❛ you’ve got something they don’t . ❜ / marrow :>
𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐄 𝐖𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 | (accepting)
🦴 // it’s a topic of conversation he’s often had the privilege of avoiding, something that he keeps to himself and no one around him would dare bring words to--marrow is an outsider in the high ranks of the atlas military, he was an outsider at the academy, and perhaps worst of all, he’s benefited immensely from a system that actively oppresses people just like him. the conflict that stirs within him, a clash between loyalties that both run so deep they’ve made up a lot of the foundational parts of him, is something that marrow has had to deal with all on his own, something he buries deep down and tries not to touch while he navigates a precarious situation.
of course blake only means to empower him with what she says; she wouldn’t know the way that it taps into the guilt that he carries with him. for all that he’s been through, marrow can’t help but feel like he doesn’t deserve to relate to her and the other faunus he’s met--something about blake in particular and all the time they’ve been spending together since she arrived in atlas has him questioning exactly what that ‘something’ she’s referring to now could potentially be, though. marrow has seen all the worst that atlas has to offer, worked twice as hard as the people around him to overcome it, and for what? to be afraid to step up and fight for change when that’s what he’s wanted all along?
icy hues lift to meet felid’s mismatched gaze, an uncharacteristic silence settling over the soldier as he mulls over her words. he feels nervous, a little sick to his stomach, and he’s not exactly sure why--perhaps it’s a reluctance to say anything that might paint his colleagues in a negative light, a fear of realizing his doubts about general ironwood with words. whatever it is, that feeling grips marrow so tightly that he withdraws, perking up suddenly as the more serious notes of his expression are quickly replaced by a cheery smile.
“what, you mean the tail?” he winks, the aforementioned trait raising proudly and beginning to wag a little bit as he indicates it with a thumb, “yeah, i get that a lot.”