#cculters

"You are an fucking imbecile!" She shouted towards the man. Their hard work had all been destroyed. She embraced the source fully, letting it fill her up and allowing the rage to fuel her. A golden thread appeared in her hands, and he flew up against the wall. The thread wrapped around his body, ensuring he couldn't move. She stepped towards him menacingly. "You just set us back months in our research. Just because YOU" she pointed at him, making his heart clench in his chest at the same time, "wanted to take MY research as your own." Her anger was a quiet rage now, all the more dangerous as she looked at him, cocked her head to the side and came to a conclusion. "You underestimated me. You thought that I would never realise what you were trying to do, hmm. That I was too trusting and wouldn't see all the signs. That you could get away with this." She smiled now, a dangerous smile, a menacing one. "You will tell me who sent you, why you did what you just did, or I will rip all your limbs off one by one." As she said the last part, she tightened her hand a little, willing her power to tighten the ropes around him, making him struggle to breathe.

She just needed a break from those people, so she sat outside on the balcony smoking. Lizzie didn't feel comfortable around them. She could pretend, of course, but they were all so terribly boring, lying, two-faced people, looking down on her and Tommy for being self-made, while they were all born rich and clutching at straws to keep it that way. She heard the balcony door open and close and looked up to find a woman, whose name, if she wasn't mistaken, was Mrs Coulter. She got a cigarette out of her holder and offered it to her, "Want a smoke?" She asked, curious what the other would do. She had seen her around before, on some other of these parties, and Thomas did tell her about her husband, how they were working closely together to gain more standing amongst those people. So she decided that she could at least get to know the other person a little. See if she was different from the others here.

@cculters asked: ❝ i don't actually care but i'm bored so i'm here. ❞ [siuannn]

Wrapping an arm around her he returned the kiss of his friend, surprisingly gentle on her cheek yet with a hint of dominance. “It is good to have a friend who understands what is undoubtedly going to happen and not have skewed expectations. My first dream is..” he paused as if he was about to tell her. “No I think not, that would be too easy for you and you know I expect more from you by now. Let’s see if you can guess even one dream of mine, perhaps I’ll reward you” he teased. “First a toast, to our joint chaos, may we continue to spread like a never-ending web” he poured them both a glass of wine before raising his glass. 

@cculters sent: i'm glad you're finally ready to talk. although, you could've picked somewhere nicer for a date.

                   ˜”*°•.     Hundreds  upon  hundreds  of  ordeals  had  they  faced .  Order ,  hunger,  sickness.   There  had  always  been  a  solution,  though,  an  answer,  no  matter  how  deep  one  had  needed  to  dig.  Conversations  with  Marisa,  though ?  They’d  been  challenging  ever  since  the  very  beginning .  Sometimes  less,  sometimes more  -  and  this  one ?  it  seemed  like  it’d  fit  into  the  second  category. 

@cculters sent piano, sender teaches receiver how to play the piano

The bench was too small. Or maybe he was too tense, shoulders drawn up like he expected a blow instead of music. Asriel glanced sideways once, just long enough to confirm she was still there, then fixed his gaze on the piano keys in front of him. The damn things gleamed like they were mocking him—perfect, orderly, untouched. He didn’t speak. He rarely did when he wasn’t sure of himself. Her hands moved first, fingers gliding across the keys in a pattern he couldn’t quite follow. He didn't recognize the tune. It was soft, restrained—but deliberate. Not sentimental. She didn’t do anything without control. He watched, pretending not to. Then, silence that only her voice came to break: "Try it now." He heard in her voice some mockery, as if she already knew he would fail. He didn't spend his childhood being taught by Mother for hours.

Asriel’s fingers hovered above the keys. He could feel her attention, even if she said nothing. That made it worse. He didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of trying. And yet—his hand moved. Slowly. A single note rang out. Too sharp. Too loud. His jaw tightened. Another. Wrong. He scowled, tried again. This time slower. He wasn’t mimicking the melody—he hadn’t memorized it—but he pressed the keys in the same places she had, trying to understand the motion. His dæmon, laid by his side, her ears perked up, flicked her tail once but said nothing. The room was too quiet. It didn’t sound good. It didn’t even sound right. But it was something. And he stopped playing, before looking at the woman beside him. His voice, when it came, was low. Almost flat. “I don’t see the point of this.”

Asriel’s jaw tightened at her cold dismissal, his blue eyes burning with barely restrained fury. The dim lighting of the car casted harsh shadows over his sharp features as he stepped closer to her, his voice low but brimming with venom. ❝You don’t give a shit what I think? Fine. But you damn well cared when it was convenient for you—when you needed me to clean up your mess, to pick up the pieces after you shattered everything.❞

He pointed a finger at her chest, his hand trembling slightly. ❝You abandoned Lyra. You abandoned us. And now you have the audacity to act like I’m the problem? Like none of this is your fault?❞ Asriel took a step back, shaking his head with a bitter laugh. ❝You can pretend all you want, Marisa, but deep down, you know the truth. You ran because you’re a coward, and you didn’t have the guts to stay and fight for her—or for me.❞ His voice softened, a flicker of pain breaking through his anger. ❝But don’t worry, I’ll keep doing what I’ve always done. I’ll fight. For Lyra. For the people down here who deserve better. And I’ll do it without you.❞ Without waiting for a reply, Asriel turned on his heel.

Her brow rose in question, looking sideways at the woman beside her. She wasn't sure if she enjoyed the others company or if she didn't. It also changed quite a lot. Marissa and her were very alike in some ways, but also different in others. Mierin did respect the other in many ways, that was true, but liking? Of that she wasn't so sure yet.

She did find Marissa attractive though, you had to be blind to not see that. She knew there were enough wanting to be with Marissa, and she knew that Marissa only wanted the most powerful on her side. She used to have him on her side, and not only for power, but Mierin had actually loved Lews. She was now trying to move on, but seeing him everywhere had proven difficult. So, Marissa being here was a welcome distraction.

"And what if I want to see you no more?" She smiled a little at the other woman, enjoying their banter, "or what if I would like to see more of you?" She had turned to the other fully now, her blue eyes taking her in. "What then Marissa?"