manticore's favorite.

( continued from here )

it  was  her  own  damn  fault. people  have  been  on  edge  for  weeks  and  she  should  have  known  better. that  specific  time  was  coming  at  a  rapid  pace  and  julie  hated  every  moment  of  it. skin  heating  up  as  if  she  was  boiling  from  the  inside  out  and  she  had  made  the  mistake  of  lifting  her  hair  up  off  her  neck  to  attempt  to  cool  herself  down. Someone  saw  it. the  barcode  on  her  neck. there  was  a  bounty  on  their  heads  and  food  and  money  was  scarce. it  made  people  desperate.     desperate  enough  to  not  heed  the  warnings  that  they  were  considered  dangerous. then  again,  julie  was  so  unassuming  that  it  wasn't  a  surprise  that  someone  thought  they  could  easily  overpower  her. the  man  had  grabbed  her  from  behind  with  a  rusty  blade  to  her  neck. it  took  a  split  second  for  her  to  react  and  the  man  no  longer  had  a  hand  and  that  blade  was  jammed  right  into  his  left  eye  socket. once  his  body  fell  heavily  to  the  ground,  she  ran.     it  was  when  she  ducked  into  an  alley  that  she  realized  that  he  had  managed  to  slice  her  a  good  one  and  while  they  had  amazing  regenerative  abilities... that  blade  was  dirty  as  fuck.      climbing  the  nearest  fire  escape,  she  used  the  roofs  to  get  back  to  her  apartment  so  nobody  could  see  where  she  was  going. slipping  through  the  open  window  was  where  he'd  find  her  as  she  used  the  wall  to  slide  down  to  sit. 

  she  didn't  even  realize  that  he  had  pulled  her  to  her  feet  and  sat  her  on  the  edge  of  her  bathtub  until  she  felt  the  sting  of  the  wound  he  was  dressing. blinking  away  the  daze,  she  looked  up  at  him  and  didn't  even  remember  saying  what  she  had. but,  she  did  hate  the  fact  that  he  looked... hurt  by  her  words. and  that  was  the  last  thing  she  wanted  because  she  didn't  mean  it.     pushing  to  her  feet,  she  reached  out  and  fingers  gently  grasped  his  chin  and  turned  him  to  look  at  her. thumb  swept  skin  and  she  shook  her  head. ❝ no,  we  weren't  always  like  this. but  this  is  what  they  made  us  to  be. for  better  or  for  worse,  i  suppose. ❞  julie  knew  that  he  hadn't... acclimated  as  well  or  as  quickly  as  she  has,  but  she  was  forced  to. ❝ i'm  sorry,  apollo. i  didn't  mean  that  the  way  it  sounded. ❞  and  that  was  the  truth. her  features  softened  and  she  brought  his  head  down  to  her  and  her  forehead  pressed  to  his.      they  were  both  weapons  and  now  they  were  forced  to  try  and  find  peace. it  wasn't  easy,  and  never  would  be. but  she'd  do  what  she  could  to  try  and  help  him  shake  the  demons  of  their  shared  past. ( + @favoritesoldier )

julie always seem to understand him more than he does most days; unaware that his guard was down when she cross the distance and took him in her touch; the same touch that he has seen take down a man twice her size with a flick of her wrist. she is destruction, yet she's delicate when she tends to him, despite the redden wounds that still mar her already healing skin.

his jaw clenches beneath her touch, an involuntary reaction when it comes any physical affection; starved for tenderness but always ready for them to come in the aftermath of a guided agenda, used to persuade their fearless soldiers to do their bidding. but with julie, she doesn't make apollo feel like a soldier. she makes him feel like some semblance of a human, and he can't steel his resolve from the brief upward knit of his brows, giving away to the storm of emotions that brews within undetected.

when he feels the press of her forehead, it's as though he is a man who is starved for air and just finally came to the surface. a stuttered breath spills free from his brims as he reaches a hand to seize the column of her neck, thumb pressing just beneath the line in her jaw, holding her with a vice that when he releases her, they will be starved of this touch for too long. a breach of nerves hums alight in his own skin, and it's all too overwhelming, realizing just how much free will he is teetering along with, and he leans back shamefully, like he has done a bad deed.