#heldheart

@held-heart sent: ❛  if you keep looking at me like that i don’t think i’ll be able to control myself any longer.  ❜ (For Bradley from Caroline)

🐝  *  ―  𝑺𝑬𝑿𝑼𝑨𝑳 𝑻𝑬𝑵𝑺𝑰𝑶𝑵 𝑷𝑹𝑶𝑴𝑷𝑻𝑺.| Accepting

starter for the big reveal for @held-heart

"I'm fine. I promise." Rogue was used to feeling this way, despite what everyone thought, she was tougher than she looked. She would never let anyone know that she had thought leaving with Pyro when he left with Magneto or that she had even thought about taking the supposed mutant cure. It's true, she had spent her life feeling broken, out of place, but at least here, she had a family. But she missed him, she missed John, despite what had happened.

Steve had been at it for hours. Callouses on his hands from a lifetime of hard labour being the only thing stopping them from bleeding. But his hands were black from the charcoal. And if it weren't the charcoal from today, it would be paint tomorrow. Spending much more time in the atelier than the other men at the academy. Most of them getting their place because of a rich relative. It kind of was his situation. But unlike them, he wasn't born with a silver spoon in the mouth. And he wouldn't let this opportunity pass him by. This was his one chance to a future other than dying on the field or being a servant for the rest of his life.

He had been lucky in life, despite how he was born. Son of a drunk who fit the stereotype of an Irishman. Son of a wetnurse turned housemaid. The Barnes had been good to him and his mother. Especially to him, because of the first son. They had done everything together. An education his mother could never paid for but Bucky would riot if Steve did not attend. Even got an art tutor for Steve's sake, because Bucky had absolutely no talent. But after his mother died and Steve was of age, he joined the British Army, even if other people in Ireland would look at him like a traitor. Bucky joining as well, even if he didn't need to. Years of service. But Bucky died. And in his death, gave Steve enough money to buy for retirement and enroll to the Royal Academy.

So it was Bucky's face he was drawing from memory when he noticed the other man in the room. One of the two Bridgerton twins. Definitely was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. One of the families he could paint for with what he learned at the Academy. If he managed to make a trade as a painter.

I went to sleep crying, heavy in my body, carrying pain I could feel all the way in my womb. Opening this message this morning felt like being held. A reminder I needed to receive, from my mother.

Hija amada, que la Luz que te creó te acompañe siempre y guíe tu corazón aun cuando el camino se oscurezca.

Que la Presencia divina te sostenga, recordándote que eres propósito, que eres protegida, que fuiste soñada en el cielo antes de llegar a mis brazos.

Que ninguna sombra toque tu espíritu, porque tu luz es más fuerte que cualquier temor.

Que los ángeles caminen contigo, abriendo sendas de paz y cerrando todo lo que no te hace bien.

Y recuerda, hija mía: nunca estás sola.

— Una oración que me envió mi madre.

(English translation)

Beloved daughter, may the Light that created you always walk beside you and guide your heart, even when the path grows dark.

May the Divine Presence hold you, reminding you that you are purpose, that you are protected, that you were dreamed of in heaven before arriving in my arms.

May no shadow touch your spirit, for your light is stronger than any fear.

May the angels walk with you, opening paths of peace and closing everything that does not serve your good.

And remember, my daughter: you are never alone.

"I try, doesn't mean I always get it right." He looked at her. "Sometimes I feel like I say the wrong things. But I always try to say and do what's best." He nodded with a smile.