Blood in the Cathedral

[Avis]

"I...

"...Didn't."

The last word tumbled from her mouth, a truth she'd rather kept swallowed.

"I swore to the Supernal...And you're right. That oath hasn't been...hasn't been finished."

She'd been about to say followed, but she couldn't quite bring herself to say it. That would be admitting she'd broken her word. Become Oathbreaker. Harmed Truth itself. But, even if that was the Truth, even if harm had already been done, she had a plan.

"I'm still going to follow through. I called in my favor from him. I made him leave town. For good. Stupid fucker is going to try and come back, but if he does he's going back on his word. He swore he'd try to make things right. Rejecting the favor I demanded from him would be betraying that, and if he does that then he'll have no more chances. He'll have proven he's not really Awakened and...I'll kill him."

Twisted logic, maybe, since she'd transgressed against Honor, too, but there was a difference. Striker acted like a manifestation of the Lie. He'd proven he didn't follow the laws, and that he didn't care about violence, or the hierarchy of their Order...if he ever came back and betrayed the favor then he would have willingly abandoned everything that made up the society she protected. That is when she would claim his life as forfeit.

[Star]

Eyes widened slightly, then brows knit.

It's the expression, confined to bluish orbs, that lies somewhere between surprise and being Verbally Slapped. To. For. Same difference. Aren't they? A Supernal Oath that might never have been made if it hand't been brought up. If it wasn't A Thing. If not for him.

But Okay.

Is this how it starts? Or was it something that began months ago with a single word? Truth and Politics, yo. It's never a fair fight. Lips parted, then closed. Rinse, repeat as words tumbled out and were processed. At his side, long fingers plucked at an outer pocket, seeking the security of habit that the solid shape of the deck of cards within represented.

Flash paper and electric stoves.

Eyes settled on their fenwater counterparts, steady, even. Remember -- it's not easy Explaining Something, sometimes.

In the end? There's really only one thing to say.

"If you don't, I will."

Because We're Okay, but That isn't.

[Avis]

And there it was. The same scenario she'd created for him moments before. The desire for murder had risen in him and wanted to be shown. Except that it was still submerged, for now. Or perhaps now fully grown, but there none the less. All she had to do was wait for the right time to glimpse it.

"We could do it together," she suggested, reaching out to grasp his hand. Most would see it as a parody of intimacy. As a twisted reflection, warped by the foul vapors of abused desires, and Avis wondered if, perhaps, that was the viewpoint of the Wise looking down upon the fallen. But she already felt fallen. Was it so wrong to hope for intimacy even in the grip of the Lie?

[Star]

It's strange.

Sometimes you need a hug, sometimes you don't. Sometimes you need to hold a hand, sometimes you don't. For a second, it's just a curious sensation. Something small grasping, detached pressure against an appendage that isn't being paid attention to.

Somewhere, there's still flecks of blood, flying through the air. Phantom droplets, burning like boiling water on the face. And fire. Pure, white fire.

Everything's on fire.

"Okay."

Long fingers wove through the smaller pale ones, meshing like two Towers in the same weave.

"I'd like that."

Intimacy? It's not just bodies joining or secrets traded. There's also the intimacy of a shared Purpose, given birth by beliefs twined together with understanding.

[Avis]

Avis leaned in and set her lips against Star, sealing her renewed promise to him through the kiss. Some oaths didn't need words. A gesture could say just as much.

That would be the last lesson Striker would ever take part in. And, for them, just one of the first.

Magnificent Scene!