Arden/Lethe: Stay.
Backlogged to, uh, maybe a week ago or so.
It had taken him a long time to fall asleep, and her an even longer time to muster the courage to get out of the bed. This was it... she wouldn't see him again, most likely. The cult had to be chaotic with Joseph's betrayal - she highly doubted they would bother with sending agents off again anytime soon, unless it was to deal with traitors.
And she... wasn't ready to become one. Not technically, at least, since in theory she already was one. But if they knew...
She cast him one final glance, allowing herself a bit of a smile before jumping out the window to his room. He'd know she'd run off sooner or later - she couldn't risk any delays.
"At the very least," came Arden's voice as she prepared to leap out the window, "you could have the decency to say goodbye to my face."
No, he wasn't asleep. He hadn't been asleep at all. How could he sleep? Not when she was right there, warm, beside him, after gently showing him that it wasn't always horrible. Not when he knew that she would leave as soon as he slept.
Slowly, he slid out of bed and stood up.
"Though to be frank, I thought you'd actually leave that first night.
She flinched when she heard his voice. So he hadn't fallen asleep, after all...
Still, her resolve was strong. His life was too important for her to let it go like that. "I'm sorry," she murmured, then jumped down. If she didn't get away now, she wouldn't ever...
He didn't have time to put any actual clothes on. He either went for it now, or she'd be gone from his life forever.
He... couldn't handle that. So without another thought, he reached down for his coat and slipped it on as he ran for the window, then leapt right out into the cold, dark night.
She couldn't let him catch up with her. He was fast, granted, but she was faster. She had to be. Faster, and smaller - she could get into places he could not.
That in mind, she slipped into an alley, and from there through a broken window into an abandoned house. She'd planned the escape route beforehand, in case something like this happened - now she only prayed he couldn't guess it.
He shadowed her about as well as he humanly could. Catching up was a life or death matter. Nothing was going to stop him. He might have lost her in the alley if not for the little bit of torn fabric that the glass still on the broken window left.
He followed, letting the sounds of her footfalls lead him. He cursed inwardly. She could lose him in there.
Damn it, he'd followed her in? How careless-
Lethe walked in and out of as many interconnected rooms as possible and, walking into the last one, shut the door behind her, pushing an old bed in front of it to block the path. That should buy her some time - enough, at least, to make it out through that room's window.
Every time he felt he got closer another door got in his way. Precious moments lost opening them, knocking them down. And he knew she was gone when he slammed onto that last door and it wouldn't budge. The few seconds it took him to kick it open and show the obstruction out of the way woulkd be enough for her to make her escape out the window.
He looked out before he dove, to see in which direction she'd taken off.
But she was gone.
He slammed his fist on the windowsill, letting out a wail of frustration and anguish. "No damn you, don't leave me please don't leave me we can do this I swear we can do this," he cried between clenched teeth as he leapt out the window and darted away, hoping he chose the right direction.
She watched him as he ran off, carefully climbing back inside the house once he was gone from sight. She'd been balancing herself right under the window, away from his range of vision - it worked.
However...
His determination was just as strong as her own. It was painful, to hear him say that. To watch him run off like his life depended on it.
She moved much more slowly now, back the way she'd come. Could they really do this? They would come for her, for as long as she lived, they'd come after her - was it even worth trying?
Still...
She continued on her way back, out of the house, into the alley... under his window, into his bedroom. And waited.
It was a testament to Arden's resolve that it wasn't until the sun was nearly coming up that he decided to give up his search and go back.
Dried tears had once made tracks running down his dirty face, but they'd run out about an hour or so ago, right about the time the last of his hope was stubbornly clinging to him. His body was shivering from the cold, but by now he was mostly numb to all but the reality that she was gone. It was probably for he best. After all, for all the talk of love being what had made her unable to strike him down when she had a chance, for all the knowing that Arden was as tough and dangerous as they came, how could she put her faith in someone that had been so easily fooled by some well-placed lies and a pretty face?
In the end she would rather die than take a chance.
At least, that's how his mind spun it.
Which is what made it so difficult for his brain to process that she was right there when he actually came back to his place.
"It took you long enough," she remarked, standing from where she sat and moving over to him. "You're a mess..."
The words were harsh, but the tone was gentle. He'd searched all night for her, hadn't he? Fool... wasting his time on someone who would just abandon him like that.
"Well I only ran across the fucking city and back, is all," he replied in a deadpan manner, not moving from where he stood, simply shivering in place.
"Even though I'd abandon you so easily, you'd still search for me..." Lethe ran her thumb along his cheek, wiping off some of the sweat and dried tears in the process. "You're an even bigger fool than I'd thought."
It was a good thing he'd taken so long to return, or he might have caught her own tears. Crying from pain, sure, she had before, but... crying from feelings was new. She didn't really want him to see her like that.
Arden flinched away from her touch rather than respond. He felt his anger rise. "Stop toying with me. I've had enough of that from you for one lifetime." A lot more spiteful than he'd intended, but then, he'd just gone through the biggest emotional trip of his life- a man whose overwhelming emotion was always this rage that only discipline, training, and the rather naive henpecking of his sister had managed to hone down to a controlled state, was feeling like he was losing any and all control.
"I meant to leave," she said as she pulled her hand away. "They called back all the agents. If I don't return, they'll know without a doubt that something is up."
"Then why aren't you gone?"
"I heard you at the window." And it'd broken her heart then to be abandoning him, just like his words just then - the truth, that she had toyed enough with him for a lifetime - had. But she deserved every bit of his spite, she knew. "You said, please don't leave me. I swear we can do this."
"I said that before you left the first time. Why should I believe that you won't be gone again the second I fall asleep?" After all, didn't she try to make it crystal clear, that part about how she kept lying to him?
"I don't know. You probably shouldn't." It... didn't seem like apologizing would do any good. Perhaps she should have just left, in the end...? "But... when I jumped out that window, I knew that if I looked back I wouldn't be able to leave again. And in the end, I couldn't help looking back." She stepped away from him, though she didn't turn away. This time, she wouldn't leave unless he told her to. "It doesn't matter if you don't believe it."
Arden stood there, shaking, from the cold, from the exhaustion, rom the mastering of his own anger.
Finally he took a step closer, then another.
"I'll believe it when I open my eyes to you lying beside me instead of at the windowsill."
Lethe smiled a little at the statement. A fool, indeed...
"Sounds fair," she whispered, and - oh, tears, again? The smile was replaced with a frown, and she quickly brought a hand to wipe at her cheek. "...I'm so sorry."
A fool in love was the biggest fool of them all.
Arden reached up and took her hand away. Then he leaned forward and kissed the tear away.
"Don't say that you're sorry. Just say that you love me."
She couldn't help a small chuckle at the gesture, although the frown remained, and new tears followed. "Dragons, Arden, you're such a sap."
"It sounded nice in my head before I said it," he grinned, or a close approximation of it, as he wiped her tears away.
"Now are you going to say it before I fall over and pass out or what?"
"I think I'm going to save it for after you're clean, and rested, and able to believe me... if you don't mind." The tears had started to calm, but looking at him brought them right back. Either she'd hurt him, or she'd hurt them both... there was no better path, in the end, was there...?
"I do mind," he said, his eyes fluttering a little. "I just spent the night running around thinking I'd never see you again. I think I earned three little words to send me off, if nothing else," he smiled weakly. He was at the end of his rope, really.
"All right, all right..." She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to get herself together. It was shameful, how this man somehow managed to make her every weakness surface, but at the same time... she didn't mind as much as she would have liked to, it seemed. "I love you, Arden."
"Music to my ears," he said, his smile widening as much as his tired muscles allowed, before he flopped onto the bed, unconscious before he even hit the mattress.
She sighed as she watched him, moving close so she could at least put him in an appropriate sleeping position. Lethe thought of changing his clothes into something more comfortable, but he would likely want to bathe when he woke up, one way or the other...
A bath, breakfast - or lunch, depending - some cleaning... it would be hardly enough to make up for anything, but at least he would be comfortable when he awoke.
It had taken him a long time to fall asleep, and her an even longer time to muster the courage to get out of the bed. This was it... she wouldn't see him again, most likely. The cult had to be chaotic with Joseph's betrayal - she highly doubted they would bother with sending agents off again anytime soon, unless it was to deal with traitors.
And she... wasn't ready to become one. Not technically, at least, since in theory she already was one. But if they knew...
She cast him one final glance, allowing herself a bit of a smile before jumping out the window to his room. He'd know she'd run off sooner or later - she couldn't risk any delays.
"At the very least," came Arden's voice as she prepared to leap out the window, "you could have the decency to say goodbye to my face."
No, he wasn't asleep. He hadn't been asleep at all. How could he sleep? Not when she was right there, warm, beside him, after gently showing him that it wasn't always horrible. Not when he knew that she would leave as soon as he slept.
Slowly, he slid out of bed and stood up.
"Though to be frank, I thought you'd actually leave that first night.
She flinched when she heard his voice. So he hadn't fallen asleep, after all...
Still, her resolve was strong. His life was too important for her to let it go like that. "I'm sorry," she murmured, then jumped down. If she didn't get away now, she wouldn't ever...
He didn't have time to put any actual clothes on. He either went for it now, or she'd be gone from his life forever.
He... couldn't handle that. So without another thought, he reached down for his coat and slipped it on as he ran for the window, then leapt right out into the cold, dark night.
She couldn't let him catch up with her. He was fast, granted, but she was faster. She had to be. Faster, and smaller - she could get into places he could not.
That in mind, she slipped into an alley, and from there through a broken window into an abandoned house. She'd planned the escape route beforehand, in case something like this happened - now she only prayed he couldn't guess it.
He shadowed her about as well as he humanly could. Catching up was a life or death matter. Nothing was going to stop him. He might have lost her in the alley if not for the little bit of torn fabric that the glass still on the broken window left.
He followed, letting the sounds of her footfalls lead him. He cursed inwardly. She could lose him in there.
Damn it, he'd followed her in? How careless-
Lethe walked in and out of as many interconnected rooms as possible and, walking into the last one, shut the door behind her, pushing an old bed in front of it to block the path. That should buy her some time - enough, at least, to make it out through that room's window.
Every time he felt he got closer another door got in his way. Precious moments lost opening them, knocking them down. And he knew she was gone when he slammed onto that last door and it wouldn't budge. The few seconds it took him to kick it open and show the obstruction out of the way woulkd be enough for her to make her escape out the window.
He looked out before he dove, to see in which direction she'd taken off.
But she was gone.
He slammed his fist on the windowsill, letting out a wail of frustration and anguish. "No damn you, don't leave me please don't leave me we can do this I swear we can do this," he cried between clenched teeth as he leapt out the window and darted away, hoping he chose the right direction.
She watched him as he ran off, carefully climbing back inside the house once he was gone from sight. She'd been balancing herself right under the window, away from his range of vision - it worked.
However...
His determination was just as strong as her own. It was painful, to hear him say that. To watch him run off like his life depended on it.
She moved much more slowly now, back the way she'd come. Could they really do this? They would come for her, for as long as she lived, they'd come after her - was it even worth trying?
Still...
She continued on her way back, out of the house, into the alley... under his window, into his bedroom. And waited.
It was a testament to Arden's resolve that it wasn't until the sun was nearly coming up that he decided to give up his search and go back.
Dried tears had once made tracks running down his dirty face, but they'd run out about an hour or so ago, right about the time the last of his hope was stubbornly clinging to him. His body was shivering from the cold, but by now he was mostly numb to all but the reality that she was gone. It was probably for he best. After all, for all the talk of love being what had made her unable to strike him down when she had a chance, for all the knowing that Arden was as tough and dangerous as they came, how could she put her faith in someone that had been so easily fooled by some well-placed lies and a pretty face?
In the end she would rather die than take a chance.
At least, that's how his mind spun it.
Which is what made it so difficult for his brain to process that she was right there when he actually came back to his place.
"It took you long enough," she remarked, standing from where she sat and moving over to him. "You're a mess..."
The words were harsh, but the tone was gentle. He'd searched all night for her, hadn't he? Fool... wasting his time on someone who would just abandon him like that.
"Well I only ran across the fucking city and back, is all," he replied in a deadpan manner, not moving from where he stood, simply shivering in place.
"Even though I'd abandon you so easily, you'd still search for me..." Lethe ran her thumb along his cheek, wiping off some of the sweat and dried tears in the process. "You're an even bigger fool than I'd thought."
It was a good thing he'd taken so long to return, or he might have caught her own tears. Crying from pain, sure, she had before, but... crying from feelings was new. She didn't really want him to see her like that.
Arden flinched away from her touch rather than respond. He felt his anger rise. "Stop toying with me. I've had enough of that from you for one lifetime." A lot more spiteful than he'd intended, but then, he'd just gone through the biggest emotional trip of his life- a man whose overwhelming emotion was always this rage that only discipline, training, and the rather naive henpecking of his sister had managed to hone down to a controlled state, was feeling like he was losing any and all control.
"I meant to leave," she said as she pulled her hand away. "They called back all the agents. If I don't return, they'll know without a doubt that something is up."
"Then why aren't you gone?"
"I heard you at the window." And it'd broken her heart then to be abandoning him, just like his words just then - the truth, that she had toyed enough with him for a lifetime - had. But she deserved every bit of his spite, she knew. "You said, please don't leave me. I swear we can do this."
"I said that before you left the first time. Why should I believe that you won't be gone again the second I fall asleep?" After all, didn't she try to make it crystal clear, that part about how she kept lying to him?
"I don't know. You probably shouldn't." It... didn't seem like apologizing would do any good. Perhaps she should have just left, in the end...? "But... when I jumped out that window, I knew that if I looked back I wouldn't be able to leave again. And in the end, I couldn't help looking back." She stepped away from him, though she didn't turn away. This time, she wouldn't leave unless he told her to. "It doesn't matter if you don't believe it."
Arden stood there, shaking, from the cold, from the exhaustion, rom the mastering of his own anger.
Finally he took a step closer, then another.
"I'll believe it when I open my eyes to you lying beside me instead of at the windowsill."
Lethe smiled a little at the statement. A fool, indeed...
"Sounds fair," she whispered, and - oh, tears, again? The smile was replaced with a frown, and she quickly brought a hand to wipe at her cheek. "...I'm so sorry."
A fool in love was the biggest fool of them all.
Arden reached up and took her hand away. Then he leaned forward and kissed the tear away.
"Don't say that you're sorry. Just say that you love me."
She couldn't help a small chuckle at the gesture, although the frown remained, and new tears followed. "Dragons, Arden, you're such a sap."
"It sounded nice in my head before I said it," he grinned, or a close approximation of it, as he wiped her tears away.
"Now are you going to say it before I fall over and pass out or what?"
"I think I'm going to save it for after you're clean, and rested, and able to believe me... if you don't mind." The tears had started to calm, but looking at him brought them right back. Either she'd hurt him, or she'd hurt them both... there was no better path, in the end, was there...?
"I do mind," he said, his eyes fluttering a little. "I just spent the night running around thinking I'd never see you again. I think I earned three little words to send me off, if nothing else," he smiled weakly. He was at the end of his rope, really.
"All right, all right..." She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to get herself together. It was shameful, how this man somehow managed to make her every weakness surface, but at the same time... she didn't mind as much as she would have liked to, it seemed. "I love you, Arden."
"Music to my ears," he said, his smile widening as much as his tired muscles allowed, before he flopped onto the bed, unconscious before he even hit the mattress.
She sighed as she watched him, moving close so she could at least put him in an appropriate sleeping position. Lethe thought of changing his clothes into something more comfortable, but he would likely want to bathe when he woke up, one way or the other...
A bath, breakfast - or lunch, depending - some cleaning... it would be hardly enough to make up for anything, but at least he would be comfortable when he awoke.