♪ ♩ ♫

“ at least he sent a terrible assassin after you if he did. bastard couldn’t even SNEAK properly. seriously, as a thief, i’m insulted. you never know, I might get someone trying to knife me during court. would add some excitement to everything going on. ” she’s not a normal princess with how many want her dead in the upper circles of the nobility. but the people and the queen love her too much for any to risk success. “ you wound me. i’d never be caught. ”

                              HE LEARNS THAT IT TAKES ALL PEOPLE ,     feels   some   sense   that   he   knows   humanity   better   now   he   is   like   this  ,      has   experiences   lives   he   never   could   have   imagined  .      this   world   is   bigger   than   he’d   thought  ,     so   much   larger   than   anyone   could   have   said  .               ❝   making   music   is   a   beautiful   thing  ,     it   gives   joy   to   people  .     our   riley   is   a   dj    .   ❞

his life is normally this chaotic and dangerous. running from one danger to the next. but it seems that he’s never able to stop. since his parents abandoned him it was how he survived. the orphanage bred into him a need to fight. to prove he deserved what he had. to get what he didn’t. elsie seemed to see that fight and wanted to hold it close and dear. protect it. “ i know…i’ve not been safe anywhere else. you make me better. make me feel safe. ”

❝  harrowing.  ❞  for  all  her  strength  ,  alita  is  still  just  a  little  girl.  she  has  seen  all  of  her  parents  wounded.  has  listened  &  seen  them  cry  ,  despite  their  attempts  to  reassure  her.  but  that’s  something  gaea  has  come  to  realize  ,  being  a  mother.  parents  should  be  vulnerable  with  their  children  ,  allow  them  to  see  their  struggles  &  how  they  get  through  them.  she  never  wants  her  daughter  to  feel  she  can’t  come  to  her  ,  that  she  has  to  be  strong  all  the  time  (  it’s  a  habit  aramis  is  slowly  but  surely  working  to  get  rid  of  ).  ❝  you  may  not  be  able  to  get  all  three  of  us  ,  ❞  she  admits  ,  ❝  so  hopefully  that’s  all  right.  my  husbands  are  workaholics  but  …  their  hearts  are  in  the  right  place.  they  do  everything  they  can  to  keep  this  place  running.  but  i’ll  be  sure  to  let  you  know  as  soon  as  possible.  ❞  a  pause.  ❝  what  kind  of  questions  do  you  usually  ask  in  these  interviews  ?  ❞

“ both of us. you’re the lamb. if they can use either of us they will. ” they’re both known well by the people. the man who killed over half the tributes and the woman who killed none. if they denied support for the rebellion it would turn support away from the fight towards the capital. “ athos told me if this happened to meet him at a specific part of the underground tunnels. that he’d meet me there to get me out. now, we have to escape together to stay alive. ”

❝ no , ❞ aramis relents , huffing against her skin in amusement. ❝ not that old. ❞ with her permission , he pushes the shirt up , a trail of kisses left going up her sternum. he gets somewhat distracted once her bra is revealed , fabric left under her arms so he can lick at the skin right beneath the underwire. he assists her in removing the shirt altogether , sitting up over her & running his hands up and down her sides. words are beyond him , her beauty leaving him , so he hopes leaning down to kiss her while his thumbs find her nipples beneath her bra tells her everything she needs to know.

                               HE TENDS TO THE FIRE DUTIFULLY  ,     thinks   of   the   promise   of   a   warm   bed   one   day  ,      the   thought   that   somewhere   at   the   end   of   the   road   there   could   be   peace  .     he’s   called   a   dreamer  ,     someone   made   of   wishful   thoughts   despite   the   past   he’s   left   behind  ,     but   what   other   hope   could   be   found   in   a   place   like   this ?      he   knows   how   to   carve   out   a   smile   for   himself  ,     how   to   seek   happiness   even   in   a   world   painted   grey  .              ❝   we   do  ,    yes  ,      but   we   have   been   on   the   road   for   a   long   time   now   .   ❞

❝  Elsie,  ❞  he  repeats  the  name,  heavy  drawl  and  THICK  accent  altering  it,  just  in  the  slightest.  ❝  You  may  call  me  MAGNI,  Lady  Elsie,  ❞  of  course,  she  has  stated  already  that  she  is  no  lady  –  yet  it’s  a  title  of  RESPECT.  And  every  woman  he  encounters  is  DESERVING  of  such  a  thing,  until  proven  otherwise.  HONEYED  hues  linger  in  the  crackling  embers  of  the  fire  as  she  speaks,  though  the  subtle  SIMPER  upon  his  lips  REMAINS  ever  in  place.  ❝  It  is  loyalties  that  draw  you  hence  ??  I  suppose  you  are  right  in  that,  bravery  &  STUPIDITY,  ❞  he  had  never  thought  of  it  in  those  terms,  but  could  find  no  QUARREL  with  the  statement  and  comparison  she  makes.  He  of  all,  knows  to  well  the  opposing  entities  that  are  the  right  choice,  and  the  SMART  one  (  his  life  thus  far  had  been  a  series  of  such  choices  ).  ❝  Good,  you  should  not  be  ;  i’ve  no  intent  for  anything  but  COMPANY.  ❞

“ hi there. ” he grins. she’s kind and loving, especially in the bedroom. sometimes it’s just pure sex. clothes can’t come off fast enough and touch becomes all they need to survive. but days like this are good too. a content cuddling in the evening light. “ comfy? ”

gaea hums ; she knows something about crying. and the people who had been so sure they’d never be able to escape ryder & his runners were the same ones that had overwhelmed them , taking the base for their own. it never would have been able to be accomplished without them & she’s so proud , knowing they’re able to smile because of their strength. popping another pickle chip into her mouth , the blonde isn’t surprised that elsie has made her way to her & hers. as much as she’s worried about what the others have said about her family , she’s even more worried about being interviewed herself. ❝ i’ll need to ask my husbands. for now , that sounds good. there’s just one stimulation : you can ask questions of any of us but my daughter. ❞ she only just stopped having nightmares about what had happened.