Aurelia
I never had a chance to be soft
I was always bloody knuckles and shards of glass
I was always bloody knuckles and shards of glass
She muffles a cough after lighting the cigarette, surprised by the hit to her lungs even though she always knew this stuff must have been nasty. She took a fuller drag anyway, coughed a bit more, and realized that he had presented her with a glass. Glancing over at the bottle and taking one whiff of the air, she knew this was alcohol. It was damn good stuff, too. It had a smoldering scent that made her nostrils burn. Most alcohols didn't do that. Some had a putrid kind of scent that made her flinch but not many burned before you even have a drop.
Aurelia held it up but, she watched how he drank it first. To be perfectly honest, she wasn't sure she wanted to just down it all in one go. When he merely sipped his, she followed suit. She promptly set the glass down after daring a second, smaller sip. Definitely drinking that slow.
Sunjata began to explain to her about the Old Gods, their heralds, shape shifters, and then the New Gods. She didn't just give him the bare minimum amount of attention, no, she was quite engrossed with these new ideas.
She took another pull from her cigarette. This time she didn't cough nearly as much. This was right when he got to the part about the Ascended. He even showed off the marks they'd left him with. Smoke suddenly billowed out through her nostrils and she spluttered.
"Fuck, that burns!" Once she'd recovered from both what he'd implied and exhaling through her nose, she addressed this new information considerately, "So you're a shapeshifter- an... Attuned, is that what you call it? I guess that's pretty amazing..." she realized the ash of her cigarette had grown quite lengthy, and leaned over carefully to tap it off into the ash tray. Settling back, she continued, "where I'm from, like I told you, magic is illegal. It's... you know, if you used it, you were outcast. The world I lived in was incredibly harsh. We didn't have cities like this above ground, not at all. That's... it was just unheard of. People tried, but the wildlife is apparently far more aggressive and dangerous than the animals and plants that exist here. I mean... if you went aboveground, the mortality rate tripled," she swallowed, her throat feeling a little dry. She kind of wished she didn't have to tell him this next part, "we would exile magic-users out there, just banish them into the wilds in the hopes that that would kill them. If it somehow didn't, and they tried to stir up trouble or make a name for themselves... it was my job to go in and catch them. Most of the time, I would... kill them. Some, I tortured. I never saw this kind of stuff as," she hesitated, knowing this was certainly not going to fly as an excuse to someone like him, "as something good, something to be blessed with by a God," but the alcohol was slowly getting to her and her social inhibitions came tumbling down. Before she could even comprehend it, she was rambling about her life story, "My father was killed by a mage when I was.. oh, fuck, five? six? Burned alive in our family's shop, and everything else with him. My family's lives... it all just went to shit after that, we had nothing without him or the shop. My father didn't have enemies, it was... just evil. That kind of power shouldn't be in the hands of people. When they want to take something from you, if they're angry at you, or sometimes for no reason at all... they'll try to hurt you, and they'll do whatever they can to."
But some small part of her wondered if she really meant that, the same part of her capable of feeling regret. Her green eyes faltered.
Aurelia held it up but, she watched how he drank it first. To be perfectly honest, she wasn't sure she wanted to just down it all in one go. When he merely sipped his, she followed suit. She promptly set the glass down after daring a second, smaller sip. Definitely drinking that slow.
Sunjata began to explain to her about the Old Gods, their heralds, shape shifters, and then the New Gods. She didn't just give him the bare minimum amount of attention, no, she was quite engrossed with these new ideas.
She took another pull from her cigarette. This time she didn't cough nearly as much. This was right when he got to the part about the Ascended. He even showed off the marks they'd left him with. Smoke suddenly billowed out through her nostrils and she spluttered.
"Fuck, that burns!" Once she'd recovered from both what he'd implied and exhaling through her nose, she addressed this new information considerately, "So you're a shapeshifter- an... Attuned, is that what you call it? I guess that's pretty amazing..." she realized the ash of her cigarette had grown quite lengthy, and leaned over carefully to tap it off into the ash tray. Settling back, she continued, "where I'm from, like I told you, magic is illegal. It's... you know, if you used it, you were outcast. The world I lived in was incredibly harsh. We didn't have cities like this above ground, not at all. That's... it was just unheard of. People tried, but the wildlife is apparently far more aggressive and dangerous than the animals and plants that exist here. I mean... if you went aboveground, the mortality rate tripled," she swallowed, her throat feeling a little dry. She kind of wished she didn't have to tell him this next part, "we would exile magic-users out there, just banish them into the wilds in the hopes that that would kill them. If it somehow didn't, and they tried to stir up trouble or make a name for themselves... it was my job to go in and catch them. Most of the time, I would... kill them. Some, I tortured. I never saw this kind of stuff as," she hesitated, knowing this was certainly not going to fly as an excuse to someone like him, "as something good, something to be blessed with by a God," but the alcohol was slowly getting to her and her social inhibitions came tumbling down. Before she could even comprehend it, she was rambling about her life story, "My father was killed by a mage when I was.. oh, fuck, five? six? Burned alive in our family's shop, and everything else with him. My family's lives... it all just went to shit after that, we had nothing without him or the shop. My father didn't have enemies, it was... just evil. That kind of power shouldn't be in the hands of people. When they want to take something from you, if they're angry at you, or sometimes for no reason at all... they'll try to hurt you, and they'll do whatever they can to."
But some small part of her wondered if she really meant that, the same part of her capable of feeling regret. Her green eyes faltered.
I wanted people to be afraid of hurting me
