#tobehold

the amusement of the question , smile brings life to features. ❝ a bat ? that is only for movies and stories. ❝ so many superstitions from tales of horror or whispered in the night to scare children. her fingers are both nimble and gentle , weaving dark strands and ribbon of @tobehold's into braid. ❝ garlic is a lie as well , but if someone has spent days eating it ? it ruins the blood for me , terrible aftertaste. ❝ curiosity and questions , nymeria was always happy to answer. ❝ sunlight , fire and a good stake to the heart. all the ways you could rid yourself of vampires. ❝ she reaches for silver plated mirror , handing it to over. it holds no reflection for her , a trinket nymeria does not remember it's origin. ❝ i've heard tales of flight , but never seen it in person. ❝

he didn't say anything. he stood quiet before silver, shoulders still tense from what had just happened. he had saved her once before, because she did not belong to the sea, she was not meant to be claimed by it. the ocean had no right to take her, and he had made sure it did not. but that was not why she stood here now, tending to him as if she owed him something. and if that was what she believed ... he would not allow it. protection was never a debt. it was something he chose. something he would always take upon himself when he believed someone needed to be shielded.

it had happened quickly. the other had rushed toward them without warning, and poseidon had acted on instinct, stepping between them, power and fury rising before thought could even form. blood had been drawn from both men before others finally intervened, stopping the god before he could send yet another soul to his older brother's realm.

now silver held his hands with a gentleness he had rarely known. most mortals he encountered were weathered by storms, hardened by salt and survival. but not her. slowly, she lowered his hands into the bowl of cold water before them. the water curled around him skin as if it recognized him, clinging to him like something loyal, something alive. crimson began to dissolve into pale ribbons, staining the surface before fading away. silver carefully wiped away the blood that stubbornly refused to leave his hands.

he watched her for a moment, the way her fingers moved, steady despite everything. ❝ are you okay ? ❞ he asked at last, voice quieter now, trying to shift the focus away from himself. as if his own wounds mattered less than whatever this had made her feel.

"Have you learned your lessons?" Silco asks, blowing cigarette smoke lazily toward the ceiling, head reclined and single eye closed.

"We must all learn from our mistakes someday. Only then can we find the need to stop looking back.

And only then would we stop getting lost in looking back."

when did lucifer not have something to say ? it was simply the way his face worked. sharp, expressive, incapable of true neutrality. even in silence, his eyes, his smirk, the tilt of his head always seemed to speak for him. it did not matter if he had something to hide; lucifer was terrible at it anyway. he was not one to tell lies or bury his thoughts behind pleasant masks. still, that did not mean the devil could not enjoy himself from time to time.

his gaze lingered on silver a second longer than necessary, unreadably yet undeniably intense. something in the way he looked at her, or perhaos in the way she read him, seemed to affect her, or at least that was the impression her words gave him. his brow lifted slightly. ❝ me ? ❞ his voice came out with a hint of surprise, smooth but edged with curiosity, as if he truly could not see what she meant. though, deep down, he very much did.

he shifted his weiht subtly where he stood, hands resting loosely at his sides, posture relaxed but alert. ❝ what gave you that impression ? should i have something to say to you ? ❞ he enjoy the game, and he knew how to play it. ( or at least he wanted to believe so )

she leaned back slowly, her smile unfolding. bright, gentle, and almost disarmingly charming, as if she were trying to hide something deeper behind it. ( you need to be perfect, always perfect. ) yet, in truth, that smile came from an honest place inside her. it warmed her in a quiet way to see that silver cared, even if only for a brief moment, about her well being. the light caught softly on her golden hair as she titled her head, studying her with curious, thoughtful eyes.

❝ you are so kind. ❞ she whispered, the words carrying genuine appreciation. mortals had always fascinated aphrodite. creatures of fragile hearts and overwhelming emotions. she admired them, even if she did not always fully understand the way they loved, suffered, or hoped so intensely. still, their humanity intrigued her, and in watching them she believed she could one day fulfill her divine role even better.

her expression softened, more sincere than playful now, as she met silver's gaze again. ❝ thank you ... but tell me, why ? why care about me, if you don't even know me that well ? ❞

"What was it?" Silco encourages gently, hands taking the girl's face gently to prompt her to look at him, to focus on him.

"What did you see?" She seems frightened, shaken, and that alarms him.

It reminds him of Jinx.

Holding  the  bouquet  loosely,  Temo  could  feel  the  brittle  stems  scrape  against  his  palm.  The  roses  were  browned  at  the  edges,  petals  curled  like  old  letters  that  no  one  had  opened  in  years.  He  traced  a  finger  along  one,  and  it  crumbled  almost  instantly.  One  had  to  be  more  delicate  for  these  flowers  that  when  they  were  in  their  prime.  “Still  beautiful,  don’t  you  think?”  he  murmured,  lost  in  thought  before  continuing.  “They  are  tired,  yes…they’ve  lived  their  time.  But  see  how  the  color  still  clings  to  them.  Even  in  death,  there’s  something  stubborn,  something  that  insists  on  being  noticed.”  As  if  on  cue,  a  single  petal  slipped  from  the  bouquet,  landing  on  the  floor.