more of a hope than anything.

With that thought still in mind, he moved to lock up the building, deciding that since he didn't have to hold mass, he could just saunter his way back to the house and decide what to wear for the night ahead and maybe run a few thoughts and ideas as did so. There was still so much to worry about, the keys jangling in his hands barely registered in his mind as he made sure all the lights were off, and checked doors and windows, before finally stepping outside, glancing around him just to be sure everything was clear. Given his line of work, it paid to be on high alert, particularly when something was clearly going on in the neighbourhood.

But as he wandered back, warmly greeting a few neighbours on the short walk and keeping himself on his best behaviour, which was certainly easier with such brief interactions, he made it to the quaint little house that he'd taken residence in, passing by his black Honda CBR600F in the small drive. It wasn't like anything he'd stayed in before, a one-story blue building, a porch on the front and a shiny mailbox with the white dove and golden cross on it. To James, it seemed like something out of a fairytale, everything so pristine and well-kept that the Brit imagined he likely looked like a complete mess in comparison to it just standing there. He could just picture the old man sitting outside on the bench of his porch, waving and greeting people as they went by. It seemed so -- - wholesome, which was a rather foreign concept for the exorcist.

Getting inside, the Northerner first attended to his concerns, jotting down what Connor had told him and relaying back to the Vatican, regularly in touch with a number of his peers inside, like their own little CIA, he supposed. Though he definitely didn't mention that he was going to be spending the evening with the detective in question -- - he couldn't imagine that would go down very well and by now James made it quite apparent that the more casual side of his life was his alone and nobody else's business.

A short time later, after typing up what he could and even going on video chat with one of his contacts, the man was finally able to let out a breath, new thoughts claiming him as he wandered into the bedroom and started to go through his suitcase. He wasn't about to shove the house's owners' own clothes to the side to hang out his own so he'd decided it was probably safer to just keep them in his bag or lying around on chairs and, dare he admit it, on the floor. In a folded pile, notably. That made it better, right?

Deciding on an outfit, he pulled out a casual shirt, a suit jacket and a pair of matching trousers. For him and his usual clergyman attire, it was casual and for once he could keep the two buttons at the top of his shirt undone. It was hardly anarchy but it suited the priest's preferences better than going out wearing his collar, the last thing he or the detective needed was that thing garnering unwanted attention. For either of them. There was a time and a place and tonight wasn't one of them. For a few hours, he wondered if he could just be any other bloke, someone who didn't have to worry about literal demons and angels or the reality of Heaven and Hell for a while, but just someone who could go out, have something to eat, a few drinks and spend time with someone he genuinely found interesting. That wasn't too much to ask for a man of God -- - was it?

#cheekypriest #˾ ᴄᴏꜰꜰᴇᴇ & ᴄɪɢᴀʀᴇᴛᴛᴇꜱ ̚ ;; ⁱ ʷᵒⁿᵈᵉʳ ʷʰʸ ʸᵒᵘ'ʳᵉ ᵃ ᵇᵉᵗᵗᵉʳ ᵐᵃᵏᵉ ᵗʰᵃⁿ ⁱ ᶜᵒᵘˡᵈ ᵉᵛᵉʳ ᵇᵘⁱˡᵈ ᵒʳ ᶜʳᵉᵃᵗᵉ.▐ ᴠᴇʀꜱᴇ #Sweet man that he is. Connor would need a break after that.#Maybe give them a moment to talk. Have a smoke.#Let Connor solidify his mental strength again.#He'd need a moment to settle with the knowledge that this is real.#Things are a lot clearer now that their biggest secrets are revealed.#Reinvigorate them for the mental battle ahead.#You ever see The Possession of Hannah Grace?#I’m thinking the body is haunted bc they didn’t perform an exorcism.#Maybe some weird shit happened in the morgue.

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little-lazuli · 11 months ago

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@going-back-to-505-artic-monkeys don’t apologize darling I love you so much for being so interested 😭🤗😘

Has Ron met Walburga Black's portrait?

Of course, not by choice, the twins did something stupid to cause her portrait to wake up, Ron is still a blood traitor for being a weasley in her eyes

Or Kreacher?

Kreacher is just the tiniest bit less disdainful towards Ron in comparison to his siblings simply because he’s in Slytherin. However Kreacher has a sort of indifference nature towards Ron because of Ron’s secret house elf Winky who he hires after the events of the goblet of fire, Winky is typically in charge of Ron’s finances and passing letters or goodies to and amongst the silver quartet

And while Ron was staying with sirius, where was daphne?

Dpahne stayed at her family’s ancestral seat somewhere around Hastings. Daphne and Theo are maternal cousins in my au where after Theo’s dad goes to Azkaban in the first wizarding war, Daphne’s parents are given custody of him so he was mostly raised with his mother’s sister (aunt Gianna and uncle Bartholomew)

How do the other slytherins treat Daphne, Ron, Tracey and theo? Is Ron friends with Blaise?

The Slytherins at first ignored him. It’s first cliquey but the in-house politics don’t run that deep until later on as the war draws closer. Ron was mostly shunned at first whilst being pranked a lot by Draco and his friends, his only acquaintance being Tracey who was the only half-blood of their year. Tracey and Daphne’s parents are friends, with Tracey being from Eastbourne and knowing Daphne from Hastings and therefore Theo as well. Tracey wanted to be friends with Ron and where Tracey went, Daphne followed and dragged Theo along with her and that’s how the silver quartet clique was born. Draco’s primary clique included himself, Pansy and Blaise. Other students of their year included Millicent Bulstrode and Lily Moon who were their own group whilst Gregory Goyle, Xander Lofthouse and Richard Pike were floaters between their own pureblood ideals and Draco’s clique. In total 13 Slytherins in Ron’s year including himself. Only 6 would survive the war. There was the occasional praise Ron got from some like Gemma Farley, the chess champion of Hogwarts until Ron beat her, she was his first crush as she was an upperclassmen when he was a first year. There’s very much a don’t talk about it rule unless the circumstances dictate otherwise. Ron used to bet against some of his housemates, playing chess against them and that’s he began building up his wallet

Does Ron behave like a proper pureblood? In some fics he does, and I wonder if he behaves like this too in ur fic? The way he acts with manners, and stuff?

Not per say, the Slytherins mostly instill the art of discipline into Ron. Ron who was once temperamental and very outspoken learned time and time again that patience works wonders. Sometimes it’s better to take a minute to access instead of charging headfirst into a situation. Being in the house taught him to adapt to the ever changing world around him. With the manners stuff, I think that plays into the pureblood and house politics I mentioned earlier and I don’t really think it plays too much of a role in this au for the matter that Ron soon learns that sure the house of Slytherins may dislike each other but there’s nothing more harmful that an external threat. Ron learns pretty quickly that just having Gryffindor family is more of a problem for him outside of his his house than inside of it, the amount of drama that comes to Ron from non-slytherins comparing him and to his Gryffindor family is tenfold the amount of side eyes and occasional drama he gets from his house mates every now and again. And also, slytherins are very academic oriented in this au, so Ron’s eventual positive academic semi-success speaks for itself

@going-back-to-505-artic-monkeys oooooo okie dokie, imma try and do this question by question and not overwhelm you, thank you for such wonderful questions 🥹🤗

Who and who is together in ur au? I already know abt daphne and Ron, but who else?

Daphne/Ron, Fred/Hermione, maybe an eventual Neville/Pansy

Is he friends with Harry? Is Ron friends with Hermione, or Neville? Maybe a side charecter?

Short answer: his main friends, the silver quartet include himself, Daphne, Theodore and Tracey and is he friends with the others? I guess

Long answer: It’s complicated. There were many factors that occurred to cause Ron’s relationship with the Golden Trio (Harry, Hermione & Neville) to go up and down and up again and back down etc etc.

For a solid breakdown of the relationship status of Ron and the trio as a whole throughout their time in school and eventually growing up started off as acquaintances to friends to enemies to friends to enemies to enemies who are stuck working together to friends to enemies and to allies to mutuals to in-laws to friends/family

And is he close to his family, after the war, after he gets the dark mark? Do they make up?

Oh yes! My work titled “Verdict” was just a glimpse of the repairs both Ronaphne and the rest of the Weasley clan put into making their relationship work again after the war. Also my first 100 headcanons and second 100 headcanons slightly delved into a bit further into the future of of Ron, Daphne and the Weasleys

And how did everyone react to Ron getting sorted in slytherin, were they angry?

Percy was the first to accept it, the twins were miffed at first but accepted that he was sorted there but the two HATED everything Slytherin around Ron which is where most of their anger and fights come about, the twins would say or do something stupid to Ron’s friends (Daphne, Tracey and Theo), Ron would defend them and this would cause them to fight. Ginny was the exact same way. Arthur was slightly disappointed but not so much considering his own mother Cedrella was a Slytherin and so he eventually got over it or so we think whilst Molly’s reaction was the hardest for Ron to internalize:

“Dear Ronald,

I hope all is well and that you are safe throughout your time in school. I apologize for the late response, but I needed some time to recuperate from the news of your sorting. Slytherin. My son, alone in the house of snakes. I will not lie to you and say that I am proud of your sorting. I am not. I am afraid. I am frustrated. I am lost. Are you well there? Are you being bullied? Why did the sorting hat believe you belonged there? What morals did the hat say you have? Did I fail you as a mother? Did me and your father falter in our love for you? I just don’t understand how this is possible, Ronald. Please know that me and your father do still love you with all our hearts, but understand that we are going to talk about this in depth the next time we meet.

Your mother, Molly Weasley”

Is Ron close to Sirius?

No, Sirius after being freed was reluctant to let the Weasleys hide at 12 Grimmauld Place partly because of Ron’s placement into Slytherin, it was here Arthur and Molly would tear into Sirius and lowkey turn to Harry to promise him the Ron was a good boy and not evil, Dumbledore and Harry would be alright but overall Sirius held somewhat a side eye and indifference like opinion of Ron

#lazuli answers #I love your questions so much!!!

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