MILDRED

brow lifts ,  millie watching as octavia dreads over the length of universe’s expanse .   knowing the full extent of what the stars hold ,  of what darkness hides .   .   .   the imp can only imagine the heartache such horrendous news may bring .   claws drum the outside of her coffee mug ,  eyes focused on the goetia while mulling over her thoughts ,  dragging over what words might best suit the dilapidation of mental sharpness .

            “ well ,  societal norms ain’t never been fair ,  let alone sum’n i’d consider tryna fit into . ” was it unusual for employees to treat their employment provider with brunch ?   millie wouldn’t know ,  but she certainly hoped breakfast paninis were a yummy option .   teeth nibble down onto egg whites ,  bacon ,  &&.  tomato sandwich ,  letting the slight dribble of fruit’s juice  &&.  salivation to drip between divots  &&.  lip’s curl .   eyes fixate ,  hunger pangs for explanation starving octavia for more .

tender lips close around plastic fork ,  nip teeth divots against prongs that house the sweetest delight baked by loving hands .   oh ,  just the warmth alone of the piping treat on her tongue sent euphoric shivers down her tail .   millie croons as she pockets her sampling into cheek ,  letting it mull around for the savoring of taste ,  all so her hand can excuse itself to linger  &&.  attempt to close around moxxie’s own .             eyes say it all ,  delicious as always . 

millie takes her time before swallowing the forkful ,  only to then lean in  &&.  pepper a few heat-residual kisses upon husband’s smile .

“Oh yes, I believe I’ve heard your husband sing before.” The prince answered, trying hard to tern his frown upside-down, as the saying went “I must admit, he has quite the lyrical prose. You are lucky to have such a…s-such a loving relationship…” As hard as he tried, Stolas couldn’t fake a smile for long. He sighed, slumping in his chair as he placed a hand over his face.

“May I be candid with you, Mildred?” He said morosely “My relationship with Blitzy, it DID start out as simple sexual gratification. As it went on, though, he began to make me feel something. Something I haven’t felt in a long while. I felt trapped before he came along. Dead inside. The only thing keeping me clinging to life was my Octavia…But now, I find someone who makes me feel alive again, and I worry he only sees me as some cheating pervert.” 

there it is ,  the knot at the center of his core ,  that dreadful bitter news she waited on .   revealed like the rotten core of an apple ,  detested  &&.  repulsive .   hand atop his own tries to trickle claw tips down towards the back of his wrist ,  coerce just the slightest lift in nerves by simply finger-play .             “ ah und’rstand a lot more than y’uh realize ,  sir .   s’a hard thing ,  love .   be it fam’ly ‘r friends ,  or even a marriage .   .   .    lockin’ y’erself up wit’ people f’er years on end feels like a cage made ‘a holy tears . ”

days of hair splitting screams  &&.  daggers being dug into tables ,  of skin ripping open from indian burn scars  &&.  roughhousing that often broke bones ,  millie let her head fall lopsided onto her shoulder ,  cheek pressed in .   to be young again most often dreamt of ,  yet millie only wanted to be old ,  to be swept away from her childhood home  &&.  escape the nightmare of living under constant terrorization of youth  &&.  turmoil .   she couldn’t imagine what having a daughter must be like ,  but if it’s anything like her four younger brothers .    .    .   hooey ,  stolas must be a trooper .

“Oh, starting off easy, I see.” He giggled “Very well, I shall play along. Well, it may surprise you to know that I actually prefer the role of Little Spoon. It’s quite nice to feel the afterglow while in the embrace of your partner.

…Though I can’t say I’ve felt such a thing in a while. Not since…

…Er, n-never you mind. The question has been answered sufficiently enough as it is. Perhaps we should move on to my turn. What do you and your husband usually do to set the mood? Music? Fancy dinners? Anything?”

oh ,  baby nooo .   .   .  !   her heart sinks like lead at the stumble of prince’s words ,  hand jolting up out of instinct to reach  &&.  tenderly place impishly warm palm over slender knuckles .   honey ,  if she knew it’d twist the knife she wouldn’t’ve started this back  &&.  forth ,  REGARDLESS of whether it was stolas’s idea .   once a gentle pat takes up to the swaddle of both hands now attempting to comfort stolen limb ,  one thumb massaging circles around ring finger’s knuckle while the other hand busies with squeezing the outside of his palm ,  thumb pressing gingerly against wristbone .

“ sweetie ,  ‘m sorry if this ain’ a good topic .   we can focus somewhere else if --   “                a hum ,  thoughtful .   maybe it’s less of peeling off the bandaid ,  more .   .   .   comfort seeking by finding new nuanced ways of exploring romance .   chewing the tip of her tongue ,  millie relents .

“ well ,  ah guess it depen’s on th’ occasion .   settin’ the mood’s gotta be done like a gesture ,  fit th’ scenario ‘r holiday ‘n y’er basically sworn in like a jackrabbit on election day . ”

“Oh, nonsense, Mildred.” The prince laughed, shaking his head as he sipped tea with one of Blitzy’s underlings “It’s only natural to be curious about the sex lives of the upper class. Those gossip magazines can only tell you so much, after all.”

  As much a faux-pas as it was to converse in such a manner with imps (much less get tied up by one and ████ ███ █████ ██████ █████ ████ ████ ██ ███ ████ ████ ), Stolas couldn’t help but enjoy his little talks with Millie. She was always so open and honest with her opinions, despite his status. Plus, her experience with an actually healthy relationship was highly valued. 

“How about this: I’ll allow you to ask about any dirty detail you wish, without judgement or repercussion. However, you’ll have to grant the same courtesy in return.”

it’s so odd to hear her name under such formal standards ,  MILDRED .   spoken like a class act principle  &&.  less like a cactus-preened bark between ancestor  &&.  descendants .   lashes flush in a blink as she captures the moment in her mind ,  of owlish beak stealing away steaming essence between breaths ,  of her boss’s interpersonal relations now being fraternized over cookies  &&.  this so-called ‘tea’ that her higher-up seemed to fancy .

lip rolls under front teeth ,  hides cheeky tongue-in-cheek reply that burbles up from little grease monkey sleeve .   stolas isn’t far from the truth ,  not hidden well as tail wriggles  &&.  wags behind gossiper’s back .   shucks ,  she can’t go lying to a goetian royal in the blunt face of the truth ,  can she ?   blitzo may be able to manage that kind of backbone ,  but how brutal can a brute be ?

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MILDRED VIENNA MURDANZ is a WRATH RING ranch-raised country girl who's values were situated on the idea that families never abandon one another .   whether it's knocking each other's teeth out as a means of relieving tooth pain or breaking a sibling's nose when they "can't breathe" ,  parents - siblings - and children of ROUGH 'N TUMBLEWEED alike never hold grudges towards their kin ,  regardless if by contract they'd require to kill one another .   blood is thicker than water is a moral millie has always stood by ,  which only died down the older she got .  come her early twenties ,  she moved away to the city ,  seeking freelance work as a means of carrying her mind away from the hard working labor of farmhand tasks and towards a future where millie planned to branch out and explore the capabilities of the world .

one thing itched at the back of her mind ,  however .   music .   as she learned of the sweet somber notes that carried tunes through the night airs of fireside dinners back home or the night life of newfound homelife in PRIDE RING ,  millie found a metaphorical rash spreading along her skin ,  craving more of this sonata masterpiece ,  desiring her thirst for song to be quenched .   it was one night in particular ,  after a long two years of starting small in a pride ring's butcher's shop ,  that she took notice of a flyer mixed up in her apartment's mail .   PHANTOM OF THE OPERA .   some bigwig company no doubt ,  seeing as this seemed like some off-broadway production  ( or so the reviews on WHELP read ,  though the consumers on this site often degraded far harder than critics might've ) .   still ,  she secured herself some tickets ,  including a VIP pass for a meet-n-greet for the after show ,  hoping to ask a few questions regarding music in general .   .   .   a night to remember .

the performance was a hit ,  catching millie completely by surprise .   not what she had expected ,  her more home-school focused mind expecting the same quality as those mock plays her children brothers often put together at home .   destiny held fate in its hands like softened clay that night ,  as one little question popped the façade between actor and audience member ,  of moxxie and millie's first moment that brightened the spotlight above them .   " what made you pursue music as a career path ? "   far too personal ,  and as if never asked by the media themselves ,  this genuine innocence presented the lead actor of erik with his life-long reality-gifted christine daae .   one thing led to another ,  one date night to the next ,  until years later  --  bed shared ,  living together ,  a happily wedded couple now seeking further expenses to not only fund their new life together ,  but support moxxie's dream of musical theatre success .