#batfall .

[exilae-moved]

NOW SHOWING, exilae & @batfall ... so? what do you think?

" it's beautiful. " elbows on the countertop, your eyes are trained to a floral arrangement sat directly in front of you. there's no name on it... but you don't need to ask, you already knew: before he called, you already knew. " you got my favorite flowers. " finger tips move to dance over lavenders & baby's breath. it's delicate, & you feel drawn to it. a sharp contrast to the aggressive nature of your hands, the blood your eyes have seen ––– it fills a void, it feels so opposite of who you are. " i just wish you could've been there instead... but it's alright. " you place your phone down, hit the speaker button as you start to take off pieces of jewelry... they're gently placed down as silence carries throughout your apartment ( it's now that it feels so big, it feels swallowing ). " it's beautiful bruce, i'll make sure they're properly taken care of. "

darkness decorates the walls, the only light shining from the entry way. loneliness is evident now... or it would be, if his voice were not on the other line. " how's your night been? i'd rather hear about that. "

[saetine]

* , MATCHES MALONE ( @batfall ): NO ONE'S GOING ANYWHERE.

" you promise? " it's not to hold him to anything, it's not even something you'd hold against him: instead it's something that eases the fear that boil beneath your skin. it's funny, you think, to ask him for a truth, as best he can provide, meanwhile you hold close the messages left at the moulin with your name scrawled across them ( death is not a new concept to you nor the people surrounding you, it is gotham: the city itself nothing more than a grave waiting for each inhabitant to succumb to the dirt and rot in the decrepit city buildings ). people are coming for you, the woman in red, with the goal to soak you in your own crimson until satine remains nothing but a memory... similar to that of céline ( who is she? where did she go? ).

as you look in his eyes you know one truth to be whole and true, he'd protect you, yet you've decided now to not give him that option. it feels wrong, but you smile anyways. " i don't know what i'd do without you. i fear i would be lost. "

[saetine]

" WHAT HE DID WAS WRONG. HE SHOULD BE PUNISHED. " - @batfall .

" i... i understand that matches, and i agree, it's just - " you sigh, gaze facing down to your hands folded in your lap. the night is quiet... slow traffic through the building, yet you find yourself in your usual corner ( surrounded by the only company you seem to want to keep ). under the red lights you feel most at home... and each time you remember that, your stomach turns. you refuse to let the other girls feel the same: for now it's a haven, but they are worth so much more. their home is and will be elsewhere, you ensure it... but for now you are trapped, with no plan to escape.

a few beats pass and you can feel his eyes on yours, they're not aggressive, they're not burning, but they're waiting for you: waiting for red lips to part and finish your thoughts. so you start, " will you promise me something? " eyes serious now, and lips pulled into a thin line as blue gaze is trained on his. " promise me that you will not blame yourself for what i'm about to say? "

you take promises very seriously, and you slide closer to him so that the distance decreases ( you feel the heat of his body radiate onto yours, and for a moment you are the only two people in the world ). " i agree with you, but i don't see why you have to be the one to punish him. " a second passes, your heart beats out of tune in your chest and your finger tips go cold. " i... i'm worried, i have been since that night... the night you came to me. " your head tilts slightly, and eyes seem sad ( promise me ). " i don't mind helping you if things get bad, i need you to know that... but i'm terrified of you getting hurt, you're... you're important to me now, and i saw all those scars on you and i just... "

[saetine]

" I'D NEVER TREAT ME THIS SHITTY ," - @batfall .

" oh don't start with me - " tension is held in your jaw and carries through your lips, neatly pursed with a sliver of teeth barred. the turn of your stomach is the only indication you have that maybe this time: you've pushed yourself too far. it's not unlike you to carry your own world on your shoulders, take on so much until you crack... despite the control you now have over yourself, your life, there's still a fear that boils deep inside you ( before, to be sick or to speak out meant no money, no money meant no food, no rent, no water or power / no, this isn't your life anymore and yet you find it more than difficult to let go of ).

" you don't have a business to run, people to sell to... you're a one man show, so don't, do not start with me about how shitty you think i'm treating myself. " your voice is slightly raised, blue eyes flicked over your shoulder accompanied with the faintest of furrowed brows before you turn back to the stack of documents complied on your desk. it's ironic, really: sleepless, hungry, and now at your own volition. " i have two girls right now, one's trying to get a place to live and a job here in gotham, one's trying to get an apartment in new york... i have to think about the fact that we open in two hours and cobblepot is breathing down my neck about something with the courts, the kings, and i can't find anything about it anywhere but i swear to god i know i heard it! " eyes shut for a moment and fingers curl up into the last page you laid your gaze on. " do not lecture me right now, i could not bear it. "