！

"yes."  the answer was quiet  —  worried their voice would run the butterfly off.  they took a brief moment to look away to glance at luciano.  "  ..  dark makes pretty."  a shrug was given.  it wasn't a gift it was granted.  the dark would only ever make them a monster  —  something they were fine with  ,  but couldn't help but occasionally loathe.  

@keepwatch-           "hm?"      the   little     butterfly   caught   his  attention   immediately.   the   beings  fascination  with  it  was   another  thing   that   they  focused  on.     "it   is   very   pretty.    i  assume    you   like   butterflies?"

"don't  ..  understand question."  it's hands moved to twine together.  "just  ..  works."  they shrugged.  "am me  —  you are you.  little logic."

@keepwatch-         "how  does  that   work?"  their  nose  scrunched  in  confusion.    surely   it  had  to come   off,  but  if   it  insisted  it  didn't,  then  they  weren't  going  to   judge. 

a nod was given.  "yes.  all forms."  no matter what  ,  the hat would be there.  it's how the humans got his moniker.  while uncreative  ,  it didn't mind the name.  

this time he didn't let go of the strand and instead continued to gently play with it.  "it's pretty."  it admitted  ,  the glowing of their eyes slightly squinting.  that was the closest to a smile you'd get in this form.  "not annoying."

@keepwatch-         "annoying.   similar  to  irritating,   almost."      luciano   would   tilt   his  head  in  confusion,  but  ultimately  nod  as  he  understood  what  was  being said.   "my  hair  does  not   grow.  it  was  this   length  when  i   passed.   it  has  stayed  this   length  for   forever."

"annoying?"  they questioned in confusion.  they didn't know that word.  it sounded negative though.  they huffed a bit as they tried to figure out how to put their thoughts into words.  one of their fingers pointed to their own hair  "short.  always."  then went to gently pick up , strand of the others again  "long.  grows  —  better."

"  ..  stare to  —  talk?"  it was spoken with very little confidence  ,  now that this was all happening.  most people didn't notice he was looking at them  ,  and when they did  ,  they'd run away.  he didn't expect for the other to just  ..  ask   /  why  /   it was looking.

@keepwatch-            as  the  silence  continued,   luciano  couldn't  help  but   feel  more  and  more   confused.     if  the  other  didn't  need  anything,  why   had he  been  focused on  them  for the   past  couple  minutes.   "then   why   are   you  staring  at   me?"    

it's head tilted slightly to the side as the other spoke to them.  strange.  he couldn't remember the last time he had a conversation with someone.  he shook his head in a denial of help  ,  but continued his act of staring nonetheless.

@keepwatch- 
            ;  </3 

   /     this is a lil too public for me bro

@keepwatch- 
            ; yes. it's a threat. 

    “  of  course  im  talkin  to  you,  who  else  .ᐣ  ”  brown  eyes  settle  on  him  and  he  offered  a  wary  smile  “  luciano.  it's  nice  to  meet  you.  im  a  sort  of  medium.  i  can  communicate  with  spirits  like  you. ”
            
            ⁽  @weepingwounds  ⁾

@aurasreveal           "are   you—   are  you  talking    to     /me/?"    he'd  pause,  as  though  they'd  not  expected   the  conversation.     "luciano.    you    can   see    me?"

yeah . at least i think so . i think i'll have some
            of those , too .

@borndamned          i  will  take  your  word  for it.   i    want   spring rolls.  those  are  chinese,   right? 

cool . because i know this / really / good
            chinese place . it's like , close to the real
            thing .     ( . . . )    i think .

whatever color you want . what color do you
            want , angel ?

@borndamned            *  closing   their   eyes,   he'd  nod   a  little  in   confirmation.  *     what   color   eyeshadow?

uh - huh ! just eyeliner and a little bit of 
            eye - shadow . nothing extravagant .    * he
            gave a small smile before starting on the
            makeup . *

you think so ? even with my busy schedule ?
            how would i have time ?

@borndamned          hm.   i  think  you  should  pick  it   back   up. 

busy , mostly . and unmotivated , you know ?

@weepingwounds 
            
            "I'm not trying to." 

@lakeshifts         "well  now  you  are  making  me  feel   old."

@weepingwounds 
            
            "Almost, yeah. A long, long time."