all that and more

Deimos Acceptance thereafter, made on salutes and snickers, expecting nothing less, not bothering to fight off the roll to his eyes, dragged off with little fight as they wandered and meandered along the shoal of hues and heat. “Then Halo should be in safe hands,” and he meant it, truly, even if it was embedded in a chuckle. His strides were far longer than hers, and more than once he had to nearly cease all movement, avoiding collisions, but likely instigating further irritation (victory in one form of another). Her question didn’t give him pause. “Yes.” Somehow, he wished the answer was different, that they could be capable of wandering off through portals too, indulging in another world’s darkness without the monsters, trauma, and disaster attached. But they were already embedded in preparations, in plans, in heralds’ motives and their own, intending to galvanize and fortify, protect those they served. Perhaps next year everyone could be convinced to leave for those last two weeks, and there wouldn’t be any bodies left behind to discover, any claws left rendered in those lost in the gloom. Maybe this time they could actually adhere to staying inside, but the doubts had already begun to brim over; he’d be naïve to believe in such well-wishes and aspirations. Out of sight and out of mind Make everything alright So let the sky and sea collide Just not in our lifetime