I wouldn’t doubt it does, I’m sure your home is quite lovely ordinarily, being away for several months just rather does that to a place–
[His last words a little clipped, almost sharp, but he stops himself before he can sound anything less than polite] [He’s being as polite as he can possibly handle, even if he doesn’t want to be] [It’s not his place to question, though reasons why she disappeared are quite blazingly obvious - despite debate on the exact way she ended up like this - the matter is the fact that she looks so incredibly worn down]
[He clears his throat, suddenly aware he’s been paused for just over the regular social norm] [He didn’t mean to stare at her, he was only arguing with himself] I– If you’re looking for the help it’s not a problem for me to lend a hand. In the nicest way possible, it seems as if you need it. [His voice isn’t clipped, but it’s lost the pleasant edge to it] [He glances around the place to emphasise his point, but it’s not only the size of the job needing doing that he means] Everything else– nothing major has happened, everything’s relatively the same as you left it.
…Except Francis.
[Ah] [There’s no pretence in that] [He stares right at her, holding her gaze for as long as she’ll let him] [It could so easily be a passing comment, an observation about the simple fact that he has, undeniably, changed] [But the expression on his face says it’s so much more than that]
[ Despite his comments and the abrupt disappearance of pleasantries in his tone, she doesn’t comment on it back and neither does she point it out. Even the pause seems to flit by her unnoticed— She’s already begun to move certain things aside to clear. She nods at his brief mention of what she’s missed, and — ]
[ She turns to see him then, catching his gaze in her tired eyes, but she doesn’t react as much as a little surprise, initially. But even that fades in seconds, to something akin to reluctant acceptance. She’d known her absence would affect Francis, and she never had any doubt that his friends would defend him to the death. She is ready for spite and for backlash, ready to take whatever it is that’s about to be thrown at her. Because no matter how much she loves Francis, missed and still misses him painfully, her duty always comes first. No matter what. If she could stab her and cut her relationship with her own brother to secure her independence without so much as batting an eyelid, one could be damned well sure she would temporarily leave her boyfriend to do what she has to do. ]
[ And it’s the same cold, calm acceptance in her eyes now, as if she’s rehearsed this scene a thousand times before. ]
I hope you’ve been taking care of him while I wasn’t around?
romaincrisis
dededos
blakekathryn
germansingergirl
turnnoffyourmind
andulkaphoto
yousharknotpass
