So, About That Funeral...

REXANNA i am your friend, a soul for your soul. home. sun or water, here or away — She snorted to him, a hand raising to her lips in a “shh” motion. “Worth it in the end, though!” She chimed with another playful wink sent his direction. Rexanna had been used to waiting for things, had never witnessed instant gratification and when it had appeared – the instance when Frey had taken her brand just like that with a snap of their fingers, it was a strange feeling indeed. Part of the fun for her was the work it took to get there, and Rexanna was never one to avoid getting dirty in order to see results. But she, like Bastien, was stubborn and hard headed. However, unlike Bastien, Rexanna was also a negotiator. She could pick her opponents and learn what they wanted to hear while still getting her point across, only in a way that seemed to favor them. It was the easiest thing to do. She wasn’t in the game of making enemies. She was returned back to the present when Bastien’s rough, wrinkled hand covered her own and her sapphire gaze slipped up to meet his dark eyes. And when he spoke, there was a faint amusement with them that reflected in her own. “I care about you Bastien, and if I can help ensure a god won’t smite you where you stand, well…” She putted with a quiet breathy laugh. She took his other hand, however, thinking of her humble beginnings and despite being elevated, it still never changed the core of her. She could be a princess – a queen – worlds away and she’d still consider herself a servant of royals. She thought for a moment how to word it, uncertain if she’d ever told Bastien most of her story. She knew she had told him she had been a servant and royalty, hidden away. His hum of a rags to riches story came to mind, but it wasn’t all good. She grew a bit solemn for a few moments, eyes gazing softly at Bastien yet looking almost further away, as if she could see the burning spires of the white castle of Halyven if she looked hard enough. “I told you I was a servant that turned to royalty, yes?” She pondered, her thumb absentmindedly caressing Bastien’s Hans while she spoke. “But I didn’t tell you of the terrible things that happened. It’s a strange thing, to be a normal girl waking up on your birthday to find out you were royalty all along. It seems like every girls dream, to marry a prince and live a happy life; but I never thought I deserved it. I still thought I was that normal girl, nothing special about me in the slightest. I still think that. Besides the fact that my husband was insane.” She said shifting her head and looking now directly at Bastien. She offered a small smile. “I watched my city, my home, my world burn to the ground before my eyes and I ran from it. I ran from my husband as he torched all the surrounding cities searching for me. I could hear the cries every morning and yet I still ran.” She paused, her flirtatious hum at odds with the seriousness of the conversation. “I didn’t want to keep running, but I landed here and had some… self sacrificing tendencies.” She hummed with a quiet, nonchalant laugh. “I was prepared to atone for everything I’d done, but Frey saw it as a flaw. Told me to care less about people and more about myself, and it’s been hard. I’m not good at putting myself first. Perhaps we can learn from one another.” She added, standing before him now and looking down at him with her hands still in his. “So maybe follow the footsteps of mine where you are more sensitive to people, where you try to help them not for your own gain. It’s why I went to Frey in the first place, to help someone else. I’ve never gone just for me.” She tilted her head and smiled.  “My first suggestion is to see how you affect others, and be willing to help them – but not for your own gain.” She reiterated, knowing it would be a tough transition. He had already failed on that part with the “heroic acts” decree he had said of his apparent “death”. But due to Rexannas nature, of helping and negotiating, she hoped he might understand. Might be willing to go out and change himself. It would certainly be easier without his youthfulness. —we are a lighthouse, we leave and we stay.