kashvis:
They are not necessarily made for this. For finding bliss on a camping trip, surrounded by nature and a certain ease. If you erase all that surrounds them – war, beating its restless heart; a seraphim, missing still; the endless worry, for her loved ones – this could be awfully simple. Domestic, almost.
Kashvi imagines taking Solomon to a trip, to her birth city, showing him the corners of her childhood. To stay in hotel rooms and waste days away, just two people on vacation — but that is not who they are. Still, she considers proposing it one day.
He centers her with his words and the reality they represent. Their crew no longer are a bunch of pawns in War’s games, but part of something bigger; a raging war that has already demanded blood. Evren Sadık is a lamb amidst wolves and lions, and she refuses to watch her die because she has somehow been dragged into the Warden’s clutches. “You’re right.” These are not words Kashvi speaks often, but when is Solomon not an exception to the rule?
“And besides ensuring their loyalty remains with us –” Does she mean War or herself and Solomon? She thinks the former, but it might as well be both, “– we have to ensure they’re prepared too, for this, make it out alive like you said. Plan a training moment with Evren, even if she’s not receptive to it? I’ll talk to her tonight, as we get ready for bed.” She will handle her with softer hands, remind Evren that there’s warmth to find amidst the cold, while Solomon can remind her of the reality of war and how to swallow it.
Kashvi feels a lack of control in the face of all this uncertainty and a lack of power, too. What she will do, then, is focus on her crew. Make those under her and Solomon’s command a unit that will stand the test of time, that will band together in the face of Juno’s absence. Her philosophy and vision lives and that’s where she applies it: onto her own ranks. There is a bitter growing taste in her mouth, though, a displeasure, a feeling of loss rather than the victory War supposedly stands for. Erebus still burns in her memory like something acidic. Her grudges grow.
Not towards Solomon, though. He is there, he is unwavering, and she knows now that he is on her side. Insecurities have ceased to live and now there’s only assurance in his presence, in all that lives between them. “It’s a date.” A date. Such a mundane term, that hardly seems to fit. Kashvi smiles, shakes her head, almost amused.
Her head turns, looking over her shoulder and meeting mostly trees. There are people in those woods, beyond them, who only know them as Virtue and Dominion and nothing more. Out of all of them, it is only Remus who knows her heart. “We’re quite alone here,” she says, returning her gaze to him and moving closer. “Don’t you get tired, of always being in control? I know your willpower is admirable.” Her hand takes his. Maybe she seeks some comfort in these trying times, too, after having extended it so much. “But I’d rather you dance with me than showcase your self control.”
training with evren... pretty much all of wars members had, at some point gone through the same. even kashvi herself. it’s just as much an exercise in finding out who they are, as honing their skills. to see how they react to different stimuli - what those natural impulses tell them to do... to fight, to run... something other. how much is instinct and how much is cerebral. and so far, no two people have reacted the same way. and he has no expectations for evren either - having worked with siblings before ( and well aware that his own sibling relationship is far from idyllic ) he doesn’t hold any preconceptions that she would mirror her sister in any way.
“use your clever words when you speak to her - see if you can’t pad the suggestion gently. wouldn’t want to scare her away before she steps into the room.”
but quite probably during. as was the way such things tended to go with solomon.
she asks if he tires of being in control. and he isn’t - not always. perhaps she’s one of the few who has seen him without that steely veil... more recently when she came to find him at the gym. held his bloody knuckles with a gentleness he didn’t deserve. spoke to him in soft tones like a tamer coaxing some beast down from rabid frenzy... which isn’t too far off the truth.
but she asks - and it’s possibly not within him to deny her anything. while caution is probably the wisest action, it’s not always the right one to take in the moment. here they have privacy - and while there are others around, they are all part of that larger whole. the family they chose, the one they helped to build.
“my willpower is certainly not absolute. especially when i’m being asked to dance.”
one arm curls around her waist, the other slides down - taking the shotgun and placing it to one side before his fingers entwine with hers.
“especially when my partner is athena herself - goddess of wisdom and war... how could a mere mortal resist?”
the slightest shift to bring their bodies flush together. feet beginning to move slowly, small steps in a one-two-three waltz, leading her gently but steadily into some kind of imagined rhythm. and if there were any casual observers they may wonder at the bizarre sight, dancing in a field, with no music to be heard while the air in the near distance filled with the peppered snap of gunshot.








