There is love in our bodies and it holds us together;

[akingmuststand]

Characters: Schneizel el Britannia, Cornelia li Britannia, Valeria
Location: The town hall
Time: 3rd of August, early morning
Brief Summary: After Cornelia's survival has been ensured by Myhrta, her brother remains reluctant to leave her side. Valeria tags along. But it so happens that the white prince has a lot to answer for.
Rating: PG-13

Comments

[akingmuststand]

He followed the Turk's line of sight, knowing already where it would take his gaze. He watched Cornelia for a moment, watched the steady rise and fall of his sister's chest and felt some odd feeling of relief. It was detached as so much pertaining to this was - at first, something he was willing to attribute to simple timing. While he'd anticipated this, while he'd planned for it, expecting it to happen, it had not happened to him yet. He had not snapped his fingers to rid himself of the obstacle his sister would become. He had not met her protests with a mask of simple, unwavering apathy.

But he was a sharper, more calculating man than that, and he knew himself better than to think it would change if he had been there long enough for that single finger snap. It would still be stifled, not necessary bottled, but handled and dealt with in some delicate and meticulous part of his mind, the better to process it. Letting it into the forefront would surely be a far more difficult thing - he was far removed from his own humanity, perhaps.

[a_la_turk]

"Of course."

Already she was turning on her heel, intent to leave only with what haste was due despite the suddenness of the action. There was no suddenness. This was to be expected, and she treated it as such, as though the matter was of no consequence, as though she understood everything when she understood too little for comfort. Could understand too little for still twisting, turning, winding thoughts and emotions, but she knew it was wrong. That smile, that laugh. (But she couldn't put her finger on why. Why was it wrong? What was she missing? Why was she missing it?)

As she walked to the door, every fiber of her being instructed her to keep moving, to say nothing, because if she did, if she paused, she would --

"You know how to get in touch with me should you need me."

-- say them, say those bittersweet words that were best left unsaid.

And with that, she stepped quietly across the threshold and withdrew from the room, closing the door soundly behind her.

[knightmare_hime]

At his request, her lashes fluttered once more, perhaps a silent and imperceptible sign of her approval. The abounding emotions bubbling up inside her were so difficult to contain. Cornelia had never been a very patient woman, and with so many exigent questions hanging in the air, she didn’t much like delaying the inevitable. Hearing the subtle scuffle of shoes on the floor, shoes belonging to feet that she knew weren’t her brother’s, Cornelia finally allowed her eyes to open

[akingmuststand]

He heard her shift, heard her mien change, so attuned to it he was. The tilt of her chin, the thinning of her mouth - they rang like church bells in the silence to him, and he knew he'd been right. She'd been awake, and waiting, and she would not show her weakness to him

[knightmare_hime]

He was slow to turn toward her, and Cornelia didn't know what to make of the flawless posture supporting his shoulders and back as her voice seemingly had no effect on him. But, eventually, he shifted and she was not surprised to see that professionalism had overtaken the handsome features she had grown to know so well. He was, as always, composed, any sentiment she might have glimpsed at on those cold, stone steps now mitigated by some aberrant ability to control his emotions