A dry smirk danced across the Special Assistant's face when Maxine quickly admitted that she had expected the mage to keep trying to free their lost comrade.
As the soldier found her feet while struggling to keep her balance she instantly began to regret drinking that terrible rum. The warmth of the alcohol was an excellent consolation prize compared to the rancid taste in her mouth. This was not her first tango with booze, but it was probably the first drink she had indulged in for the last cycle, and it certainly hadn’t been a mild glass of wine like she was accustomed to.
The two women were invariably different. Sephira was an islander who had grown up with at least a loving single parent on an island that many might call a paradise, minus the active volcano of course. Her childhood had not been perfect, and her father might have turned out to be a villainous psychopath, but her life likely did not compare to Maxine’s. They both knew their differences quite well, and neither seemed to blame the other for how advantaged or disadvantaged they were. Maybe that was why they seemed to get along so well; The soldier and the ex-con were not the sort to complain. They bore their burdens silently, and did so behind masks that hid their wounds and the weight of their pasts so that outsiders might never know who they truly were.
Tonight had been an exception, it had been a single moment between them when they had set aside the armor, the swords and the masks to just....talk; for once. Neither expected coddling from the other, rather they were both satiated in just letting a bit of the pressure off. For a single night they were not the ex-convict and the soldier; instead they were only Maxine and Sephira.
However, a night can only last for so long.
‘No’
Maxine’s answer clanged distantly within the Special Assistant’s consciousness. There was a pang of disappointment but it was brief and quieted by her silent expectations. Maxine was a stubborn woman, it had been a long shot to ask her to change her plans and help her get inside the Mantis base in order to save Rey’na. However she had hoped the woman’s appetite for violence would quell any of her worries.
Their masks began to slide back into place once again and the Special Assistant came to stand behind the ex-con as she kicked the shard of glass away.
“She’s one of us Max, I won’t leave her behind.”
A grimace twinged at the corners of her lips, her glinting onyx eyes staring at the door of the storeroom in front of them. The ache of the blow to her face twinged slightly as she spoke.
“It’s my life, and my choice. I won’t beg you to help me, but I am asking, just think about it...please” She brushed past the other woman, snatching the bottle from her hands before taking a final drink and handing it back. In the same moment that the sickening burn went down her throat, ether flowed into her Attunement Spark, setting it alight. Casting Static was second nature in this terrible kingdom, but she also began Soothing her Attunement Spark to diminish her most obvious mutation. The night black eyes were wiped away for the moment and Sephira old Biqaj eyes were revealed. For the next break or so she would look and seem as mortal as Maxine.
It had been a long time since her color changing eyes had seen the light of day. At first she had despised the Attunement mutation as it had drawn her further away from her humanity. But it had been a blessing to have her emotions hidden from the outside world. Now her eyes flared with blushes of emerald and silver. Fear and worry thrummed within the depths of her consciousness, hidden far beneath the cover of her disciplined facade.
“Let’s go.” she readily agreed, cracking open the door before slipping out with Maxine in tow.
As the soldier found her feet while struggling to keep her balance she instantly began to regret drinking that terrible rum. The warmth of the alcohol was an excellent consolation prize compared to the rancid taste in her mouth. This was not her first tango with booze, but it was probably the first drink she had indulged in for the last cycle, and it certainly hadn’t been a mild glass of wine like she was accustomed to.
The two women were invariably different. Sephira was an islander who had grown up with at least a loving single parent on an island that many might call a paradise, minus the active volcano of course. Her childhood had not been perfect, and her father might have turned out to be a villainous psychopath, but her life likely did not compare to Maxine’s. They both knew their differences quite well, and neither seemed to blame the other for how advantaged or disadvantaged they were. Maybe that was why they seemed to get along so well; The soldier and the ex-con were not the sort to complain. They bore their burdens silently, and did so behind masks that hid their wounds and the weight of their pasts so that outsiders might never know who they truly were.
Tonight had been an exception, it had been a single moment between them when they had set aside the armor, the swords and the masks to just....talk; for once. Neither expected coddling from the other, rather they were both satiated in just letting a bit of the pressure off. For a single night they were not the ex-convict and the soldier; instead they were only Maxine and Sephira.
However, a night can only last for so long.
‘No’
Maxine’s answer clanged distantly within the Special Assistant’s consciousness. There was a pang of disappointment but it was brief and quieted by her silent expectations. Maxine was a stubborn woman, it had been a long shot to ask her to change her plans and help her get inside the Mantis base in order to save Rey’na. However she had hoped the woman’s appetite for violence would quell any of her worries.
Their masks began to slide back into place once again and the Special Assistant came to stand behind the ex-con as she kicked the shard of glass away.
“She’s one of us Max, I won’t leave her behind.”
A grimace twinged at the corners of her lips, her glinting onyx eyes staring at the door of the storeroom in front of them. The ache of the blow to her face twinged slightly as she spoke.
“It’s my life, and my choice. I won’t beg you to help me, but I am asking, just think about it...please” She brushed past the other woman, snatching the bottle from her hands before taking a final drink and handing it back. In the same moment that the sickening burn went down her throat, ether flowed into her Attunement Spark, setting it alight. Casting Static was second nature in this terrible kingdom, but she also began Soothing her Attunement Spark to diminish her most obvious mutation. The night black eyes were wiped away for the moment and Sephira old Biqaj eyes were revealed. For the next break or so she would look and seem as mortal as Maxine.
It had been a long time since her color changing eyes had seen the light of day. At first she had despised the Attunement mutation as it had drawn her further away from her humanity. But it had been a blessing to have her emotions hidden from the outside world. Now her eyes flared with blushes of emerald and silver. Fear and worry thrummed within the depths of her consciousness, hidden far beneath the cover of her disciplined facade.
“Let’s go.” she readily agreed, cracking open the door before slipping out with Maxine in tow.
Off Topic
You good with ending this here?
Dialogue|Thoughts
