12-16-2024, 08:09 PM
Esper’s eyes slitted like she didn’t find the promise agreeable. “Why would you want to stay if he does not accept who you are? Why shouldn’t you sing as you please? It is not his choice.”
Yet she knew without asking that he would defend his keeper – and that if he did, it would coil the bitterness inside like a spring. She did not like the way he looked at that man, like something was owed. Monsters must eat too. For a moment she thought about using the push, breaking whatever guilt and connection remained, but in that consideration remembered her own promise to Roza. People did not like it when you made them feel things, even if it was to free them. And he distracted her anyway, moving her hand and whispering in her ear.
Honestly, she was not sure it mattered what he said; it was the dips and cadences pouring like nectar that held her. Did Roza hear how sweet it sounded?
“But you have made the promise now. And promises should be kept.” She sounded grudging to accept it. And she was. But she wouldn’t try to talk him out of it either, nor use the push to encourage him to her bidding – not in a way that would jeopardise his place here at least. Which did not mean she would not seek to change his mind about what home was. Or family.
She could feel his heart beating inside. His skin was warm through his shirt. “My name is Esper,” she added. The edges of her lips tilted up, just the bare essence of a smile. Her eyes remained unnervingly intense. But though she did not extricate her hand, nor move away from how close she was standing, she did turn to rest her chin back on her shoulder, and said to Roza. “I do not wish to stay under this roof.”
Yet she knew without asking that he would defend his keeper – and that if he did, it would coil the bitterness inside like a spring. She did not like the way he looked at that man, like something was owed. Monsters must eat too. For a moment she thought about using the push, breaking whatever guilt and connection remained, but in that consideration remembered her own promise to Roza. People did not like it when you made them feel things, even if it was to free them. And he distracted her anyway, moving her hand and whispering in her ear.
Honestly, she was not sure it mattered what he said; it was the dips and cadences pouring like nectar that held her. Did Roza hear how sweet it sounded?
“But you have made the promise now. And promises should be kept.” She sounded grudging to accept it. And she was. But she wouldn’t try to talk him out of it either, nor use the push to encourage him to her bidding – not in a way that would jeopardise his place here at least. Which did not mean she would not seek to change his mind about what home was. Or family.
She could feel his heart beating inside. His skin was warm through his shirt. “My name is Esper,” she added. The edges of her lips tilted up, just the bare essence of a smile. Her eyes remained unnervingly intense. But though she did not extricate her hand, nor move away from how close she was standing, she did turn to rest her chin back on her shoulder, and said to Roza. “I do not wish to stay under this roof.”