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Status

Recent Statuses

2 yrs ago
Current Does this mean we can call you abmin now?
9 likes
2 yrs ago
300 word minimum is pretty standard for casual level and up in my experience
4 likes
2 yrs ago
Just discovered Dog TV. My pitbull and I have a new shared hobby.
6 likes
3 yrs ago
Barbenheimer 2023
6 likes
3 yrs ago
There's a panhandler who hangs out on the street corner by our dispensary every afternoon with a sign that just says "Green 4 Green?" and tbh, I respect my boy's confidence.
2 likes

Bio

Personal Profile

Name: Taylor
Pronouns: They/them
Age: Mid 20s
Relationship: Married (happily, I might add)
Time Zone: Arizona (we hate daylight savings, so it's MST year-round)
Writing History: I've been on a number of different roleplaying websites for over a decade and a half
Hobbies: Writing, fitness, driving/exploring, hiking, camping, traveling, tabletop games, anything NEW (I love trying things I've never done before)
Roleplayer Profile

Format: 1x1s only. Maybe I'll try a group RP again someday, but I've never had one last longer than a few months
Posting Speed: Depending on my schedule, I can usually post at least once per week
Favorite Genres: Modern, Historical, Romance, Action/Adventure, Horror/Dark, Fantasy, Slice of Life, Dystopian, can be convinced to write some Sci-Fi
Hard 'no's: Fandoms. Sorry, but I can't maintain interest in characters/worlds I didn't build with my partner
Template: Public threads or PMs. I prefer to keep all my RPs in one place, so no emails or G-docs or the like
Rating: Comfortable with 18+ content, but it's not a necessity and I prefer not to center a plot around explicit scenes
Level: Advanced. Will consistently provide around 400-700 words per post, but can occasionally leap to 2000+
Character preference: One main character, but large side casts are greatly enjoyed. Because I write long posts, I prefer not to double
Gender preference: Male. You'll be hard pressed to convince me to play a female that isn't a background character. It's just not my forte
Romantic Relationships: MxF or MxM (currently prefer MxM)
Character Images: Faceclaims or detailed descriptions only. I envision the characters like real people in my mind, so I can't take anime seriously
OOC chat: Yes please! I'm a total extrovert who loves to get to know the amazing minds behind my partners' characters

Most Recent Posts

Crow doesn't like that lol
Preston's already being helpful
On the walk to the Great Hall, Crow could tell that Preston was itching to keep asking him more questions about his relationship with Penelope. The attendant was clearly intrigued with his discovery that morning, and though the viceroy believed he wouldn’t go around spreading word of the fact that they were together, he found his off-and-on staring to be annoying. It wasn’t like there was much more to say. Aside from the more personal details of their relationship, the boy knew pretty much everything there was to it; that they had already been together romantically before, and that they were still together now. He didn’t know what else his servant could want to know.

Fortunately, even though Preston was a bit enthralled by the reveal, he didn’t ask any more questions while they were in the halls of the castle. Crow was relieved that he was sensible enough to keep his mouth shut in front of the palace guards. It would have been bad news if anyone overheard them talking and learned about him and Penelope before they were ready to tell everyone, themselves.

It won’t be much longer though, he thought, feeling a bubble of excitement well up inside his chest. His reputation around the castle was already improving quite a bit as the other nobles lost interest in glaring at him all day. They were probably still upset that a thief had been given such a prestigious title by their king, but at least he wasn’t at the top of their lists of grievances anymore. With any luck, it would only be a matter of days or weeks before they finally accepted that he was their viceroy.

His interactions with John had been going better too. While he could tell that Penelope’s father still had reservations about letting him court his daughter, they were at least on good enough terms to have a pleasant conversation. He felt hopeful that as long as he didn’t do anything to set the older knight off again, he would eventually come around. The thought drew an eager smile out of the viceroy. For the first time in his life, he had high hopes that he could be the kind of man a father would give his blessing to. He’d never thought something like this would happen for him.

By the time Crow and Preston reached the Great Hall, Crow had been lost in his head for quite a while. He blinked a bit dazedly when he realized they had made it and looked around the large chamber to see if he could find Penelope. It wasn’t long before he spotted her, and he began to step toward her table. However, he paused when he saw that she wasn’t sitting with Naida. His eyes narrowed involuntarily as they landed on Cedric’s back. He knew he’d told Penelope that he wasn’t going to get involved without a reason, but he still didn’t like how much the other man seemed to follow her around.

The viceroy took a step toward her table and then stopped again. As much as he wanted to get between the two, he didn’t want to risk drawing any more attention to his closeness with the knight than he already had. Joining them unexpectedly for breakfast wouldn’t help him keep their secret. So, with a reluctant sigh, he forced himself to look away from Penelope’s table to find another place to eat.

“Aren’t you going to sit with her?” Preston asked suddenly at his side. The short attendant was looking up at him with his head tilted to the side. “I thought you two were planning to meet up for breakfast?”

“We were,” he shrugged, answering the boy in a low voice. “But I can’t go over there while he’s with her.”

Preston blinked and turned back to Penelope’s table, eyeing her companion with an unreadable expression. “Who is he?”

“Just a friend of hers,” Crow muttered. “But it would look strange if I joined them without a reason.”

“Why?”

Crow turned to the servant with a twinge of annoyance, “Why would I join her for breakfast if we weren’t close? I’m sure he’d like it was strange.”

Preston fell quiet for a moment in thought, holding the viceroy’s gaze with a hint of amusement.

“What?” Crow asked curtly, disliking the boy’s expression.

“Well,” the attendant mused. “He joined her because he’s her friend. Why can’t you join her if you’re also pretending to be her friend?”

Crow stared at him, taken aback by the simplicity of Preston’s solution. Perhaps in his nervousness about getting found out, he’d been acting a little overly cautious lately. There really wasn’t anything strange about joining his “friend” for a meal. Cedric would have to take quite a leap to assume there was anything more going on between them just based on one friendly action.

“I guess you’re right,” he casted the boy a smirk. “I should join my friend for breakfast.” He turned and made his way through the crowd, eager to spend some time the knight in spite of her company.
Preston gushed a little after she left xD
He's definitely going to keep pressing them for information later lol
“Alright,” Crow nodded when Penelope announced that she needed to go back to her post. While he would have liked to keep her close after the stress his nightmare had brought, he didn’t want her to get caught in his bed chamber by the next guard to relieve her without a good reason. He supposed he was just going to have to settle for meeting up with her in the Great Hall later.

As the knight exited the room, he climbed down from his bed and made his way over to his wardrobe to get dressed for the day. At first, he didn’t notice it, but after a brief period of silence passed, he realized Preston was being unusually quiet. He glanced furtively over his shoulder as he slid his linen nightshirt over his head. The servant was waiting patiently for him by the door as usual. Normally, his relaxed behavior wouldn’t have bothered the viceroy, but it seemed strange for the boy to be acting so mild mannered about what he’d just learned.

“You’re surprisingly calm,” he commented, casting Preston an estranged look. “I would have thought you’d be quicker to gloat about being right.”

“I don’t need to brag to feel satisfied,” the attendant shrugged.

“Of course you don’t,” Crow muttered dryly. He turned back to finish getting ready, and then paused as another thought came to him. “You aren’t going to speak to anyone else about this, are you?” he asked warily, facing the servant again with narrowed eyes.

“I have no reason to,” Preston shrugged again. He wavered for a moment before speaking up again. “I suppose I do have some questions though.”

“I’d be shocked if you didn’t,” Crow smirked at him amusedly.

Preston seemed to take his comment as permission to speak his mind. “I know I was right about your feelings towards each other,” he tilted his head in an innocently confused manner. “But you almost seem like you’re already courting Penelope. Why are you hiding it?”

Crow didn’t answer right away. Though the attendant had figured them out, he was still reluctant to open up to him completely. It seemed unwise to let any more people know about his relationship with the knight until they were ready to come forward. However, Preston’s words from the previous morning gave him pause. Perhaps he could trust the boy just a little more.

“It’s complicated,” he finally said in a low voice, leaning back against the footboard of his bed and folding his arms over his chest. “For one thing, we’re not actually courting. It’s true that we’re together in our own way, but it’s not the same kind of relationship that you’d see the other nobles here partake in.” He lifted his shoulders. “For another, I don’t have the greatest reputation at the castle, and I don’t want to ruin her name. We’re not going to tell anyone until I can be sure her good name won’t be sullied.”

“I see,” Preston mused. Another thought seemed to come to him, and he studied the viceroy with new interest. “You make it sound like you’ve been thinking about this for a long time. Just how long have you two been together?”

“Longer than I’ve lived here,” Crow chuckled. “Technically we were together two years ago, but there was a long gap in the middle. Altogether, I believe it’s been closer to four months.”

Preston whistled, “Does anyone else know about this?”

“A few people do. Her father is the only other person in the castle who does, which is why we need to keep it quiet.”

“Wow,” the attendant shook his head. He opened his mouth to ask another question, but Crow held up a hand.

“That’s enough for now,” he said. “I’m sure that the more we talk about this, the more questions you’re going to have, and I can’t spend the whole morning giving you answers.” He stepped away from the edge of his bed and beckoned for the attendant to follow him. “Come on. Let’s get something to eat while breakfast is still being served. I’m hungry.”
Preston kind of just brushed past the subject xD
He just wanted to make sure Crow acknowledged he was right
Crow winced when Penelope said she wished he had told her sooner. However, her voice didn’t sound as upset as he had been expecting. Instead of addressing him with frustration or disappointment, she was actually gentle with him. A small, melancholic smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. He knew he didn’t deserve the amount of affection she showed him, but he appreciated it nonetheless, especially since he was still a bit shaken up by his nightmare. Right now, the last thing he needed was to be reprimanded for something he had already known he’d done wrong.

He nodded faintly when she said there wasn’t anything she could have done anyway. He was glad that she finally seemed to understand what he’d been trying to tell her. The dreams weren’t like a physical wound or even an illness. They were all in his head. There was nothing anyone could do to help, since they couldn’t get inside his mind and change the memories. As difficult as it was, this was just something he was going to have to fight on his own.

As the knight pressed a kiss to his forehead, Crow closed his eyes again and leaned into her embrace, taking comfort in having her so close. Her words did little to reassure him though. He doubted Tybalt would have any better ideas than Eldon had. However, he kept his thoughts to himself, in no mood to start an argument over it. Right now, he just wanted to focus on the warmth of her body and the steady movement of her chest as she breathed. The rhythm helped calm him, just enough to be caught off guard when Preston suddenly spoke up.

At the sound of the attendant’s voice, the viceroy tensed. In his panic, he’d forgotten that the boy was still in the room with them and that he and Penelope needed to keep their relationship a secret. He opened his eyes again to see the servant watching them with an intrigued look on his face, but, unsure what to say, he remained quiet.

When no one answered his question, Preston took it upon himself to fill the silence.

“I was right,” he said matter-of-factly.

Crow shifted slightly. It was going to be hard to convince the attendant he was wrong now that he’d caught them in such an intimate moment, but he was in no mood to discuss it. “Read the room, kid,” he rolled his eyes instead, hoping the servant would drop the subject on his own. Unfortunately, if Preston picked up on the warning, he didn’t heed it.

“I knew it,” the attendant went on as he looked between them. “You tried to tell me I was wrong, but I knew I was right.”

“Alright, fine,” Crow sighed, leaning away from Penelope to put some distance between them while the boy’s eyes were still on them. “You win. Are you happy now?”

“Quite,” Preston nodded. He stepped over to the table, retrieving the glass of water he’d set there before returning to the viceroy’s bedside. “Here. Drink this.”

“Thanks,” Crow accepted the water and downed the whole thing. When he was finished, he handed the empty glass back to his servant and moved to swing his legs over the edge of the mattress. “Well, I guess I might as well get up now since I’m awake.”
If there was any hope for Preston not figuring them out, it's gone now ^^;
Crow forgot he's there
Still caught up in his panic attack, Crow was unaware of the discourse between Preston and Penelope. He kept his eyes shut, trying to reign in his uncontrolled breathing as he realized he was starting to feel lightheaded. With the nightmare still so fresh in his mind, he didn’t want to let himself pass out and risk facing it twice in one day. Thinking about it again, he flinched as the images passed, unwarranted, through his mind. He lifted his hands to his head, murmuring to himself under his breath as he tried to get them to go away. They were definitely getting worse. He was sure of that now.

Suddenly, he tensed as he felt someone rest a hand on his back. He wanted to look up to see who was there but, worried that he would just open his eyes to another vision of Jaxon or a knight or something even worse, he couldn’t bring himself to move. He shivered, putting his focus back into getting rid of the lingering pictures in his mind. It was getting harder to tell dream from reality. Even though he’d dealt with nightmares in the past, they had never been this bad. If they continued to progress as they had been, he wasn’t sure what he was going to do.

“Crow, I’m here.”

The viceroy’s breath caught in his throat as he recognized Penelope’s voice. For a moment, relief washed over him as he decided that it must have been her hand that he could feel on his back. However, his respite was short lived when another thought came to him: What if I’m just imagining her too? His stomach twisted. As his nightmares grew more intense, he was starting to fear that he was losing his mind. If he opened his eyes to look for the knight and saw that she wasn’t there…

“You’re alright. You’re safe. Just breathe… In and out.”

Crow bit his lip. He really wanted her to be there. Her voice sounded tangible, but he had to know for sure. Pushing back against his fear, he managed to open his eyes and tentatively glanced toward his bedside. As his gaze fell on the knight, he felt weak with relief. He hadn’t imagined her after all. She really was there.

Without giving it another thought, he abruptly wrapped his arms around her, closing his eyes again as he took comfort in knowing she was with him. Somehow, holding onto her helped to ground him a bit more. He wasn’t in Tamsworth or Jaxon’s camp. He was in the castle with her, safe and unscathed. The thought gave him just enough strength to start getting his breathing back under control.

He held her for a while longer—he wasn’t sure how much time passed—until the effects of his nightmare finally subsided. Once his heart had stopped racing and his body had stopped trembling, he opened his eyes again and looked off to the side, resting his head against her chest. The panic was gone now, but it had been replaced by a sharp sense of humiliation as it hit him that she’d seen him in such a miserable state. He hadn’t wanted her to find out just how bad his dreams had gotten.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” he mumbled under his breath, keeping his gaze fixed away from her. Putting his feelings aside, he knew she had to have been upset with him for keeping secrets from her yet again. She probably thought he didn’t trust her enough or that he didn’t want to rely on her as a partner. He didn’t want to see the look of disappointment on her face knowing he’d let her down again.
Figured I'd give a little of Preston's perspective, since Crow doesn't even know Penelope's there xD

It's gonna be wild for sure lol Crow's not gonna be happy when he sees Cedric trying to put the moves on Penelope
As Crow walked back to his bed chambers, he could already feel his heart beginning to pound in his chest. Between his hesitation to face his nightmare yet again and his worry that Penelope was going to find out he was doing worse than he claimed, the thought of going to sleep that night was quite unappealing. However, he knew he couldn’t just stay up either. After three nights of poor rest in a row, his weary body begged him to lay down. If he attempted to stay awake until the morning, he would probably just pass out.

He let out his breath in a conflicted sigh, stepping into his room and closing the door behind him. His eyes wandered to his bed, and he swallowed apprehensively. Maybe I’ll get lucky, he thought to himself again. When he’d had the dreams the first time as a child, there had been occasional nights when the nightmare hadn’t appeared. So, while it was slim, there technically was still a chance that he would make it through the night without waking up in a cold sweat in the morning.

Clinging to the hope, the viceroy reluctantly changed out of his day clothes and laid down for bed. He drew his blankets up to his chin to stave off the cold, closing his eyes and sending a brief prayer to the gods that he would make it through the night without facing his nightmare again.

After lying awake for a little while longer, his exhaustion grew too strong to fight anymore and he let go of consciousness, drifting off into a light sleep.

--

If the gods had been listening to his prayers in the past, they certainly weren’t anymore.

Crow jolted upright on his bed, clutching his chest where Jaxon’s sword had been mere seconds before. His breaths came to him short and shallow as he tried to regain his bearings. The task seemed to be getting harder to do the longer his nightmare plagued him. Though he knew in the back of his head that he was safe in the castle, it was difficult to shake off the vivid images of the slaughter that tried to convince him he was still in danger. He clenched his jaw, trying to will the gruesome scene out of his mind.

Still consumed with the aftereffects of his nightmare, the viceroy wasn’t aware that Preston was already in the room with him again. His attendant sat at the table by the window as usual, keeping an eye on his master in wait to approach him whenever he was coherent enough to handle a conversation. He’d brought another glass of water, but knew better than to try to bring it to the bed until his panic resided.

When the door suddenly burst open, Preston startled and spun around in his seat. The guards on the third floor had grown sick of Crow’s “disruption” lately, so he had thought they weren’t going to bother coming to check on him. So, as Penelope stepped in with her sword in hand, the servant’s eyes widened with fright. He froze for a moment before slowly standing up from the table. The idea of confronting a knight who outranked him was intimidating to say the least, but after the way the viceroy had reacted to the last guard who tried to help him, he knew he had to warn her off.

“Um,” he started nervously, trying to get his thoughts straight as he kept her sword in sight. “Collin doesn’t want any guests right now… Please, you shouldn’t be here.” Fighting past his nervousness, he made his way over to the door, gesturing to usher the knight out of the room.
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