[ For a beautiful moment, her hand is in his, and she's giving him a smile, and for once, it seems like there's a way out of a mess with mild collateral damage. Besides, with the two of them...they'll figure it out. It's okay.
And then chaos erupts. Her hand at his wrist, his shoulder, even his face is no use. The anger is roiling off him like mako in the reactors.
She didn't want any of this. Why did he have to be here tonight, why did--
He snarls at the crowd, and she can feel her heart breaking. Every time she thinks it can't break again, she's wrong. It's one thing to willingly admit her own inexperience, to choose to barter that against a system she knows will force her to enter into its games, but it's another entirely to watch him out himself like this in pain and anger and fear.
For her.
He deflates. For a moment, all she can see is that sad, scared boy who had no friends, but who risked so much for her. This time she catches both sides of his face, pressing so close their noses nearly touch so that she's sure she's all he can see. ]
Cloud. It's okay. Focus on me.
[ The number is still going up. She can't think too hard about it or she'll be sick. She didn't expect to get this kind of attention, not here, and certainly not because Cloud...The thought of someone touching him like that makes her sick.
But she thinks they staff are going to make them, and she isn't going down easy. ]
I knew what I was doing when I signed up for this. You don't have to do this with me.
[ She knows he's going to protest, that he isn't going to let her go alone, and she moves one hand over his mouth as he starts to argue. ]
You can come as my guard, but I don't want you to watch. [ Please, not that. He would lose himself, tear the other person apart or get hurt doing it, and she would never be able to meet his gaze again. ]
Or...or we could tell the bidder the're only allowed to watch.
[ And her heart breaks again. She knows it's a good solution to an impossible situation, but it hurts, like something that should have been beautiful and precious is now forever tainted and out of reach, like no matter what he says, something has changed between them, that chasm just getting wide. ]
I'm not afraid, Cloud. But I need you safe, too. I can't -- I can't lose you.
[ Her voice finally cracks, her eyes shining a little too brightly. There's an unspoken question under it. Have I already? ]
@kinnie
[ For a beautiful moment, her hand is in his, and she's giving him a smile, and for once, it seems like there's a way out of a mess with mild collateral damage. Besides, with the two of them...they'll figure it out. It's okay.
And then chaos erupts. Her hand at his wrist, his shoulder, even his face is no use. The anger is roiling off him like mako in the reactors.
She didn't want any of this. Why did he have to be here tonight, why did--
He snarls at the crowd, and she can feel her heart breaking. Every time she thinks it can't break again, she's wrong. It's one thing to willingly admit her own inexperience, to choose to barter that against a system she knows will force her to enter into its games, but it's another entirely to watch him out himself like this in pain and anger and fear.
For her.
He deflates. For a moment, all she can see is that sad, scared boy who had no friends, but who risked so much for her. This time she catches both sides of his face, pressing so close their noses nearly touch so that she's sure she's all he can see. ]
Cloud. It's okay. Focus on me.
[ The number is still going up. She can't think too hard about it or she'll be sick. She didn't expect to get this kind of attention, not here, and certainly not because Cloud...The thought of someone touching him like that makes her sick.
But she thinks they staff are going to make them, and she isn't going down easy. ]
I knew what I was doing when I signed up for this. You don't have to do this with me.
[ She knows he's going to protest, that he isn't going to let her go alone, and she moves one hand over his mouth as he starts to argue. ]
You can come as my guard, but I don't want you to watch. [ Please, not that. He would lose himself, tear the other person apart or get hurt doing it, and she would never be able to meet his gaze again. ]
Or...or we could tell the bidder the're only allowed to watch.
[ And her heart breaks again. She knows it's a good solution to an impossible situation, but it hurts, like something that should have been beautiful and precious is now forever tainted and out of reach, like no matter what he says, something has changed between them, that chasm just getting wide. ]
I'm not afraid, Cloud. But I need you safe, too. I can't -- I can't lose you.
[ Her voice finally cracks, her eyes shining a little too brightly. There's an unspoken question under it. Have I already? ]