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 Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2023 11:12 am
Talia was in a good mood when she got home, feeling more relaxed, and almost eager–excited to talk to Zac. Though, she did enjoy seeing him. She enjoyed sleeping next to him, and those times they kissed. She had fallen for him again, and even though there were times that Talia still half worried that he didn’t feel the same…she did love him.
It was early enough that he wouldn’t be home quite yet, but late enough that it wouldn’t be too much longer.
Taking her time, Talia changed into her night clothes and got into bed, trying to figure out how to bring this up, how to approach the issue.
She was nearly half asleep by the time she heard Zac descending the stairs to their room and sat up, unable to stop a small smile from reaching her face. “Welcome home, how was work?”
The joy she felt upon seeing him was utterly unfeigned, and Talia patted the spot in bed next to her. “Can we talk a little before you get your shower?” Pausing after the question, she felt her cheeks warm at the thought that…perhaps.
She could join him when he did.
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2023 12:23 pm
Zac had gotten stuck at work for almost half an hour later than he’d intended, and while the overtime pay was good, he wanted to be home. He’d figured Talia would be asleep when he got back so he’d intended to just slip by her, get his shower, and head to bed, but she was surprisingly awake when he’d gotten in.
Well, a little red faced. Had she fallen asleep face first, or…?
What was she thinking about that had her pink?
He’d taken his shoes off when he came in, and despite the fact that they’d moved into the basement a while ago, it was sometimes a bit difficult to remind himself that his room wasn’t the master bedroom at the end of the hall anymore.
At least he had his nice sheets on their bed down here. And it was cooler in the summer months. Right now it was a bit chilly, but all the more reason to get in bed.
He suspected she didn’t really care about work so he didn’t bother regaling her with tales of another standard day. Besides, he wanted to know what she wanted to talk about. He might not have had Evan’s anxiety, but he never liked to hear that someone wanted to talk without knowing about what.
He flopped down in the bed next to her and leaned back against the pillows. “Yeah, we can talk. Everything okay?”
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2023 1:22 pm
Reaching out, Talia hugged him and planted a kiss on his cheek before pulling away slightly and clearing her throat, trying to clear her head of the thoughts that had decided they wanted to take over. “Everything’s fine, I just. I’m planning something. And I haven’t told you about it yet, I don’t know how you’re going to react but, you should know. Faustite wants the Court to help him to get out of the Negaverse, and I told him that I was going to provide the help. You know that it’s what I’ve wanted for…since I can remember.”
Which was the truth. And…from what she knew, she had wanted to help him since before she could remember too. He had always been important to her.
“I know you’re going to call me stupid and reckless, and I know. But. Zac, I have to get him out of there…and if he actually wants it…this might be my only chance.”
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2023 1:51 pm
When Talia said she was planning something, he immediately assumed she must have decided to bring home a kid or a hurt puppy or something, but the more she talked, the more he realized it was worse.
She wanted to help Faustite.
His face didn’t change when she spoke; he did a perfectly good job of remaining neutral, except for a single jaw clench. He pursed his lips as he listened, as he thought.
He tried to keep an open mind, but–wow. She always gave him too much credit–more than he deserved. She didn’t remember him at his worst. She had this fictitious idea of him–her ‘brother’ and she was clinging to it.
Zac thought it was a bit unfair for her to care so much about him, and if he were being honest, a part of him was jealous. He wished he’d killed Faustite when he had the chance, and even if this went off without a hitch–then what?
Then, he was going to have to deal with Faustite lurking around? Where was he going to stay, here? There wasn’t room, he didn’t want him under his roof. Somehow he’d probably worm his way into convincing Talia to let him stay out here, and Zac would wind up–what, sleeping on the couch of his own house? No, thank you.
And that was the best case scenario, wasn’t it?
The worst was–well, it was him dragging her back to the Negaverse. Killing her. Self imploding and taking out her and the whole Court.
“I’m not going to call you stupid,” he said, calmly. Naïve was a much nicer way of putting it. Gullible, too. Reckless, yeah. That was true.
“I just know he’s sneaky, and I don’t really like him.” He knew she cared for him, but he didn’t know why. Was there one good thing about Faustite? What, you could roast marshmallows off of him? Save a few dollars heating the house in Winter? –Would he even have that perk if he purified out?
He knew it was what she wanted, but was it really what Faustite wanted?
“He doesn’t know you’re a Princess, does he? Has the Negaverse found any of your Knights?”
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2023 4:38 pm
“I know you don’t like him…nobody I know likes him and…I understand that but…if he’s out of Chaos…maybe he’ll be better.” Talia sighed but took a moment and pressed closer to Zac, resting her head against his chest, not wanting to see any sort of disgust or anger in his face. Besides. His chest was comfortable. Warm, and simply lovely. “He doesn’t know as far as I know. I told him that I would rather do it up on Lysiteha but…”
She didn’t want to bring up why he didn’t want to though. “...He’s uncomfortable on Homewords which, I understand. He hasn’t had the best time on some of them…but. No, I don’t think he knows about me. And I was careful not to mention it too. The only people I mentioned were myself and Malus since he had talked to us both already. I made it seem as though I would call Cosmos…but I think instead I”ll just…see if I can’t shift once I’m sure he’s…sure about this.” Drawing in a breath, Talia glanced up at Zac’s face, chancing a look.
“You know that Chaos is poison…you know it’s better for everyone if we can save people from it…”
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2023 6:54 pm
He hasn’t had the best time on them, ugh. Zac nearly rolled his eyes. Like what, one time he got what he had coming? He deserved it. Zac didn’t even feel bad about it. He’d do it again if it didn’t mean hurting Talia.
Or, maybe he should have, anyway. If this didn’t go well? If this was just some other scheme of his?
He wasn’t wearing an angry expression, he was working very hard not to look annoyed. It wasn’t her, anyway.
Of course he knew that Chaos was a poison. He’d known it before they had. There were parts of his life that were missing. He didn’t know the extent of what he’d done, aside from ******** up his brother. And Evan. Sometimes, it still felt like a poison sliding through his veins.
Maybe the Chaos still had a hold on him. Or maybe he was always ******** up.
He knew he wasn’t a good person. But she was. Monoceros was.
Chaos had still taken them.
He wanted to tell Talia that there was an obvious reason that no one liked him but he doubted she wanted to hear that. She wanted to hear that she had his support, that it was a good idea, that she could do it.
Zac couldn’t really find the strength to say the words, though. He didn’t know what Faustite was going to have to do to lose Talia’s trust, but he hoped he wasn’t about to find out.
He was too tired to get angry, and he cared about her too much to let any anger slip into his voice. He was just being practical.
“If things go wrong, do you have a plan? If things go right, do you have a plan?”
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2023 7:16 pm
“If things go wrong…I’ll princess up. The court will be there, if need be we’ll attack him…if–when things go right, we’ll bring him home. Back here. I’ll set him up on the couch until we can figure out better arrangements. I know you won’t want him here full time but…I’ll figure something out. I want him close, and Tobias is closing on the house next door soon…so maybe he can live there when they move in.”
She was quiet for a moment and chewed her lip. “...If I could figure out how to have you there without him knowing…I would like you there…but I’m so afraid that if he thinks I don’t trust him. If he thinks that I’ve lied and have brought him into a trap…he’ll change his mind…Zac, I don’t want to think about what I would do if he died. I would be miserable, I know and…I don’t want that again.”
Talia had been miserable for long enough after the whole ordeal…and she was tired of it.
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2023 7:47 pm
Ugh, no, he didn’t want him here. Faustite could just grab one of Evan’s knives and try to stab him in his sleep.
He hated the idea of him here. And if Tobias was getting a place next door–he hoped that meant that Faustite could go with them and not get his old bedroom. The idea of him in there–ugh.
He didn’t say anything.
A sticky, hot, inky black tar was stirring in his stomach. He tilted his head back and looked at the ceiling before sighing heavily.
“I want to be there. I just won’t power up. If he tries anything, I will.” He didn’t tell her that he wouldn’t take it easy on him. Faustite already had too many chances.
“I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
He didn’t know what that would do to him. Once was hard enough. He felt like he was still clawing back his humanity.
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2023 8:10 pm
Talia let out a pleased, relieved sigh when he said he wanted to be there and she nodded, looking up at him once again. “Oh please. That would make me feel so much safer. I really don’t want to think that he’s ******** with me but. I want you there. I don’t want anyone to get hurt if things go south. And I don’t want anyone…I don’t want to be lost either. Or have anything happen to me. Once was too much, and I.”
She drew in a breath, closing her eyes for a moment to try to calm down. “I don’t think I would survive it if it happened again. I don’t think I would want to survive it.”
Reaching out, Talia took hold of his hand and drew it to her lips, kissing the back of it. "...I love you, and I want you there. Thank you for offering."
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2023 8:32 pm
“You’re strong,” Zac insisted, pulling her close enough to kiss her forehead. “You made it this far. Pretty sure you could make it through anything.”
Would she even know how much she didn’t want it if they could force the Chaos into her? Or would her new power protect her?
…Or would it just make them do something worse to her?
“You know I’ll always have your back. I want to get you home safely. And I won’t try to scare off your little friends.” He didn’t have much faith in the Negaverse, even the people who wanted to leave. But he’d try, for her.
“Just be careful. Hope for the best but be prepared for the worst, okay?”
He smoothed her hair back and stroked her cheek gently as he looked into her eyes. “I love you, too. Even if you have a soft spot for little punks.”
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Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2023 8:36 pm
Talia brightened and nodded. “Sounds like a plan to me…and I can’t help it, I think I’ve always had a soft spot for little punks. It feels right to do so, but you’d be a better judge of that than I would…now…do you have to get your shower now? Because…if you wouldn’t be too opposed, I have to get one too, and we could just. Save some water and do it together, if you wanted?”
Her smile now was impish, and she felt…better about the whole situation. If Zac was going to be there, nothing could go wrong. That was a whole lot of muscle that could help, and she had the court, and they were all Eternals…and she had herself. And she…she was strong.
And she could…and would do this.
No matter what.
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