#oh... no; but you dont really understand do you?

[yugsly]

Hi! I dont know if this is a weirdly personal question so don't feel pressured to ask, but have you ever struggled with coming to terms with your sexuality? This is coming from someone who just recently realized they're a lesbian and isn't sure what to do with themselves

Oh yes. This last year and a half or so was really difficult for me in that regard. Identity and sexuality... it can be complex to figure out. But we must always welcome change. You aren't "set" to be one thing for the rest of your life when you become an adult. You can change, figure things out, change some more. It's not a betrayal to who you thought you were, you're just coming to understand yourself more, now that you have more information, more context, etcetera. Only a couple months ago did I finally really figure myself out. And I'm in my late 20s now. It was really hard! There is nothing "to do with yourself". Just be! You don't need to make a grand statement or anything when you realize something about yourself. You don't need to prove yourself or anything. Just be!

[miedei]

moments of glad grace

you test your lipgloss on spencer; he loves you.

a/n: hey so this request made me go crazy. um this is the result of me rereading yeats' poems and listening to my love song playlist and buying the new nyx ligloss yesterday dont judge me

cw: slightly suggestive, established relationship, reader has she/her pronouns, referred to as a girl, title from when you are old by WB Yeats

wc: 1.5k

mlist

(reblogs are the only way to promote fics on tumblr! please reblog if you enjoyed it :) )

The package is cold in your hands, thin and flat as you thank the deliveryman, shutting the door behind you. The familiar excitement of getting something new zips up your spine, and you hurry into the living room.

Spencer is curled up on the couch, your battered copy of The Collected Poems of W B Yeats in his hands. He raises his head as you come in. 

“Spence, look!” He cocks his head to the side. 

“You got a package!” He’s happy, but it’s clear he doesn’t understand the mischievous tone in your voice. 

“It’s that new lipgloss I ordered.”

“The one that Emily told you about? That’s good, you were really excited about it.” He lowers the book, watching you search through the cluttered contents of the coffee table. 

“The box cutter’s there- to your right, next to the candle- yeah.” You straighten up, flashing him a grateful smile before settling on the couch next to him.

Pulling your feet up on the couch under you, you brandish the box cutter dramatically, giggling at the worried yelp that elicits from Spencer. 

With a touch more precaution, you bring the blade down to the tape on the package, slicing carefully before retracting the sharp edge. 

Spencer leans in, his hand coming down to rest on your back as he watches you fold open the flaps of the box. You reach in, pulling out the reddish-brown tube with a grin. 

“Oh, it’s nice! I was worried the shade wouldn’t be right, but I think this suits me, don’t you think?” You hold it up to your face, turning to Spencer.

His eyes soften, dark pupils melting into the brown of his irises.

“I think that’s great, angel. Are you going to try it on?”

You hop up, heading to the bathroom. Even without looking, you know Spencer has risen with you, following behind you faithfully. 

He can’t resist watching the way you focus when you apply makeup, a tidbit you know from when he spilled it drunkenly after the last time the team went out for drinks.

Leaning over the sink, you twist open the product, pulling out the applicator and swiping it carefully across your lips. 

If your eyes were to stray a little higher than where they’re trained on your lips, you’d see Spencer, hands twitching to hold your waist or hip as he watches you intently, the adoration he holds for you clear in his eyes.

Once finished, you pull back, recapping the tub and setting it down. You spin, facing him with a smile.

“What do you think?” 

Spencer reaches for you immediately. His hand reaching forward to rest on your waist, he leans toward you, the thumb of his other hand rising to wipe just under your bottom lip. His voice is emphatic, reverent.

“It’s perfect, pretty girl.” It sends a shiver down your spine to hear his low tone. You have to distract yourself so as to not drag him to your bedroom immediately. 

Turning your face to gaze at the tube on the counter, you muse softly. 

“Y’know, this gloss is advertised as super longlasting. The colour’s supposed to stay for 8 hours, even after it’s not shiny anymore.”

He hums in response, seemingly content to stand there watching you.

“Do you think we should test it out?”

His brows furrow, the wrinkle that forms between them looking achingly kissable.

“Test the longevity? How are you going to do that?” 

You can’t help yourself, a playful smile spreading across your face as you take his hand, tugging him back into the living room.

“Sit, please?”

He frowns, but does as you say, leaning against the back of the couch as he watches you. 

“Do you want to help me with my experiment, Spence?”

“Help you?”

You move forward, perching on his lap so you can look down at him, mischief glimmering in your eyes. Leaning down, you press your lips to his cheek once, looking at the mark left on his skin with satisfaction.

“Yeah. If you could help me see how long the colour lasts? I figured, you’re the science guy… But if you don’t want to, I guess that’s okay.” 

You move as if to shift off his thighs, but his hands come up to grip your waist, holding you there. 

“No, no I can… I can help. Yeah, I’ll help. You just want to kiss me?” His eyes are large, doe-like as he gazes up at you.

“Yeah. You can read the book while I do, it’s okay.” He shakes his head fervently, almost pulling a laugh out of you. 

“No, I don’t need to read. Go ahead.” You spring into action at his words, leaning down to begin pressing kisses to the curve of his cheekbone, his jaw, the bridge of his nose.

“So, are you liking the Yeats poems? I want to know what you thought, Spence.” You murmur against the skin of his temple, grinning wolfishly when you feel him shiver.

“Yeah, I’m really- really liking it. It’s a really interesting perspective on the fight for Irish independence. Like, um, An Irish Airman Foresees His Death, it was really, uh, interesting.” He’s far less eloquent than usual, a hand coming up to tangle its fingers in your hair as he struggles to get his thoughts out. 

“Yeah? What else did you like about them?” You run out of space on his face, and the marks have only just begun to be less pigmented. What else is there to do but to move down to the coloumn of his throat?

His breath hitches at the feeling of your lips moulding to the sensitive skin there.

“I also liked the ones about Maud Gonne. Like…” You hum, prompting him to continue.

“Uh, like Her Praise. ‘She is foremost of those that I would hear praised.’. Made me- fuck- made me think of you.” 

How easily he can reduce you to your barest emotions. You feel that all-too-familiar burst of affection in your heart, pulling back so you can see his face.

“Really?” 

He seems to regain some of his composure, although his face is still radiating heat, the skin of his cheeks and neck flushing to match the marks you’ve left on him.

“Really. Um, ‘If there be rags enough he will know her name, and be well pleased remembering it,’. I agree with him, ‘her praise should be the uppermost theme.’ I think you deserve praise from everyone who knows you. I can’t believe there’s anything else worth talking about.” 

His voice is heartachingly sincere, and you can feel your face begin to blush to match his. 

“Spence…” 

It’s too much to look him in the eye, and you have to bury your face in your hands to contain the feelings threatening to burst out of your chest.

He laughs, voice slightly raspy from want. Large fingers grip your wrists, pulling them away from your face.

“Look at me, honey.” You do so, meeting his gaze.

“You finished with your experiment?” His low tone rolls over you like a cresting wave. 

“I- yeah. I think that was enough.” 

He smiles, saccharine with a tinge of longing. 

“Can I kiss you this time?” You nod, wordless. 

He leans in slowly, until it feels like your eyelashes should meet his. Eyes flutter shut, a soft sound of relief leaving you as his lips slot against yours in a way that makes you want to believe in soulmates. 

It’s too chaste, his lips leaving yours so soon that it makes you itch to chase him. But you can’t bring yourself to be irked when your eyes open to the sight of him. 

His smooth skin is peppered with kiss marks, varying in pigmentation as they trail down the expanse of his neck. 

Best of all, his lips are swollen, marked in a shiny hue that matches yours.

[adachimoe]

the other adachi bd/dvd-only anime scene

i think people have seen this one before? in the older p4 anime, there's a scene of adachi reading his letter from the true ending where he goes "yeah i lost" and talks about something bothering him about the case and where he first heard of the midnight channel:

i've noticed on reddit that that ppl dont realize this because of his golden social link, but adachi always sent you the letter even in the ps2 game. if you do his social link, then in golden, the letter continues and he talks about how he looks back on the time spent in the dojima house. hence, the original p4 anime only has him reading the lines about the investigation, while the golden anime only has him reading the part about being at the dojima house.

like the golden scene, this is also bd/dvd only, but for a totally different reason lol. p4 the anime has 26 episodes. in japan, only 25 episodes aired on tv with 25 being the good ending from the game. like, the investigation team defeats amenosagiri and captures adachi, then the anime just ends with yu leaving inaba. but after the credits, it shows igor in the velvet room, and he creates the orb of sight and talks about its ability to dispel lies. a person who has played the game and got the true ending would be like, "oh shit fr?"

a few months after the anime's tv airing finished, there was a limited run theatrical movie called "the factor of hope". if you've seen this art of yu, izanagi, and magatsu-izanagi, it was made for the movie!

the first hour or so is a recap of the anime and how the team came together and how adachi committed silly tv crimes. then after the yu defeats adachi, it cuts to content from the unaired 26th episode where adachi is in jail writing the letter. then yu goes on to fight izanami and unlocks the true ending, etc. volume 10 of the anime's japanese bd/dvd release has the unaired episode and the factor of hope.

the unaired stuff also includes adachi chugging canned coffee in casual clothes and getting the magic handshake.

i imagine some people dont know this since sentai's release of the anime in the states included the unaired 26th episode by default. i dont think they ever included the factor of hope (understandable tbh, it's really just a 1.5hr long recap lol.)

unrelatedly, its assumed sentai lost their license of the p4 anime in 2018 when it was removed from hulu so i think the first anime is always gonna be stuck in some kind of aniplex usa licensing hell.

[acexsmhking]

omg hi i luv ur blog sm its so KSBDKFNF anyway can u please write a creepypastas(separate) dating a short!male reader? I'm 4'10 and it fuckin sucks, bro😭 its always girls who get dates for bein short:( i dont wanna be a short king i js wanna be a kinggg n i luv the creeps so ahhh

𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧

(𝗻.) 𝗯��𝗮𝘂𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻-𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽

╰┈➤ Creeps! x Short!M!Reader

Note: I don’t know which creeps you wanted specifically so I did all them aside from Jane as she is WLW only!

Summary: Creeps dating a short male reader! what do they think of you?:)

Warning(s): 18+ content, fluff, some sexual jokes, bit of angst, brief mentions of human consumption, reader dying

Tim Wright:

Tim is also short, although I would like to stay average height since I’m also in his height range lol

There’s absolutely no judgement from him, hell he even feels happy to have partners that are shorter than him. He’s a bear of man and having someone he can pretty much toss like a sack of potatoes is nice. Makes it easier to escape with you when Alex or Operator come knocking

Masky though can be a bit teasing, nothing horrible however Hoodie has definitely teased him for being smaller so now he gets to do it to you. It’s like a family tradition! He’ll call you nicknames like: Doll, little love, Dove, and almost anything have to do with pies.. I guess they are small huh?

All in all, Tim loves you! And your height doesn’t change that fact, if anything it’s just something he falls deeper in love with. You’re definitely still big spoon though. He likes being held

Brian Thomas:

This little sweetie is such a fucking tease. Not a lot of people really acknowledge that Brian is actually tall as fuck. 6’4 standing straight. And he loves how to allows him to help or hang out with people. Like maybe an elder woman needing help reaching something, or taking good photo angles for families touring. So if anything you, his love, being so small just makes him feel so giddy

He loves how useful he can be for you, and how useful you can also equally be for him. Since he is so big.. his hands and arms don’t always fit into small spaces, perfect way for you to come in and help him out!

Hoodie can be a bit more teasing. Resting his elbow on your head and jokingly leaning on you, holding something over your head so you have to give him a kiss. Things like that. But he no less loves you<3 you will be the small spoon though he might even move you to lay literally on him

Jay Merrick:

He loves it! He’s so socially awkward and weird about his attempts of flirting with you. He thinks you fit so absolutely perfectly against and with him. Your hands fit, hugs fit, he especially loves kissing your fingers. He often calls you his sweet pea! You both fit together like two peas in a pod and loves how you both balance out life together much like Brian

Alex Kralie:

Oh my god, he’s so awkward about compliments. He tries, but sometimes he can be a bit sarcastic or crass. But he does mean well! Expect dad jokes. Not even kidding. Alex is also tall, 6’1, however he isn’t as teasing about it as Brian/Hoodie. He especially thinks your size is incredibly convenient when he might have to grab or pick you up when danger comes calling

Evan/HABiT:

Evan loves it! Before..everything. You two were so completely happy and in love. He, much like Jay thought you two complimented each other perfectly, especially since Evan is also small! Heh.. smaller than me. At 5’3 you and Evan literally fit perfectly together without looking like some exotic Wattpad couple. However, he can still tease you about being smaller than him, especially since Evan is a physically strong guy!

HABiT kills you some point.

Kate the Chaser:

Well.. first congrats on managing.. this.. somehow. Kate… doesn’t even notice. Doesn’t really understand height difference, all she does know is that you’d be more of a snack to eat than a full coarse meal. I’m not gonna lie, she kinda more so treats you like a thing. SHE’S AINT KNOW NO BETTER

Tobias Rogers:

Yeah… he bullies the shit out of you I’m sorry. Especially in bed?? It’s almost like constant attacks (stand behind me pookie I got you) but he means well! He loves you, truly he just is an asshole. However your height is 100% not a hindrance, he actually doesn’t really care and sometimes even forgets. Don’t trust him to fill out a legal document for you, he forgets details quick. He does find it surprisingly, in some ways, difficult to steal clothes for you..

Jack Nyras:

…um..

I mean.. I don’t think.. I mean I already don’t think any can “take” “him” wink wink, nudge nudge but you… 100% can’t. Homie he could eat you whole

He does find it.. a little.. difficult… it’s very easy for him to step or sit on you and consequently scares the shit out of both of you. But.. he loves you! Very easy to pick you and climb a tree and you use less pelts to make a nest (not that he doesn’t still spoil you) just uh.. have.. fun??

Helen Ottis

Yeah he definitely immediately noticed, he’s just observant like that. But he actually does really like your height. He’d never say it out loud though he doesn’t want you to feel uncomfortable or like he’s fetishizing you. He loves, loves drawing you two together <3

Jason the Toymaker

Sly bastard is so smooth with his flirting, even when dating he still makes you blush 24/7. He makes life sized dolls of you… ignoring that though he loves how he can just have you on his lap while he works and it’s convenient. He will NEVER admit that he is a OG clinger, he wants you in his skin… someone give me Jason asks later, I love this bitch

Clockwork:

Oh this damn sweetheart, she again is so happy how well you guys balance each other out. Especially since you can really help her with tiny itty bitty screws. Calls you her saving grace. Seriously, she absolutely adores how much you can help her tinker with things. She has never really noticed how annoyed she’s get with projects til you started helping her out. She is able to relax and really enjoy it considerably more

God I love this woman… my wet dog girlfriend

Jeff the Killer:

… I mean.. he doesn’t really care. I’m gonna be 100% honest. He’s going to kill you some point in this relationship and is definitely going to completely ruin your mental health. But he doesn’t use your height against you in arguments since he knows you could just do the same to him so. At least he comes up with creative clap backs!!

: ̗̀➛ Oh god I hope this is okay. If you don’t like it please just DM me and I’ll rewrite. I literally wrote this, high on pain killers, distracted rewatching MH with Transformers in the background at 3am LMFAOOA — Ace

[revolvinghell]

oh good we're doing this.

What your favorite Will Wood song says about you!! and if i dont say yours feel free to let me know

Where do you get off?: either asexual or VERY horny, no in between.

The Song With Five Names: you REALLY like to confuse people when they ask about your favorite song. You also need some of that Old Time Religion.

Front Street: you probably watch the 2019 bbq videos on repeat. Also, drugs.

Chemical Overreaction: in the words of blake jennings: lsd is not a hobby. no, neither is screaming.

Mr Capgras: youre cool! but maybe work on those trust issues.

Blackboxwarrior OKULTRA: do you even understand half of this song?? Genuine question, I want to know.

Cotard's solution: lemme guess. You have unmanaged anger issues that you manage to suppress, until you have a bad day, and then the doorknob is enough to make you punch a hole through your wall. …same.

Vampire Reference: YOU ARE COOL. I am biased, but you are COOL.

2012: you probably lose yourself a lot. and say "fuck" a lot, that too.

2012 (again): you call this music.

Laplace's Angel: i have nothing to say. theres such a wide array of Laplace's Angel fans that it's impossible to pinpoint similarities.

I/Me/Myself: 💅

Aikido: you probably played this on valentines day. My only question is: why do you think this is an acceptable love song?

Bones: not a day goes by where this song isn't stuck in your head.

Destroy to Enjoy: anger issues, hating religion, did i miss anything? oh right. CONSTRUCTION SOUNDS

The First Step: admit you have a problem. will wood is not a coping mechanism either, by the way.

2econd 2ight 2eer: you quote this song every time you leave a room. STOP IT.

6up 5oh cop-out (pro/con): you hate police. but this song is about getting arrested for drunk driving.

You liked this (okay, computer!): this is a total shot in the dark, but you either hate the internet or want to be a cult leader.

Any 2018 demo: you like this more than the original song. And you're gayer.

Memento Mori: mm, how's that existential crisis going today? On schedule? Good? Okay. Go to therapy.

Red moon: …do you exist??…And if I did, you deserved it: youre probably an artist of some kind.

Tomcat Disposables or Euthanasia: you could benefit from lexapro. Or any other antidepressant for that matter.

to be continued lol

[maracllea]

iKON | Tantara | performance vid

[bunnyboy-juice]

you guys know butch =/= taking T right? you guys know dyke masculinity is not correlated to being transmasc right? you guys know that even your silly jokes where you flatten butchness to taking T/being transmasc is extremely transmisogynistic right?

[daisybell-on-a-carousel]

Being someone who read Under The Red Hood and came out with the firm belief that, for Jason, it's not about killing Joker, it's about Jason wanting proof Batman would choose him over the Joker (bc shelia chose the joker). Makes seeing any other media where it's all about just wanting the Joker dead is a teeny bit frustrating. to be honest

Jason could've killed the Joker himself, really, really easily. Jason kidnaps the Joker before the confrontation. I can't open my comic for a reference right now, but it felt like he had the Joker for quite a bit before the confrontation. He had him. He beat him up with a crowbar. He had every single opportunity to kill the Joker himself, but he didn't because that wasn't his goal. Make no mistake, he did plan for the Joker to be dead by the end of it, but do you see what im trying to say here

Edit: If I knew this post was gonna get 1000+ notes I would've tried to word it better or something, this was a rant I made on the way to the grocery store 😭

It's not about making Batman kill either. When Batman says he won't kill, Jason adjusts and goes, 'Let ME kill the Joker or kill me to stop me' instead. The test is all about Batman choosing him. The whole final confrontation is Jason's first death again. The parent, The Joker, and the explosives. It even ends with Jason unable to move as a bomb goes off right next to him again because the parent didn't choose Jason. And instead tried finding an option that'd benefit them and (consequencely) letting the Joker walk, again, lol, lmao <-in agony

[moeblob]

A lil guy !

[beatcroc]

sonic scribbles of varying ages and intents. surge from mid 2022 when i was first catchin' up on idw, silver from a few months ago when i was trying to figure him out, the rest from late 2022 from memory with stylization and redesigning where i couldn't be assed to try and stay on-model

[naggingatlas]

'thats not his role in the story!' hm i wonder what the point of it is then. hm i wonder what the dead pixel scene means. hm i wonder what wrong organ are trying to say with the context of 'awesome male friendship' and 'corporate hell where the only woman onboard is constantly under ridicule, abused or forcibly forgotten yet is the catalyst' if not this. hm i wonder how curly's physical agony being a direct parallel to anya's mental agony, stripped of voice, agency, just like her, and being forced to watch what happens while not doing jack shit, just like he used to, plays a part in this. i wonder what the moral of him being the final girl says about living with the consequences of your inaction, because of sentimentality, because of status, career and social. hm i wonder whatever the fuck this game was trying to say. hm i wonder what else is on this person's blog Oh Lord there's yaoi penice.

[dragonagedastferaasdf]

[sskk-manifesto]

Bungou Stray Dogs: Dead Apple and how “ability users” (opposite to “normal people”) learning to accept themselves through the acceptance of their own abilities is a queer metaphor of acceptance of own's sexual orientation and gender: an essay by me

[muchmossymess]

Like they just did that and moved on

[gingerswagfreckles]

Well they caught him. If he wasn't the exact kind of person tumblr loves, the conspiracy theories about this being a random person being framed would have continued to spread. But he's an attractive 26 year old white man who was caught carrying a manifesto about corporate America and has an internet history that matches up with tumblr's general politics. So everyone is going to get excited about how he's a martyr and go back to acknowledging reality in that there isn't a conspiracy to frame the wrong guy.

The discussions over whether or not this man should be lionized as a hero are honestly not as relevant as the comfort with which people are going to drop the conspiracy theory they would have been fully committed to if this man's politics turned out to be nuts. The ease with which the userbase of this website switches between realities based on whether or not they confirm their biases is really alarming. I just hope people understand how weird it is to claim a random person is 100% going to be framed by the FBI on one day, and then drop that by the next day when it becomes clear that the person being "framed" is the exact kind of communist you had hoped.

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

Hi! Cause you forced me to acknowledge how many damn WIPs I have (rude) I shall now send you an ask about yours 😌 So I'm gonna be super shameless and predictable and ask about that one Spite Lucanis x Rook fic I spy in there 👀👀👀

from this tumblr game thank you!! :)

ahahahaha well. this was indeed a character exploration about Spite's involvement in Rook/Lucanis' relationship but uhhhhhhh taken to the logical and less favorable conclusion than i have seen in fanfic so far, hence the word "interruption" in the title 😂 posting a longer snippet because... really i've just been writing random scenes for their relationship and am not sure if/when/how i will structure it into fanfic yet (handful of one shots? a longer thing? i am so low on free time though 😭 idk)

timing is after the romance lock-in but before the act 3 romance scene, so Rook & Lucanis are together as a couple but haven't slept together yet... though they may have been heading that way before Spite decided to get involved. under a readmore for length!

STOP, Spite suddenly roars, surging forward from the back of Lucanis’ awareness. The demon’s wings burst forth, their first downward stroke hard enough that it sends him reeling backwards, away from Rook. “What?” he cries, and “—what?” Rook echoes in sudden alarm, as their bodies tumble apart, Lucanis barely managing to throw out an arm to brace his fall as he crashes to the stone floor of the pantry. His feet tangle in his discarded waistcoat and trousers as he leaps back to his feet, nearly sending him to the floor for a second time.

He looks around wildly, for the attackers or whoever else is responsible for Spite’s sudden disquiet. But there is no one. No demons, no Antaam pulled into the Fade, not even one of their companions wandering too close on accident. He fumbles at the table for one of his knives anyway, trying to listen, to figure out where the danger is coming from. “What’s going on? Spite, what happened?!”  There, Spite says, all calm satisfaction now. If you kept going. She would have come. Now she wants more. “She—excuse me? Spite, what are you talking about?” Lucanis demands. She will think about you all night now, the demon replies happily. If you kept going. It would have been over. “I—why would you do that?! That’s not how it works!” “What’s he saying? What’s going on?” Rook stands in front of the bed, frantically staring around too, searching for enemies that clearly never existed. Her hair is still rumpled from where his hands had tangled in it, her breaths still coming fast and heavy.  He cannot believe he has to not only sit here, disgraced and ashamed, but he is left alone in actually explaining what’s happened. “Mierda. He did it on purpose. He thinks it’s—fun. To stop us.” He presses a hand over his eyes, taking a deep breath. “Spite—ohhh. Oh.” “I’m going to kill him,” Lucanis says flatly. “I’m going to take myself out back and—” I’m RIGHT, Spite howls in defiance, baring his teeth inches from Lucanis’ face. Despite himself, he flinches back. You wanted. Her to think about you. MORE! “No, stop that, it’s fine,” Rook tries to soothe him, her hands scrabbling to re-fasten her tunic around her waist. As though this catastrophe is something she can just brush off. “I guess we should figure out, uh, how Spite—how you and he—” “I can’t talk about this,” he mutters into his palm as he drags his hand down his face, dropping to sit back down on the cot again.. “This is not happening.” He knew Spite was a part of him. He was resigned to his presence, was growing used to the new precautions his life involved. He even, though he hated to admit it to himself, enjoyed the extra momentum and power the demon brought when they fought against enemies. What he hadn’t considered was the demon barging into the personal, intimate—   You did it BEFORE, the demon sulks. And it WORKED. She wanted to kiss you more because you stopped. “That was different,” he snaps in response. He ignores Rook’s baffled expression at his half of the conversation.  “I mean—he is Spite,” I guess, Rook acknowledges. “Uh, maybe I should leave you two to talk about this together?”

Panic surges in his chest, as he bites back his urge to shout No! at the suggestion. But she doesn’t deserve to half-witness the mess of the argument he’s already having. He was an idiot. He should never have assumed something might be going right in his life for once. “I don’t even know what to say to him,” he can’t help saying in exasperation. “He doesn’t listen, just does—whatever he wants.” What YOU wanted! You SAID it! I was only HELPING. “Well. You said you didn’t have much experience with, um, relationships—” “I don’t think this counts as the kind of experience anyone has, Rook,” Lucanis responds, dropping his head into his hands again, elbows resting on his knees. “I can’t exactly stop him from—he sees what I see. What I… feel.” Admitting it fills him with shame. He should have told her before this. Whether or not she’s guessed, there’s no avoiding it now, or pretending anything in his life could ever again be normal. Simple.  “No, I just meant—maybe try to explain it to him, is all.” Rook sighs, and he can hear the shift of fabric over skin as she tugs her clothing back into place. He wonders if she can see the bright flush of shame to his skin behind his hands. “He’s only got your memories for how to interpret the world,” she continues. “Maybe he… misunderstood something.” He doesn’t want to tell her that Spite probably understood more than he did himself. Lucanis certainly hadn’t realized just how close she’d been to—he shakes his head to clear away the thought.  “You two will figure this out,” Rook says, with a firm conviction he does not mirror. She leans forward and kisses the top of his head, but he can’t bring himself to raise his face to meet her gaze. “I’ll see you at dinner later.” He hears her soft footsteps pad to the door, and slip away, out of the kitchen and back to the other parts of the Lighthouse. Maybe if he never leaves the pantry, he won’t ever have to think about this again. Maybe she’ll forget the whole thing ever happened.  Won’t forget, Spite cackles gleefully. Definitely. Won’t forget.