TIGER'S NECK.

❝   I  THOUGHT  WE  AGREED   ———   no  cryin’  aroun’  me.   ❞   He  hopes  that  she  doesn’t  take  offense,   only  knows  how  to  speak  with  his  tongue  pressed  hard  to  the  floor  of  his  mouth.   (   On  a  good  day,   that  metallic  taste  is  just  the  thin  film  of  his  “work”  that  won’t  leave  him.   On  a  bad  day,   it’s  just  blood.   On  most  days,   he  just  can’t  tell  the  difference.   )   He  cups  a  hand  to  the  back  of  her  head,   smooths  mussed  hair.   ❝   What  happened,   mm?   Talk  t’  me.   ❞   

"Wake up... please wake up..."

"Hey, are you okay? You seem a bit faint..."

"N-no no! Stay with me now!"

"Keep breathing, you'll be fine."

"Oh! You're awake! You've been out for so long-!"

"I found you unconscious back there. What happened?"

"Hey, are you alright over there?!"

"We found you in a horrid state.. but we patched you up as best we could!"

"Don't try to move. Just get some rest, okay?"

"Oh, I guess you weren't dead after all."

"Hey! This one finally woke up! Get me a doctor!"

"Shh... take it easy, there's no rush. You were passed out for a long time, you see."

"Ow.. my aching-"

"Ugh... where...?"

"Help me.. someone..."

"I can't hold on... fading away.."

"What happened? Where is this-!"

"Gah! S-stay away from m-me! I don't know who you are!"

"Did.. did you save me back there? Thanks.. I guess."

"I was passed out for that long?!"

"Help me up.. please help me up..."

"What happened to me anyways? I feel so lightheaded..."

"Am I in a hospital? I wasn't here before.."

“how long were you there?”

the weight of her father’s arm around her shoulders makes her feel like a kid again, like it’s the first time she can remember throwing a punch into the palm of his hand, like it’s the first time he helped her up after a hit put her on her back. being away from her family, the one she’s known since her life began, felt surreal. (she has found an addition to her family now, smiles and armor and the trust of warriors going to the ends of the universe for each other. she has never been without family.) but she is anchored, and her family is all here. (some are not so lucky. the fight against the reapers must continue.)

“were you…okay there?”

it would take more than a refugee center to take down her father, but the worry is still there, as she worries for all her family. losing any of them isn’t an option. she will go first if that means saving them.

TENSION,   TIGHT   -   MUSCLED   !   he  hasn’t  touched  anyone  in  what  feels  like     decades,   fingers  furled  into  taut  fists  that  he  keeps  cocked  and  loaded   !     (     the  crescents  of  his  fingernails  into  the  calloused  flesh  of  his  palms  is  better  than  tearing  the  scales  from  his  chest  to     rip  his  own  heart  out,   he  supposes.     )     it  isn’t  the  way  of  them  to  give  in  to     despair,   and  he  doesn’t  intend  to     -----     but,   neither  will  he  deny  everything  that  this  war  has     taken     from  him.   his  wife,   half  of  his  own  self,   her  eyes  like  all  of  the  skies  and  all  of  the  oceans  pleading  with  him  to     turn  his  back     on  her.     (     maybe  the  xivodyr  would  be  proud  that  her  pyre  was  the  brightest  there’s  ever  been,   but  they  were  always  supposed  to  burn  together   !   space  is     empty,   and  all  of  the  ashes  are  in  your  lungs.     ) 

FOR  THEIR  DAUGHTER,   he  would  tear  the  galaxy  asunder   !   he  feels  as  though  he  has,   as  though  perhaps  the  citadel  is  all  that’s  left  anywhere     -----     this  solitary  station  weighed  down  with  lost  souls.     (     he  knew  that  jae  would  find  him  here.   he     refused     any  other  outcome.     )     his  arm  around  her  shoulders  would  break  the  bones  of  anyone  else,   his  forehead  rested  ‘gainst  her  own     -----     the  pressure  of  their  scales  one  of  the  few  comforts  he  has  ever  known.

     she has no idea what to do– let alone think. last she heard, her husband had business with old friends, but now those friends are sitting in her living room telling her he’s… well, katherine doesn’t even want to think about that. with a small child bouncing on her hip, she grabs her cell phone and quickly dials dom’s number… he should pick up. he better pick up & explain to her what the fuck is going on because she’s not about to lose her husband over some shit he didn’t need to be involved in in the first place.                         

                                        ❝ dominic toretto what the fuck do you think you’re doing? ❞

HE’S  SORRY  .  he’s  so  sorry  and  he  comes  apart  with  it  ,  his  skin  sloughs  from  muscle  and  muscle  sloughs  from  bones  until  everything  that  he  is     (     everything  that  he  had  left     )     is  clinging  desperately  to  the  worn  asphalt  of  a  street  that  he  doesn’t  remember  the  name  of  in  some  god  -  forsaken  city  .     (     did  you  ever  think  you’d  betray  your  family  the  way  you  did  today  ?     )     HE  HASN’T  BETRAYED  ANYONE  !  and  ,  maybe  they  would  say  otherwise  .  he  wouldn’t  blame  them  for  it  ,  but  that’s  the  whole  idea  ,  and  the  color  red  doesn’t  stop  being  red  just  because  some  people  are  COLORBLIND  . 

THE  VIBRATION  of  his  phone  is  hardly  a  surprise  ,  because  it’s  been  ringing  off  the  fucking  hook  ever  since  .  he  fishes  it  from  his  pocket  ,  and  the  sight  of  her  name  ‘pon  the  caller  ID  expels  the  breath  from  him  .  cipher  be  damned  !  kat  was  never  supposed  to  be  a  part  of  this  .  a  cursory  glance  o’er  his  shoulder  before  he  accepts  ,  raises  the  speaker  to  his  ear  .

dominic  toretto  ,  what  the  fuck  do  you  think  you’re  doing  ?

        ❝ you try workin’ a double with a growing baby in your belly. and yes i am fully aware you tried talkin’ me out of it, but we need more money and i’m not about to let you take on the full weight of this household. ❞ she whines at the press of his lips to her neck, but makes no move to push him away; she’s fully relaxed laying there, and has no plans to move for the foreseeable future. ❝ can we get takeout for dinner? ❞