February Day 4 - Deception
Red ashed his cigarette over the side of the Lady Lillium, lazily leaning an elbow against the wooden railing as he stared out towards the open sea. She had been docked for a while now in their private, hidden port, but that didn’t mean she should ever be left alone. At any given time there would be at least a few crewmembers keeping watch, and more often than not they were the ones that didn’t have anywhere else to go.
Red fell into that category. He was, technically, homeless - by choice, of course. Money wasn’t an issue, he had plenty of that from the job, gambling, and brawling. Most of it was spent on clothing, body modification supplies, drugs, and the storage unit where he kept his belongings. The rest was given away to various charities or to those around him that could put it to better use. He had no need for most of it, nor did he have a need for a place to call home: The ship was home enough. Inn rooms were easy to come by, or if in a pinch, he could always drop by Gabbrialla’s apartment to grab a rest and a shower.
After having spent the first part of his life having to play by the rules of the noble class, this vagabond lifestyle suited him well. No home, no romantic relationships, only a small handful of close, trusted friends: It was a huge change from the young man that he used to be. He was so naïve to the ways of the world back then, and the ones he trusted and loved the most completely fucked him over. Never again. Growing up among the nobles, a part of him had expected it from his so-called friends and even his brother, but he had been completely blind-sided by his fiancée’s deception.
The name was poison on his lips. There was a good reason he didn’t speak of her to hardly anyone, it made him physically ill. The things she had done to him, the things she made him do; had any of it been real? Once upon a time he thought that he was in love with her, but looking back on it now he couldn’t help but question what was real and what was all in his mind. Even from a young age she had been very powerful in that aspect, and took every opportunity to abuse it.
He shook the thought from his mind, chasing it away with a quick snuff of dusts from the bullet-shaped charm hanging around his neck just as the next distraction pinged his communication device. He kept the thing on silent for the most part, allowing the chime to only ring through if it was coming from the crew’s emergency channel. Apparently it was time to start preparing to head back into the Shadowlands. The military were already en route, and knowing how these things went, mercenary crews wouldn’t be that far behind. There was always more than enough that needed to be done.
He sent off a message to Gabby and then hesitated as he stared at the next name. Sana would want to say goodbye, even if things had grown incredibly awkward between the two. Well, incredibly awkward for her maybe. The mushy confessions of love and longing through text, and occasionally in person, had made him extremely uncomfortable and she knew it. She knew it. That was always the part that bothered him the most. He wasn’t sure when or why she took this sudden leap of trying to be his friend to trying to be something more, but it was difficult to be more when there was hardly anything to build upon in the first place.
After that difficult conversation, he felt a relief not to be receiving those messages anymore. She had been doing herself an incredible disservice by her actions and words these past months; maybe now, things actually had a chance to improve. He typed out a quick message to her and stuffed the comm back into his pocket, returning his focus to his cigarette.
@gabbrialla @twosidedsana
jbbartram-illu
jacobvanloon
dailybridgerton
romaincrisis
ellievsbear
janainaart
