[ very... casual of him. the apology she'd been gearing up to give stumbles like getting ready for a running leap only for the ground to come up short ]
Yes. [ stilted ] For that. I am sorry she found you compelling target.
At last, he wanders a bit closer, hands in his pockets. The look on his face is mild, unbothered even. His words are anything but. ]
Look, real talk? You're not exactly my favorite person at the moment. And that was before your oni thought it'd be fun to try and hit me around like a baseball.
[ so she isn't the most perceptive. she isn't insightful. and honestly, more often than not, she says exactly the wrong thing for any given situation before she says the right one. but what Sprezzatura isn't is a total idiot. she knows what it looks like when someone's had enough of her.
before she's even figured out what to say, she's taken half a step back, turned herself slightly so she isn't facing him dead-on. like subconsciously trying to protect a weak point.
Henry told me. About the little talk you two had under the mistletoe. I don't think he's angry with you, and that's his prerogative. I'm not quite so forgiving.
[ he's looking at her so unkindly. that's familiar enough. then he speaks, emphasizes, and her own expression schools into white-knuckled neutrality. lips pursed, chin lifted. she has to wrap her tail around her own leg, tight beneath the falls of skirt.
it's him. Alec Brennan did everything she didn't know how to do. ]
You do not know me. Henry took us down to naked bones, nothing left to disguise how alike we are. Has he ever told you that, or only this? I could not rest until he made me see it! It was so very painful process, but he looked at me without flinching! And I took too long to see it for its preciousness, so same thing that always happens--I do not need to explain myself to you!
[ He doesn't know all that outright, no. He knows that Henry sincerely considers (considered?) her a friend. Given what he knows about Henry, he's assumed that must mean they have something in common.
A lot in common, apparently. ]
You don't? And you were so close to doing it, too. Look, if you're gonna tell me that this always happens to you, that everything you want always slips out of your fingers, I don't give a fuck. That moment should have never been about you in the first place.
What moment? Mistletoe? Moment he finally tells me decision was already made without me—that moment? Or do you mean "moment you, Alec Brennan, asked him to go with you, and he said he will"? [ she raises a shaking finger and points it at him, very close to a tearful kind of rage ] Because I was never angry about that! For him to have any connection, and future, and freedom—?! You think I am not caring if he has that unless it comes from me? Did he say that?
You do everything perfect, do you? Alec Brennan, most flawless man alive?! [ vibrating finely, her tail has come unfurled so it can lash back and forth ] I say to him, let me go, and he pressed, and pushed, and wheedled until he had something he could drag back to you. Mudak! You would find reason to blame me still, even if I had walked—
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striketwice) wrote2022-10-02 07:47 pm
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Yes. [ stilted ] For that. I am sorry she found you compelling target.
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[ Smug.
At last, he wanders a bit closer, hands in his pockets. The look on his face is mild, unbothered even. His words are anything but. ]
Look, real talk? You're not exactly my favorite person at the moment. And that was before your oni thought it'd be fun to try and hit me around like a baseball.
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Excuse me?
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[ He DOESN'T LIKE YOU Sprezzatura. ]
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before she's even figured out what to say, she's taken half a step back, turned herself slightly so she isn't facing him dead-on. like subconsciously trying to protect a weak point.
stupidly, ] But...
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But what?
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"But we had such good talk about magic." (so did you and your handful of neglected, resentful lovers. try again.)
"But I risked everything to keep your block alive." (so whatever you've done, you must have really screwed it up good!)
she snaps a hand to her temple and presses down hard. ]
We barely know one another.
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[ He doesn't know her well at all, doesn't understand how she thinks. How she is. But does he really need to? From his perspective, he knows enough. ]
I don't care for people who treat other people like things, Sprezzatura.
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What?
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Henry told me. About the little talk you two had under the mistletoe. I don't think he's angry with you, and that's his prerogative. I'm not quite so forgiving.
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It's you.
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Yeah, it is me. I'm the one who beat you to it.
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it's him. Alec Brennan did everything she didn't know how to do. ]
You think I think I own him?
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You tell me. I wasn't aware we were having a race. I didn't realize your fucking pride was on the line.
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I did not mean it like that.
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Then what the hell could you possibly have meant?
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A lot in common, apparently. ]
You don't? And you were so close to doing it, too. Look, if you're gonna tell me that this always happens to you, that everything you want always slips out of your fingers, I don't give a fuck. That moment should have never been about you in the first place.
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[ He's not afraid of her. He wasn't afraid of her stupid oni, and he's not afraid of her outrage now. ]
So fuck off. If that's how you felt you should have said good for you and left it at that.
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Alec is so very rarely kind. And he is not at all inclined to be kind to her. No, he's very far from perfect. His flaws run deep and dark. ]
Who even thinks like that? Why was it a failing of yours in the first fucking place?
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