#v; the python's son

[xfirstbcrn]

@the-self-proclaimed-prince

"Sinead, no, I am not going to go see some Lev-tek castoff alienist, and that's the end of it."

[runawaymun-rp]

Mairead was aware that it was highly unusual to bring one’s husband home while claiming wives’ rights. The whole point was to get away from one’s husband. Well, she didn’t care. She didn’t like the idea of leaving Finley alone in the house by himself. 

It would have been better if she was a boy, and Finley the girl. Then they could have gotten married and Finley could come stay with her family, rather than the other way around. But at least Mairead could bring him with her to visit home. 

“They’ll like you, promise,” she said as the two of them got out of the cab to go up to the house, because Finley’s hand was getting kind of sweaty in hers, which he did when he was anxious. Finley was anxious a lot. 

[aeterniis]

It was the middle of the day, and House Naethri was relatively quiet. Sam’haen had managed to get some sleep, and so was relatively sane and had been content to spend most of her afternoon coloring in her nursery with Sam’nait. There had been no visions of late, and no serious votes, either. Strangely, everyone had been in good spirits-- even Eldina Khiva.

Sasha stood in her white gown at the inner Entrance Hall, feeling the Python’s gaze pressing down on her like a weight. She tried not to fidget with the sleeve on her dress.

Eldina Bandshii’s visitor finally arrived: her sister-in-law, Eldina Shina Tyrconnell. Sasha stepped forward and gave her a polite nod. 

Eldina Tyrconnell, my Eldina’s been expecting you. Right this way.

She meant to say it, but her heart raced and the words felt stuck in her throat, as if they were too heavy to say. The only thing she could manage was to beckon for the Eldina to follow her down the hall. She turned and led her off to Aedon’s apartment, glancing back over her shoulder to make sure she would follow. 

[exsousiis]

Delta hadn’t been Below since LevTek. His stomach felt strange as the cab made its descent. He leaned his head on the window, watching the cab drop down the Feadan, weaving through the traffic.

Ena. Sinead had promised him that they were going to Cavan, not the science district. She had promised him that it was nothing medical. It was psychotherapy, or something. He chewed on his lip, picking at the edges of his sleeves.

That strange feeling in his stomach got worse the farther down they went. 

“How far is it to Cavan?” 

[xfirstbcrn]

They were sitting in his library. It was late. They sat shoulder to shoulder with their respected books, Bastet curled up on the couch next to them. It was evenings like this that mattered, rare moments without any substance where he felt completely alive and completely happy. More and more in the past year those moments had involved Sinead.

Tonight was even better: it was Seamus’ birthday. Or it had been the day prior. He’d been tied up with a ridiculous celebration his father had hosted, but tonight Sinead had come over and they’d spent it playing Seti, making jokes, and talking for hours on end. Now, reading. 

And it was this moment, this exact moment, that his heart raced so loud he worried she might hear it. 

“I almost forgot,” he said, looking up from his book. It was a little sudden, but that was only because he felt as if he didn’t force it out right then and there he might never say it. A little smile. “It wouldn’t be a very good birthday if I didn’t give my guest something.” 

He got up from the couch and went to a box he’d kept stashed on the folklore bookcase. He hadn’t kept it in his room. Emilja, his father, and Zoroush were all snoops of the worst kind. Seamus came back over and held it out to her. 

[runawaymun-rp]

Meirr strode into Elam’s office after some bullying of the various assistants and security buzzing around. She shut the door, locked it, and pulled the shades, then took a seat in front of him, where he was sorting through some paperwork. 

She set her steaming cup of lintselmyl on his desk and sat up very straight, folding her hands in her lap.

“We have a complication.” 

[xfirstbcrn]

They were taking a long walk along the river. The fireflies were out, flashing yellow in the blue hue of dusk. The air off the water was moist and cool, and with autumn around the corner, Seamus felt it through his silk jacket. 

He held Sinead’s hand in his, watching the monkeys settle in the branches above for sleep, listening to the gentle lapping of the water at the boardwalk’s edge, the faint whistling of the cooling air through the kapok trees.

The conversation had come to a comfortable lull. 

“I’ve been thinking about what you said,” he began. He’d been meaning to bring it up for a while, for months, really. He just hadn’t known how. It’d taken him so long to decipher his feelings on the matter. “About...commitment.” 

[xfirstbcrn]

Seamus had gone out to make himself a pot of tea, and come right back around with it to settle in with his book when he passed Sinead in the hall. When he turned into Sinead’s bedroom, it was dark. He turned back to call after her: 

“You know, I’m going right back in there.”