head lifts halfheartedly, lidded gaze barely registering the approaching silhouette. she’s never looked weak to him —— still doesn’t —— but for the first time since she came down in that pod guns blazing, she looks small. not fragile: he can’t pinpoint it, but she looks harmless, though he knows better than to make that assumption. ❛ let me guess —— ❜ her words stick out in his mind ... no, not her words. A L I E. they didn’t tell him anything he didn’t already know, but affirmation still feels like a punch in the gut. especially coming from her. no, not her. A L I E. ❛ you’re here for round two. ❜ he sheathes his words with a smirk, though his joke is hoarse on a sandpaper throat.

















