@mcrcki asked:  “   I went to the silly goose convention and they all knew you.   ” - wirt and beatrice

"okay, but you also showed up at the convention, so what does that mean? were you trying to learn how to be a silly goose? it sounds like i must be a master." wirt said, only sputtering a little through his embarrassment. it was hard not to just argue right away, and it was probably obvious that he wanted to a little bit, but he did his best to look confident in the statement.

"Well that's reassuring. It would be a very odd sort of kidnapping, picking me up and putting me down in America just to work an archive job." He was mostly trying to joke though it wound up actually reassuring him. Whatever this weird encounter was it would be very weird if it there was actually something malicious harming him. Despite that though, the man continued, very insistent of what he seemed to believe. "You know how I take my tea?" Jon repeated, tone unimpressed and actually a touch baffled. "So what, you'll just guess my feelings on milk and sugar and that's supposed to be proof?" He wasn't sure what sort of information he'd expect someone to use to prove they knew him but his tea wouldn't be very high on the list. He shook his head, trying not to come across as dismissive. It stressed him out a little, how insistent the guy was, and he was really tempted to ask him to leave rather than humoring any more of this. "Besides even if that made any sense you would hardly be able to prove it here." Jon said, a small frown as he looked around the national archives like the area actually held any insight to the dismal state of his supplies there. "I'm really the only one who stocks the breakroom with tea and I've meant to do that for...well a few days now." Or weeks. Jon wasn't actually sure the last time he'd taken a break during work, and it wasn't worth briefly walking to the room if there wasn't even tea for him to brew. There were times that he was desperate enough to show up for coffee, too little sleep banging at his skull, and lament the fact that they still hadn't bought more tea, but until he thought about it at the grocery store it wouldn't actually happen.

Two decades? Twenty years, there's absolutely no way. At least he recognizes the name of the archives, but Martin's not sure that's much of a win, considering Jon sounds so certain that he doesn't work there. It's such a shame that there's nothing Martin has that can prove Jon's his boss. There's no business card in a pocket, there's no photos of Jon with all the assistants-- there's no hard evidence that they'd known each other, and that's the only thing that would have even vaguely convinced the other that Martin was being honest. He doesn't have Jon's number in this new phone he'd gotten here, and he doesn't-- they'd never spoken about personal topics enough for him to be able to give the other proof that Martin really knows him. And if he did manage it, then it's likely enough Jon would just assume he'd stalked them, or something. "You've not been concussed, or kidnapped as far as I know. Adult-napped. Abducted, that's the word..." But that doesn't matter. Jon seems willing enough to awkwardly laugh off the coincidence and leave, thinking Martin's only homesick and... hallucinating, or whatever. "I know how you take your tea," he adds with a small bit of desperation, quickly grasping at straws. "I make it for you all the time. Made it, I mean. I can prove it to you!" As soon as he says it, he realizes how stupid it sounds, but it's too late to take it back, and as unfortunate as it is, that's really the only evidence he can think of.

@vcndetta asked: 📱 ( kenna and zagreus )

your muse's contact name in mine's phone

kenna ✨

my muse's contact photo for yours

here

how often our muses text each other

every now and then. mostly for the sake of trying to plan something rather than regularly texting to check in. it's just not something zagreus often thinks of with kenna not for lack of caring but just because she seems to have her shit together to him lol

a text my muse never sent

i doubt there's anything he has stopped himself from sending her

the last messages my muse did send

zagreus → kenna ✨ : i don't think thanatos has been ever described as delightful in their life but i'm glad! zagreus → kenna ✨ : definitely! there's some nice places around where i work. we could meet up after my shift sometime as long as you don't mind that i might have a little dirt on me

@drvcxrys asked: 📱 buffy & gu zi

your muse's contact name in mine's phone

buffy summers

my muse's contact photo for yours

probably doesn't have one at the moment just cause he feels like that would be a weird invasion of privacy somehow

how often our muses text each other

weekly or less. he probably has to work out his schedule a week or two at a time between work and school so he mostly texts about that or if he forgot some sort of routine he's trying to keep up with he'll text

a text my muse never sent

gu zi → buffy summers : we might have to cancel today. sorry for the last minute, i'll of course still pay you!

the last messages my muse did send

gu zi → buffy summers : running a little late sorry! i was nearly convinced the bus wasn't coming but i'm on my way now

"and has no one been moved to take his place, redo all of it? where is your manager? or someone higher up in the archives to help with hiring?" as far as jon could tell this was just an archival assistant. it really shouldn't have been their job to think about getting new employees, regardless of how jon would still complain about it to her. "surely there should be some upper administration handling that." he grumbled. he wasn't so obnoxious that he'd put in a complaint with them, but it would at least be nice to know the name of whoever was causing his problems. "ah, so the opposite of my job i suppose. occasionally i remember to bring some tea but i don't know if anyone drinks it. it doesn't feel quite as popular here as back home." he paused, considering the idea before looking at the woman confused. "are you all english here?" jon asked. it could just be a coincidence, just that her and her coworker drank a lot of tea, but jon couldn't help the sudden guess. it was an odd idea to get out of the blue, but it felt right. "milk and sugar, but light on both." jon answered easily. really, he was difficult but not so much so that he'd complain regardless of how it was made, but she had asked so they figured it was fine to give a little bit of direction. if it was terrible it would at least be something to stare at until whatever incompetent archival employee he'd spoken to before finally returned with the file he was looking for.

if her phone is being subtly switched into recording from her pocket, that is between her and god. and jon when she inevitably throws the resulting recording back in his face when he remembers and continues to be an ass. "well, the idiot who did it was a bit of a nutter, and then straight up abandoned the job recently. it's like he's a totally different person now." and they'll give her hell for that comment, but who cared at this point? certainly not her. "most of them aren't too bad, but it's mostly just my coworker and i managing the entire place on top of their training, so it's a slow process." but honestly, she and martin have been doing pretty well, if she does say so herself. jon better be impressed when they eventually remember themself. "we keep a decent mix, mostly because i drink both. i don't actually know if anyone else touches the coffee." she was pretty sure martin preferred tea as well. but the american teenagers would probably go for coffee once they got comfortable enough to raid the break room stash. "you take anything in it?" and okay, sasha's pretty sure she remembers how he takes it, but it'll look weird as hell if she does so unprompted.

"as long as you still had a night out or did something fun." jon said. as much as he felt it was a good enough reason to cancel he wasn't enough of a boring asshole that he was fine with the idea of ruining someone else's night. "the archives are fixed but i still haven't figured out who did it. i suppose it's good that employees aren't willing to rat each other out and have a sense of solidarity, but it does make me concerned it might happen again."

rosita shrugged her shoulders. "it's fine, i figured out something else to do." she had called for a sitter and instead of heading out with jon had gone out to entertain herself. either with another friend or some time alone. "did you get everything sorted out?"

"well, technically he's half human and not physically mine. my- someone close to me had him with a human, but my species isn't organic, not like you or the humans." at least she assumed lucifer was organic, he certainly wasn't gem after all and she didn't have any other options. "so she had to pass her form onto her son to have him, and let us raise him." it was telling that pearl had gotten somewhat better, that she was able to tell a very brief version of the story without any visible cringing or waterworks, though her face was a little solemn. the grief certainly hadn't fully gone away, and she wasn't sure it ever would but she'd learned to live with it. "i think you could manage with just facebook and instagram. there's also twitter, but nothing of value is posted there." she said, frowning slightly. "well, i'm rather into roller skating and dance, but i also do some mechanic work." though two of those three things were things she had enjoyed even before she got more involved in human society. "what did you do in your free time back home? there is probably some sort of human equivalent." even if it wasn't quite as nice it helped to get involved in society somehow.

"do you? can i ask how you ended up with a human son? i get it if it's too personal, i just... would love to hear how that happened." because really, he'd never even heard of a non human creature that wasn't an angel or one of the hellborn, and pearl certainly wasn't either of those things. so a non human creature somehow having a human son is something he is admittedly curious about. "it does seem like calling it social media is a bit of a stretch if you don't know anything about the people you're interacting with on it. i think i'd really only care about the ones i can actually see people i know." he's sure the hotel has accounts on some of those platforms, as well as charlie and her friends, which is really all he cares about in terms of spending time on his phone. "i might look into some. i didn't really... do much, recently. like i said, the entertainment back home is rough, but maybe the humans have something more to my taste now that i can actually look into all of it. what about you? what do you do in your free time?"

"i've been taking classes myself, though not a full schedule. i haven't actually decided what to study." and spending all of her day at the college here had felt like using so much of her time. "do you know what sort of degree you're getting?" yingying pried a little, curious. maybe it would give her some ideas of her own. "oh, well is that offer out there for any other time we go out?" yingying asked, happy to know she could hand her bags off to mingyan anytime in the future.

"oh, not really, i'm in school, and i work in the library there." she wasn't going to elaborate on where the bulk of her money came from to ning yingying. her shizun would kill her if it ever got out. "sounds good. i don't mind carrying them, but i'd rather not purposely make our lives harder."

"you can? can you do it right now?" huaisang asked, suddenly very genuinely interested. birds may have been his favorite, but he had always been a fan of animals in general, certainly liking them more than most people at this point in his life. "i'm good without the lesson. the less lessons in my life the better actually. i always like the simple explanation." some long explanation on the meaning of words would absolutely bore him, even from someone friendly and well meaning. "ah well, fighting isn't really for me, no matter how much my brother tries to get my to train, so it sounds like i should stay far far away from the ocean. i can hardly use a weapon on the ground, let alone in a boat soaking wet." that also made it sound like it would be freezing cold, all in all the sort of adventure huaisang would do everything in his power to avoid. "i'll stay safe with society and let some other people go off on those journeys."

"it means i can turn into animals!" jester said gleefully. "it's a big word that just means transform, basically. if my friend caleb was here, i'm sure he could give you a whole lesson about it and stuff." she chuckled at his comments, "oh i agree. i really can only handle sprinkle. that's my weasel's name. beau and i took a blink dog and left it with mama, but with our group out adventuring and her being busy every night it didn't stay with her very long," she giggled, "veth's husband and kid ended up taking it. i think nugget is doing well with them though." she nodded, "the beach is nice. just listening to the water and the birds is very calming." she exhaled dramatically when he asked about storms, "oh you have no idea. sea sickness is the least of your worries if a storm comes around. try fighting a leviathan in the worst storm you've ever imagined. it's terrible!"

"i'm just a little tired from the long night." nianqing insisted, shaking his head. of course he knew it was drunk, but to admit that to jun wu felt like a failure of some kind, especially when he had been so unsure about him having anything to begin with. he sighed, walking towards the exit and out into the night, fairly certain the other man would follow him. the concern about jun wu wandering off and starting trouble was a nice dull feeling at the moment. "i'm perfectly capable of continuing the night and making intelligent decisions. you'll see. let's find something else to do."

the way he's worded that is certainly odd, but considering it's accompanied by the other staring directly at a wall for far too long, he can't take it too seriously. he's clearly just had far more to drink than he intended, and muyun can easily write off any weirdness as the result of it. "alright then, we'll go." he wants to get zhicheng something to drink that isn't alcoholic. preferably some water, but he'll take whatever the other agrees to drink right now. although, it is far too amusing watching his friend's expression turn indignant at the accusation that he might be drunk. "zhicheng, you can't even focus unless you're staring at a wall, and i'm half expecting you to fall over any second now. i'm not upset about it, i just would rather you not end up sick tomorrow."

"alright, well maybe we just need to establish levels of stress that i can deal with." mianmian said. she did find the idea of him attempting to cook a meal stressful, but it obviously wasn't the same. "as much as i think you're capable of starting a kitchen fire i don't think it'll kill you. stress to learn regular household tasks it fine, but potentially dying stress isn't." she sighed. it wasn't like she actually wanted to be overbearing and nervous. "just text me a little more often. it doesn't have to be about anything interesting."

"god, no, absolutely not." the idea of mianmian being some simpering, willfully weak girl that wanted nothing more than to be lady jin was... really disturbing, though he knew that more than a few sect members believed that to be the reality of their relationship, even after mianmian had told them all off and left. "i can be careful and still stress you out. i know the idea of me anywhere near a kitchen raises your blood pressure."

"No, I know, and you guys do a good job. It's better than a lot of the other shelters I've seen." Jin Ling said, lips pressed tightly together. There was more space for the animals here, and it didn't feel like they were just trying to get rid of them as quickly as possible. He knew he was too judgmental, that places were probably doing the best they could with their funds, but that didn't actually make him feel much better. "I'll go and sit with her, obviously." Jin Ling quickly insisted. He didn't think he'd been argumentative, but maybe it had come off that way, it usually did with him after all. He didn't want Shen Qiao to think that he was saying no to the idea, no matter how his mood was at the moment. If anything dealing with a slightly difficult dog was far better than dealing with any of the difficult people in his life that had been around lately. "Or play. Maybe just bring some toys and see if she's interested, whatever you think." He'd do it right now if that wouldn't obviously be fleeing a conversation, when there really was no reason to do so. He was just wound tight today.

                      Providing Jin Ling with a sense of responsibility over their newest rescue immediately proves to be a reasonably successful tactic. Over the years, Shen Qiao has spent enough time at the shelter to have grown familiar with the very specific, and sometimes very special sorts of treatment these animals needed. But no two animals were the same, and it was simply impossible to have a set few ways of handling them. The concerns Jin Ling raises aren’t anything he’s never heard of before, but they’re all valid concerns, and Shen Qiao nods along with genuine interest. “You make a good point,” he states approvingly, though with enough gravity to his voice not to make it sound as though he were trying to patronize or coddle the young man. “We’re doing the best we can to help the animals at our shelter, but it can’t always be easy to get settled in an unfamiliar place.” He doesn’t miss the subtle shift in the other’s tone, though doesn’t outwardly respond to it, instead keeping their conversation flowing. “We’re trying to help these dogs to the best of our ability, but when we can’t communicate with them, sometimes we only end up aggravating the situation.” But Jin Ling is doing his best to try and understand the circumstances and the dog’s behavior prior to meeting it, which is already a huge step in the right direction. “I asked you to play with her for a little while, but now that you’ve brought it up, I wonder if some company is all she needs. We aren’t always in the mood to play around either, after all.” 

"it's not like i've heard any glowing reviews of your dating life. for all i know you take someone out only to whip out a guitar and insist on playing wonder wall." irina said. it was their job of course, to give their sister shit, an important job they were basically born with. "at least if i make a date bad by falling asleep the other person can just get up and leave."

"until you roll over wrong and knock the entire thing on to you both." though she knew her sister's concern was far more along the lines of hypnos related clownery than potentially dying in your sleep. which, fair, honestly. if she had the worry of accidentally ending up in someone's dreams, she'd avoid spending time with people while asleep too. "that might be the rudest thing you've ever said to me, irina." lyra replies, though she's laughing a bit in addition to the words.

"I don't think it would actually kill anyone, just injure and scare them. It's not a big or hot enough fire." Inej said, still hypothetically of course. She had clearly done this job for too long, but if Kaz had to kill someone she'd rather it happen fast. It wasn't like she could say she felt particularly fond of anyone at the bonfire, but as far as she could tell they were all just normal civilians, loud, and a little annoying but in a fun way. It was the sort of thing she could enjoy, if she had enough of a moment to let herself actually do so. "Kaz Brekker attempts self improvement? You better not be dying on me." Inej nodded, the beer really had been awful. "Makes the whole thing worth it." She said with a genuine laugh, holding back her hand to take the bottle back, see if she could get herself a little bit more before it was gone. "There's stronger liquor back in the crowd I think, you just have to be willing to let a loud drunk mad pour it directly into your mouth." Something she hadn't considered for a second, and couldn't possibly imagine Kaz attempting, though the mental image did make her grin slightly. "And here I thought guitar might come later when a few drinks would make it sound better. I must have lucked out and missed it. We'll have to wait around and see if it comes out again so I can get the full experience." Inej joked, feeling light and easy, actually having fun at this sort of thing even if it wasn't in the way she was supposed to.

"The night's still young," he says, when Inej jokes about tripping someone into the fire. Hypothetically, he wouldn't even have to try very hard, given the unevenness of the sandy ground near the fire pit. Though no one's a target tonight, she's right-- it's not his scene, really; voluntary 'fun' group events rarely are. "I was talked into coming... apparently socializing will be 'good for me.'" And while he hadn't been particularly social this evening so far, Inej more than counts, so he can check that box off. His gloved hand stretches out to take the bottle from her when she offers. She wouldn't have handed him something that could have been tampered with, and it looks like she'd barely had any herself. The fact that his lips would touch the place where hers had also touched does cross his mind, but he doesn't have time to dwell about his feelings on the subject. No point in letting the drink go to waste, although as Kaz takes a quick swig of it-- maybe he should. "Mediocre beer, certainly worth coming for," he concludes with a heavy dose of sarcasm, though he also breaks into a look of vague amusement as he glances over at her. "Someone was even playing guitar, earlier. If you missed it, the experience was just as you would imagine."

"Well that's kind. It was the middle of the night. If a stranger started talking to me about how we were actually family I might have had to assume she was in a cult." Anden said, attempting a chuckle with the words even though nothing about the conversation made him feel like joking around. He was half tempted to try and walk away for a few minutes, get a phone call out to Shae and see if he could understand what exactly was happening here, but now he had to worry if she was actually any most trustworthy than the man he was talking to. Anden sighed. "I don't- there's already been a lot said." Anden said quietly, not really looking for a response. What, did the guy just think there were some magic words that would convince him all of this was real, that it was the life Anden had lived that was fake and some sort of story coming from a stranger was what he should actually be listening to? "Nearly my whole life. I moved here when I was young after my parents died." He hardly remembered a home that wasn't Washington, so the idea that it somehow actually wasn't felt entirely unnerving, even as he tried to just keep himself looking neutral. "Did you move into the city? I know Shae said she was new to the area."

He's never met anyone else named Shae, so he very much doubts that they're not talking about the same person, and especially when Anden mentions that she just moved in? "I'm sure she didn't mention family," Hilo grumbles darkly, before adding more loudly for the other's benefit: "Knowing her, she was avoiding freaking you out. My sister's polite like that, though only gods know why..." Stupid, if you ask him. What are they supposed to do, just keep letting everyone without their memories live on, as though they aren't who they really are? They'll never solve anything if they just accept that their family's lost to them that way. Neutral. Hilo nods, thinking over that particular response. Alright, if he doesn't feel strongly at all, one way or the other, the older man's not sure if that's a good sign or a bad one. His cousin's recent jade negativity clearly hasn't poisoned the other's false life, though-- it sounds from his tone almost like he doesn't care at all, which could be worse. Just like Shae, going on and on stubbornly about how 'jade doesn't matter here,' fuck all the way off. Maybe if he got the other to hold a piece of jade for only a moment, something in him would remember, but-- even Hilo can acknowledge that's a half-baked plan at best, and he holds off on that for the time being in favor of shaking his head. "I don't know what to tell you, Andy. How long have you been here?"

"don't think i'd trust you very much if the idea of something like fries, ice cream, and pancakes wasn't enjoyed." that just screamed someone who didn't like fun to clara."i mean it's not the best meal if you need to be energetic and active after, so hopefully you don't have anything to run from later in the day."

(¸.• ♛ → a small laugh escaped from her lips and nodded. "totally." she has to agree, there are a lot of food there, she's very unsure what to ask there. "i'm up to eat some fries so we can totally order and actually that's not about idea, something sweet like pancakes with ice cream could be good, i like those."

"maybe two or three years now. it feels like it's been ages." amber still certainly didn't consider washington her home by any means, but it was something she'd come to accept. "it took me a while to get used to shooting at a range." amber admitted, looking out at the archery field. "back home you'd just go find a quiet place in the woods and set up targets, but there really isn't anywhere in the safe to do that sort of thing." it didn't always stop answer from finding a quiet area instead of an official range, but it still felt odd.

"it sure is." kikyo agreed with a soft smile as she looked around them. the flowers were starting to bloom, the weather was perfect for walking. the sun was out without a much in the way of clouds in the sky. "i absolutely agree. thought i'm not opposed to getting some winter shooting in either." even if the winter gloves has been a bit of a hinderance, she still made sure she got every moment of practice she got in. "not long. a couple months. what about you?"