↻ ━ 「 Answered 」 Ic. - Blog Posts

@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.

@shieldedchild​:  "You.. You're actually dating Sendak? Oh-- Oh my god. Oh, my GOD. That's so gross! You're so gross! I hate it here!"

     “ no, that’s not-- it isn’t-- ...it’s not like that, exactly. ”

  it IS definitely something he never wanted to have to explain to anyone, though. OR have to admit out loud. the way he stumbles over his words makes this all the more evident.

     “ it’s not... --we’re not dating, ”  he tries to explain, hands raised in front of him, gesturing VAGUELY, almost like he’s trying to put the words together with his hands. lips purse for a tick, and shiro scratches the back of his head, looking away from katie. cheeks now a warm shade of red, he stares off into the distance like somehow he’ll find a way to get out of this conversation.

     “ it’s complicated. ”  but DEFINITELY gross. he knows that, and he doesn’t blame her for seeing it that way. he would, however, prefer if she kept her voice down so the ENTIRE CASTLE doesn’t hear.  “ ...please don’t tell anyone else. ”

@vrepit-sa​:  Breathes down the back of Shiro’s neck

     “ god-- ”

  jumping in ALARM at the sensation of hot breath on the back of his neck, some space is put between them as shiro WHIPS AROUND, fist at the ready. eyes fall upon sendak, however, and with a moment of hesitation, he relaxes. slightly.

     “ don’t do that, ”  he about snaps, anxiety triggered and keeping him on edge. how, he has to wonder for the UPTEENTH time, is someone so large able to be so damn quiet?  “ surely you have better things to do than trying to SCARE ME. ”

@stolenbystars​ sent:  imagine sharing a bed with............. me ,

@grimesucker​ sent:  [text]: Quick question. What’s the protocol on going back to a bar after going home with one of their bartenders?

 tfln  ☆☆  accepting

[ txt: slum mom ]  you mean your boyfriend? [ txt: slum mom ]  i THINK you’re okay to go back [ txt: slum mom ]  protocol is not asking me about these things [ txt: slum mom ]  i don’t need to hear about your sexual exploits [ txt: slum mom ]  please & thanks

@grimesucker​ sent:  [text]: Some lady just walked up to me in the bar and proclaimed that I looked like a “shady motherfucker.” Can’t argue with that one.

tfln  ☆☆  accepting

[ txt: slum mom ]  you really can’t [ txt: slum mom ]  you’re in a bar in the uc and she picked YOU out of everyone else in that bar [ txt: slum mom ]  i’m not even there and i know that 90% of the crowd is shady looking [ txt: slum mom ]  if someone came up to you specifically to tell you that you look shady, it’s actually impossible to argue

@vagasbonds​ sent:  “ happy belated birthday , gramps. “ elias snickers , grinning at shiro , “ i was out late gettin’ this for you— and don’t worry it was ALL LEGAL ! “ instead of a usual toss he’d give any other object , he gently holds the somewhat wrapped out present to his friend. inside he’d find a high quality , state of the art telescope. ( SOBS ELIAS LOVES HIS FRIEND SO MUCH HES JUST DUMB )

 belated birthday wishes

  crinkling his nose playfully at the nickname, shiro’s expression is already cracking into a smile. just hearing birthday wishes, late or not, from elias is enough for him. and yet, there’s a GIFT held out in his direction, earning a surprised raise of eyebrows  ---  he never expects anything on his birthday, partially out of modesty and partially because it’s just been so long since it’s been a regular thing for him.

     “ good to know, because that was my FIRST question, ”  he teases as he accepts the present, although he has plenty of reason to genuinely suspect that anything elias hands off might be stolen. he wouldn’t put it past the punk to give him something illegally obtained PURELY for the amusement of it, too.

     “ you didn’t have to get me anything, though, ”  shiro continues, attention lowering to the package in his hands. shifting the weight of it to be held in one arm, his now-free hand raises to tear carefully at the wrapping, eyes WIDENING at the first glimpse of what’s inside. not even having to finish unwrapping to know EXACTLY what it is, shiro’s gaze lifts once more and he shakes his head.  “ you REALLY didn’t have to. this sort of thing is so expensive, you shouldn’t have spent that kind of money... ”

features softening, all signs of teasing disappearing, he just smiles at elias for a minute. elias, who’s practically a LIVING MEME. elias, who uses ridiculous behaviour to cover his real emotions. elias, who’s trying to pass off an INCREDIBLE, PERFECT gift off as NOTHING. 

then, all at once, shiro pulls his friend in close for a hug, giving the other a meaningful squeeze with his free arm.

     “ thank you, elias. it’s perfect. ”

@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? ”

@grimesucker​ sent:  it's a MESS of a cake , too many layers that now threaten to TOPPLE---it's PRETTY otherwise aside from unsteady foundation , all fluffy cream & fresh fruits ; atop sit candles, a HAZARD in how they're alight, but dox doesn't seem CONCERNED about it---"c'mon, make a wish n' blow it out!" // think sleeping beauty cake..... shaman verse ??????

  belated birthday wishes

     “ oh my god. ”

  shiro LAUGHS at the sight of the cake, unable to help himself. it looks like it’s barely staying balanced and it might light the whole cottage  ( which is ALL WOOD, by the way )  on fire if they aren’t careful. he suspects there’s some magic at work to prevent this, but still.

     “ this is the most RIDICULOUS cake i’ve ever seen. and also the most amazing. ”

laughter still marks his voice, but now it’s more bewilderment than amusement. no one’s ever made him ANYTHING like this for his birthday; how long did dox spend baking this and topping it? clearly so much work has been put into it and, for some reason, it’s all been done for HIM. it’s... maybe it’s silly, but it makes emotions of all sorts pile into his chest.

watching the flickering lights of the candles atop the CAKE MOUNTAIN, he takes a moment to think. make a wish? there’s nothing he needs to wish for, everything is already good  ---  he’s HAPPY, even if there are still some struggles he’s working though, and he wouldn’t change a thing about his life the way it is now.

i want things to stay like this, he thinks to himself, stepping up to the cake. breath drawn, the candles are all blown out in one go and shiro still has a BROAD smile on his face as he leans back, gaze turning to dox.

     “ you really didn’t have to go to this much trouble. ...but since you did, i think we should have a couple of big slices RIGHT NOW. ”

@grimesucker​ sent:  puts hands on his shoulders from behind , tucks forward & plants a kiss in his hair .

  cozy on the couch, shiro doesn’t even hear dox coming up from behind. he’s too focused on the OLD BOOK on astronomy in his hands and the CAT in his lap. even when the weight of hands fall on his shoulders, he’s slow to pull himself from the paragraph he’s reading. the KISS placed against his head, however, is enough to tug him much more quickly to the moment, blinking in surprise. head raises and he glances over his shoulder in an effort to glimpse dox, honestly startled by the blatant act of affection.

     “ feeling sentimental tonight? ”

though there is a teasing lilt in his voice, the smile on shiro’s face is PURE of intent. he’s always been a physically affectionate person but, in the undercity, it’s rare that he gets to express himself that way these days and rarer STILL that someone else is affectionate with him.

that said, it’s ALWAYS a nice surprise.

@mekabound​ sent:  “ you’ll be okay somewhere in that vague future tense ” (uc verse? :0)

 cursed suggestion   ☆☆   accepting!!

  at that, he can’t help but snort a weak laugh. it’s not the most REASSURING way to word such a thing, but the fact that it earns amusement might actually make it MORE USEFUL.

     “ i think you need to spend less time with dox, ”  he comments, shifting his position on the couch where they both sit, legs bent at the knees and feet occasionally touching on the middle cushion.  “ you’re starting to SOUND like him. ”

in this case though, shiro doesn’t mind it so much. he minds even less that d.va is HERE, keeping him company on one of the days where his symptoms are flaring up enough that the pain is TOO MUCH for even stand up for long. her company is some which he’s already come to enjoy, but on days like this... the distraction of having another person around helps a LOT.

     “ ‘ that vague future tense, ’ huh, ”  he repeats, tugging on the blanket spread across the both of them in an effort to cover more of himself. there’s no malice whatsoever in his tone as he continues, merely a WRY smile to signify he’s joking, albeit rather darkly;  “ so, the day that everyone in the city GETS ALONG and the barrier is opened? ”

@grimesucker​ sent:  ❛ Everyone has secrets and if you keep asking, you’ll see how far I’m willing to go to keep mine. ❜

across the universe   ☆☆   accepting.

  brought to an abrupt halt by the words, or perhaps more by the severe tone in which they’re spoken, shiro falls still and simply blinks at dox, eyes wide. while he’s NO STRANGER to dox’s more harsh tones of voice, it’s not often that they’re directed at HIM. typically, dox is talking to some other slumrat in this manner, whether they’re deserving of it or not, so whenever it does come ‘round to focus on him... shiro is startled every time.

it isn’t as though he’d been egging the man on or anything, either. yes, he may have been asking questions, but they had been INNOCENT  ---  mere efforts to understand dox better  ---  and not remotely forceful. ironically, these are usually the things that have made the mender snap at him in the past, too, although there have been times where the boy had been more insistent.

     “ i’m not trying to... ”  trailing off, shiro blinks again, hesitates, then lowers his gaze. he GETS that everyone has secrets. he GETS that people in the undercity have more than people on med-lev. he GETS that they’re willing to go farther to protect them. what he DOESN’T GET is why, even when they’ve practically become family, dox is so ABSOLUTELY ADAMANT to not share so many things with him.

for a moment, shiro remains as he is, but soon exhales a low breath. a step is taken back to signify him backing down from the confrontation  ( one that he didn’t want started in the first place )  and, turning away, he shakes his head.

     “ sorry. i wasn’t trying to upset you. ”

@grimesucker​ sent:  look it's nothin' special , he's just got fresh flowers poking through the floorboards right by where shiro sleeps , & a cloth set beside these at whereupon rests a still-warm chocolate chip muffin, fresh from his oven . // platonic v-day gifts in the witch verse pls thank u ;;;

  soft scents rouse him slowly from his sleep, though they don’t initially REGISTER in the haze of fresh consciousness. a tongue-curling yawn paired with a big stretch, forepaws extending out in front of him as far as they can, hindquarters rising slightly from the heavily cushioned bed, and eyes finally blink open blearily. body relaxes, and it’s THEN that both eyes and nose clue in to the morning surprise.

a puff of air leaves the werewolf’s snout: a FOND LAUGH. it honestly is a surprise, but it’s a nice one, one which dox will no doubt NEVER bring up. his kindness has always been expressed... in interesting ways.

nosing at the flowers before him for a better whiff of their sweet scent, shiro would smile if this form were capable of it. as it is, fluffy tail instead thumps a soft beat against cushioning. he thinks he might LEAVE the flowers there, if he can  ---  it’s a pleasant sight, and he doubts that dox will have a problem letting them be.

TEMPTING as it is, once he’s finished appreciating the flora, to simply devour the delicious-smelling muffin still waiting for him, that almost seems disrespectful. plus, given it’s still warm, it should be SAVOURED. thus, rather than hork it down between large jaws, wolf shrinks and mere seconds later a hand reaches for the pastry. now the smile that has been waiting finally SHOWS ITSELF, spreading wide as two fingers pinch a chunk of the muffin off to bring to his mouth.

glad to have taken the savouring route, shiro makes note that he’ll have to find something nice to do IN RETURN. ---not because he feels it owed for the nice surprise, but because he WANTS to do something kind for dox. maybe some people like to keep this day exclusively for romance, but he’s always been someone who much more enjoys using it to treat EVERYONE he cares about to something nice. he wouldn’t have thought dox would be the same, but... somehow it’s not all that shocking to discover that he is.

@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. ”

tag dump.

≠ ━ 「 lean on my pride; i’m a lion 」 musings. ≠ ━ 「 i’ll morph to someone else; defense mechanism mode 」 headcanon. ≠ ━ 「 though i am bruised / face of contusions / know i’ll keep moving 」 character study. ≠ ━ 「 got nothing but dreams inside 」 visage. ≠ ━ 「 trying to blow out the pilot light 」 aesthetic. ✧ ━ 「 prompt me 」 meme. ✧ ━ 「 prompt me 」 sentences. ↻ ━ 「 answered 」 ic. ↻ ━ 「 answered 」 ooc. ☆ ━ 「 only wrote this down to make you press rewind 」 psa. ☆ ━ 「 spread the love! 」 promo.