KING OF THE FALL.

            CERULEAN EYES WIDENED, a brow rising as his smirk became honest, a countenance of falsified humor made reality as he hummed, a finger tracing over his lip, hand on his chin in piqued interest.

            “AAAH … I SEE how it is …” he grinned wickedly. “Yes, I’d say there is a certain beauty in deceit. But it’s only of any good if it goes by undetected, dear jailer. You haven’t quite perfected that art, despite your numerous other successes, so I’d try to find something else to brag about. Something that isn’t about your servitude, I’d recommend; you unfortunately aren’t able to trump me in that aspect, and I’d hate to wound your pride even further.” 

            “THOUGH I CAN see the art of subtlety isn’t quite your thing either. But if it’s a spar you’re after, then so be it. May I suggest low - friction tactical grappling & strategy?”

         ❛ i don’t need to deceive you, though. ❜ singsong cadence carries the underlying promise of a struggle, just for the sake of it, to keep his fingers from twitching to sheathed naginata. ❛ i’ve already got you where i want you! i don’t see the harm in dropping the cloak for a while, if you keep it between us. ❜ 

      for all the syrup he pours forth there’s a lasting stutter in his satisfaction-- is he so easily read by anyone who bothers to look? so easily bested by one that he captured? ❛ oh? so was being thrown in here a part of some master plan you have yet to reveal, then? color me humbled. we’re all just pawns on your board, aren’t we? will you make me king, for my troubles? ❜

cherry answers questions… But Out Loud…

          ❝what? oh !!❞ mozu took a step away from the pegasus, which she seemingly and knowingly managed to approach without disrupting the peace. ❝tsubaki, i didn’t realize this pegasus was yours. i always kinda wondered what it’d be like to ride one – that kinda thing’s pretty much reserved to y’all lot, though.❞

   ❛ oho? ❜ he’s pleased at once to see that someone had managed to approach his closest comrade without any form of dispute, and so does not interject at their interaction. ❛ that he is, dear mozu! it’s good to see i didn’t keep him waiting too long-- when i do he’s cross with everyone we come across. ❜

            SHAKING FINGERS CURLED AROUND the bars of the penitentiary, a countenance once cruel now anxious upon the sight of his sister’s retainer made into a prisoner. ( & what would he be before the sister he had caged himself? )

            “…”

            “IF YOU NEED anything, please let me know.”

     trapped, heartbroken and furious on another’s behalf, he very nearly gives into the impulse to stare down his captor in silence until he takes his leave. when he allows himself to listen, though, something in him softens just so. if tsubaki himself wasn’t to be mistreated any further than this, certainly sakura would be alright... wouldn’t she?

    that knowledge alone is enough to let him slip back into his facade, a face more fitting for a fallen warrior of the sky. his scowl vanishes, though the feeling remains. ( you couldn't stay invincible the only time it counted. you're useless after all. )

            ❛  m — my eyes?  ❜

                confusions laces her words, bewildered gaze staring                 up at the other in wide-eyed wonder: a crystal pool of                 weeping stars, longing for a happy end.

           ❛  i-i don’t think so… erm, why do you ask?  ❜

    ❛ i... mmm. apologies. it wasn’t my right to presume. ❜

      the feeling still pervades, but it is not his place to       try and analyze the gaze of another with their own       war to wage. his sigh is nonchalant, his gaze steady.

:*

65. “don’t let go” hug.

        ❛ don’t listen to them, my lady. my liege. ❜

he trails off into redundancy, hoping to fill her ears withthe sound of his voice until the echo of a struggle canpass. she’s seated just before him, all but trembling, andhe sees a familiar pain in the drop of her eyelids– it’s more than he can bear to watch without interjection.

       ❛ … please forgive me for this, if need be. ❜

without another sound, before he can see her crying, hisarms encircle her frame, pull her into his chest. it doesn’tfeel broad enough, strong enough to muffle out somecomrade’s captured cries, but he clings and hopes that she can pretend something truly perfect holds her close.

❛ you can’t cry out, ❜ he measures out to her. so cautiousof his voice cracking with the strain of hiding away, ❛ or they’ll find us. you’re the most valuable of us all, my lady,and to lose you would be to lose-- ❜

maybe this isn’t helping. maybe this is unnecessarily cruel.if by chance she is torn from his arms and thrown into thedark, she won’t need guilt hanging at her neck. he falls silent.he’ll tell her later, when it’s safer.

   ❛ just... hold on to me. let it pass. focus on me.     they’re only being taken. we... we will save them. ❜

we’re both gonna regret this | accepting

1. aggressive/angry kiss.

  looking back he recalls a series of images and impulses,  heralded at the forefront by the grasp of claws at his throat.  he’d been wrong to underestimate someone so devoted for  even a second and the proof shone in droplets at the side  of his neck, staining pristine white with his mistakes–

  of course, he’d sooner taste death than admit to a mistake  in front of what was meant to be a target. even if he hadn’t  had the honor of fighting like this in what felt like years, it  was his duty and his promise to win. he slaps away the hand,  expends more blood in the hopes of shedding another’s--

  but the hand is persistent and it tangles violently in vibrant red,  forces his head back, exposes his throat. the act is humiliating.  a method of retaliation is craved, then captured within his arms  (quite literally) as he draws his enemy’s face to his in some ugly  caricature of tenderness.

        it could hardly be called a kiss-- its intent was to        make him recoil. when he didn’t, he was bitten, and        that settled the task. as the other recoiled the smile        returned to his face, lower lip painted deep rouge.        as always, his voice is too kind for his words.

why do i make these choices | accepting 

18. chaste kiss

       ❛ hah– our young prince! though… perhaps not quite as         young as i recall you, ❜ he quips gently, looking up at the         other. ❛ would you allow me to practice something, for the          sake of customs? our new neighbors will be at tonight’s         event, and i want to ensure that we blend in well… ❜

         without much more warning than that the knight alights           on his toes, cheeks brushing each his with a tickle as he           exaggerates kisses into the air at either side of his face.