listen to the roar of the crowd

nobody can give you freedom,
but you can create freedom.

Elias chuckled quietly, as she called him noble, and shook his head. "I couldn't have left her there, with a child on the way. I do wish to have saved her though, so she'd have gotten to raise him."

He fell quiet, grinning. "Probably the sun. But being a wallflower is not a bad thing, Phoebe. It means you observe, you watch, catch things that others might miss." It meant she probably read people extremely well. "But it also paints a target on you." She knew that he knew that, the various people that watched her enter the ports knew that. "As long as you are aware of that fact, and stay aware, you'll do well."

He offered her a smirk, at her question. "You decide. Am I serious, or am I joking? Only your answer can tell." He spoke in a teasing tone, chuckling under his breath.

"Can you tell me more about where you come from?" He's never met an Outlander who's spoken to him for more than five minutes, whilst perusing wares. He, of course, knows that they all come from different places, and over the years he has grown curiouser and curiouser. His gaze wanders to the dark sky, and he offers a mirthless huff, "Perhaps it's too late for story-time..."

Elias

PHOEBE

"That isn't true. You could have left her there, and many people would have. Most people actually." she said rather seriously. She had seen it time and time again, people ignoring abuse even when it was obvious because it was easy. Because you were to mind your own business and leave others to theirs. It wasn't easy to set that aside and help, even when it was clearly the right thing to do.

Phoebe shrugged a little as he pointed out the inherent dangers that came with being the wallflower she was. "Being female paints a target on my back. I am well accustomed to dealing with it." she said with a warm smile. Eternally naive as she might seem, especially given her age, she had seen enough to know better than to assume good intent all the time.

She huffed in surprise at his response, briefly miffed as indicated by the way she puffed up her cheeks with air. But it passed just as quickly as she shook her head, a melancholic smile on her lips. "For now I shall take it as a joke then. I'm...not really in a position to be dating anyone right now anyways." she said with a shrug. Despite how much she wanted to, the want to be wanted never faded, she knew better than to go running headlong into anything. Just look at her track record and what had happened with Harper after all.

"I'd be happy to tell you, but perhaps another time. You should probably be getting back to your ship." she said. Torchline was treacherous at night for everyone after all

--FIN

When the static clears

And all is said and done

I will realize that we all need someone