oleander
@vvolucris is not alone (snk muse starter call)
Inside my small box they’re always slaughtering someone.
— THOMAS TSALAPATIS, FROM “THE BOX”
One could call him cold-hearted. Certainly, many people had (he smiled wistfully at the thought of past lovers), and would continue to, including himself.
Zeke Jaeger ambled towards the entrance of the Liberio military compound, a bag of fresh pastries in his left hand, his right hand waving at the guards already opening the gates at the sight of his familiar person. He called out a merry greeting to various staff and soldiers as he passed them by, even the Marleyan ones. Especially the Marleyan ones who chafed at the thought of any Eldian having higher ranking than them . He enjoyed watching their distaste contorting their face, watching them scurry away or ignore him as if he were a leper. Due to die in a year or three, he would let you call him that, though he’d never been called that to his face, as far as he could recall.
Yes, he was cold-hearted. And he would continue to be, weighing and discarding people for tactical purposes. Perhaps he still had time to leave this path, but he’d been placing and misplacing people’s lives since he was eight, which probably meant something.
Out of the corner of his eye, Zeke spotted a certain boy sitting with his back against a wall, staring up at the sky. Someone needed a pick-me-up.
“Falco!” he shouted, fishing a muffin from the paper bag to lob it overhand, “Catch!”