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 Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:59 pm
Kerberos nodded. The war was a mess. Hate and vengeance and cycles of violence, over and over again.
"And I'd like to help my allies avoid doing those kinds of things. Because maybe you're right--often, when the Negaverse commits horrible acts, it's at the behest of people in power, who have the ability to do great harm to anyone that disobeys them. When Order does it....it's all because someone made their own choice to harm another person, of their own free will." Kerberos exhaled. "But we each do what we can. We make our choices, in the framework available to us."
He hoped she made the right one. If not tonight--it probably wouldn't be tonight--eventually.
When she took the Bloom, Kerberos took a breath. He'd seen Irit use it in memory, but never tried himself--and he was not entirely prepared for how visceral the experience was.
Wasn't ready to experience her pain and fear in captivity, or everything she'd felt when Ochre's head flew from his body--and he had to remind himself that this was the past, not the present, even if it all seemed so very real. The way the past was never past when it hurt you.
"Oh, Sylvite," he said, softly, when she withdrew her hand and the memory ended. And then, he shifted, slinging his arms around her shoulders and pulling her into a tight hug.
"You deserve so much better than you've gotten."
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Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2022 7:28 pm
Sylvite let out the breath that she'd been holding while the memories played out. She was still crying. That hadn't stopped, over the last few seconds, and it didn't stop now. Her face was all wet. She could taste salt, and she kept sniffling. The fog in her head, though, the weird, painful numbness? It was gone, all the way gone, for the first time in months. She was sad, still, but she could move past that. She felt like she could think. She felt like she could breathe. At least, until Kerberos started squeezing her, but that was okay. That was different. He was warm. She found herself squeezing back, and she just sat there for a little bit, crying and hugging him until even the tears stopped coming so hard. "Sorry I was gonna stab you," she said against his shoulder. "That, uh. That might've been one of the bad things. I dunno."
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Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2022 7:50 pm
Kerberos was willing to hold her for as long as she needed to be held; he remembered how much every gentle touch had meant to him, when he'd been at his lowest.
Sylvite needed that too, he was sure. So he held her while she cried, and reached up to gently pet her hair.
He gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze, and a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"It's okay," he said, "you didn't actually stab me, so that's pretty much the definition of 'no harm, no foul,' I think."
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Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2022 9:01 pm
"I'm not going to kill you," she said, still pressed right up against him. "I don't want to, even if you are a traitor." Her head didn't spin at that admission, either. Part of her didn't even think that she was going to put him in the database. He was being nice to her, nicer than anyone except maybe Gismodine had been to her in years, and even though that was weird and she didn't understand it, there was no way she was gonna fight it, not right now. She did pull away eventually, though. "I mean, maybe leaving you alive's actually the bad thing, but-" It didn't feel like the bad thing, not right now. "I should probably go," she added. She had some stuff to think about, and getting caught with an Order senshi like this would probably not end up with her getting the chance to actually think about it. He'd been nice enough to her, though, that just vanishing on him felt a little bit mean.
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Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2022 9:13 pm
"I appreciate that," Kerberos said lightly. He did; dying would be desperately inconvenient when he still had so much work to do. "I like being alive, and I'd like to continue doing that."
He let out a breath, and let her go, but kept his hands gently on her shoulders for an extra moment, to squeeze them and steady her.
"I believe you'll make the right choice for yourself, Sylvite," he said. "Stay safe. I'd like to get to see you again."
And then, he let her go.
It was up to her, now.
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Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2022 6:11 pm
Sylvite pulled completely away, and then she stood up. Her knees shook at first, but they steadied as she took another breath in and out. "Thank you," she said, her voice barely a whisper. She even nodded when he said he wanted to see her again, although she couldn't bring herself to say that back to him. At least, not in so many words. Instead, with a sideways smile, she muttered, "Later, traitor." She giggled for a second at the way it rhymed. Then, she vanished into the air.
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