pulvis et umbra sumus

"I'm necessary evil."

"Do you feel in charge?"

"Why didn't you just kill me?"

"If I pull that off, will you die?"

"I was born in it, molded by it."

"It would be very painful… for you."

"At least you can talk. Who are you?"

"We both know I have to kill you now."

"None shall interfere; do as you please."

"One man's tool is another man's weapon."

"You're afraid that if I go back out there, I'll fail."

"We were in this together. Then you were gone."

"No one cared who I was until I put on the mask."

"I had to find a way to keep them from killing me."

"I didn't realize I was known for trifling with criminals."

"The shadows betray you, because they belong to me!"

"It doesn't matter who we are. What matters is our plan."

"But shouldn't the people know the hero who saved them?"

"Seven years I waited, hoping that you wouldn't come back."

"Calm down! Now is not the time for fear. That comes later."

"I mean, we use to make up stories about you, man. Legends."

"The rich don't even go broke the same as the rest of us, huh?"

"Step forward, those who would serve, for an army will be raised."

"If this man is everything that you say he is, then this city needs me."

"Oh, you think darkness is your ally, but you merely adopted the dark."

"Not a lot people know what if feels like to, like… to be angry, in your bones."

"You don't fear death. You welcome it. Your punishment must be more severe."

"If you're seriously considering going back out there, you should hear the rumors."

"Save yourself. You don't owe these people any more. You've given them everything."

"There are always people you care about. You just don't realize how much until they're gone."

"But sometimes a man rises from the darkness. Sometimes the darkness sends something back."

"I knew who you really were. I'd seen that look on your face before. It was the same one I taught myself."

"The powerful will be ripped from their decadent nests, and cast out into the cold world that we know and endure."

"I figured it out too late: you gotta learn to hide the anger, practice smiling in the mirror. It's like putting on a mask."

"I always knew there was nothing here for you, except pain and tragedy. And I wanted something more for you than that. I still do."

୧ ‧₊˚ 🔪💋 ⋅  ────  That pause is taken note of, and Roman waits quietly as that choice of descriptor is made. A soft hum of approval follows what Felix opted with and Roman leans in a little close to give him a little scratch underneath his chin in their satisfaction. "Hm, well I like to know a little of everything. I did a lot of reading in my youth. I don't have the time to indulge as much anymore unfortunately." A shrug. Of course Roman always made time for whatever they wanted, it's just not a priority.

"Your youth?" he repeats with a little laugh. "How many years ago was that?" Used to his humor causing offense, he preemptively raises his palms. "Forgive me... It's just, you seem plenty young to me."

Felix shrugs. "Well, everyone wants something. Don't you?" Perhaps that question would have set off alarm bells for someone with a more practiced self-preservation instinct. It's not exactly small talk. They're way past that, anyway. To Felix, the intense eye contact can only mean one thing: This guy, or whatever they have going on, clearly wants him.

୧ ‧₊˚ 🔪💋 ⋅  ──── There's a smile at her response and Roman gives her hand a light squeeze before letting it go. "I like you. We'll have to talk more when this little job is through. I'm sure we could do some big things together once you're free of this little burden." The woman seemed ambitious, and it's something Roman could admire along with the professionalism she seemed to carry herself with, but one that wasn't taken too seriously to make her dull.

What they're suggesting is dangerous. They're dangerous. If Laelia isn't careful, she could jump from the frying pan right into the fire. But she'd be lying if she said she wasn't tempted.

After spending so much time under her stepfather's thumb, the idea of wielding even a fraction of the power Roman Sionis holds is beyond alluring.

The sight of Cosette wringing her hands caused Fantine's brow to draw together. Only when she went to ask what was wrong did Cosette speak again.

A shaky exhale replaced the silence, her tongue briefly wetting dried lips.

"... He did not hurt me, Cosette." Not physically at least. Whatever mental torment had come from their shared history, it wasn't particularly intentional, either. He was cruel in a way he believed was righteous; she could not blame him for behaving how he believed the system wanted him to. Or could she?

Her eyelids pressed close for a moment. She didn't want to linger too long on the morality of something long since passed.

It was there in the room with them, its presence as unmistakeable as her mother's, looming over them, making the walls feel closer, the air colder and stale.

So earlier this year I got really fixated on working up a translation, of sorts, of the coat song, which would preserve the original metre; this was probably prompted in a roundabout way by listening to it on repeat (that’s the best link I currently have, I’m afraid; I actually think it’s better when sung more peppily.)

Aaanyway today I was supposed to be working on another thing but I had an irresistible urge to illustrate it so that’s where we are. A Merry History Grief Christmas to one and all.

Text under the cut:

୧ ‧₊˚ 🔪💋 ⋅  ──── "Oh, I like that. I like that a lot. I'm going to remember that one." And Roman repeat quote back in a quiet whisper to do just that. "I should get back into reading a bit more." Noted with that mostly to themself, not that Roman had enough free time for that.

"Me? Always --" It may sound like a gloat but they shift a little closer to him then, and closer, thigh touching the side of Felix's before whispering, "Honestly? It's been a little stagnant lately." Offered up with a dramatic sigh before crossing their legs. "No one really sticks around here." Because they're afraid of Black Mask -- or they die.

Lila doesn't bother adding that Burns' favorite game is certainly not Animal Crossing. It's probably TF2 or something incredibly gory and violent. The fact that she doesn't know off the top of her head pleases her.

<<If Burns doesn't like you, that's because he's stupid and he's got a rotten brain. I mean it.>>

She does! There are several things deeply, deeply wrong with that guy.

Anyway. She hopes to offer sweet Cosette some consolation even as she busies herself with guiding them both to the windowsill. She pulls out a flimsy fabric basket and lays out more eye shadow palettes next to the makeup already on the ledge. So much for cleaning.

<<I don't know about that...>> she replies non-committally, trying to laugh the whole thing off. It's not terribly convincing. <<He didn't seem so bad.>> Anyway, she's much more concerned with Lila liking her.

"Have you seen it? It's a tiny little thing. My jumping spider. I call it Ricardo. It might be a girl, though. Who knows. It doesn't matter. "