Kaisel
He can't quite tell if the way she nearly trembles is from the shuddering of unpleasant memory, fear a residual thing full of echoes, or if it's the twist of guilt inside her that's churning her gut. That becomes clearer as she explains, because in place of some horrific tale of cruelty and vhemence, it sounds like the usual underhanded nature of politics. He doesn't know the finer points, but of all things, embarrassment doesn't seem enough of a cost for the price this man paid. Not that it absolves Harper of the shit he pulled with Flora, but it certainly keeps him from ever being able to amend them.
And now? Now she gets to carry this alongside the already poor memories of her own experience. Fucking Jack.
She worsens as she goes on, and it's as if something buried and forgotten has been dredged up for the first time in so long the sudden pressure of it rising up and the glare of the surface's light on its customary dark is too much. "Hey, hey," he says quickly, jellyfish umbrella flopping to the ground beside them as he lifts both hands to cup either side of her face. "You are not responsible." He pours the copper of his stare into all the blue of hers, holding her steady in the seat of his hands, as if he's watching her start to drown and means to keep her head up at the very least. "You did not ask for it. You did not want it. You are not accountable for Jack's shitty choices."
He leans in to press a fierce, slightly rain-damp kiss to her forehead before hauling her fully back into his arms for a tight and unrelenting hug. Slowly, he rocks her side to side in the embrace, twisting faintly as he does. "You are in control of your actions, not those of anyone else. Don't take his darkness just because he's trying to put your name on it."
And now? Now she gets to carry this alongside the already poor memories of her own experience. Fucking Jack.
She worsens as she goes on, and it's as if something buried and forgotten has been dredged up for the first time in so long the sudden pressure of it rising up and the glare of the surface's light on its customary dark is too much. "Hey, hey," he says quickly, jellyfish umbrella flopping to the ground beside them as he lifts both hands to cup either side of her face. "You are not responsible." He pours the copper of his stare into all the blue of hers, holding her steady in the seat of his hands, as if he's watching her start to drown and means to keep her head up at the very least. "You did not ask for it. You did not want it. You are not accountable for Jack's shitty choices."
He leans in to press a fierce, slightly rain-damp kiss to her forehead before hauling her fully back into his arms for a tight and unrelenting hug. Slowly, he rocks her side to side in the embrace, twisting faintly as he does. "You are in control of your actions, not those of anyone else. Don't take his darkness just because he's trying to put your name on it."
And when the day broke, buried in violence
Somethin' made my mind up
I could do this with my eyes closed
Somethin' made my mind up
I could do this with my eyes closed
Wearing a watery blue, faded and stretched-out sparkling hair tie on his left wrist
