milliways_bar | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

There's a tarot card in a chair. She's comfortable there, playing Cat's Cradle with sparkly purple string.

She's playing it by herself, and she's doing rather well.

Her bare feet bop to a song only she hears, and her bright eyes are very intent on the string, her fingers rearranging it until it form a pretty pattern.

Well, it's pretty to her.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He watches her, hands going to rest on her legs lightly.

"Doesn't mean I can't miss what I wanted but will never have. There are still days I want the house and kids, to not have to deal with all the Other politics," because it's not just shifter but vampire because he's tied to Jean-Claude. "But I don't want to lose the people in my life either."

Moon gives him an amused, half-smile.

"Then you just alter the dream a little. You have a house. Children are not out of the question. Politics happen whether you're Other or Human. You make a little change, a tweak, to the dream and it becomes real."

There's the softest snort of amusement, the faintest quirk of a smile.

"The woman I'd want to have children with has half a dozen men in and out of her bed. And that's before the actual question of whether she'd ever actually want kids herself." Because no matter who was in and out of his bed, there's only one person he'd want to have that dream with. He just doesn't see how it would ever be a possibility.

"The number of people she boinks isn't going to change," Moon quietly, seriously warns. "Some may come and some may go, but she will love the ones she loves and will want to be with them. It's something you'll have to accept or walk away from."

Richard's fingers drum softly, no real rhythem, where they sit on her legs. "I know. And I have accepted it," mostly. He'll get slightly snarly but he's doing better with it than he had been in the past. Not letting it keep him away from her, especially since he still won't let her feed from him. "I haven't walked away since."

"Remember that and don't walk away when she needs you next," Moon says.

She may not be fond of Anita, but Anita is a sentient like every other sentient, and Moon feels a certain responsibility for the lot of them.

"I try not to walk away from her. And I promised I wouldn't walk away from her anymore."

The words themselves are a start, to him. He rarely breaks a promise.

"Just remember that promise."

Because it's an important one.

For both Richard and Anita.

Moon leans forward and rubs her nose against Richard's.

"Growly but not. I like you like this. It doesn't make my head hurt so much."

"I will." His nose wrinkles a little, though his smile is more prominant now.

"I make your head hurt?"

"Sometimes. You all do it to me, when things get dark and unpleasant and cloudy."

And things weren't like that now.

His head tilts curiously, hands pulling her a little closer.

"When thoughts or events get dark and unpleasant and cloudy?"

Moon's rear slips from the table and she winds up in Richard's lap, looking up at him.

"Yes. Because I want to help but I can't. I know things have to happen. I know the pain has to come and I can't keep everyone from it, but it hurts my heart. It makes my head feel full of cotton, my thoughts all scattered, worried."

His arms wrap loosely around Moon, meeting her gaze.

"Can't always protect people even when you know it's coming. Especially for things that hurt their hearts." He doesn't like watching his people go through it, but he knows sometimes there's just no stopping it.

"I could tell you things that are coming, but if I did that, you might change them, and you can't change them. Too many changes will happen already."

This is how the headaches start.

She likes the feel of Richard's arms around her, and she huffs, leaning forward until her head rests under his chin.

"It doesn't stop me wanting to keep the hurt away."

"Because a pansdementional bar wasn't in the original plans?" The question is meant for the part about the too many changes already.

His chin rests lightly on her head, comfortable with her there.

"It never does."

"You weren't supposed to be smooshing her yet. She wasn't supposed to be smooshing Damian yet. Asher is with Nathaniel. Jean-Claude dances with Asher. Things are happening that just... weren't happening before."

That is the nature of time, of Fate. It changes. It's fluid. It follows no rule or plan.

"But I like smooshing her," he says with a small smile.

His head tilts a little, chin sliding a little in her hair. "Nathaniel is with Asher?" He'd been left out of that particular loop.

"You can't tell her. Everyone's shushing about it. Two marks."

She nuzzles him.

"They like the smooshing, love each other so much even though they're terrified of one another. So strange, love and fear all squished into one, big feeling."

He doesn't even have to ask who. It's fairly easy to figure out. "She won't like both, them together and being kept in the dark."

It's just a comment. Thoughtful, as he gives a soft sound at being nuzzled.

"Why are they terrified of each other?"

"No, she won't. She will be angry. Very angry. But it will allow for a pivotal choice. A choice that will change everything."

She focuses on the pair in his head and licks her lips.

"The past. They're... afraid of what each will see... the third and fourth marks... see it all... bound forever. Terrible shame in them both."

"How many people know so far?" Curiosity, mostly.

His head lowers so his nose rests against her hair, breathing her in a little.

"None of us really have the greatest past. If they care about each other, the past won't matter. Not really." He wasn't always happy with his past, issues from it still popped up and caused problems, but he, Anita, and Jean-Claude share three marks. It hadn't stopped any of them.

"Jason, Jean-Claude, Micah, Damian, Elizabeth, Teja, Charlie, Demeter, and now you," she murmurs.

A lot of people to keep one secret.

"They don't realize the depth of love, but they will have a chance... and then the kitten's life will depend on whether or not the vampire can move beyond his shame and throw him the lifeline needed."

His nose buries a little more into her hair with a huff. "She's going to be really pissed..." Everyone that mattered knew, except her. He won't tell either, if only because it's not his place to tell her anything on Nathaniel.

Frowning, he moves his head to the side and lowering it a little to look at her. "Nathaniel's life is dependent on it?" He'll understand if she can't answer though.

She holds his gaze.

"It will," she whispers. "He can't know, and the kitten can't know, but... when the council comes... things... they're muddled... holes in the events. Things I can't see."

He doesn't move to break eye contact, a shadow shifting behind his brown eyes.

"Because you're involved." That part he remembers clearly, that she can't see if she's involved.