For Rie
"Why are you still here? Why can I still see you?" Laurel opens her mouth to reply, but Victor snarls and then she's gone, dissolving into Mist like a ghost; Victor will feel guilt for that later, when they're not being gunned down from all sides.
He's in a chair someone found, filthy and exhausted on multiple levels, and he knows she's watching him from the door. She doesn't say anything. Neither does he, but eventually, finally, he takes the risk and holds out his arm, and she crawls into his lap heedless of the blood and soot. He wasn't expecting that, and he's grateful. She's warm and clean and smells like wind.
"I'm sorry," she whispers, face tucked into his neck. "I want to protect you. Knowing that I can't, that they can, that they're good at it, that you wouldn't still be you if I did... it doesn't make me stop wanting to."
He's in a chair someone found, filthy and exhausted on multiple levels, and he knows she's watching him from the door. She doesn't say anything. Neither does he, but eventually, finally, he takes the risk and holds out his arm, and she crawls into his lap heedless of the blood and soot. He wasn't expecting that, and he's grateful. She's warm and clean and smells like wind.
"I'm sorry," she whispers, face tucked into his neck. "I want to protect you. Knowing that I can't, that they can, that they're good at it, that you wouldn't still be you if I did... it doesn't make me stop wanting to."