#thread: eira

[fairytaletold]

@miidnighters // continued.

YOU WIN. Were there any other words half as sweet? He can't actually see her smile, but she's pretty sure he can feel it.

❛ Are you — ❜ A half suppressed giggle. A giggle. But she can’t help it, can she? If he could see how ridiculous he looked, determinedly tucked to one side, Eira thinks he would laugh too. She stretches out alongside him, propped on an elbow, taking him in. ❛ Are you quite comfortable? ❜

[fairytaletold]

@miidnighters // continued.

The duck of her head is decidedly performative, but it also hides how she rolls her eyes. Gods, she hates the magistrate. What a pompous, overstuffed little man -- though he does, admittedly, have rather good taste in jewelry. Isaac's hand is ridiculously secure against the delicate slope of her shoulder; if she manages to escape out from underneath it at all, he's likely to simply lift her up by the scruff of the shirt like a wayward cat.

( How does she know, you ask? Because he's already done it before. )

She's trapped. It's a miserable feeling, truly, and though she's forced to sit in his presence, it doesn't mean Eira is listening. She's chosen a new pastime instead: rolling a garnet studded golden ring dexterously over her knuckles, back and forth, hiding the slow unfurl of a smile. Which of them was likely to notice first? Isaac, towering above her, or the magistrate, once he notices his ring missing?

[fairytaletold]

@miidnighters // continued.

❛ Oh! ❜ The toes of her boots brush over the ground as she’s swept against his side. Alright, it’s not her best work, but she’s gotten a handful of coin slipping, one by one, into the bag that her righteous victim can’t see. Luckily, Eira’s watched him long enough to get a good idea what she’s working with; her expression turns pained. Innocent. ❛ I wasn’t running! I was only going to fetch a cloth — they should have one at the bar. ❜

( She was absolutely running. )

❛ I am sorry, though. Truly. ❜ Teeth catch her lower lip between them, eyes rounded and glistening. Maybe it was laying it on a bit thick, but this guy seemed oblivious of that. ❛ Can I buy you another? ❜ I mean — why not? It’s his money she’ll be using.

[fairytaletold]

@platiinums // continued.

come across a copy — that’s a nice way to put it. but she’s glad she didn’t pay a dime for it, now that she’s given it a brief read. ❛ i think it’d make a good weapon, ❜ she muses by way of reply. ❛ right to the back of the head, you know? about the only thing i’d keep it around for. ❜ but she’s already losing interest, attention caught by a different outdated book, but one that looks arguably more interesting. ❛ what’re you reading, anyway? ❜

[fairytaletold]

@starlyht // continued.

❛ Y— eeessss. It was definitely not that. ❜ Except that it definitely was. Because she might have taken the opportunity to combine her mentor's lesson with a little cathartic retribution. The man she'd stolen from had, in fact, called her a slew of unsavory opinions every time she darkened the step of his shop ( and that may have been what inspired her to linger there so frequently ). Getting his attention hadn't been the problem; distracting him had been easy. He was antagonized simply upon seeing her, but her big mistake had been to stay long enough to watch his face when he realized what was missing. Even set apart as she was, with a safe buffer of crowd, his eyes had shot directly to hers when fingers tried — and failed — to find his watch. ❛ And for the record, I was being chased, ❜ she reiterates, a point of pride, ❛ but I didn't actually get caught. ❜

[fairytaletold]

@miidnighters // continued.

Her teeth are chattering. From the damp of rain of her clothes leeching warmth from her skin or loss of blood, it's hard to tell. Like a stray cat, beaten and down on its luck, she had slunk to the only safety she had truly ever known: him. So she stands in his doorway, with the warm light haloing him, and the vulnerability she feels in that moment is nearly impossible to swallow. ( Would she rather die than ask for help once in a while? )

❛ Dunno. ❜ Really, she doesn't. What blood is hers and what isn't -- she hasn't has any time to tell. Sweetheart, he says, and her vision blurs; no one has ever called her anything but her name, or 'hey, you!' or 'thief!' or 'street rat!' --

Oh. It's not that she's crying. It's that darkness eats away at her sight, and her limbs have gone curiously soft. The last thing she's aware of is crumpling slowly down. But she doesn't hit the ground: she's caught by him.

[fairytaletold]

@sonderiings // continued.

❛ What? What’s that even supposed to mean? ❜ Words hissed through teeth have no effect on the lovestruck smile at her face. Right now doesn’t seem like the best moment to tell him her pool of willing volunteers for these ruses was pitifully small — and discounting those who wouldn’t fit the role, even smaller. ( One. Its just one. ) Not the point. ❛ I hate to be the one to bring this up, since — well, it feels a little obvious — but you have no idea what I look like. Wait. ❜ She stops dead, hand tightening on his in sudden realization. ❛ You don't know what you look like. ❜ A passerby looks at her curiously, and she continues, tugging him along. ❛ Gods, that must be so weird. Is that why you let nagging old ladies make you feel awful about it? ❜

[fairytaletold]

@miidnighters // continued.

Fingers brush the space she’s sidestepped so neatly. Eira grins, but her tone is contemplative; he brings up a valid question. ❛ If I were in trouble, would you hide me? ❜ Not that she’s likely to even ask, should the occasion arise. That’s not the point. Soundless, imbued by the dexterous grace that one parent gifted her ( at least they gave her something, she thinks ) she rounds the other side of him, companionably slipping an arm through his. ❛ But I won’t say no to a pastry, since you’ve offered. ❜