tempt my trouble

Koa

I'm the king, and you're the queen
and we will stumble through heaven

It's a little late for I'm sorry, isn't it? Koa's teeth grit together, his jaw tensing visibly as another wave of bilious unhappiness makes its way into his throat. Maybe she doesn't say the infamous line aloud, but it's hanging there between them, as sweetly malodorous as rotting fruit soaked in summer sun. It's not you, it's me-- except it is him, isn't it? Or rather, it's not him, it's someone else, and he has failed to measure up in some way he will never be able to define.

She looks so sad, and while part of him is sickly satisfied she's hurting, another wants nothing more than to reach out and sweep her up into his arms. To hold her close and tell her he'll fight, he'll do anything to prove that it's him she should have chosen. But she doesn't ask, doesn't even try, and Koa prides himself on never taking a step uninvited. And anyway, would he even have stayed if she asked him? His pride is great, and the wound to it greater.

Maybe they were always fated to end this way.

His grin is cracking bit by bit, a swift and thorough degradation that marks the fraying of his self control. I'm sorry, she says again, and he waffles between laughing and choking a sob. The thing that comes out is a little bit of both, muted, a chuckle without any lick of humor. "It's fine. Don't worry about it." He's backing away, desperate for the door, Pip squawking her discomfort at the strength of his grip. He has to get out of here, before he explodes. "Good luck with everything, Soh," he says.

And then he's gone.

If there's a light at the end, it's just the sun in your eyes
I know you wanna go to heaven, but you're human tonight

{/code}