A set of eyes had pinned him
Became his version of a kingdom
She's everything the devil can't be
When she's singing to me, "Glory"
Became his version of a kingdom
She's everything the devil can't be
When she's singing to me, "Glory"
What was she doing out there? Wasn’t that the best question?
Israfel gave a shrug of a slender shoulder, blinking hard against the tears. “I’m living, Ulric.” And oh, but her words meant so much more than just that. Living meant so much more than just breathing air into her lungs, so much more than just having a heart beat within her chest. How could she explain to him the truths that would not come to her lips? How could she make him understand? Could he?
They hardly knew one another, and yet it was he that she had summoned in her time of need. It made her realize just how terribly lonely she was in this world of Novus. Surrounded by so many people, and yet she truly knew none of them. How terribly sad.
Maybe it was the emotion that Ulric could see swimming in her eyes and staining her expression, because it had been all too easy to his own shift. There had been a glitter in his eyes, a knowing, crooked grin on his lips as though he had come prepared to sling friendly insults like cannonballs… And yet, like a crumbling fort tower, it fell. Concern replaced eagerness, worry stole guile, and he was left a man concerned for a, a - a friend? Dare she think it? Dare she hope?
Ulric moved across the remaining distance between them, reaching out to her as though to comfort. The action was so strange, so foreign… But Israfel did not even attempt to pull away. She reached out, forcing a cocksure grin that did not meet her eyes, and proceeded to melt into his touch and press her rose-kissed muzzle against his own before sliding closer and letting herself melt into his hold. Just for a moment. She was not someone to show weakness so easily, but right now, it seemed like the only one she could turn to was Ulric. The sarcastic, narcissistic side of her brain wondered if he knew how honored he should be, but for now, she’d keep that close to her chest.
’What’s happened?’
“Nothing,” she grit out, pulling away and straightening her shoulders in an attempt to collect herself, blinking hard. There was no reason for this, despite how badly her heart ached. “I-I just… I wanted to see you. I needed a friend.” Surely that’s what they were, right? With how often they called each other terrible names and poked and prodded one another? “I learned something… Something from my homeland, and it isn’t settling very well, you know?” Her grin grew, the corners of her rosey lips lifting to show white teeth in a sardonic, forced sort of smile. It did not meet her eyes. Pools of vermilion continued to swim, lost and troubled and clouded. Just after, she laughed, a single chortle that lacked all forms of humor. “I’ve never been good dealing with loss, and I just… I feel like it’s all that fucking follows me, Ulric.”
She inhaled sharply, chest expanding, freezing as she proceeded to hold it. Then, in an exhale that seemed to steal the wind from her sails, her shoulders slumped. “I just needed a friend.”
And here they were.
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