Don't paint wonderful lies on me that wash away
How did you go back to not knowing someone? How do you unlove a person, unsing a song? There were some things you couldn't go back from, and love... must be the ultimate one.
The thing was, he was already her friend. He already had her love. He could have her whole life too, if he wanted. She wasn't just ready to die for him, she had been prepared to live with him too. Come fire, flood or high tide.
And what he offered now, what he asked her to do... was wait. For a maybe. To go back to watching him destroy himself slowly with drink and smoke and fighting, to see his skin bruised and bitten from the casual passion of others. To let him come and go through her life as he pleased, trampling mud and blood all across her heart, until it became as blackened and broken as his.
And the only thing she could say to that?
"Okay." Her voice was faint. Thick with pain, with tears, with the desperate hope he offered.
She would wait. Bleed quietly her broken heart as long as he needed it. There were some things you couldn't go back from, and he was one of them too. And... there wasn't really anything else she wanted. So if this was the only way... Then...
Go ahead and break me.
There was another flash in her mind, of snapping teeth and the outrage of being trapped behind a cage of drooly teeth. Again the petulant whine to call the griffin off, followed by a sulky silence when she didn't comply. Then... as if finally sensing her own distress... A tentative concern.
It almost made her start crying all over again. But Maea bit it back and swallowed thickly. Leaned back, away from him, and wiped her face on the sleeves. Sniffling. Face a terrible mess.
Not the kind of pain you could hide.
The thing was, he was already her friend. He already had her love. He could have her whole life too, if he wanted. She wasn't just ready to die for him, she had been prepared to live with him too. Come fire, flood or high tide.
And what he offered now, what he asked her to do... was wait. For a maybe. To go back to watching him destroy himself slowly with drink and smoke and fighting, to see his skin bruised and bitten from the casual passion of others. To let him come and go through her life as he pleased, trampling mud and blood all across her heart, until it became as blackened and broken as his.
And the only thing she could say to that?
"Okay." Her voice was faint. Thick with pain, with tears, with the desperate hope he offered.
She would wait. Bleed quietly her broken heart as long as he needed it. There were some things you couldn't go back from, and he was one of them too. And... there wasn't really anything else she wanted. So if this was the only way... Then...
Go ahead and break me.
There was another flash in her mind, of snapping teeth and the outrage of being trapped behind a cage of drooly teeth. Again the petulant whine to call the griffin off, followed by a sulky silence when she didn't comply. Then... as if finally sensing her own distress... A tentative concern.
It almost made her start crying all over again. But Maea bit it back and swallowed thickly. Leaned back, away from him, and wiped her face on the sleeves. Sniffling. Face a terrible mess.
Not the kind of pain you could hide.
