We Know What We Are But Not What We May Be. && If Music Be The Food Of Love; Play On ROUXLS&DANDELION: Manebloom - Tumblr Posts

// @manebloom & @tendercoded tags!

━ ♔ Legally gray but sweet with the phrasing / Feet in the grave; but gleefully trading ;; Feeding the cravings ━ SPAMTON&ADA: tendercoded

━ ♔ We know what we are but not what we may be. && If music be the food of love; play on ━ ROUXLS&DANDELION: manebloom

Rouxls knows that one day, his cowardice will kill him. Or perhaps it will be his bravery.

Bravery not as in dying for a good cause, bravery like an unused muscle suddenly being asked to handle a great weight, atrophied in the way it was never used at all, and when it was; never to the extent that could dream of carrying what one day might be offered. offered to him. a stake that proclaims he must try, but an inability that demands he cannot. It was easier to run. Always easier to run. ( drawbridge uncrossed, the hesitation in him like a weed he couldn't pluck out; maybe didn't want to. music as a universal language, but he still doesn't voice what part of him wants to. asks to. refuses to. ) ━ but it gets harder, he's found, to justify. flight was easiest when he was alone, and very often, he was alone. but flight becomes it's own kind of challenge, now, as people hang to his trailing coattails and latch to his legs and ask him to stay; his own kind of bitter medicine, in a way, only made moreso when he finds it in himself to want to stay, unasked, when the sentimental part of him finds a connection; however unexpected; and says he should, despite it all, says he ought to.

this feels the same, a quiet part of him recognizes, because it is the same. no one asked him to play, and yet, and yet… ( the drawbridge uncrossed, his courage a fickle thing, but still; he reaches out a hand. he reaches, reaches, reaches. the water below like a threat. the water below like a boundary. the water below like a promise of something on the other side. )

the Duke listens. mindful, pale eyes resting gently upon her in an attentiveness often forgone, unknown, as a nail traces the grain of the instrument, thoughtful… his harsh silhouette cast upon the dark sky shifts as he turns to her, face a little more considering, and maybe a little more understanding. he looks to the flute, as though his true care is to it and not she, a minor salve to his pride, as he answers.

" while I doth not have such stake in thy 'homesickness', thine testament is undersold in mine opinion, if i might offereth, " Rouxls begins, eyes flicking over almost nervously, before forcing himself to continue whether it was asked of him or not ( if he didn't, it'd never be said ) ━ " a 'musical teacher' such as thineself is no simple task! and nay either doeseth it forbid you from such fears. "

he places a hand 'pon his chest and closes his eyes, as though to emphasize dramatics as a savior. " Ne'er waseth mine intention to befall as the young prince's warden, and yet, such a surprise doeseth circumstance bring! but, ah… " Rouxls pauses, glancing off to the side, considering and perhaps uncertain, before his eyes go back to Dandie. he allows himself, if only for now, to become something a little more real. just for now, just for now... " with such roles, t'is… expected, for dread or doubt to findst thee. "

" all wish to avoideth pains, minor or major, to those inest our'n keep despite how oft there is ever something unavoidable. t'is… " he searches for the right words, or perhaps, studies himself to offer a better answer than the one he had ( he can't help but think back to Lancer's father, his own cowardice to stand for the right, how it all played out… ) " a most unique kind of hell, I must admiteth fairly, especially in such unfamiliar lands… "

Rouxls takes a breath, steadying himself for a sincerity part of him tries to wriggle out of, and looks at her proper. reaching out, reaching out, and under him; the drawbridge offering it's sturdy wood forward beneath his heel; he acknowledges that he doesn't have the answers either, but it couldn't stop him from offering what he did. " but while agonies may be most difficult to keep at bay, they know their capability, and in thee, they have a great ally. "

" And nor is their pains the fault of your own-! we... we do what we can, and it must be enough. But they art strong, they shall wage well on their own, and in doubt, they know who to turneth towards. They have thus far, have they not? " he offers what he hopes to be a reassuring smile. neither of them have the answer to this question they ask, maybe no one did, but he knows to trust them. it's hard, it's unbearable, but so is growing up. so is living, living, living...

and then it's as though something occurs to him, and the sincerity is momentarily edged back with a now nervous grin, eyes flitting. ( wriggling, still, but he means what he said )

" ━ Ah, although, mayhaps keepeth such faith between us, yes-? I'd prefereth not to have the purple one bite at me for such admittances, or worse yet, she begin to gloat━ "

𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐞 wasn't an odd thing between them, although it had been spurred by her bardic tendencies, in the past. it was in her nature. sharing an earbud, plucking a string. her voice was nigh always raised in some fashion of song.

it was little wonder why the duke might offer music to her, this time. to the lightener, it almost seemed like music was magical, all on its own. a universal language. a salve to weariness.

" that's--…that's true. " she eyed the little flute and in that moment felt a connection. the dark world felt so foreign to someone who only knew "music class" and "teachers' lounge" and "crappy apartment at home." but, darkeners knew music. they knew puzzles. they knew how to throw down drawbridges and cross gaps and hold out their hand, when they met someone that resonated with them. perhaps there was a measure of comfort in knowing that, while opposite to home, there were similarities in the reflection.

that wasn't to say that she hadn't noticed rouxls' hesitation on the matter. the attempt to cheer her with music was sweet, but his feet hadn't crossed that drawbridge. and, ever introverted, dandie stayed on the other side. watching, quietly.

" uh…i guess that's pretty transparent… " her thick brows tamped downwards. always prone to fidget with her dulled claws, when she was on edge. " …i think it's homesickness, in part. but the other, bigger part is just…making sure the kids are safe. "

it was something that made her a brilliant teacher, of course, but her mother henning also brought on a shade of worry. how could it not? children kris and susie's age were starting to try to find themselves, in the world. it was scary. it was hard. and being somewhere like this, though they seemed to thrive, she couldn't help worrying for their well-being.

" i'm sure there are times where you worry about lancer, too. and--…i know that i'm just the music teacher, in the light world. but i still can't help but feel attached to kris and susie - even ralsei, at this point. i don't want something bad to happen to them. " a pause. a mirthless chuckle. " i don't think i'd forgive myself, if that happened. "

TAGS MASTERPOST. ━ below the cut is a master post of all main & relationship tags used across blogs. all MAIN tags are used the same regardless of blog. all dynamic tags are sorted based on blog and URL. this will be updated with any new tags made. dynamic tags' urls and muses will be adjusted as noticed/requested, but it's very likely I won't notice all of them! if you see something, say something!

MAIN TAGS.

━ ♔ you sing but only the pavement listens : ic.

━ ♔ love will cut you & ask you to carry on singing : musing.

━ ♔ blooming forth in every color : prompts.

━ ♔ your slightly mad sea-captain : ooc.

━ ♔ to jump from anywhere & make it home : threads.

━ ♔ eyes roll away like hard green chestnuts : visage.

━ ♔ wanting like flesh knitting over a wound : xxx.

━ ♔ til there’s nothing left to love but yourself : promos.

━ ♔ on such longing i couldn’t spit out : shipping.

━ ♔ shielding your eyes from the bright noon-light : studies.

━ ♔ ass-to-speech can’t save you now : crack.

━ ♔ the new green of spring is shimmering : dash.

━ ♔ the world grows green again when you smile : games.

━ ♔ watch me hold them to the light : saved.

━ ♔ the sun has made them warm : wishlist.

━ ♔ messengers and heralds of the extraordinary : important.

━ ♔ & hunt something you have a hope of killing : psa.

━ ♔ cardinals with snow-brushed wings : asks.

DYNAMIC TAGS: QUILLHEEL.

━ ♔ And it all falls into frame; close enough to see / the blue rings of my eyes as I say / something ugly. ━ JEAN&HARRY: playedbetter

━ ♔ Am I still waiting like a / lamb to the slaughter / does your God believe in you? ━ AKARI&VOLO: ofeggies ━ ♔ Why must this happen? why must this be? I dream of space & time and wake up in 2D ━ MONIKA&NATSUKI: ofeggies ━ ♔ A mannequin adrift at sea / I think perhaps things might be better off this way ━ CHARA&ASRIEL: ofeggies ━ ♔ Slim to none: but not so slim you've got to slip between the cracks. So come back: come back. ━ WHEATLEY&CHELL: ofeggies

━ ♔ Legally gray but sweet with the phrasing / Feet in the grave; but gleefully trading ;; Feeding the cravings ━ SPAMTON&ADA: tendercoded ━ ♔ We know what we are but not what we may be. && If music be the food of love; play on ━ ROUXLS&DANDELION: manebloom

━ ♔ Dear Forgiveness; I saved a plate for you. / quit milling around the yard and come inside. ━ DUSTFINGER&MORRO: mourrow ━ ♔ It's a secret I keep tucked inside my chest / with this heart of mine that's guilty not remorseful. ━ FRISK&CHARA: intodreams ━ ♔ And the rising tide is blasphemy in the softest second sense ━ ANN&MORTY: sweetcst ━ ♔ Can you make it stop? I don't want to: are you sure? I can’t/I won’t: a ritual/a consumption ━ LINK&GANONDORF: adventuroushero ━ ♔ Hurt too hard too long & die too young; silver dollar glistening on your tongue; may your passage be assured ━ LINK&FADO: adventuroushero ━ ♔ As if he’s trying to tell you / that there is some sort of shining star now buried deep inside you ━ LINK&DARK LINK: adventuroushero ━ ♔ the beast comes quietly for all / why do you insist on protecting the sacrificial lamb? ━ ETHAN&GANONDORF: askganondorftobadragmire

━ ♔ Its nautical themed; And theres something I’m supposed to say / But I can’t for the life of me remember what it is ━ 4&3: tripleinkstrke ━ ♔ only as cruel as the first time I realized / waving my tiny shadow over a pond to scare the copper minnows ━ SMALLFRY&3: tripleinkstrke

━ ♔ It seems unforgiving when a good thing ends; but you & I will always be back then ━ MONO&SIX: paleciity ━ ♔ They're all so busy yelling; not one of them is hearing / the hissing from the bottom of the boat ━ MONO&RUNAWAY: paleciity ━ ♔ My claws are dull now so don't be afraid / I could keep you warm as long as you can try to be brave ━ HUNTER&RUNAWAY: paleciity

━ ♔ Just believe me when I say / I mean no harm; open arms; I will keep you safe until you / Pass me the knife ━ AKECHI/YUSUKE: tenebriism ━ ♔ Girls like you; they dont come with guarantees / so if you've gotta spend your time; wont you spend it with me? ━ RYUJI&AKARI: leuvspell

━ ♔ Because you had him first / and you would let the world break its own neck if it means keeping him. ━ GANONDORF/LINK: scarfbond ━ ♔ After the foxes have known our taste; After the raven has had his say; I'd be home with you / I'd be home with you ━ LINK/GAIA: gldhte

━ ♔ Souvenez-vous la prochaine fois; Que vient la neige et le fracas / On n'va pas tous mourir ━ KIM/HARRY: playedbetter ━ ♔ When I first saw you the end was soon; to Bethlehem it slouched / & then it must’ve caught a good look at you ━ HARRY/KIM: playedbetter

━ ♔ You are sick: and you’re married: and you might be dying; but you’re holding me like water in your hands. ━ JAMIE/ETHAN: jfouler ━ ♔ Silver; crystal; carousel your effervescent touch / But everybody knows that home is where your teeth sink love ━ BILLY/STU: cardedsoul ━ ♔ You spin the barrel of a fully━loaded gun; If there's no winning might as well just have some fun! ━ JD/VERONICA: ofeggies ━ ♔ Try to get out but we just keep stickin' around / cause it’s a very good bad thing we've found. ━ CESARE/STEVE: z0mburger ━ ♔ Buzzing razor held aloft & just about to strike; I loved you before even ever I knew what love was like ━ KYLE/JACKET: campblcd

━ ♔ If you need a friend I'm sailing right behind ; like a bridge over troubled water; I will ease your mind ━ RAY/PETE: pseudoneiric ━ ♔ You wonder who’s calling your name; shame how nobody knows you / nobody knows you and neither do I ━ RAY/STEBBINS: pseudoneiric ━ ♔ Lipstick on the backseat. saliva on the dash ; I've clawed my way out of here before but I keep on coming back ━ RAY/GARY: pseudoneiric

━ ♔ Every version of me dead and buried in the yard outside / We'd sit back and watch the world go by ━ SANS/O’DELLE: theyrots

DYNAMIC TAGS: AFTONTXT.

━ ♔ Oh please just hide behind this back of mine & save your helpless spite / knock on the door; access denied. ━ ALEX&MICHAEL: prizecxrner ━ ♔ You took my hand when you woke up. / we all die alone but I am so glad that you are here ━ MARI&MICHAEL: prizecxrner