I Remain Unvanquished

      The thief’s gaze was fixed on the ancient documents before         him, fingers carefully tracing along the lines and words written         in an language that’s long since gone. Translating the entire         script was going to be difficult, but certainly not impossible.

Most especially during the course of the time when women hate being... well, women.

❝ This isn’t anything to worry about, Raine. ❞

Don’t pick at it. The brutal slash across his chest appeared as a brutal fork of bloody lightning and it had healed considerably before she’d laid eyes on it. Lucky for him.

❝ Hey, at least they didn’t go for the face.   That’s the moneymaker, right there. ❞

     “Yeah, well keep at it, and I’ll go for that      moneymaker,” And she would, that was      something assured in consideration to      her own skill set.

Though in saying that, she’d probably go at it by ravishing such features  with a considerable amount of kisses.

Not that she was ever going to say such out loud.

     “Seriously, ‘nothing to worry about’, he      says,” Around and about the apartment      she moved, muttering words beneath      her breath. She shan’t show emotion,      most especially not when it comes to      him for God knows how he has managed      to become a form of weakness for her.

He wasn’t expecting the quizzical stare, one reserved for curious strangers. He wasn’t prepared for the complete and utter lack of recognition. He wasn’t ready for his heart to break under that innocent smile.

“Thank you,” he said instead. Maybe Raine was just pretending. Maybe it was a rouse. If it was, Garrett would just have to play along. Surely one of them would break before long? Perhaps it would be one of their passive banters from when they’d first been acquainted, laced with unspoken soliloquies and all the hurt of past experiences.

She had no idea what is was, but it was certainly there. Nevertheless, she ignored it as the dimples of her cheeks returned, noticing an edge of familiarity with the man. Had she known him? Was he part of the memories long gone? Raine should ask, but with a doubtful mind, she hesitated letting out the questioning words of wonder to escape her throat. No, if he had known her, he would’ve said something that conveyed of such fact.

So far, they were simply two strangers.

“Oh,” A quiet laugh was then let out, hands scouring the tabletop in order to put her papers into place, “Yeah, just trying to find my sense of things,” With a sharp movement of her elbow, the then-cooled coffee had almost been tipped off. Though even with a slightly distracted mind, Raine’s reflex weaved itself within her muscles and caught the cup, spilling just a bit of the liquid on her skin. Fortunately, it was just that; cooled coffee. 

He left out the part where he was also a maleficar, a practitioner of the darkest forms of magic. It wouldn’t be worth trying to explain how he never took the life of an innocent, how he only turned that power against those two deserved it – even if it had no always been that way. Certain sacrifices had needed to be made in those early years, shacked up in Tevinter and surrounded by a different sort of morality.

No good it would have done her either, if she was seen with him.

And just like the last, another thought struck her.

“To answer your earlier question,” he continued in the same, soft voice, “I did a surgery on the cousin of the guy who owns the place. Or maybe the chef or… Someone, I don’t know. I mentioned your birthday was coming up and he offered to make a call, get us a table.” Bringing his gaze back to Raine’s face, Garrett’s lips twitched up into a smile. “I know a lot of people. You ever want tickets to a show, I’m your guy.”

“My mom always liked places like this,” he said suddenly, surprising himself; he never talked about Leandra. Surprising himself even more, Garrett added, “My dad was more into dives and drive-ins. But every couple months or so, he would make sure to take her out for dinner, bring her somewhere he knew she’d approve of. Got harder after Marian and I were born… Harder still with Beth and Carver.

How many complicated feelings she felt when it came to him.

How in love she was, the emotion she never allowed herself to feel until then.

And every single time she thought about it, she had to take a pause and a breath because she’d realise that she was in too deep.

Raine, what have you gotten yourself into? She’d ask herself with silence as her reply.

So I made Segen a little over three months ago and I have never felt more accepted anywhere than here more than ever. And this is no particular order at all, nor does it probably not contain all of the URL’s that need to be there so if you aren’t on here; don’t be discouraged or anything, I’m just forgetful and there’s a lot of people to put here. So, with that being said; the list is below the cut and it’s just a list of people that make me feel welcome. Nothing special yet.

@invxcta

She’d always been beautiful, that was indisputable; though she would fight on all fronts with claws and teeth. There was something in the way her hair always slipped free to tumble across her face that had you wanting to tuck it back, to allow your fingers to linger over her cheek. Not that it would ever happen. Even as he watched, her hand was up in an instant, tidying her tresses before they could fully fall out of place.

Then they stopped. They lingered. Jaw met palm and she stared off into space, hand hovering over her rapidly cooling coffee, pen and paper abandoned in place of reverie. Uncharacteristic was what it was, and his heart thudded painfully back to life. Had he put that vacancy in her stare? That crease to her brow?

You’ve already started. How are you going to stop? How are you going to fix this? You can’t. You can’t fix what you broke, you can only shatter it further.

He should just walk away, save them both the suffering. But she was just so. damn. beautiful. A snowflake burned away by his touch. He should just leave her be.

I can’t.

He pushed through the doors of the cafe where they used to meet, strode over to the table where they used to smile in greeting, and wrapped calloused fingers around the back of the chair he used to think of as his seat.

She was happy, took her a while to find that second skin of hers that a certain man had somehow scraped away. But everyone knew that her happiness didn’t quite reach the level of when she was with him, though they didn’t say a word about it because... they knew she was ‘happy’. There were brief moments, however, when her gaze would lead out to the distance, a look of expectation making itself known upon her features until a form of realisation seems to hit and just like that, she treats the rest of the day as normal.

At least as normal they could be.

Just  like that day she was at the cafe, sitting on that same damned chair at that same damned table near the same damned window. She doesn’t know why she still comes back, to the place and to the spot. In her reasoning, she tells herself that its because of the coffee, and the view of the busy streets of New York. Though deep within her, there was something that had told her of another, which was one she could never quite say out loud.  Was it because it hurt? No... she just... didn’t know.

She was doing it again, wasn’t she? Drowning in her endless amounts of thoughts when she was really supposed to be writing down certain notes for the current case. It seemed unstoppable, her mind always tugging her to places where they shouldn’t wander because they know something’s amiss. There was an ache in her chest, a hole that had been covered up with façades and lies, a hole that can never quite heal no matter how much she tries to help herself.

A hole that had been ripped open the instant he... who’s he?

A voice snaps through her thoughts and back to daylight she was, hazel eyes lifting themselves only to find a face that made her senses tingle in a way, telling her to run yet to stay.

Nevertheless, a smile had made its way onto her lips.