2. Our muses are destined to fall in love, but never at thesame time it will be a cycle of unrequited love.
He’s made a home in sunlight.
The first time this happens, she’s brighter than all thestars in the sky, and he falls in love with the way she weaves around the crowdand finds him and asks for them to leave. She’s uncontrollable, sunbursts andsun storms, and he heeds her every word because he doesn’t know how to not listen.Hers is a melody he will never forget.
The second time, he doesn’t appreciate her quite as much ashe used to. She doesn’t notice because she doesn’t remember, and neither doeshe, and so he cannot apologise for the way his smile makes hers flicker. Hishand, always so soft, holds another that isn’t her own. Soon she does the same.He loves her back too late, and he vows never to do that again.
In another universe, they’d be in a hotel in Paris, and she’sthrowing the blinds open and he’s grumbling because he’s never been able tohold his alcohol too well. He doesn’t know he loves her because he doesn’t knowlove; she doesn’t try to teach him because he’s too stubborn. But he cracks oneeyelid open and sees her remove her shirt when she thinks he’s asleep, and hethinks he might love her then. It may also have been the alcohol, so he closeshis eyes and falls back to sweet slumber.
- That was abad idea.
- I know.
She’s made a home in the shadows he calls sanctuary.
Once, she dreams of a lifetime where he protects her, thissoft boy in the guise of a man who’s killed too many that the shade of bloodnever quite washes out from his uniform. She didn’t know, then, that he lovedher more than he loved the country she ruled. But she liked him in white, andhe wore it anyway, and red blossomed on his chest too quickly because he vowedto give his life to her and that’s exactly what he did. She’s hated him since.
In another, she’s nameless to him, and people like him toomuch to leave him alone. She doesn’t jump in front of a barrel of a loaded gunfor him, but she wishes she did.
Sometimes, she’s the one who pulls the trigger. In these, helets her, and she doesn’t look back. Not immediately. Not for a long while.
- We weren’talways like this. Do you remember?
- …No. Not anymore.
Always, she crashes into his life first, literally or not,in varying degrees of grace and poise. Sometimes he’s the villain, but she’s alwaysthe hero.
He’s lost count of how many he remembers; it’s when he doesthat she doesn’t love him back. He doesn’t know if the same rule applies toher, and sometimes he thinks that she might recognise him, but he’s always tooafraid to ask. (If he had, she would have said no.) He’s watched her live manylives, but in some, he doesn’t see her at all. The lives he spends with her inthem are the ones that burn the fiercest, but fire never lasts, and it has little toconsume when he thinks he’s the only one who has anything to feed it.
- I’llalways find you.
- Please. That’s my job.
- We can’tkeep chasing each other.
And maybe – maybe – in this lifetime they both remember. Orneither of them do.
This time it’s the latter, the world seems to decide, andhere Steven doesn’t believe in fate.
He believes in hiding. He gives smiles that cast greatshadows and proves that kindness doesn’t always equate to good. Smoke fills hislungs and he doesn’t know if he wants to be the hero when being a villain seemsso much better. He kills himself slowly because dying beautiful is better thandying alone. He’s afraid when he’s not supposed to be, and his entire form iscrumbling under the weight of a kingdom that’s not yet his.
She finds him when he doesn’t want her to. It’s not that he’sdeveloped an aversion to the light; he thinks there’s too much of it, and thereare parts of him he doesn’t want to reveal to anyone. But she finds those, too,and he doesn’t know what to do with himself, and still – she doesn’t pull themout of him, these little nooks and crannies in the walls he’s built around theempty town she believes can be saved. His heart is not meant to be a home, butshe makes one out of it anyway.
- Do youthink this is it?
- Who knows?
Troi wants him alive. It takes a while to realise why, andit doesn’t happen like it does in the movies. There are no gut-wrenchingrealisations around him because her gut is too busy being occupied bypterodactyls and her face begins to hurt from all the smiling. No, it’s whenshe’s alone that she realises she’s thinking of him still, imagines his hand inhers and marvels at the softness of his everything. He thinks he’s weak butthere’s strength in him he’s too stubborn to acknowledge.
But this time he sings and this time she’s the one who can’t forget. This time hishand reaches towards her and she takes it.
This time he wakes up and she’s still there, no longer a dream.
[ sms: steed ] XEPHY [ sms: steed ] DO U HAVE UR POWERS BACK TOO [ sms: steed ] MINE ARE BACK [ sms: steed ] I'M SO TORN BETWEEN WANTING TO FIGHT CRIME [ sms: steed ] AND MAKING SMORES
Furrowing his brows, a slight hiss passed by his lips. “It’s not even bleeding that bad. You’re making a big deal over nothing. Honestly.” Okay, maybe it was him who should’ve been a bit more concerned. He was always the type to play soccer with such a competitive nature. So of course he’d suffer more than a few cuts and bruises. Nothing he couldn’t handle.
For all that's happened, Steven just wanted -- craved -- a little peace. A little quiet. He supposed that that was impossible, given the current setting, and with everything suddenly becoming more chaotic than he thought it would be. He'd heard things about it being the work of a few delinquents, but so far the only damage he'd gotten was a hole in the wall of his dorm, and that, for now, was the only kind he wished he would ever get until the school could get its barrier fixed.
He took advantage of the chaos and confusion, however, and quietly snuck away to a quiet place behind the garden shed, where he knew no one ever walked past. It paid, after all, to be running around everywhere, even if it meant that he had to attend to various other duties.
With a sigh he took his cigarettes out of the front pocket of his shirt, neatly hidden behind his blazer, and a lighter along with it. "Ah..." With a small smile he lit one, and placed it between his teeth, leaning against the shed as he turned his gaze skywards before closing his eyes entirely as he let smoke fill his lungs and expelling it again. "Finally."
[ sms : best sister ever ] frankieeeeeeeee [ sms : best sister ever ] frankie are you free? (◕‿◕✿) [ sms : best sister ever ] i wanna give my superhero blessing to ur baby [ sms : best sister ever ] and mbe get food (≧◡≦)
francesca was not a big fan of text messaging. as a teenager, she’d annoy her friends with the need to make phone calls or to actually meet up because there was no other way to contact her. she dials back the instant she receives the last of the messages.
“baby torch!” her voice is excited as it always is when it came to her sister, “i’m about to go out and get a caramel sundae--weirdest craving, i know--did you want to come? i have to show you the latest ultrasound! bash thinks it looks like a lightsaber. how is that even possible?”
Stevenhadn’t thought she’d take it as a challenge. He’d simply pointed out that onesimply couldn’t wear their roller blades while going down a flight of stairs, asskilled as they may be. It was unsafe, and dangerous, especially to those whowore capes that were long enough to be a potential tripping hazard. He panicked, ofcourse, and was afraid that she actually would make an attempt. “I – please,no, don’t – that wasn’t…a challenge…” He turned red, more embarrassed at hisapparent inability to string words together in her presence than anything else,especially during such a crucial moment. “I can…carry you down? I don’t mind!Just…don’t try skating down a flight of stairs, please.”
Finally -- this was his chance to be (probably) cool. Hopefully. But how cool could one be while wearing glasses? He cursed the fates for the contacts mishap, which effectively confined him to wearing his so-called 'hipster' glasses. Surely, though, it would definitely put him in Amaryllis' good books if he arrived to Gardening Club early, even if it meant finishing his individual fencing practice earlier than usual, and almost stabbing himself in the foot because he'd been rushing. Besides, the flowers looked extremely beautiful today and -- he didn't expect another person to be in the gardens, too. It definitely wouldn't hurt to say hi, would it?
"Hello!" he greeted happily, smile as warm as the sun. "I came here to admire flowers, but I didn't think I'd get the chance to see something that puts these all to shame." That was how one should greet stranger, wasn't it? Certainly if the stranger was exceptionally beautiful. Steven certainly wasn't in the habit of lying to either of them, especially during first meetings. "Are you in the club, too?"
