black bolt was a person who often trusted his own ideals, his own decisions, rather than that of others. as a result, he often did what he felt best for attilan WITHOUT consulting the people closest to him, and unfortunately, sometimes those people included his own wife, medusa. he’d since apologized, but he knew that forgiveness didn’t come easy. there were worse things in life than the struggle of not being able to speak, for that was simply discipline, trained through years of solitary confinement. learning how to trust other people was something else altogether, for he’d led the inhumans in absolute silence, and in that silence, they trusted him. in his silence, he’d kept secrets from his people. from his family. from his wife.
slowly, they were working to restore what was left of their relationship. if he could withstand years of solitude, surely a few months would make no difference. but if there were a truth that could be garnered from the humans, it was that one only understood the worth of something when it was lost. and black bolt was lucky enough to still have medusa by his side, even if they were only slightly MORE than estranged. when it came to affection, to love, to what they once shared, they still had a lot to work towards. but if anything defined black bolt, it was determination. steadfast in his approach.
the way she’d called his name cut deep, for it was clear that they were nowhere near husband and wife, except for in name. still, he didn’t let it show on his expression except for a brief purse of his lips, and merely turned slightly, his eyes fixated on hers to let her know he was listening. her request, however, made his brows raise in surprise, then frowned in confusion as he spoke to her telepathically. < what is ‘dating’? are we in trouble? >
“Yes, we ᴀʀᴇ. Specifically, our relationship.” As blunt as her words were, they were not aimed to spite, regardless of how fragile their present status was. ℍ𝕆ℕ𝔼𝕊𝕋𝕐 had always been or used to be a bedrock of their relationship. At their ʙᴇsᴛ, there was no need to resort to euphemisms and the withholding of important facts. Harsh realities were presented to the other in an almost clinical way at times, a product of being groomed to be ruler and consort capable of shouldering such a burden. But it was their 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 that provided the empathy necessary to soften the blow of such painful truths. Such as her tenderness seeping through the words. His arms holding her in support. Their continual pledge to stand by their spouse even in the darkest of moments.
That was how they communicated. Made her an effective interpreter 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐇𝐈𝐌. Made him a empathetic leader 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐑. And of course -- for more than a decade -- it made them complementary partners 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑.
All that, of course, unraveled in just over a year. A year of secrets, of conspiracies, of absence.
Yet, couples had been known to reconcile. And the long road to that could be kickstarted with a ❝ 𝒹𝒶𝓉𝑒 ❞, as she’d been recommended. ( Along with a concept known as 𝙼𝙰𝚁𝚁𝙸𝙰𝙶𝙴 𝙲𝙾𝚄𝙽𝚂𝙴𝙻𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶, apparently. But exposing her vulnerabilities to another, particularly a stranger, regarding her crumbling relationship? No thank you. )
“But I have been ... considering the possibility of us restoring what we had. Dating, as I was told, is a courtship ritual.” Great Randac, why was she beginning to feel insecure about this? Even her ʏᴏᴜɴɢᴇʀ sɪsᴛᴇʀ had no qualms about courting the men she was interested in. Red tresses shifted restlessly in response, even as she refused to break eye contact as a sign of weakness. It wasn’t like Blackagar would actually reject her proposal, would he? But she was his ruler now; she could ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴀɴᴅ him to got through with this--
𝙊𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙆𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙄𝙏. That was what Iso had chided her for earlier during a rehearsal of this moment. Absurd of her to be second-guessing when he was the one who had to make amends; not the other way around. That strengthened her resolve at least. “What I mean to say is, I wish to be courted. We have never really been required to, given our betrothal that was set in stone. It would do us good to begin now.”
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