new york welcomes her in with the open-mouthed bite of the past. ravenous, consuming, never satiated even with the thousands swarming the streets. it's not home, but it could've been — in another life, a far-away story, the kind of world in which she hadn't gotten too big, too fast. mistakes will do that to you. run you down, wear you out, wither your skin until your existence is only an aftermath. elliot had helped. with the aftermath of it, she means, because the before's were all caine and mark and blood, blood, blood. then, born anew, she'd ran. destined to never return, dangled into isolation, forging a life that felt like someone else's.
and in some ways, it was. someone she hadn't ever understood how to be had taken her place, fitting her skin like an ill-worn suit, traversing the streets of mumbai and trying to find something that felt right. (but what feels right, after losing a brother? who feels safe, after all you know is gone? ... starting from scratch wasn't in the plans, sure, but neither was any of the rest.) then, came ravi.
so, new york followed not long after. or, very long after, and time encapsulates itself in a speed-run as it often does. everything squished together in a timeline that felt both instantaneous and forever continuing. ravi had made it easier. the loneliness eased, throughout the days. but one thing lead to another, and the enclosed space of a safe-house wasn't sustainable. they both knew it. caine knew it. now, elliot knows, too.
ELLIOT ALDERSON [@unerror] : "how worried do we need to be?"
elliot's room looks the same. mari thinks she could have left, died, returned and ran around life several times and it wouldn't have moved an inch. he's a creature of habit, so is she, and she doesn't think she has much room to argue on that one. (she does, anyway, because that's what best friends do, but it's never with any heat. she loves him, even if she doesn't understand him, and that's the point.)
"dunno." mari breathes out, one knee tucked up against her chest as she sinks an inch further into the seat. "he didn't go as far as i d — did, which makes it easier." a click of her tongue, as she glances over to elliot. "but he got big. t — too big. and—" she shakes her head, laugh bitterly dancing across her lips. "me being involved makes it messier." her spare knee tucks back up against her chest, arms locking around her legs. "if anyone figures out i'm b — back around, that's going to be an issue."
