October 16, 2025 – 4:46 PM
It wasn’t often that Ritchie went to society events. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy them, but rather he was always busy one way or another, whether it was cooking something up or being lost in thought about cooking something up. He spent a lot of time thinking about ice cream, whoops. It had been Tabitha who had told him it might do some good to get out of the shop and be seen somewhere else behind the counter and Mattie, sweet silent Mattie, betrayed him by agreeing with their sister.
So here Ritchie was, standing near the spooky path that led into the Forbidden Forest with his arms folded across his chest, wondering if he should actually go in or start walking home. He wasn’t frightened but the forest itself gave him the hibbie jibbies, so maybe that was a sign that he shouldn’t enter… but with a quick glance back, Ritchie quickly determined it was either risking his life on this seemingly harmless path or having to put his name on some dance cards. (Plus the graveyard was said to be haunted with some of the meanest of ghosts, and he
really didn't want to come in contact with them.) So that solved that.
The lanterns that lined the path flickered with unnatural rhythm, like they couldn’t quite decide whether to behave like proper candles or mischievous spirits. Someone had clearly enchanted the whole place for ambience, and that meant stepping in could result in any number of nonsense effects: floating, glowing, possibly being turned into a toad for dramatic effect. Ritchie sighed as he ran a hand through his hair – people did this sort of thing for fun, but he wasn’t sure if he considered it
fun. What was fun was trying out some new flavors, maybe one that
would temporarily turn someone into a toad.
He took a tentative step forward, crunching over the gravel, half expecting something to pop out of the forest and drag him into the depths of it. When it didn’t, he shoved his hands into his pockets and shuffled forward, pushing only when something ahead rustled – not in the gentle sort of woodland creature kind of way, but rather in the, there might be an actual monster coming out of the forest coming to eat him.
“Er,” Ritchie said lamely,
“If you’re a monster, I’d appreciate a head’s up so I can start running.”
Anthony Alderton
Bee made the lovely grey set<3
October 16, 2025 – 5:32 PM
Last modified: October 19, 2025 – 2:58 PM by Anthony Alderton.
Anthony Alderton — Played by Fox
Anthony hadn’t been to a low stakes event in a long time. Since coming off his second wild season in Paris and deciding to refocus his efforts on bringing the business back home, Mama had taken the chance to - quite literally - hurl him at any passing British debutant she could find. Something about hoping he’ll settle down already and move back; their father wasn’t getting any younger and he had the estate to tend to— either way. It was proving as fruitless here as it had in France and Anthony was beginning to doubt he was charming after all. Maybe he was destined to be a lonely old bachelor. Whatever the case, he’d accepted the proposal to chaperone Tillie this evening for the Moonlit Ceremony Ball. She’d liked the fact that it was in a cemetery and he’d liked the idea of taking a night off from his own efforts. Mathilda was a fairly easy charge too with her books and penchant to hide with her friends. All in all, Anthony was in for an evening of peace.
He meandered about inspecting the various elements this event had to offer, sometimes with amusement and others with eagerness. All Hallows Eve had always been his cousin Poppy’s favorite holiday what with
her penchant for mischief. Sometimes Anthony missed the diminutive brunette; their little rivalry had certainly dulled now after Laurel’s passing, but she seemed to be doing well enough for herself in France. And at least having Aunt Viola there to keep and eye on him had appeased his mother this last year, too.
Without realizing where he was going or what he was doing, Anthony’s feet strayed to The Path. He’d heard some of the other guests chattering about it in curiosity and he supposed his own must have gotten the better of him. It was dimly lit by a few flickering candles and Anthony grinned as he waltzed right in. He’d never been scared of the dark or the creepy crawly.
A few feet behind him there was a rustling sound. Anthony turned, already swallowed by the darkness of the forest, to see none other than Mr. Fortescue— no, Ritchie — creeping up behind him looking… stalled, if nothing else. An amused grin split his face but Anthony kept his laughter in check as a terrible idea popped into his head. He ducked to the right behind the largest tree he could find and waited for Fortescue to wander further in. Then, coming around behind him soundlessly, Anthony reached out and grabbed him by the shoulders. “
Boo.”
© ladybug for the gorgeous sig and matching (green) av & darling MJ for the rotating yellow avs!
October 17, 2025 – 12:19 AM
Of course the monster didn’t answer him. Ritchie knew they were real, he’d attended all the classes at Hogwarts that discussed dark wizards and creatures that could kill him with a single look, but well, it probably didn’t make much sense that they were prowling around a highly visible event. Just as he let out a breath because the logic was reasonable, he felt fingers curling around his shoulder…
And then he yelped before he could help himself, something before a gasp and scream because he knew that monsters were real and of bloody course they’d be prowling around a graveyard during All Hallows’ Eve. Ritchie whipped around as quickly as he could, his coat nearly tangling around his legs as he did. His heart was inside his throat when he found himself face-to-face with Anthony, the man close enough that he could almost feel the man’s breath against his cheek.
For a second, Ritchie just… froze. The forest, the candles, the faint sound of music coming from behind him where people still danced all vanished behind the sound of his own pulse inside his ears. “Bloody –” You –!” While he wasn’t sure what he wanted to say, Ritchie found himself pressing a hand flat against Anthony’s chest as if to steady himself, or maybe push him back because Anthony Alderton was not funny, though he didn’t actually do it. “You can’t just… sneak up on people like that!”
Bee made the lovely grey set<3
October 17, 2025 – 1:47 AM
Last modified: October 19, 2025 – 2:58 PM by Anthony Alderton.
Anthony Alderton — Played by Fox
The moment the sound left his mouth, Anthony knew he’d gotten Fortescue good. They weren’t so mismatched in height that he could really call the blonde shorter than him, but he certainly seemed to grow a few inches with how high he jumped in Anthony’s arms. A jovial laugh escaped the elder Alderton and he couldn’t help the grin that stretched like a cheshire cat from ear to ear. Fortescue’s subsequent protests fell on deaf ears as Anthony continued to laugh, and not being a gentleman about it in the slightest. Ritchie yelped! He was never going to let the ice cream connoisseur live it down.
As the other turned to face him, one hand settled on his chest in what had probably been an attempt to shove him off, but Anthony could only snicker.
“You’re lucky I didn’t send something coming out of the woods after you,” he teased.
“If you were one of my cousins, you’d have all but died.” He snickered again. Ritchie
was lucky they weren’t that familiar. It had been a long time since Anthony had played a good joke and he was itching with the need for it.
It was only then, vaguely, that the brunette realized he was still holding onto Fortescue and he dropped his hands to take a decided step back. He wasn’t going to apologize for it.
“This is the price of doing business with a child,” he laughed again, running a hand through his curls. They had long since come untidy. And while it was a self-deprecating joke, he felt comfortable enough with Fortescue to risk the unprofessionalis. They’d been corresponding a lot over their joint venture these past few weeks and he felt like they were almost friends now. Or on their way to being, he supposed. Better the ice cream man learn sooner rather than later what his true nature could be like.
© ladybug for the gorgeous sig and matching (green) av & darling MJ for the rotating yellow avs!
October 19, 2025 – 1:13 AM
Ritchie’s heart was still beating somewhere in his throat when he shot Anthony a look that could curdle fresh cream. “You’re insufferable, Alderton. Absolutely insufferable.” Ritchie felt the corner of his mouth threaten treason by twitching upward, even if he didn’t find it entirely funny. It was difficult to be angry at him when he was laughing like he’d just told the funniest joke in the world. “You do amuse yourself, don’t you?” he asked as he glanced at him. “A pity I wasn’t there to offer your poor cousins moral support.” Ritchie could only imagine what he did to them.
The hand that landed against his chest lingered just long enough for him to realize it, although as he pulled it back, Anthony took a step back.The audacity of the man. The grin, the laugh, that maddening ease. “You should count yourself lucky we’re not at the shop or else I’d toss you into a vat of pistachio.” Pistachio of course, because Anthony had deemed it his favorite. While Ritchie’s eyes narrowed, his glare didn’t quite stick.
Then they widened, head tipping slightly as he squinted at the woods, as if trying to make sense of something he couldn’t quite see. “Don’t move.” Ritchie murmured, as if not to startle whatever it was.
Bee made the lovely grey set<3
October 19, 2025 – 4:19 AM
Last modified: October 19, 2025 – 2:57 PM by Anthony Alderton.
Anthony Alderton — Played by Fox
Anthony was still chortling giddily to himself for having scared Fortescue so heartily. He
was pleased himself, yes, and made no effort to hide it at all. Insufferable was not a new term. He’d heard it applied to himself many times in his thirty-some odd years, from back in school when his professors had gotten sick of his jokes to presently when he harangued his siblings just this side of too far. Ritchie Fortescue was only the most recent offender. He was, however, the most endearing in recent memory with his feigned scowl and huffy manner. Yes. They were on their way to becoming dear,
dear friends Anthony imagined.
“My cousins are just as bad as I am,” he reassured the put-out looking ice cream man.
“Well, some of them.” Poppy namely. She could give just as good as she got, and Atticus wasn’t necessarily one to be left behind either— when it suited him.
“But I’ll happily take that punishment,” he teased.
“I’ll eat myself sick and be all the merrier for it.” Anthony had leaned forward tauntingly as Fortescue narrowed his eyes, grinning still like a bit of an idiot. He didn’t hear anything in the woods behind them, so when Fortescue commented, it was all Anthony could do to laugh again.
“Oh ho!” He shook his head.
“You’re not fooling me with that one, sir.” How many times had someone tried to play the same trick back? No, no. Anthony Alderton was too clever for this trick. He turned straight in the direction of the woods and took a few steps, before beckoning the scaredy cat along with him.
“Come now, I’ll protect you from whatever might be lurking.” He was good at that anyway. Being a knight in shining armor was practically Anthony’s second career.
© ladybug for the gorgeous sig and matching (green) av & darling MJ for the rotating yellow avs!
October 19, 2025 – 9:19 PM
Ritchie laughed despite himself, albeit a bit disappointed his trick didn’t work. He didn’t play them often, unless it was asking his siblings or friends to taste test the newest batch of an ice cream he was working on, but then knew what they were signing up for when he asked that. Food charms were his specialty and since he started experimenting, Ritchie hadn’t managed to kill anyone. Yet.
He blinked as Anthony stepped forward down the path, leaving Ritchie standing on the path. He scrambled forward as he beckoned because oh no, he was not about to be left alone in the dark where monsters could lurk. The faster they walked down the path, the faster they’d get to the end and be done with it. His siblings would be happy to hear that he not only went to the ball but participated in some kind of event at it, so really, Ritchie had no choice but to follow Anthony in the Deep Dark Woods. He stood so close that their shoulders brushed.
“If I get dragged off by a banshee, I’m haunting you,” he muttered. Although he wanted to sound angry, Ritchie’s voice came out sounding more nervous than anything. They ambled a bit further down the path, and just as Ritchie opened his mouth to say something that might restore a sliver of his dignity, there was an actual sound that came from the forest. A very sharp, low hoo-hoo that probably wouldn’t have startled a first year who was used to the sounds of owls.
But Ritchie… he yelped. Actually yelped like a startled cat, and without a flicker of hesitation latched onto Anthony’s arm, fingers digging into his sleeve. This path was going to kill him – the ice cream connoisseur could feel it in his bones.
Bee made the lovely grey set<3
October 19, 2025 – 9:48 PM
Anthony Alderton — Played by Fox
Fortescue’s laugh only clued Anthony into the fact that he’d been right to call the other’s bluff. It was genuine and unabashed, with a bit of a melodic quality to it that settled somewhere on Anthony’s shoulders like a blanket. Weird but warm. And welcome.
He snickered a bit at the subsequent comment about being haunted. Fortescue really wasn’t having the best time was he? Anthony almost felt a little bit bad for him, but he couldn’t bring himself to be totally pitying.
He hadn’t dragged the ice cream man in here, but he’d happily take the opportunity to help him through it. “
Don’t worry,” he responded, amused. “
I live a very interesting life so at least you won’t be bored.”
They continued down the path then, arms brushing as Fortescue crowded closer to him than Anthony had expected. He wasn’t put off by it; if anything he had to keep his insatiable urge to tease in check instead. It reminded him a bit of his baby brother, Reginald. Now there was a chicken with no backbone at all. Anthony adored him, but boy was Reg easy to scare and all the grumpier for it. He opened his mouth to comment as much, hoping to make Ritchie feel a bit better, when an owl decided to make itself known instead and the man all but jumped into his arms.
Another laugh bubbled up and out, unbidden, as Anthony appraised his companion. “
It was just an owl,” he said softly, recovering and hoping not to make things worse. One hand came up to pat Fortescue gently on the hand still clutching him. “
We can go back if you want?” Anthony offered. “
Or, you can hide behind me and close your eyes and I’ll tell you when we get to the end.” His eyes flashed with mischief as if daring Fortescue to try and go back. Either way, Anthony was fine with the outcome. But he was rather curious as to what lay at the end of the path…
© ladybug for the gorgeous sig and matching (green) av & darling MJ for the rotating yellow avs!
October 23, 2025 – 1:19 AM
Ritchie, realizing what he’d done, did not immediately let go. “It sounded close. And more like a banshee than an owl,” he said defensively as Anthony told him it was an owl, but they were close to the Forbidden Forest who knew what kind of owls hung out there. He glanced at the woods from the corner of his eye, half expecting an owl with a dagger in its mouth to come swooping out. Luckily it didn’t, so that was something.
Anthony’s hand patting his own didn’t bring him much comfort, and while Ritchie realized he should probably let go of him, he didn’t. The proximity was… oddly comforting, like if something were to actually move down the path, Anthony wouldn’t abandon him to let it maul him. Ritchie peered down the ominous path which seemed to grow longer and darker the more he stared at it, which just made his fingers tighten against Anthony’s arm.
“Let’s keep going.” He swallowed audibly. “I’ve made it this far, and it seems cowardly to turn back before we find out what’s waiting at the end.” Hopefully some kind of sweet treat for the efforts of walking the path – that was something Ritchie could look forward to.
Ritchie tried to convince himself that the ground beneath his boots was perfectly solid as they started walking, that the shadows were only shadows, that his heart wasn’t hammering inside his throat because they were willingly walking into darkness. He finally dropped his hand from Anthony’s arm, although he stayed close enough that their shoulders brushed. He told himself it was practical to stay close – safety in numbers, right? And well, Ritchie felt safer by the fact that Anthony seemed entirely unbothered by the darkness.
“I’ll have you know,” Ritchie said after a second, glancing at Anthony from the corner of his eye, “that I almost never –” But before he could finish the thought, the path twisted and curved in a new direction right that hadn’t existed a second ago.
Bee made the lovely grey set<3
