a dream from which we cannot wake

Jude

In my head I am hunting for myself
but I come up empty again

He'd wanted to avoid the Fountain to heal himself given how popular it is. He doesn't want to be seen right now. Not by the citizens who will recognize him and whisper, curious and gossip-hungry. His father may yet still ruin his own name, but Jude won't do it for him beforehand, and he doesn't want the rumors to have his own name attached.

He isn't expecting the clinic to be closed though.

It's late and the moon gives more light than the few torches this deep into the streets of Haulani, but the sign on the door is clearly marked 'Closed'. Jude stares at it for an indeterminate amount of time, the helpless anger from before burning up his veins until his face runs hot and his hands clench at his sides.

Taking a few tremulous breaths, the explosion of movement that comes directly after startles a few sleeping hels into flight in a cloud of noisy squawks as he kicks the door in a fit of rage. He turns and begins throwing everything he can find. In Torchline it's nothing valuable, you'd have to be stupid to leave anything out where the shadows can reach. Tattered blankets over some wooden boxes, a bag of trash, some old netting. But once he's scattered and destroyed them, he stands and yells impotently at the sky before collapsing down onto one of the sideways boxes, head cradled in his hands.

It hurts to even do that much. He didn't think he had any more tears to cry after the bar, but they come pouring through his clenched fingers all the same. How stupid, his internal voice patronizes, crying outside of a closed clinic. You really can't stand a little pain, can you? His dad had taught him all manner of advanced first aid, but he hasn't tried the keys left with the letter still sitting in his coat pocket. Doesn't know if his dad had moved all their supplies over or if he'll have to make a life from scratch at eighteen.

The thought makes him cry harder.

the night is a cavern
I am underneath it, inside it, anything but free of it

Draw the cat eye, sharp enough to kill a man
You did some bad things, but I'm the worst of them

It seemed, somehow, like a trap, a boy sitting in front of a clinic, crying, only moments after destroying everything in reach. Admittedly, that wasn't much, but it was still a little sus, if you asked Noe. Which, of course, no one had, but she was here, and she'd seen it, and now it was her responsibility, especially since Torchline didn't have anything like the Dragoons back home, as far as she knew. So, while she would normally run for the hills and report this to the nearest officer she could find, and despite the fact that she was more than a little concerned about why this kid was pitching a fit in the wee hours of the morning outside of a closed clinic, looking like he'd had the shit beat out of him...

Why was Noe out at this hour, when everything was closed and dark, you ask?

Wouldn't you like to know?

So instead of leaving, she put on her best poker face and sauntered up to the boy, who, from what she could tell in the dark, seemed about her age. And the closer she got, the more sympathetic she became, because he really did look like shit, and he really could have used a clinic that was open, and gods, it had been a while since she'd refreshed on her first aid skills. "Hey," she said as she got closer, stopping what felt like a safe distance away. "This is, like, a really dumb question, but are you okay?"

Sometimes I wonder which one will be your last lie
They say looks can kill and I might try

Noe

Jude

In my head I am hunting for myself
but I come up empty again

Maybe it's the pounding of blood in his ears from all the swelling in his face, or the cacophonous drone of his own crying, but he doesn't hear her approach. He startles like a fawn, all long limbs and half-airborne, and while normally he has the big doe eyes to match he's only got one he can see out of properly right now.

He stuffs his sobbing down until they're mere hiccups, trying to hurriedly wipe away the blood and tears on his face with shaking hands. Gods, he's frightened her hasn't he? Guilt seeps into the few holes left where the grief and anger aren't spilling over. "U-um, sorry," his voice warbles and cracks pitifully as it rises past his split lips. "I um...no. Not - not really?" And much like a child, as the lilt of his voice goes up in a question, the tears start to return. Jude's hands shake, and his bloodied knuckles ache as he presses his hands over his face, ashamed and embarrassed to be seen like this.

"S-Sorry. Sorry. I just - everything is all messed up and I got into a fight and the fountain is so busy -" his vowels are nasally and rough from all the clotted blood in his nose, and he cuts himself off mid-ramble, going utterly still like a possum before gingerly lifting a hand toward the sign that says 'Closed'. "And they're closed." As if that's any explanation for the sheer level of fucked up he is. But as he blinks and more tears come flowing out silently, Jude shoves the rest of the words down under his ribs, because that's what a good son - a good boy - does. They don't make waves or make concerned young women feel uncomfortable. They don't get angry.

the night is a cavern
I am underneath it, inside it, anything but free of it

Draw the cat eye, sharp enough to kill a man
You did some bad things, but I'm the worst of them

Concerned? Yes. Frightened? Less so by the minute. In fact, Noe found herself feeling quite bad for the poor kid. He was clearly hurt - in more ways than one - and she'd never been one to turn her back on someone in need. She chewed her lip for a moment, brow furrowed as she thought. "Wait here," she said. "I'll be right back." And then she walked briskly away.

When she returned, it was with a flask of liquid in her hands, and she approached with the sort of no-nonsense attitude that a nurse at the clinic might have. "Here," she said, thrusting the flask into his hands. "From the fountain." And she hovered until he'd taken a sip, determined to fix at least the physical wounds she could see.

Little did she know that she was treating the reason for her brother's heartbreak.

After a moment had passed and the boy had taken a drink from the flask (hopefully), Noe crossed her arms over her chest and regarded him with sympathy. "So... why'd you get into a fight?"

Sometimes I wonder which one will be your last lie
They say looks can kill and I might try

Noe

Jude

In my head I am hunting for myself
but I come up empty again

He doesn't even know her name, and yet his chest tightens and his knees twitch beneath him in vain reflex as if trying to rise to chase after her the moment she turns and leaves. He isn't sure why it still hurts when she's so firmly a stranger to him. Jude wouldn't blame her for not actually coming back as insinuated - it's a good out from an encounter with an insane young man. But she does, and he must stare stupidly up at her from where he's sitting on the toppled box like a beggar might their first glimpse of an angel after a lifetime of unanswered prayers.

Taking the offered flask with trembling, swollen, bloodied hands, Jude's eyes never leave Noe's face. "Thank you," he whispers, voice small. It's a kindness he hadn't expected from her, and he automatically wonders if she's really a Torcher. Taking a series of small, slow sips so he doesn't upset his alcohol-filled stomach, Jude makes a small noise of relief as the swelling in his eye begins to go down immediately, allowing him full sight once more. The more he drinks the faster it will heal, but with the worst of the pain fading he feels he can wait long enough to answer her questions. It's the least he can do.

"It's a long story," he cautions on a bitter laugh, voice still quiet like the yelling from earlier had made him sheepish. Staring down at the shadowed opening of the flask, his thumb strokes the side of it for lack of a better outlet for his anxious energy. "My girlfriend told me she still had feelings for someone she'd been seeing before me. I asked for time and space, and left. Talked to both my parents, and found my brother too, who'd been missing a long time." If there was any blood left in his face, it's gone now, the streaks of dried blood even darker for how he pales. "A group of men tried to kill us, and he had to protect us. I watched people die for the first time." The alcohol roils in his stomach. The memory always makes him feel sick, but it's worse now when there's nothing but liquor in his body.

"I had to tell someone. And the person my girlfriend still liked, he was a soldier who'd helped me before so I - I told him. Made a mess of things." The flask sinks to hang between his thighs, and here the sniffles try to creep back into the undertone of his words, voice hoarse and thick with emotion. "It took so much time, and I never got to answer her letters. She thought I was gone, I guess. Or angrier at her than I was." His lips wobble remembering Soh's admissions, the anger and distrust in her eyes. "So I said we should break up, because...because I didn't want to keep holding her back." He couldn't have shouldered the weight of her anger, so maybe it was partially cowardice, but he hopes she's happier now that things are defined and all the stray threads have been snipped and discarded. Nice and neat - except for Jude.

"Um. And then I came home. And my dad, he - he was King here y'know. One of them." One swollen hand retrieves a crumpled letter and a small key ring from his pocket, setting them on his thigh to be seen in the torchlight. "He left his position. Closed up our old house. Left me a letter and keys to an apartment and...and left Torchline." Left me. The tears finally drip down, and he can only be grateful that this time they're silent. "Both of my moms are gone too and - and I've only got my brother left here. And I'd never had a drink more than one time so I thought maybe..." but it sounds stupid to say it out loud now, almost-sober and sitting bloodied and bruised in front of her. Except he can't stop now. "I thought if everyone else does it to stop feeling upset, maybe I could too. But it didn't - and I was so angry, and I'm never angry, so I - I punched a guy." Sheepishly, he gestures to his entire body now, though he can't quite manage a smile.

"And, well. Um. This." He takes another sip, head bowed and body curling inward, looking nothing like the riotous young man who had destroyed the outside of a clinic not long ago. "Sorry, I don't normally...talk...so much." But he feels so very alone, and he's desperate to talk to anyone, to get someone to stay.

the night is a cavern
I am underneath it, inside it, anything but free of it

Draw the cat eye, sharp enough to kill a man
You did some bad things, but I'm the worst of them

When Noe returned, the stranger was sitting on a crate outside the clinic where she'd left him, and after shoving the flask into his hands, she sat next to him on the box, nudging him over gently until she had room, too. She'd never been one to worry too much about physical space, and if she was going to get the kid's life story, she might as well be comfortable while she listened.

But whatever she was expecting, it wasn't... all of that. As she listened, her brows rose higher and higher, and when he was done, she simply stared at him for a moment, nonplussed. "Um, yeah, I'd get drunk and punch a guy, too," she said after a moment, drawing herself up. It didn't matter that she didn't know this boy from any other stranger on the street; she'd taken him under her wing for now, so he was going to get all of her friendship. At least until she knew he'd be okay.

"And why not talk?" she asked. "Seems like maybe you need a little more talking. Drink and talk, don't drink and fight," she advised. "Or, well, I should probably say not to drink, but fuck that, right?" She flicked her long, dark hair over her shoulder, crossing her legs in front of her and leaning her head on her hand, elbow resting on her knee.

"Look, I don't know you, but that's seriously a lot of shit, you know? Sounds like your girlfriend had her own issues to sort out, so it seems to me like you might be better off now. Same with the family - if they don't want to stick around, then fuck 'em. Sometimes the better family is family that you choose, yeah?" She didn't know what to say about people dying, so she skipped over that; maybe that was something better forgotten, anyway. "And, I mean, you're allowed to be angry, you know? Everybody gets angry sometimes."

Sometimes I wonder which one will be your last lie
They say looks can kill and I might try

Noe

Jude

In my head I am hunting for myself
but I come up empty again

It's such an expected response that it startles a tiny, shy laugh out of Jude. Impressed as he always is by bold types like her. The warmth of her side against his is like a balm, stronger than any healing the Fountain could provide. Companionship, physicality, compassion - all things he needs more than lessening the ache in his knuckles and ribs.

"I've always been quiet I guess," he murmurs, not really certain he knows the reason why, or even knows how to stop being that kind of person if he ever wanted to change. "Probably would have had a better chance in the fight if I wasn't drunk though, huh?" He bumps his elbow against hers, smile tremulous but present for the first time since he left Sohalia's house. Maybe this is where the recognition should start to set in; Noe gives the same air of sass and confidence that Koa does, and even pulls the same out of Jude despite the fact he's not exactly practiced at it.

Weirdly enough simply hearing that it's a lot of shit is validation he didn't know he needed. Recognition of just how much he has had to swallow in the past season - the past day, really. It's harder to think about writing off his dad. His dad has never done something like this in the past. It doesn't make any sense. He's more confused and lost than hurt, though he suspects it will sink in soon. Faster if he can't get ahold of his dad for a proper explanation.

Leaning subtly into Noe like a nervous alley cat testing if someone can be trusted, Jude huffs a broken laugh. "I think I can count on one hand the times I've been angry where someone can see," he admits sheepishly, wondering if it really is as normal as she says or if he's just a freak. Smile slipping away, Jude frowns down at the flask in his hands. "I thought Sohalia was like that too. I never thought she'd be angry about...well, I guess I can't blame her." He can't even finish it, can't properly express the hurt, because he rushes to her defense too immediately. Always too forgiving of the people who disappoint and hurt him. "I was gone a long time."

Speaking of manners - they come back to him in a wave, making him jerk slightly and remove one hand to hold between the both of them with a tiny, shy smile. "Um, sorry. I dumped everything on you and didn't even get your name. I'm Jude." He's doing everything more than backwards at this point, it's a miracle she hasn't run away screaming.

the night is a cavern
I am underneath it, inside it, anything but free of it

Draw the cat eye, sharp enough to kill a man
You did some bad things, but I'm the worst of them

Emboldened by the laugh - however tiny and shy - Noe settled into their now-shared space with a smile of her own. "I dunno," she mused, tapping her chin as though deep in thought, her dark eyes twinkling mischievously. "Liquor makes you braver, buuuuut it also fucks with your head." All in all, she wasn't sure the outcome would have been different had he been sober, and not just because he was kind of scrawny. She wasn't about to say that to the kid's face, though. Jostling her elbow against his, she leaned in as though sharing a secret. "Besides, I bet the other guy looks worse."

After all, maybe he was a scrappy kind of scrawny.

At the admission that he was rarely angry, Noe let out a low whistle and sat back, raising her brows. "Listen, getting angry is healthy. Trust me. Even when it's somebody you care about a lot, you're allowed to be mad at them. I mean, I'm mad at my brother basically all the time," she said, rolling her eyes. It wasn't strictly true - she was rarely really mad at Koa - but she hoped that it would drive her point home all the same.

Then she did a double take. Wait, did he say...? "Sorry, Sohalia?" she asked, stunned. "Like, Sohalia Lumaris, the Luminary, "Heart of Stormbreak?" That Sohalia?" It was so absurd that she almost laughed. Almost. She managed not to at the last possible moment, for fear of hurting her new friend's feelings. For he was indeed now a friend - the enemy of my enemy and all that. "Listen, between you and me? I think you're better off. She's kind of a bitch." First her brother, then this poor kid? "You deserved time to figure out what you wanted after she had feelings for someone else. I mean, what are you even supposed to do with that? Like, points for honesty, I guess, but then why was she with you to begin with? Gods. Fucking heartbreaker," she added darkly, muttering it under her breath.

Jude remembered his manners before she did, caught up in her seething rage. "Oh, right," she said, taking the offered hand and shedding her anger - for the moment. "I'm Noe. And seriously, don't worry about the whole 'dumping everything on me' thing. I promise I can take it," she added with a wink. "I just can't get over how much shit you've had to put up with. Like, I'm not sure how you're still standing."

Sometimes I wonder which one will be your last lie
They say looks can kill and I might try

Noe

Jude

In my head I am hunting for myself
but I come up empty again

She is a minx of a young woman, a spirit he's not used to rubbing elbows with. He had always thought he fit better with the well-mannered, good-girl types - like Sohalia. Or had he just assumed that was who he was supposed to keep company with? Jude can't help but question everything, even things that had felt so perfectly natural. She prompts another laugh as easy as breathing, something equal parts shy and proud. "Actually yeah he was worse off. But my dad taught me how to fight really young." A style unique to Jude, meant for his long limbs and lack of body weight. Plus people don't exactly expect someone like Jude to pack a punch the way he does - underdog privileges and all that.

Jude stares at Noe like she's a painting come to life. Beautiful, yes, but also incomprehensible. He hangs on her coarse, easy words. Anger has never been something so - so blasé. It will take more than her permission to change a lifetime of restraint and suppression, but it's a baby step in the right direction. "My dad used to be angry when he was younger. Like, the bad kind of angry," he confesses on a whisper, accustomed to never speaking ill of his dad in a region like Torchline; gossip was a stronger currency here than coin or even alcohol. "He hurt a lot of people. Himself, too. I think that's why he was so big on teaching me to never get angry." And, the obedient son he'd always been, Jude had soaked up each lesson like a sponge.

Yet Noe puts her advice to the test, glowing like a dying star as anger besets her almost instantaneously upon hearing Sohalia's name. Jude watches wide-eyed, just as captivated by this easy show of emotion, envious even. "Um, yeah. That Sohalia." It's barely a squeak between her clarification and the ensuing tirade, but Jude doesn't really mind. He's used to being talked over anyway, and this time he's more intrigued by what she has to say. It's completely baffling that she takes his side, and his eyes burn without his consent, because he never imagined being absolved of his guilt so simply. "Not sure why she was with me either, but probably not for the reasons you're thinking," he jokes, a little off-color and a shade too dark, but a glimmer of the same sass Koa had been able to pull from him time and again. Must be a Carpenter thing.

Laughing, equally flustered and endeared by her boldness, Jude squeezes her hand as she shakes it and dips his head shyly. "I've never thought of it that way I guess. My mom was taken to be transformed into a demigod right after I was born - I don't know any other life." The motto that has shaped his entire life has always been just keep moving. Regardless of where his feet may take him.

the night is a cavern
I am underneath it, inside it, anything but free of it

Draw the cat eye, sharp enough to kill a man
You did some bad things, but I'm the worst of them

If Noe was surprised by the admission that the other guy got the worst of the fight, she hid it well; after all, people didn't expect her to be able to fight, either, but between her mother and Koa, she was able to hold her own. "I get it," she said. "My mom was the same way." Maybe in another time and another place, Noe would offer to spar with the kid, just for curiosity's sake, but this wasn't exactly the opportune moment. Another time, perhaps.

The admission about his father gave her pause, and she tilted her head to one side, her expression softening a hair. "Well, all I'm saying is that there's too much anger and there's too little anger, and neither one is healthy." She shrugged, as though inviting Jude to take it or leave it. In her opinion, it was better to let off a little steam than to let things fester, but she could tell that she and the young man beside her were different in that way. And hey, what did she know? Maybe the kid was fine the way he was - although the bloody mess she'd found him in begged to differ.

And maybe his sass was a little off and a little dark, but Noe snorted a laugh all the same, eyeing him appreciatively in the dim light. "Well, it's her loss," the girl purred, winking at Jude flirtatiously, if only to see if she could fluster him.

Only for it to be her turn to get flustered when Jude revealed his mother to be a demigoddess. Noe stared at him for half a beat before bursting into laughter. "Of course she is, because why wouldn't she be? Life isn't complicated enough for you without a freakin' demigoddess for a mother." Shaking her head, Noe regarded him with some mixture of amusement and pity. "Sounds to me like you need a vacation," Noe informed him airily. "Like, you've put up with some crazy shit, now it's time for a break, you know?" She paused. "If you could go anywhere and do anything right now, what would it be?"

Sometimes I wonder which one will be your last lie
They say looks can kill and I might try

Noe

Jude

In my head I am hunting for myself
but I come up empty again

There is kinship here, and Jude too considers testing their mettle against one another - until his face throbs, reminding him of wounds still unhealed and prompting him to take another few sips from the flask in his hands. Slowly, the wounds stitch together until all that is left is deep bruising which will surely heal next, and the uncomfortable crust of thick, dried blood on his face. It begins to itch, making his nose wrinkle and distracting him further from thoughts of sparring.

"My mom would probably say something like 'balance in all things'," he says in mimicry of his mother's voice; young and airy, but serene - almost annoyingly so to any teen who would be subjected to it. His shoulders fold in slightly, reminded of how much he misses her and how wide and terrifying this world feels with every guiding light removed from it. Subconsciously he leans closer to Noe because of it, needing to feel just a little less alone.

Because of it, her flirtatious overtures are physically closer, and even in the torchlight she will surely see how his face fills with crimson. As easily flustered as she had assumed. "I - well - maybe," he sputters, certain that he doesn't agree but completely unequipped to deal with her confidence. At least he manages to surprise her in the end, restoring them to more even footing and giving Jude enough confidence to join her in her laughter, hoarse as his own is.

Except...her question makes him pause. Where would he be right now? Jude only knows Torchline, the Greatwood, Stormbreak, and little else. An entire world at his fingertips, and he's struck with the realization that nowhere sounds comforting. Except maybe - "I had a treehouse in the Greatwood. Where my mom lives." It makes him flush a little when he realizes how stupid and childish it sounds, fiddling with the flask in his hands and watching it gleam in the torchlight. "Right by the river. I used to lay in it and write. Poetry, music, whatever came to mind." Koa inviting him into the Carpenter treehouse had reminded him of that private place, a place that was just his, the first and only of its kind. "If I could go anywhere and do anything...I think I'd go back there. Because I don't...really know where else I'd go?" He turns his head to look at her, helpless and lost. Covered in blood and looking quite young as he comes to the realization that any other place that once brought him joy is now gone.

the night is a cavern
I am underneath it, inside it, anything but free of it

Draw the cat eye, sharp enough to kill a man
You did some bad things, but I'm the worst of them

Jude leaned ever-so-slightly into her, and Noe patted his arm in what she hoped was a soothing gesture. Gods, this kid really seemed to have been put through the wringer. She wondered if that was just a thing that came from having famous parents, or if it was some kind of cosmic bad luck that Jude had unknowingly stumbled into. Either way, there was a cold anger that knotted in her chest at the thought that the world could dump so much onto any one person. It just didn't seem fair.

But despite the inner fury that raged in the depths of her mind, her lips still twitched as Jude's face flushed crimson, threatening to break into a wide grin. Fortunately, he surprised her before she could tease him further, and they were back on equal footing in the blink of an eye.

She could have continued her flirtation, said something about him being cute and sensitive, but something in the wistfulness of his voice gave her pause. "Hmm," Noe hummed as Jude described his treehouse, thinking of her own back home that she'd made with Koa. But she could hardly drag him all the way back to Stormbreak in the middle of the night. Then her face lit up. She had an idea.

Bouncing to her feet, she held out a hand. "Come on," she said. "I know just the place." She led him through the darkened streets of Haulani, taking the longer way around to avoid the areas where more people would be likely to be out, since he'd been so hesitant to go to the fountain for himself earlier and he still looked quite the mess. As they walked, she let him decide whether to keep hold of her hand, keeping up a steady stream of conversation and banter. Eventually, they ended up on the beach.

It took her some time, but she finally found what she was looking for: an old playground, right on the beach. During the day, it was always overrun with children, but after midnight, it was entirely deserted. Noe flashed a beaming smile at her new friend before crawling up a set of steps and into a "treehouse" that was far too small for her, but just big enough to fit the pair of them if they squeezed in close together. "It's not the Greatwood, but it's the best we can do at this time of night," she explained as she waited to see if he'd join her. "But hey, can't beat that beachfront view!"

Sometimes I wonder which one will be your last lie
They say looks can kill and I might try

Noe

Jude

In my head I am hunting for myself
but I come up empty again

Any amount of physical contact is soothing given how touch-starved Jude has always been, and whether it eventually reveals itself to be a noose or a collar, loyalty begins to take shape around his neck the more kindness Noe shows him.

She jumps to her feet in a startling rush, and Jude blinks up at her - blissfully pain-free despite how rough he still looks outwardly - confused but no less trusting. It's a miracle he hasn't been dissuaded from trusting so readily yet, but maybe tonight will prove to be worth it.

Taking her hand, he lets her lead him at a rapid pace through the streets of Halenani and back to the beach. He holds her hand the whole way. It doesn't feel romantic in the least - and his shattered heart surely couldn't imagine feeling that so soon - instead filling him with comfort and closeness that reminds him of younger days when hand-holding was meant for parents and follow-the-leader.

Maybe Noe is a mind-reader, because she leads him onto a deserted playground, structures shining under the half-full moon. He hasn't been here in years, but he knows it well. Still, it feels different in the dark. But she doesn't let him linger on that feeling, slinking inside a rather cramped structure that Jude willingly follows her into. It's small enough that it forces them to sit with their knees bumping and their heads slightly bowed toward each other, and Jude's laughter rings funnily in the space when it comes, helpless and thankful.

"This is maybe the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me," he admits shyly, looking out the doorless entryway to the waves beyond. It sounds vastly different from the Stonesong outside his childhood treehouse, yes, but nothing can beat out the fact that this time he isn't alone. "Not sure I can write you amazing poetry in the dark though. And without a pen." He's far from suave, but he winks all the same, because it feels right to mimic her boldness, her mischief. Like maybe if he bends his fragile corners to align with her own shapes, he'll end up with some of her spark and strength too.

the night is a cavern
I am underneath it, inside it, anything but free of it

Draw the cat eye, sharp enough to kill a man
You did some bad things, but I'm the worst of them

For the briefest of moments, Noe wondered if perhaps she had miscalculated, worried that perhaps she had taken Jude's admission too literally with their long jaunt down to the beachfront playground. But then he clambered up to the "treehouse" to join her, his knees bumping against hers and their heads bowed in the cramped space, and she joined in his laughter with something breathless and joyful. She loved the beach, with its crashing waves and salty breeze, and to have that as the backdrop of their new friendship made it all the more special.

"Of course it is," Noe said breezily, flashing a teasing grin. "That's because I'm the nicest person you've ever met, admit it." But she reached out to squeeze his hand in solidarity even as she teased, because in this moment, and under these circumstances, he had her full support. He deserved nice things and nice people, nicer people than Noe, but by the gods, if she was all he was going to have right now, she was going to do her damnedest to make it count.

"Ah, but you said you wrote music, too. You could always sing me a song," she pointed out with a wink of her own, tickled at the way Jude seemed to be coming out of his shell. "It may not be on paper, but it will live in my memory forevermore," she said dramatically, fluttering her lashes at him for a playful touch.

Sometimes I wonder which one will be your last lie
They say looks can kill and I might try

Noe