Anyone Remember How I Said I’m In Love With The Latest Smite God? Yeah... If A Primordial Goddess In

@grimesucker​:  there's not much by way of a celebration, but there IS a package of base-white outer-shell pieces that can be attached to fifteen's prosthetic arm ; additionally, a note : 'nothing great, but me n the kids pitched in to get you a little more layers. happy birthday.'

  given he’d practically forgotten about his OWN birthday to begin with, he expects no celebration. in fact, he always figures that dox won’t remember -- not because he doesn’t CARE, rather there’s so much else to worry about that birthdays just don’t matter as much as they did on med-lev. and yet, every year he’s been surprised to discover that NOT ONLY has dox remembered, but even went so far as to put together a gift for him.

approaching the box curiously, shiro picks up the note and reads over it, unable to contain the SMILE that grows with each word. not just dox, but THE KIDS, too. the various little slumbrats he’s taken to helping dox look after helped out with the gift. --granted, it may have been all of dox’s money rather than any of them pitching in, but honestly? it means more to him that they’d care enough to want to be included. it really solidifies that feeling he’s had, of being something like a BIG BROTHER for them. that alone is a great gift.

now grinning to himself, he slips the note into his pocket  ( yes, he’s going to keep it! it officially has SENTIMENTAL VALUE )  and moves on to slowly opening the box. what’s revealed inside... it takes shiro a moment to put it together. at first, it just looks like maybe some assorted pieces of plastic, but the more he looks at them while keeping the note in mind, the more he realizes what ‘layers’ dox was talking about.

he’s never THOUGHT about making his arm look nicer. it functions, that’s the part that matters. not that he’s going to turn the opportunity DOWN  ( maybe it’ll make the thing a little easier to look at and feel more like his arm than a simple prosthetic ).

slowly, carefully, shiro clips the plates into place one by one. he MIGHT need a bit of help later securing them fully, but he manages well enough on his own and, when it’s done, he has to admit: he’s impressed. it gives his prosthetic a completely different look. he... kinda LIKES it.

flexing the fingers, smile remaining securely in place, he wonders how he can thank everyone. maybe cake? he should have enough counts to pick a CHEAP ONE up... definitely can’t bake one himself, he’ll BURN THE HOUSE DOWN. the kids would like something sweet, he knows it, and why can’t he make them happy on his OWN BIRTHDAY? decision made, shiro hurries for the door, grabbing his jacket on the way, and he leaves the rundown home with excitement shining in his eyes.

grimesucker‌.

MOST PEOPLE wouldn’t have such a TOUGH TIME picking a weapon - a lot of people came in already with an idea of their FAVORED TYPE - something SHARP ? something BLUNT ? something HEAVY ? —but dox supposes there’d never really been much fantasizing towards PERSONAL COMBAT MECHANICS during fifteen’s time up on MED-LEV. lot less CRIME, lot more KUMBAYA. 

…& in all honesty , he’s pretty surprised he got the kid to AGREE to come weapons shopping—DON’T GET IT WRONG, he’s GLAD that there wasn’t any HEEL-DIGGING, he’d just been prepared with a whole SPEECH that now he feels STUPID for rehearsing over & over in his head.

—though he doesn’t feel this way for LONG, self-criticism making way for something like PRIDE as fifteen’s attention seems caught by a KNIFE - dox’s own favorite type of weapon , & he wonders if fifteen’s into it for the TACTICAL benefits , or because he’s seen dox’s own proficiency & thought it NEAT .

        …most likely the former , but the grimesucker still awards himself a ‘ 6 ′ .

                                                            “ nice choice. ”

praise given sincerely , dox more than a little SMUG in the face of any option taken that involves BLADES— a nod towards cipher, who recites ‘450 counts,’ these of which dox passes off with a quick transaction between cipher’s collection device & his online drive ; during which they make remark, ‘ corrupting the kids again?’ to which dox responds with a shrug , ‘ i’m only equipping them to better handle it. ’

—with purchase made cipher passes over a nylon of which fifteen may attach to his person, the knife nestled neatly inside. as dox loops an arm around the kid’s shoulder & steers him away, cipher bids farewell with ring-adorned fingers waving goodbye in disconnected intervals. half-joking , dox grins in fifteen’s direction—

                                                      “ wanna get some PRACTICE in ?”

  with the knife, neatly sheathed, handed to him, shiro grips it in his hands and continues to eye it with some degree of WARINESS. this is his now. this is something he has to keep on his person at all times. while he may have been living in the undercity for a number of MONTHS now, it’s still difficult for him to grasp just how likely it is to wind up in a violent and dangerous situation at any time of any day. 

giving a slight start when dox’s arm wraps over his shoulders, the boy blinks and PULLS his attention away from the weapon. allowing himself to be steered away, eyebrows raise skeptically at dox’s prompt.

“ that seems UNSAFE, ”  he notes, frowning slightly. yeah, he’s going to have to learn how to fight with the knife SOMEHOW, but armed practice just seems like it’d be asking for unnecessary injury. ---dox’s healing abilities aside, shiro doesn’t want to harm him, and he’d really like to avoid a knife piercing his own skin. he’s still recovering mentally from the first time he experienced that.

     “ maybe some hand-to-hand instead? ”

@widespreadroots​  //  velum.  (x)

Velum listened to Shiro, and empathy tugged at her heart as he spoke. There was a weight behind his words that Velum would never truly understand; secrets that Shiro kept just to make sure everyone else was comfortable… With a small, comforting chirp, she crawls into his lap and envelops him in her wings. He didn’t have to tell her anything he didn’t want to, but, she felt that this was the least she could do for her dear friend. A silent way of letting him know she was there, and would be there, whenever he needed it.

  sudden weight in his lap managed to take him by surprise; he hadn’t, at least on the SURFACE, meant much by the words beyond a statement on how no one’s life is perfect and that... well, there WAS a lot that could go wrong. he hadn’t been speaking of his own  ---  and yet, maybe subconsciously he HAD been.

blinking, he peered down at velum, his surprise quickly wearing away to something softer. a smile spread, though small, and appreciation showed itself clearly in his eyes. arms slid around his small friend, returning the hug, one hand raising to sort of PET along her head.

     “ thank you, ”  he spoke in a murmur, the moment now hitting him HARDER than he’d initially intended, and quite abruptly so. there was a clench in his chest, but having velum there... it was a comfort.  “ you’re a good friend, you know that? ”

@grimesucker​ sent:  his OD had PINGED the notification , allowing him some time to PREPARE---...still, something feels INAPPROPRIATE about this , in how he presents a BOTTLE of SEWER WATER with a BOW around the neck ; look , he doesn't have a lot of EXPERIENCE in buying presents, & alcohol always seems like a good idea. ...& if not , well , he's got some solid itch brownies as back-up. "hey, fifteen - happy birthday."

 belated birthday wishes

  surprised by the bottle thrust in his direction, shiro is LOST, glancing between it and the man holding it with a questioning quirk in his brow. expression softens, however, when explanation comes in the form of dox wishing him a happy birthday. huh, he didn’t really think the mender was one to keep track of that sort of thing.

     “ thanks, dox. ”  accepting the sewer water, despite it not being the sort of thing he’d ask for or even purchase for himself. it’s a gift, and one from DOX for that matter, so he appreciates it regardless. it’s the THOUGHT that counts, and dox cared enough to think of him on his birthday and buy him a present. smiling, the boy holds the bottle in both hands, the one of metal clinking against the glass, and gives it a GLANCE OVER. the bow is a cute touch.

raising his head again, shiro nods toward the kitchen and raises his eyebrows at dox.

     “ why don’t we share this? ”

Which Aesthetic Color are you?

forest green

You're in your own world, spinning fictions and building realities and finding the poetry in ordinary things. The people around you can tell there's something special to you, and you're well-loved by a some very good people. But even to your closest friends, you're a bit of a mystery. This always surprises you to hear, because you don't mean to put walls up-- you just get so caught up in things nobody else sees that you forget to let yourself be seen. You're complicated, and sometimes you get tangled in it. Don't worry, though, it's not off-putting; despite your accidental air of mystery, your warmth can be seen like a campfire through distant trees.

tagged by: stolen from @arcbright​ tagging: follow my example

‘how do i interact with you’

write me a starter. send me an ask. punch me in the fucking face i don’t care just write with me

levels of headcanon:

This is heavily supported by text/subtext and is likely what the creators intended for me to get from this 

this is sort of supported by the text and could, conceivably be what the creators intended for me to get from the text/subtext

there is no evidence either way

there is slight evidence against my headcanon, but I don’t care

I’ve stopped giving a crap about canon

@grimesucker​ sent:  “ you didn’t outgrow your misery , you grew into it ” ,,,, samsara @ shiro ,,,,

cursed suggestion   ☆☆   accepting!!

  drawn to a pause by the words, shiro doesn’t look up from the files he’s been organizing for dox’s-- samsara’s-- office. the hell is THAT supposed to mean, that he grew into his misery? that it never left him and instead he... adapted and changed to fit into it? that in the misery of being sent from his home to the TRASHCAN of the city, he slowly became one of the very slumrats he’d been forced to join in the undercity?

  ---actually, as weird as the statement of dox’s is, it’s... not inaccurate. even beyond the more obvious example of it, there was the misery of dox ABANDONING him that had resulted in him putting his everything into  { black bracket }. that had molded him further, made him into who he is NOW. and it had eventually led to him and dox reconciling, to running the gang together.

his misery is still there, but now more of a WEAPON than a WEAKNESS.

     “ guess so, ”  he finally replies, exhaling a low breath that sounds somewhat like a chuckle. adjusting the stack of papers, shiro then turns to the other, the small bit of a smile at his lips rather wry.  “ but i think the same could be said of YOU. ”

i need to do some grinding on my apex battlepass but after that i’m gonna try to write, focusing probs here, @forplikte​, & @nokkiru​,,