#thread: serendpitous001

[softersinned-arc]

@lovemaim & @serendpitous​

She hasn’t had much time to decorate the office but it’s clearly hers, even beyond the engraved nameplate reading Astoria Grim on the door. There was nothing to do about the carpet, but she could learn to tolerate it; the art had to go, some portrait of a Salvatore ancestor she couldn’t give less of a shit about, and she replaced it with a Blake illustration from the Inferno. Books everywhere, pens and papers everywhere, at least three candles she shouldn’t be lighting in her office lined up on the windowsill, no fewer than eight tarot decks stacked on a bookshelf, three of her sweaters shoved in a drawer with a pair of slippers for when she’s sick of the heels and a fourth draped over the back of the chair. 

          So it’s not as much of a surprise as it could be when the door is open, and it’s not as much of a surprise as it could be when she sees a familiar shape sitting in her chair, and it’s certainly no surprise at all when she only barely maintains the presence of mind to set her coffee cup down safely on the desk when she reaches it, rather than simply flinging herself across the furniture. Instead, she’s calm, and composed, save for the absolutely absurd smile spreading across her face, and when she gets behind the desk again she rests her hands on the high back of the chair and she leans forward until she’s very nearly nose to nose with the intruder. 

          It’s a hell of a greeting for an uninvited guest. 

          “Hi.” And she, somehow, grins wider. “I didn’t realize you were back. Hi. Hi. I left Simon with my address and a key — did you stop by and see him? How long are you here?” And then, because she’s too impatient to wait for an answer, Astoria closes the distance between them, small as it is, kisses him soundly. And when she pulls back she does so reluctantly, the weight of the past few weeks heavy in her gut. “There is — a lot happening. Tell me you can stick around for a bit while I fill you in. And tell me you brought me something pretty from France.”

#lovemaim #serendpitous #lovemaim ( marcel gerard ) #serendpitous ( hope mikaelson ) #thread: lovemaim & serendpitous001

[dekoranevich]

@serendpitous | ALINA STARKOV ( plotted starter )

"She’s gone !! I watched her leave myself.”

     It is neither dignified nor generous to be this thrilled about anyone’s departure, but Genya thinks Zoya is a special case — especially considering the fractured ribs and the many bruises Alina wore as a result of their tussle. ( Zoya’s cheating. ) Genya sweeps into the room with all the confidence of an old friend, nevermind that she and Alina have known one another only a handful of weeks. ( She understands it, now. Why the people whisper that she might be a Saint. Perhaps it’s simply the sun inside of her, but there is a light to her, something so warm and brilliant and beautiful that it almost hurts to look at her sometimes. The Darkling thinks that it’s simply the knowledge of what she can do. Genya thinks it’s Alina’s compassion. Her joy. Both shame her. )

     Without waiting for an invitation, she drops into an artful sprawl in an unoccupied chair, and she waves a hand imperiously. “The clouds parted. The children of Os Alta raised their voices in unison to sing she’s gone !! She’s gone !! I’m surprised you didn’t hear it.” And then she takes in the sight of Alina, her hair a mess from sleeping and the dark circles still under her eyes, and she stands and sighs and raises her eyebrows. “I know from the state of your hair that you’re sleeping,” she says, “but I’d never know it from the rest of you. Up. Let me take care of it.” There is real concern in her voice, though she tries to hide it under her usual sarcastic wit. There is guilt, too, when she thinks of those letters. “Maybe Zoya should have knocked you out for a few more hours. Then you’d at least have gotten some rest.”

#serendpitous #serendpitous ( alina starkov ) #thread: serendpitous001 #v. just be careful. (of what?) of powerful men. ( canon timeline: shadow and bone ) #(every time i have to think abt anyone not loving zoya it makes me itch)