[KQ] all the triumph overhead, disaster underneath

Noah

if there's a reason I'm still alive
when so many have died

It is undeniable that their actions have stabbed nerves within the Warden. Noah shifted as she stood, knowing that the once-Captain was not above using force. He had seen it before, he was sure he would see it again. His jaw feathered again, the tension in his shoulders taught as he listened. The blood boiled within his veins and his heart pounded with fury, but on the surface and what everyone would and could see was only the man Noah ever was -- glacial, cold, stoic.

He did not let his snowfire eyes move away from Morgan, even as Hotaru spoke. He did not believe that the woman before them trusted him. Time had shown that -- Noah was never invited into the inner workings of this government as he should be. Morgan had only ever used him as the man the citizens complained to. There was not a spot for him in her inner circle. He was a pawn, and he was tired of it. The mental prodding from Deimos was heard and acknowledged through the bond with a wave of understanding and fury mixed together in equal parts.

The star wolves stepped to either side of the valkyrie, and Noah stood with them. Eira stood in the chair, a low growl rumbling from the depths of her throat as her bondmate's rage and hurt collided with her heart. "The people are our concern, and if they were yours you would be doing just as we are -- protecting them from the Voice. You've seen her atrocities with your own eyes--" His words were icy, cold, cutting  "-- abandoned the people in Halo to see them -- and yet you choose to ignore it. You are not ignorant to what she has done to the people in this world for centuries. I will not let Halo fall to her hands. Not now, not ever." Noah stepped to the side, though he was intentional not to stand before where Deimos and Seren were hidden from Morgan.

"Morgan, we are preventing you from making the same mistakes that Neron made." Mistakes that he was never punished for, a slaughter he was never set on trial to attest to, the hunter wanted to add. "Alliances and allegiances or even neutrality to the Voice will bring the fall of this Citadel. No Warden has ever been talked out of their seat, as I have watched even you pull one down by the collar of their shirt." His gaze does not waver as he remembers the day, clear and bright, that they all pulled Neron from his seat. Hotaru talked of escorting her out and away from this place, and Noah crossed his arms over his chest, waiting.

---

Noah continues to speak with Morgan. He has stood up off of his chair but makes sure not to stand in front of invisible!Seren and Deimos.

then I'm willing to
wait for it