#meliwol

[thefreelanceangel]

[thefreelanceangel]

The door slammed. As heavy as the door happened to be, the slam didn't echo down the hallway or throughout the Rising Stones, but that it slammed at all gave a good indication as to the emotion behind the abrupt closure. Capricia kept her response to a mild smirk as she looked at the man who'd locked the collar around her throat.

"That went as well as expected then?"

Renaux didn't turn to her, but she knew he'd heard her. His hand resting on the door latch clenched with a creak of leather.

"Intransigent bitch," he snarled, glaring at the door before he pushed away from it. Renaux paused, looking over his shoulder, and his jaw tensed visibly.

He turned slightly, glancing at the door latch, and only turned away when Capricia loudly rearranged her feet.

"Go in and argue again," she jeered. "I'm sure the Warrior of Light is notoriously easy to persuade, considering she'll run errands across Eorzea and back."

"With her mind as poisoned as it is, I refuse to beat my head against a brick wall." He still hesitated a moment longer, half-turning to the door, before Capricia's little snort of laughter jerked his attention back to her. "Best we not get involved with her and her cronies anyway," Renaux said, striding across the hall to her. "There's plenty of work for adventurers to keep us busy for years to come."

Capricia only shifted her weight, letting the wall support her as she watched him. Watched without apparent care. With eyes that glittered intently when he looked back once again.

"If you're so desperate to be taken back into her good graces, shall I go plead your case?" Her voice sharpened, each word fairly dripping with acidity. "Take the collar off then and I'll go plead prettily with Meri to let you rejoin her merry band."

"No." He said it immediately, yet without emphasis, as if the idea rested so far out of possibility that it required no effort on his part to refute it. "In truth, I'd rather go about our days without worrying about her goals or those of her morally upstanding associates."

"Moral righteousness is certainly no failing of yours."

"Nor yours."

"I never claimed it would be." She regarded him a moment longer, angled her head to feel the press of the stiff leather locked around her throat, and then let a smirk touch her lips once more. "Where she goes, I suppose she goes with the Scions and not those of the Noon-ish persuasion. Unless Shadow and Isamu are clinging to her as fiercely as they always have."

"No. Isamu returned to Kugane. Light found her former husband's family and is handling something about a child, I didn't ask for details," he said, fingertips twitching once as he stared at the door closed against intrusion. "Only Eva and Stefan are with her now.

Capricia's lip curled automatically at the sound of Stefan's name. "More for her. I'll be quite content to never see any of them again."

"Then you can rest at ease that you'll be extremely content." He reached to her, hooking a finger in the ring on her collar, and tugged Capricia away from the wall. "Come. No need to linger here."

As she fell into step beside him, Renaux's hand slid to rest lightly against her neck, one finger hooking loosely into the collar of her coat. "You would rather avoid cold climates anyway and Meli seems determined to linger in Ishgard. We'll return to Limsa Lominsa for the time being."

"Some people never know how to let go of the past," Capricia remarked, gaze sweeping the empty room.

"Indeed." Renaux tapped a fingertip against her neck, disarraying her pale gold hair. "Some people truly do never know how to let go."

[thefreelanceangel]

[thefreelanceangel]

[thefreelanceangel]

Wash me clean again

before I pull

myself

Happiest of birthdays to the dearest extrovert that I willingly followed down to the SEAFLOOR -- @gatheredfates <3 (And hopefully work won't eat you alive!)

[thefreelanceangel]

Julezen2025: #31 "Coming Home"

Each day, each day I play the role Of someone always in control But at night, I come home and turn the key There's nobody there, no one cares for me

Oh, what's the sense Of trying hard to find your dreams Without someone to share it with?

Tell me, what does it mean?

I wanna run to you (Ooh-ooh) I wanna run to you (Ooh-ooh-ooh)

Won't you hold me in your arms And keep me safe from harm?

Tell me, will you stay Or will you run away?

Oh, I need you here I need you here to wipe away my tears To kiss away my fears, no If you only knew How much

I wanna run to you Won't you hold me in your arms And keep me safe from harm? I'll run to you

"Run to You" - Whitney Houston

[thefreelanceangel]

She would take her journal now to the highest points in Urqopacha that she could reach, always with the intent to clear her thoughts by writing.

And the beauty of the mountains, of the sky that welcomed her, the cold air that invigorated her, always lured her into simply gazing out at the beauty around her.

Meli never considered it wasted time. Having spent so very long in mourning for past love, any reminder that life itself remained worthwhile was deeply cherished.

[thefreelanceangel]

If you need a push, I'll be right there behind you.

Do not despair! You are not without allies.

Upon the souls of they who have sacrificed themselves to pave the way for peace, we will never abandon our cause.

A future shaped by the choices we made, in ways we could never have foreseen.

Look to the light within, that you may continue to serve as a beacon to others.

Let's finish this.