" not particularly ."

he looks up at him with a fond smile -- who'd have though someone could enrapture death so ?

" not unless i have a reason ."

" that does not mean i cannot go against his supposed teachings ."

granted , it's not like he answers to him anyways .

" nonsense ."

the conversation has , for the moment , stalled his initial plan .

" if you are a sinner , then there is simply no hope for me ."

ever with the dramatics .

" i'll hear none of that kind of talk ."

xianshen's expression turns sour for a brief second before returning to its usual impassiveness .

" i cannot simply shower you in compliments to announce my presence ?"

he holds out a hand , beckoning him closer after a second .

" long enough ."

leaning his cheek against his fist .

there's a light smile with that .

" as lovely as ever ."

his smile deepens with that , and he reaches up with his free hand to brush his fingers against his jaw .

" far too long ."

looking down at him with a light smile .

" hello again , my dear ."

⠀⠀
‧₊ ٠࣪⭑ ⋆ CIRCE ✶ witch ✶ she/they ⋆ ˚₊⁺
𖤓 ─── ⋅ ❝ think of your 𝓹ast ❞⠀⋅ ─ ⋆ ⏾
★ . ◠ #etmrp #mvrp ⤶ ⊹ .
⠀⠀

" you don't look so bad yourself ."

mm .

" thank you ."

/ / found tgcf 6 and 7 on sale today so i figured that was a sign to maybe check on this guy

⠀
⠀⠀ ''What is freedom, if demanded by a god?''
⠀

challenge accepted , then . he'll get it one way or another .

" shall we ?"

" very well , then ."

an uphill battle , he supposes . regardless , he'll be certain to try to ease flins into forgetting the title when he addresses xianshen in the future .

/ / need to eat something . . . but i also want to make sure i pay attention here since notifs aren't working 😭

well , if it makes him happy . . .

but , " then shall i call you ' mr . flins ' to even things out ?"

his head tilts , a small smile playing at his expression .

there's a soft sigh in response to that .

" please -- no need for the title ."

the hesitation is not lost on him in the slightest .

" if it will not make you uncomfortable , then ."

" i hoped we might be able to spend some time together . perhaps try to engage further with that mystery of ours ."

as to why they were so familiar with each other .

there's a small nod for him .

" are you busy today ?"

" i've been fine ."

nothing terrible going on .

of course .

now .

" have you been well today ?"