⛧ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝐆͟𝐎͟𝐋͟𝐃͟𝐄͟𝐍͟ 𝐁͟𝐎͟𝐘.

⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝖉𝖊𝖒𝖔𝖓 . ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀

[⛧ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝐆͟𝐎͟𝐋͟𝐃͟𝐄͟𝐍͟ 𝐁͟𝐎͟𝐘. @PRODIGlUM]

⠀⠀ ⠀ a 𝐤𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 with bowed head ,
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ offering his s͟e͟r͟v͟i͟c͟e .
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀a 𝙨𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙 in his 𝖍𝖆𝖓𝖉 ,
⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀a 𝓼𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 in his 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 .

[⛧ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝐆͟𝐎͟𝐋͟𝐃͟𝐄͟𝐍͟ 𝐁͟𝐎͟𝐘. @PRODIGlUM]

fair enough, i won’t.

[‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ༌ ⁎ ཾཾ 𓆗 𝐖͟𝐇͟𝐄͟𝐄͟𝐋͟𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐑. @filiaserpentium]

you weren’t, though, so don’t try to gaslight me.

[⛧ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝐆͟𝐎͟𝐋͟𝐃͟𝐄͟𝐍͟ 𝐁͟𝐎͟𝐘. @PRODIGlUM]

i’m not always terrible. perhaps i was being sincere.

[‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ༌ ⁎ ཾཾ 𓆗 𝐖͟𝐇͟𝐄͟𝐄͟𝐋͟𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐑. @filiaserpentium]

because i know you .ᐣ

[⛧ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝐆͟𝐎͟𝐋͟𝐃͟𝐄͟𝐍͟ 𝐁͟𝐎͟𝐘. @PRODIGlUM]

how do you know i wasn’t being sincere?

[‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ༌ ⁎ ཾཾ 𓆗 𝐖͟𝐇͟𝐄͟𝐄͟𝐋͟𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐑. @filiaserpentium]

alright, there’s no need to be a dick.

[⛧ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝐆͟𝐎͟𝐋͟𝐃͟𝐄͟𝐍͟ 𝐁͟𝐎͟𝐘. @PRODIGlUM]

oh, absolutely. you look positively athletic.

[‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ༌ ⁎ ཾཾ 𓆗 𝐖͟𝐇͟𝐄͟𝐄͟𝐋͟𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐑. @filiaserpentium]

yeah, look at me. i know loads about sports in general ┄─ can’t you tell .ᐣ

[⛧ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝐆͟𝐎͟𝐋͟𝐃͟𝐄͟𝐍͟ 𝐁͟𝐎͟𝐘. @PRODIGlUM]

< letting the tension bleed out of his shoulders.

“now that’s addressed, what do you mean about the 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦? grays don’t have a future. that’s rather the point.”

[⛧ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝐆͟𝐎͟𝐋͟𝐃͟𝐄͟𝐍͟ 𝐁͟𝐎͟𝐘. @PRODIGlUM]

“no, the only consequences you’ll be receiving will be from me.”

he 𝘸𝘢𝘴 angry. he’d unconsciously drawn himself up to his full height, shoulders square, expression cold.

“something i need you to understand, carlyle. you are not an independent, here — everything you do, >

[𝒜𝔷𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔩 ᐟ ⟢ ᵗʰᵍ ᵃᵘ @theshadwsinger]

⸻ Lucy lowered her gaze, expecting a proper scolding from the other. She felt pretty awful, she didn’t want to mess things up. Being far from home, without her companions or anything from her old life, »

[⛧ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝐆͟𝐎͟𝐋͟𝐃͟𝐄͟𝐍͟ 𝐁͟𝐎͟𝐘. @PRODIGlUM]

< see this as anything more than a 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗯 . . . regardless, i will have to spin this so that you had no choice to disrupt the ritual. you should pray my acting ability is still up to scratch.”

rant over, he huffed a sigh through his nose and glanced away, >

[⛧ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝐆͟𝐎͟𝐋͟𝐃͟𝐄͟𝐍͟ 𝐁͟𝐎͟𝐘. @PRODIGlUM]

and i suppose you do, 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻.

[‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ༌ ⁎ ཾཾ 𓆗 𝐖͟𝐇͟𝐄͟𝐄͟𝐋͟𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐑. @filiaserpentium]

of course you don’t, darlington.

[⛧ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝐆͟𝐎͟𝐋͟𝐃͟𝐄͟𝐍͟ 𝐁͟𝐎͟𝐘. @PRODIGlUM]

< they’ll come and tell me all about it themselves.

secondly, what precisely was so strange about the grays?”

belatedly, because he’d been told to care more about other people, he added —

“and 𝘸𝘩𝘺 did you throw up?”

[⛧ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝐆͟𝐎͟𝐋͟𝐃͟𝐄͟𝐍͟ 𝐁͟𝐎͟𝐘. @PRODIGlUM]

“you —”

he stopped himself short.

𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, he had only himself to blame for this. too many hotheaded dantes, too little respect for lethe among the societies . . . it was inevitable that something like this would happen.

he should’ve been there himself. >

[𝒜𝔷𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔩 ᐟ ⟢ ᵗʰᵍ ᵃᵘ @theshadwsinger]

⸻ Lucy ran a nervous hand over the back of her neck.⸻

Well… maybe… the other night at Skull and Bones I punched someone in the jaw because they wouldn’t listen to my warnings. »

[⛧ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝐆͟𝐎͟𝐋͟𝐃͟𝐄͟𝐍͟ 𝐁͟𝐎͟𝐘. @PRODIGlUM]

< he shouldn’t have trusted a —

he pinched the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger, eyes screwed shut.

“. . . okay,” he managed eventually.

“firstly, please don’t punch anyone again. i’d ask you for the name of the bonesman you hit, but i’m sure >

[⛧ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝐆͟𝐎͟𝐋͟𝐃͟𝐄͟𝐍͟ 𝐁͟𝐎͟𝐘. @PRODIGlUM]

i don’t know the first thing about football.

[‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ༌ ⁎ ཾཾ 𓆗 𝐖͟𝐇͟𝐄͟𝐄͟𝐋͟𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐑. @filiaserpentium]

you couldn’t just say 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍, huh .ᐣ

[⛧ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝐆͟𝐎͟𝐋͟𝐃͟𝐄͟𝐍͟ 𝐁͟𝐎͟𝐘. @PRODIGlUM]

. . . 𝘢𝘩.

[‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ༌ ⁎ ཾཾ 𓆗 𝐖͟𝐇͟𝐄͟𝐄͟𝐋͟𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐑. @filiaserpentium]

you chose a rich person sport.

[⛧ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝐆͟𝐎͟𝐋͟𝐃͟𝐄͟𝐍͟ 𝐁͟𝐎͟𝐘. @PRODIGlUM]

did i choose the incorrect sport?

[‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ༌ ⁎ ཾཾ 𓆗 𝐖͟𝐇͟𝐄͟𝐄͟𝐋͟𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐑. @filiaserpentium]

yeah, that checks out.

[⛧ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝐆͟𝐎͟𝐋͟𝐃͟𝐄͟𝐍͟ 𝐁͟𝐎͟𝐘. @PRODIGlUM]

. . . tennis?

[‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ༌ ⁎ ཾཾ 𓆗 𝐖͟𝐇͟𝐄͟𝐄͟𝐋͟𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐑. @filiaserpentium]

sure. sports.

name a sport.

[⛧ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝐆͟𝐎͟𝐋͟𝐃͟𝐄͟𝐍͟ 𝐁͟𝐎͟𝐘. @PRODIGlUM]

such as? perhaps 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴?

[‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ༌ ⁎ ཾཾ 𓆗 𝐖͟𝐇͟𝐄͟𝐄͟𝐋͟𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐑. @filiaserpentium]

something normal, maybe .ᐣ

[⛧ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝐆͟𝐎͟𝐋͟𝐃͟𝐄͟𝐍͟ 𝐁͟𝐎͟𝐘. @PRODIGlUM]

any recommendations?

[‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ༌ ⁎ ཾཾ 𓆗 𝐖͟𝐇͟𝐄͟𝐄͟𝐋͟𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐑. @filiaserpentium]

almost definitely.

[⛧ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝐆͟𝐎͟𝐋͟𝐃͟𝐄͟𝐍͟ 𝐁͟𝐎͟𝐘. @PRODIGlUM]

who knows?

it’ll be something else tomorrow.

[‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ༌ ⁎ ཾཾ 𓆗 𝐖͟𝐇͟𝐄͟𝐄͟𝐋͟𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐑. @filiaserpentium]

sounds . . . really interesting. why have you become obsessed with that .ᐣ

[⛧ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ 𝐆͟𝐎͟𝐋͟𝐃͟𝐄͟𝐍͟ 𝐁͟𝐎͟𝐘. @PRODIGlUM]

they make these cone-shaped fake flags for press conferences, but a lot of them don’t even attempt to look like real flags and don’t have the stripes or symbols in the right positions.

they’re largely hated by vexillologists. i find the politics behind the designs interesting.

[‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ༌ ⁎ ཾཾ 𓆗 𝐖͟𝐇͟𝐄͟𝐄͟𝐋͟𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐑. @filiaserpentium]

that doesn’t help at all, btw.