‘ nothing’s ever your fault, is it? ’ @ cygnus bc y i k e s
the dekuyper on his desk is a product of a muggle , a gift from his brother and years old now. it’s still half full , and cygnus has drunk more of it in the past hour than he has in the time he’s possessed the bottle , but it has nothing to do with nerves. no , it has everything to do with NOSTALGIA.
❛ and would you like to know why ? ❜
and by the slouch of his posture and the splayed position of his limbs —feet on the desk , arms draped over his chair , head lulling against chest— one would think this a common fare , a formal conversation regarding business. and in a way it is , theirs unfinished , but cygnus cannot bring himself to adapt to her tone or rise to her state of emotion. he’s been practicing its antithesis too long.
❛ because i do not see them as faults. ❜
his eyes gleam behind his glass as he takes a deep drink , his gaze never leaving the girl —woman— standing before him. he no longer sees his wife in her the way he did when he first held her. he only sees the best parts of himself , which are near unrecognizable , and her. just her. only andromeda. thank merlin.
❛ you will never be obligated to understand my choices for you or your sisters. i will never ask that of you , nor will i ask forgiveness for how i chose to raise you. but what you need to understand is that everything i did , or did not do , was so that you and your sisters would not feel indebted to me OR each other. ❜
and when he sits up straighter , he feels too big for his skin , so much so that he wishes to climb out of it. but he’s been like that for so long that no one would ever be able to pick up on such a thing , and that is all that matters.
❛ i could have been more protective , more overbearing , more willing to make you stay , but what would that have done , andromeda? you are angry because you think i could have saved you , but do you not see ? you didn’t need saving. you were who you were , and you believed what you believed since you were a girl. i could have protected you from my sister , maybe even yours , but from this world and everything it has become ? everything it was before your mother and i ? could i protect you ? my granddaughter ? ❜
and when he stands , age seems to fall from his shoulders like water , like rain.
❛ no. it would have been foolish for me to believe it , much less to let you. ❜
