would you like one annoying goth brat with that?
IT WAS ALMOST COMFORTING TO KNOW THAT NIKKI’S BEHAVIOR HAD NOT CHANGED AFTER THEIR TIME APART. dropping her leg to swing both of them from the side of the crate, she wanted to react to nikki’s taunt but simply bit her lip and shook her head. optioning not to give nikki the satisfaction of making paige’s nerve falter. she had a reputation to uphold herself these days — her own minions working under her command and their futures weighing on her shoulders. she was like a mother hen to the two newcomers…. except she was the worst possible example of a mother there could be. had nikki of asked paige years before if she’d ever be in the position she was in now, she’d have laughed & called her an idiot.
BUT WAS SHE SEEKING SOME FORM OF VALIDATION FROM THE OLDER WOMAN? a congratulations on where she was from what she had been. validation off of someone who’d she long admired (a secret she had wrapped around the cold and dark muscle she’d call her heart). but she had better luck of going to space than to hear those words.
SITTING HER ELBOWS ON HER KNEES, head resting upon hands, paige smirked. brows lifting upwards and offering a look to nikki that she should know the answer to that already. “ like ya even have to ask. me? goin’ soft? niiiikkiiiiiii nikki nikki… gosh, is your cognitive thinkin’ going as well as your memory now, love? ”
it was important to keep your friends close & your enemies closer, right? that seemed to be the bullshit that every washed up has-been seemed to sprout nowadays. but there was some sense to it. nikki could grant it that, at least. after all, she was well acquainted with the concept of keeping an eye on everyone around you -- especially after her turning her own back on her sister. nikki knew the lengths people were willing to go to in order to succeed, in order to further their career because she’d been in their shoes once. still was. you would do it again, wouldn’t you? came the expected, intrusive thought in the back of her mind, gnawing away at what was left of her moral compass. you’d let your sister fall again if it meant you got ahead.
a part of her wished the answer to her own question was no. the other part of her grinned.
“ hm. just had to make sure. i know i was the only person around here that kept you sane, after all. ” she blinked, and in a moment saw every single moment she’d made paige’s life a living hell. head tilted & hair falling, nikki offered up a smile she hoped made her counterpart nauseous. “ you won’t have to keep it up much longer. we’re both good at ruining a person’s day, but the difference between you & i is that i can do it without raising my voice. ” a step forward brought nikki closer to her, arm outstretched until her hand came into contact with paige’s pale forearm, squeezing once before returning to cross over her chest. “ you never did really master that, did you, paige? ”
this was easier than it should have been, talking to paige. weightless, almost, as though nothing was expected of either of them, detached as they were from... well, everyone. still. “ are we done here? i have better things to do than stand around & humour you while your minions are off scavenging for attention. ”
2087
jbbartram-illu
kianamaiart
tangentwithtanner
blakekathryn
dededos
germansingergirl
