#fractaele.

[viperose]

          “they’re on the ropes; let’s put ‘em out of their misery.” / @fractaele.

[becomestorm]

she balances on the edge of the fountain, it frosted with a thin layer of ice. “okay fine! fine! i will confess something i haven’t told anyone.” heels stop as she covers her face. “promise you won’t make fun of me.” glancing over the edge of her fingertips she slowly lowers them. breathing in a gust of air then releasing it, her voice goes quieter. the chimed vocals soft with a hint of amusement against the wind. “the first time i tried coffee i spit it in my father’s face. it was awful.”

                                                                 @fractaele.

even with grace akin to that of a swan’s, with spine in perfect alignment, posture held high and regal, they still worried about the slippery nature of the ice. magenta hue followed her footsteps with hawk - like gaze, a telling little furrow meaning ren wasn’t keeping the entirety of their attention on words spoken. the fountain rim was sturdy and wide, engraved beautifully in the ways reminiscent of argus’ architecture. that was old atlas ; mantle, the designs that reminded ren of the peaceful place her grandparents found eternal rest. there was so much of that on the outskirts of the kingdom, and they found it hard to believe the entirety of the stories pressed upon them as a child. they were told that atlas was a cold, desolate place. the buildings made of stone and metal, with no life and merriment, no room to grow when everything sooner died in the bitter winter. the people were the same.

but, they looked at this fountain, they looked at weiss and how she blew wishes on flower petals, how she cut up her apples to share them with her friends, how she’d snort when she laughed too hard, and all the preconceived notions on how everyone from atlas was mechanical fell away.

‘   my goodness, miss weiss.   ’   the voice was held in mocking timbre, striding alongside her while she walked the rim of fountain’s edge. it was partially to make sure they could catch her if she slipped, but more so to stay by her side.   ‘   that is so unladylike of you.   ’   there was mirrored amusement in their voice, bordering on a laugh. innocent, only enough deviousness to coax a scandalised expression from embarrassed snowdrop. she was so endearing when she was like this, and even toting sarcasm like a second skin, ren took note and compartmentalised every new fact. it was always honouring to be privy to a memory like this one, even if it was comical at best, scarring at worse. it wasn’t as if her father was her favourite person. he probably deserved it, even if he’d been doing nothing to provoke weiss at the time.

this was the kind of game ren would have dreaded only a year prior, but now found themselves carding through memories they hadn’t touched in years for fear their heart wouldn’t take it. after a moment of deliberation and a quiet huff of laughter, they replied.   ‘   alright, my turn i suppose.   ’   they hadn’t recalled this particular memory in a while.   ‘   my cousins once dared me to eat an entire five shakes of chilli powder. and they weren’t spices from somewhere like vale, oh no, the servings and potency are far more generous, especially for a six year old. the pepper made me sneeze and i let out the biggest jet of fire i had to date.   ’   a hand rose to briefly rub over their sockets, a telltale habit whenever they felt embarrassed, hiding their eyes from view.   ‘   i set alight yímā daiyu’s curtains - aunt daiyu i mean. my eldest cousin took the blame for me, but none of them let me live it down for weeks afterwards. it became too mortifying to sneeze around them.   ’