writing_shadows

Hubbub. It wasn't a word she used often - had used ever, that she could remember. But it was appropriate at this moment, as people clustered around Lucan and Lawrence. She wanted to put her hands to her ears and scream, to just get them to stop. She wanted them all to just stop and try to understand each other for a minute instead of a pointless duel. What would that prove anyway?

What did death ever prove?

It's okay if it's a life or death situation. That was the decision they'd come to as a Court, all that time ago. She wasn't very good at changing desires anyway. Still, she pulled.

Listen, she prayed, pleading. Try to understand. Please. Please want to understand.

She didn't know if it worked. Skip was close to her, shouting. She'd taken their Freedom. "Don't ever do that to a person. Or to me," he concluded.

It was too much of a barrage, too many implications rattling through her head, with everything else that whirled around, refusing to settle in her mind. She couldn't think straight, couldn't sift through the confusion. She asked a foolish question, got an appropriately scornful answer.

She didn't know what to do. She just left, wandering inside. Maybe she was fleeing.

People followed, consoling her, defending her. This wasn't what she wanted. Just listen. Just try to understand.

"I understand what he was trying to say. He's not wrong. It's okay." Listen.

She wasn't sure how much time passed like that, before Skip approached her. He'd apologised to her, and she'd apologised to him. They'd hugged, and it had felt right.

It wasn't as overwhelming wonderful as the afterglow of Spring's message that morning, but it made her happier. One fight, at least, was over without bloodshed.