#eintraums

[ownlore]

the rooftops here possessed an impertinent quality that made her footing falter. it was perpetually cold up here, the stones slick with something that never quite dried, and the winds felt almost sharper here. inej found it surprising that her feet cared about this difference in atmosphere. some things, the body was simply supposed to remember. maybe you're getting out of practice, kaz's bitter voice echoed in her head. her fingers curled in to tight fists, teeth gritted. maybe you need to mind your own business, she snapped back at the version of him inside her head. it was objectively an unhinged thing to be doing, arguing with an imaginary version of brekker while being more than at least a few good miles away. imaginary kaz, however did not back down, true to his character.

i live in your head now, he informed her. minding your business is, technically, my business. that is not how this works. it is exactly how this works. you put me here.

when she exhaled sharply through her nose and resisted was exactly when her cover was blown.

the empress stood at the edge of the rooftop with an eerie stillness that inej recognised immediately. it was that watchful quality of someone who had learned to listen to the city's quietness when most people celebrated the noise.

❛   I'm not here to cause you trouble.   ❜ the wraith began her negotiation without a display of blades. instead, she offered the truth for once. a rare commodity.   ❛   if you let me stay, I'll keep quiet about this.   ❜

@eintraums ( emily kaldwin ) / starter call.

[zmhati]

from arthur : … it's not a sin if someone made you do it. (IDK WE THROW SPAGHETTI AT THE WALL)

the only response arthur receives is a skeptical hum, followed by what seems to be a roll of the shoulders rather than a shrug as if something had meant to cast its weight over him. not today. the most comfortable thing around him right now is his blanket, and that's how he aims to keep it. green eyes at last avert themselves from the campfire between them and lift to meet arthur's. " bringin' that up again? " mhati's lips curl into a crooked, waxing moon smile. " y'like to say you're a simple man, but mulling over a conversation the whole day don't sound simple to me. "

there's a keen man beneath the smell of gunpowder and tobacco, maybe one that would have learnt to speak in languages rather than bullets, but he behaves like a prey animal. in the three times they've met, mhati's humoured his every appearance; after each time, the picture that is arthur morgan becomes a little bit clearer and the tapestry gains another shade of color.

" you're better off talkin' about it to someone more learned ... but even if the choice ain't yours, " he begins slowly, leaning over to feed more dried twigs into the fire, " even if the sin isn't truly yours, you're still marked by it. and then what? it becomes a part o' ya anyway. maybe in time you forget where it came from entirely and then that's just your lot in life. "

the fire sputters and crackles once. it's almost as it's insisting they get their day's rest. mhati crosses his arms behind his head. " sadly never is that simple, no sir. "

dark knight quests, ft. @eintraums + arthur.