#of101

Antonia watches. It's what she does. Silent and observant most days because of her training. It takes a lot to force words out of her, but she's learning. Getting used to being able and allowed to speak. She still practices in the mirror most mornings. Exercising her vocal cords just like any other muscle. However, there isn't much need for her current task.

@of101 said: you're the only one who really means what you say.

SHE CARRIES A SECRET IN THE CURVE OF HER LIPS. Oh, Diana, you know her. She's not so good at lies, but secrets have entwined their way into her ribs. It is not a language she speaks well, or even quite willingly, but one she knows how to communicate in all the same. She thinks of the worth of her words. She thinks of how promises are unbreakable on Themyscira. She also knows, Frank, that you, too, mean what you say. It matters, when you offer her this observation. Praise? It wouldn't suit him, yet honesty is a good look on him, nonetheless.

Diana decides to offer him some back.

❛ There once was a man. Who thought I'd save the world. So much so that I believed it too. So much so that I promised I would. ❜ Her eyes see only Steve, in this moment, the man who believed in her in ways she wish she could have honored. The moment passes quickly. She knows Frank will understand the answer to the story. Diana said she would save the world, she promised she would, and it never came to be. No one knows that better than him.

She pauses. Doesn't overthink it too much, as she lays a hand on his bicep. They have never touched before. It's not unpleasant.

"Ask? ASK?!" The Ghoul leaned against the wooden entrance. "Now, what a r a r e sight. We usin' niceties and all? Hot damn, was the people who founded this shit-hole vaulties? Just curious and all." His boots—thumped! thumped! against the wooden floor, his spurs making small metal ting! sounds. "Well, since you asked so nicely, you seen a woman walk by here with a vault suit? We got separated and now I gotta find that damn girl."

"Considering my niceties are what's keeping a bullet from being lodged into your skull, I'd expect a little more gratitude." Whether the founders were from a vault or not, she didn't know. All she knew was that it was her family that had taken care of this town, and it would continue to be that way until they were all dead. Lucille would personally take care of anyone who tried to take away what she'd worked for.

"Yeah, you're like my own personal shadow," John mutters. If he had to hear one more person say that, he was going to go absolutely ballistic. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the concern, but the whole team was walking on eggshells around him ever since they found out of the court date. He wasn't going to break. He refused.

"You wanted to learn." Bob had two of the world's deadliest assassins, three super soldiers, and a powered mercenary to teach him how to fight. Alexei might go easy on him, but the rest were definitely going to take the task of training him seriously. "You need consistency. Body will get used to it."

@of101 sent: “I want you to make smarter decisions than that.” for Karen