I run to the river and dive straight in
I pray that the water will drown out the din
She sighs at the undertones of his permissions, the unsaid chastising he makes upon himself. Something she has been guilty of time and time again, far more prone to self-flagellation than he, yet also more apt to shake things off, shrug and release the pain in pursuit of the next adventure. How much has he carried on his shoulders, unsaid? How much more can he possibly bear?
Lavender, she answers, a secret word for them alone. A light in their darkness, a scent, a soothing memory. Lavender, and the warmth of a summer breeze, and the promise that she will be there no matter how he stumbles, no matter where he falls.
I have to tell Kiada. Every ember lit within her, the passion born from purpose- all of it extinguishes at that fateful declaration, those terrible five words. Amalia had all but forgotten the relationship between Penumbra and Harpy; now she balks, dark eyes widening as painful awareness fills her mind with dread. "Oh, Kia," she murmurs, tears stinging sharply and blurring her vision; "Oh no." The death of a mother when she was gone.
It is a feeling Amalia knows too well.
And the guilt that Deimos must feel toward the girl who is as good as his daughter...! The Shield tightens her grip upon him, wishing more fervently than ever she could carry this weight. "Do you want me to do it?" is a soft, whispered offer, anticipating the rebuttal before it is said. "Or to be there? Or... just tell me what you need, Dei."
Lavender, she answers, a secret word for them alone. A light in their darkness, a scent, a soothing memory. Lavender, and the warmth of a summer breeze, and the promise that she will be there no matter how he stumbles, no matter where he falls.
I have to tell Kiada. Every ember lit within her, the passion born from purpose- all of it extinguishes at that fateful declaration, those terrible five words. Amalia had all but forgotten the relationship between Penumbra and Harpy; now she balks, dark eyes widening as painful awareness fills her mind with dread. "Oh, Kia," she murmurs, tears stinging sharply and blurring her vision; "Oh no." The death of a mother when she was gone.
It is a feeling Amalia knows too well.
And the guilt that Deimos must feel toward the girl who is as good as his daughter...! The Shield tightens her grip upon him, wishing more fervently than ever she could carry this weight. "Do you want me to do it?" is a soft, whispered offer, anticipating the rebuttal before it is said. "Or to be there? Or... just tell me what you need, Dei."
i swallow the sound and it swallows me whole
'Til there's nothing left inside my soul
Amalia
