normallyxstranger // Ree
@taghte | title; how are your injuries? (Ree & Alec)
Oh, she didn’t like this uncertainty, this doubt. It brought her back to a bad place, in Scintil. She’d rather put it behind her, lock in that place where she stored her worst memories and parts of herself. Had she gone too far in her neglect? Would someone really travel across dimensions, seek her out, and destroy her? Yes. She must never forget that again. She must never let down her guard.
All this filtered through Ree’s mind during the span of his questioning. By the time he’d finished, she had made a new resolution.
“I can hold my own. Have all my life.” She smiled thinly. “But it’ll be a nice change to have someone else to back me up.” It might be like old times, when the other Peacekeeper’s had worked by her side. They lived together, fought together, defended cities together, and would ultimately die together. There were times when Ree missed that companionship and loyalty. Yet they had turned on her so quickly. That loyalty meant nothing in the face of corruption.
She turned her head back, sighting the body again. “I would like to figure it all out,” she admitted, if for no other reason than to find security and peace of mind again.
When Ree turned back to him, she caught the smile and his dimples, surprised to see how boyish it made him look then. Adorable came immediately to mind and the thought sparked her own smile. “I think I’ll stick around.”
If one thing was for certain, Alec could at least relate to the fact that she was alone and had no one to turn too. Well, he wasn’t entirely alone but it wasn’t like he went to those he knew that often. Each had their own issues to deal with, the two he did know. One had it worse than the other, but he also wasn’t the type to just vent and he wasn’t about to subject his best friend to that every day. And now with meeting her? Well, he wasn’t going to unload centuries of that onto her. Instead, he felt an obligation to help, as he often did. Not that he didn’t think she could take care of herself, but this wasn’t her home or her plane if she was to be believed. And how could he not believe her? He was over one thousand years old with gifts from the gods, anything seemed possible at that point.
“Oh I’m not takin’ that away from ya, lass.” Alec replied, at least wanting that to be out there. There had been no intention to insult her and if she thought that or not, he wanted that to be clarified. His brow did arch a bit when she went on, seeing her come around to the fact that he would be there if she accepted. It was part of who he was, helping those in need if he had the ability to. “I think you’ll find you’re not the only one who can hold their own.” She had seen it herself, the body by his side to prove it. Which, now that he was registering that more, he would have to handle that soon. Before anyone else came around and saw them.
A small smirk tugged at his lips as he nodded. “Well, alright. My manor isn’t far from here. Plenty of room if you don’t have a place to stay.” A hand lifts to point behind him with his thumb in some general direction where he knew his home was. “Seein’ as I’m not sure if you have a place to stay or not. But the offer is there and then it might be easier to figure things out that way.” A brief pause. “But I’ll also have to deal with this fella here first.”