Maea
And I hope that you don't suffer
But take the pain
But take the pain
Somewhere deep in the back of her mind, Maea had not expected to find one either. Though she had searched doggedly for the the rose, it had been a quest of stubbornness and petulant refusal to let Flora have the last laugh in their feud. But now that it was right there in front of her eyes, suddenly it seemed like such a petty reason. Was there not more important reasons to find the flower? Had her mind not already moved past the idea of returning to Torchline to settle, after the conversation she'd had with Liam?
Kneeling before the flower as if in prayer, she gently brought her hands to the soil and began to dig it away from the roots. Using her nails to uncover fine tendrils of root so that it could be lifted whole and intact from the ground - Maea didn't have the heart to cut it, after all - she found herself hesitating to give Thalassa a proper answer.
"I... am not so sure," she murmured, thoughts tumbling over themselves in a muddled haze. Shock, maybe, caused them to seem messier than normal. Which was saying something. "I did get my ticket back... and I will return to settle the matter of my 'exile' with the queen. But as for staying..." She bit the inside of her cheek. "I might... actually remain here. I met this guy... Liam? We've become friends, and he asked if I wanted to stay." A complicated expression clouded her face; tender, happy, wary - much like Thalassa before Vi's Rose, whatever Maea saw when taking the man's name in her mouth carried a good deal of suspicion, as though it was a mirage that might disappear or a trap she should know better than to walk into.
Kneeling before the flower as if in prayer, she gently brought her hands to the soil and began to dig it away from the roots. Using her nails to uncover fine tendrils of root so that it could be lifted whole and intact from the ground - Maea didn't have the heart to cut it, after all - she found herself hesitating to give Thalassa a proper answer.
"I... am not so sure," she murmured, thoughts tumbling over themselves in a muddled haze. Shock, maybe, caused them to seem messier than normal. Which was saying something. "I did get my ticket back... and I will return to settle the matter of my 'exile' with the queen. But as for staying..." She bit the inside of her cheek. "I might... actually remain here. I met this guy... Liam? We've become friends, and he asked if I wanted to stay." A complicated expression clouded her face; tender, happy, wary - much like Thalassa before Vi's Rose, whatever Maea saw when taking the man's name in her mouth carried a good deal of suspicion, as though it was a mirage that might disappear or a trap she should know better than to walk into.
Hope if everybody runs
You choose to stay
You choose to stay
