HOTARU
She's in a long black coat tonight
Waiting for me in the downpour outside
Waiting for me in the downpour outside
His protestations would have done Cordelia no good in such an eventuality. Even if he’d lived to plead the woman’s case, the Shrike would have been torn apart upon her own weaponized thorns, shredded by the Valkyrie’s rage as recompense for every wound the young man would have endured. Though Talyson remains whole in her arms, she shakes with the anger of the possibilities, the outcomes that had breathed and died in the span of blinks as fate took other paths. Her loyalty is grievously hard to win, but Tal has managed to do so, and while the fires of her love may be too hot to stand near sometimes, they will never burn him; only others, in defense of him.
That fire burns low, banked and sputtering, and he is right to fear. As the wind of a target - so sorely needed in the wake of Enzo’s death - is ripped from her sails she sags against him like a discarded marionette. Porcelain facade cracked, lovingly painted veneer chipped, revealing only dark, hollow caverns within.
But, strangely, there is something new there. As his tears slide down his cheeks and onto her own skin, they slip past the porcelain dust coating the rough edges and begin to fill the emptiness with something new. “Even after all these years it hurts to talk about them,” she croaks, his tears flooding her insides until the words float high enough to come free.
She wants to curse him for his pleading request. Why, why did they keep asking her to stay? Was their selfishness worth more than her own relief? Than reuniting with her children? How much could she possibly be worth alive to outweigh that kind of peace?
But she knows she would ask the same. Because she is selfish, and has lost far too much already. And in looking from the other side of the glass, she understands. And as her shoulders begin to shake, as the burn in her eyes increases until finally tears force their way through the grit and fire, Ru nods her head jerkily against Tal’s collar. “I promise. I promise. I -” and on and on again in dissolving mumbles that become more a mantra to herself than a vow for his ears. Only ceasing when the sobs break through and distort any attempt at speech, as the pain finally crests and she shatters all over in Talyson’s arms.
That fire burns low, banked and sputtering, and he is right to fear. As the wind of a target - so sorely needed in the wake of Enzo’s death - is ripped from her sails she sags against him like a discarded marionette. Porcelain facade cracked, lovingly painted veneer chipped, revealing only dark, hollow caverns within.
But, strangely, there is something new there. As his tears slide down his cheeks and onto her own skin, they slip past the porcelain dust coating the rough edges and begin to fill the emptiness with something new. “Even after all these years it hurts to talk about them,” she croaks, his tears flooding her insides until the words float high enough to come free.
She wants to curse him for his pleading request. Why, why did they keep asking her to stay? Was their selfishness worth more than her own relief? Than reuniting with her children? How much could she possibly be worth alive to outweigh that kind of peace?
But she knows she would ask the same. Because she is selfish, and has lost far too much already. And in looking from the other side of the glass, she understands. And as her shoulders begin to shake, as the burn in her eyes increases until finally tears force their way through the grit and fire, Ru nods her head jerkily against Tal’s collar. “I promise. I promise. I -” and on and on again in dissolving mumbles that become more a mantra to herself than a vow for his ears. Only ceasing when the sobs break through and distort any attempt at speech, as the pain finally crests and she shatters all over in Talyson’s arms.
singing "Baby come home" in a melody of tears
While the rhythm of the rain keeps time
While the rhythm of the rain keeps time
