STARTER CALL. ⤻ [ @dragonspearl ]
he stands in her office, underground. dusted lights, the flaring of fluorescent illumination. with the smell of polished linoleum, yellowed papers and stacked folders. tony's palms are buried in his coat pockets, as he is itching for a cigarette. his fingers curling subconsciously, as if to scratch the desire out of his skin. bleed it out of him. with his sharpened pupils, low, wishing to dodge the buzzing flare. this cursed purgatory. dulled gaze gliding through the visible hallway, separated by the hazy frame of glass. " doctor. " causality hidden between the self-evidence of this visit. oh, he had been here many a times enough. his head does not tilt in greeting, but his voice barely raises the end of the syllable into faint, superficial warmth. an expression enough to border discomfort within a soul, that wished to set a fire alight, burn his heart into an etched void of ash.
she sits in her rightful place. her own version of a throne, tony likes to think. at the opposite end of a world, on the edge of touching his. but far enough, to never truly grasp its existence. stood on a cliff --- the sea's whipping salted breeze to hit his face. remind him of something, he thought to have long lost. a sunset, with no dawn to release its descent. he takes a few steps, half in his very own desire to take a seat across, half to cut the invisible bond of thoughts that threatened to derail very own attention. arms resting loosely, leaning back into the chair. a held exhale pools in his lungs, for the fragment of a moment. how many people, stabbed, shot, beaten --- under her supervision and hard work --- had he possibly contributed to, he wonders? the endless tail of a snake, about to eat itself. chest deflates, barely noticeable. in his morbid justification, it is just another circle of life. so he chokes the guilt as quick as it flickered, his stare yet to deviate from baoyu's countenance. his mouth opens, on nothing particular. crown turning at leisure, hues settling into the half-lit hallway to his right. " not too busy. always wondered, if that's good or bad. " like bad business. " may i smoke? " old habits die hard. or not at all.