#mcdeofash

[ruinedbycatastrophe]

@mcdeofash liked for an anthony starter!

"Mother." She must have appreciated his wife's ability to call him out at every game they play. The look on his mother's face was priceless. And at the same time, it was good to see her smile. After all of this, it was good to have some peace. "She does not play fair! What am I do to?"

[smiletimeisrunningout]

“You’re stronger than you think.” - from geralt. @mcdeofash

She wanted to dismiss that with a joke, maybe a flirting line, but she couldn't find it in her to be silly now and pretend everything was already. For someone who was supposed not to feel things - which was blatantly a lie, that was easy to see - he sure could tell how vulnerable and weak she felt now; fighting those evil spirits, whatever the hell they were, had made her feel a cold grip in her heart that had reminded her of the months she had spent wallowing in despair, and as much as she had cracked jokes, drank and chatted at dinner, that night she had woken up at least three times in tears or about to cry. Wasn't even so sure about facing the last of those creatures in their paths anymore. "I don't feel very strong right now..." she muttered, knowing he'd hear it anyway. "Give me someone to punch and I'll do alright, but nightmares... I don't like this, I don't like crying if it's not out of happiness."

[smiletimeisrunningout]

“You got betrayed by someone you trusted. ” - from Benedict. @mcdeofash

He really was a perceptive man, wasn't he? Emma had been having fun the whole time there, which also meant often playing the fool, and had grown closer to the family - and he must have managed to catch all the little ways she held back from asking for help of any sort, all the ways she did things alone without waiting, in a way that wasn't fully justified by being a princess, for him to guess that out loud. Or the ways she quickly ran from any hint of romance even if she played around with flirting. She didn't know how he had noticed it, when most people would only see a chatty, happy princess, and it worried her that he may have noticed more than that. Or had he spoken to his sisters and brothers and they had all chimed in with different perspectives? All options sounded horrible.

"... Yes. Many someones, in fact," she admitted, smiling as always, although this time it wasn't quite as bright, "I still make a point of trusting everyone until they prove me wrong, you know, I'd hate to not give people a chance on account of a few bad... experiences, but... that just means I tend to get betrayed often, I suppose."

That was easy to say, even if it hurt, as long as they never didn't go too deeply into the topic. "Why are you-why would you... Why did you say that?"