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Yes, I am turning into a crazy cat lady. No, I don't care.
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Post by Reya Starlyght on Mar 1, 2019 19:40:04 GMT
last edited Mar 17, 2019 2:46:51 GMT by Reya Starlyght
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posted Mar 1, 2019 19:40:18 GMT
Post by Reya Starlyght on Mar 1, 2019 19:40:18 GMT
Leo & Eris
Reign
"No," he mumbled, voice bogged down in such a way that one could easily tell he was sleeping talking although a tone of anguish was still detectable, "please, stop."
Eris sighed, glancing over at him from where she was standing at a window, only a small slice of light piercing through the curtain and into the room. She then pulled the fabric back further, illuminating the entire space including Leo's desk, where he was slumped over some books he had been reading the night before. While the saying went that people looked younger when they slept, his expressions were almost always just the opposite, either lifelessly blank or contorted in some manner. It was the latter that day, such being no surprise on her part. He rarely talked about his nightmares anymore, and she was even rarer to ask, but they were certainly persistent. "Leo, wake up," she stated somewhat quietly, to no response of his. She hadn't really expected any, he had probably only fallen asleep a few hours before as it usually went, and so she picked up a mug of coffee from a nightstand and placed it on his desk, shaking him a little bit in which there was only a strengthened grimace in reaction, though it was not because of her. "Leooooo...." she continued, prodding his shoulder. "Leonidas."
His eyelids flickered a little, almost immediately wincing at the light before he grumbled something incomprehensible, picking his head up from the desk by pushing his hands against it. "Thanks," he said a little more clearly, looking at her, although the word was still clearly bogged down with sleepiness. Then he glanced over at the book in front of him that was open to a random page, annotations scribbled in the margins. Leo flipped it back to the cover, which read The History of the Federation, v. 6. "Huh...." he trailed off. "I have no idea why I was reading this." Taking a sip of the coffee she had put down, he blearily set the book on top of a stack of similar materials, resolving in his head to re-shelf them all in the library later, although knowing exactly when 'later' was could be anywhere from the next day to, well, he tried not to think about the other extreme.
"It's March 5th," Eris stated, freeing him from his rapidly descending thoughts.
He muttered the date a few times, struggling to recall its significance until it dawned on him a few seconds later. "Oh! Independence Day!" he exclaimed, a grin forming on his face just after. "That was a fun time."
She rolled her eyes, turning toward the bathroom. "Hurry up and get ready; I want to see the parade. Here's this." She threw an opened letter addressed to both of them in front of him, the only way Leo could tell the former was that the orange flower seal was already broken. That was odd, Fiore's seal? He drained the rest of his mug's contents, ignoring the nearly scalding liquid's temperature as it reached his mouth. Scanning the paper, he quickly realized it was about the annual gala the president usually held, Argall their name was now? He couldn't remember if he had voted for her, but whatever, it didn't really matter. His attention was more so drawn to a particular number, one that made him set the message down, exhaling deeply.
"Damn," he muttered, leaning back in his chair and starting to fiddle with a pen near him. He always tried not think about the time passed, it just brought unnecessary things back to the forefront. Sometimes, though, it was impossible to ignore, especially when it was laid out flat in plain lettering. He blinked a few times, throwing the dark red writing utensil against the wall in vexation and picking himself up from the chair. Still bleary-eyed but preferring such to the alternative, Leo searched his closet for a few moments, throwing a blue long sleeved shirt - buttons stitched on it to about quarter way down - and khaki pants onto the bed. A shower, change, and a few more cups of coffee later, he sat in the driver's seat of their local transport vehicle, having insisted on taking them to the city despite the fact that they both knew it was Eris's turn to do so. Turning on the engine, the vehicle soon rising a foot or so off the ground, he looked out at the city below them, their house, if one could call it that, being one of a few outlying settlements not sheltered by the cliffs that had long ago formed in the planet's crevices. "Do you remember what it looked like before all of this was here?"
Eris glanced over at him, although Leo was still looking forward and could just barely detect such movement. "Oh, so that's what's bothering you," she said. "Yeah, I do." Her voice was quieter the second time around, almost uncertain.
"It's been a thousand years since...." his voice trailed off, although she immediately extrapolated what he meant. He let the brake go and they crept forward off the edge of the cliff, the vehicle losing altitude for a few moments before leveling off, in which he hit the gas pedal, although what the control actually did was beyond him, and in all likelihood it wasn't combustible fuel at all. "And yet here we are," Leo continued on as if nothing had happened whatsoever, "about to celebrate something a majority of the population has barely heard about aside from a few mentions in a high school textbook and a holiday that doesn't do it justice."
She shrugged. "That's probably for the better. Better that it isn't mentioned."
He nodded. "Definitely. That letter made me feel old though," Leo complained, half humorous, half very much not.
He heard an audible sigh from Eris, and looked over at her with a joking grin. She shook her head, putting a hand over her face until finally she cracked a smile. "I think that was the point," she replied, moving her fingers up in air quotes. "Oh look at our great Federation! Not like we're spreading anti-Union propaganda by bragging about our longevity and history!"
Leo chuckled. "Sounds about right," he said. They fell into relative silence for some time after that, Eris tuning the stereo system to a news channel that was for the most part a conglomeration of nothing, entertaining if only for the fact that the topics it addressed were so pointless, at least from his viewpoint. To be fair, that was mostly the reason why they ever bothered to listen to something as irrelevant in the long term as local news, it gave a perspective that they were often oblivious to now, something seen as so significant, when history told otherwise. And as much as Leo liked to play it off as a joke, and Eris similarly, they couldn't deny that they were history, relics of a past few bothered to contemplate in the ever widening galaxy.
Some time later, they found themselves downtown, vehicle hovering in park under a crevasse protruding from IMG's headquarters. Shade overcast the spot, making the area that would have been rarely traveled anyway even less appealing to those wishing to take a presumed shortcut. Not like the airways were trafficked at the time, the parade route having already been cordoned off by the police, but still a constant place for privacy while still being out in public was one of the first things they always tried to find in any particular location, their current position being one they had come to for many years. While the noise level in the city was plenty loud, it formed nothing more than a constant background drone most of the time from enclosed areas, though that day only wind whipped by at any considerable speed.
Soon the radio switched from the same old same old to the broadcast of the parade itself, mostly music being projected but also the sound of an announcer that was stationed at the capital building. It was not so coincidentally directly across from them, although certainly the place where the voice originated from was lower in altitude, closer to where the floats were travelling by, suspended in the air. No expense had been spared on the works of art, meticulously planned over months and eventually implemented within a few days, a process Eris had gleefully dragged him to help out with. Well, Leo would be lying if he said he hadn't enjoyed it at all, but it had less to do with the activity itself and more so with her and other's excitement to contribute. There was something soothing about strangers being able to work together for a cause greater than themselves, no matter how pointless it truly was or how obscured its meaning. That aside, when Eris was ecstatic it usually tended to rub off on him, and certainly she had been in the preparations.
The final product, however, did not invoke such emotion, he could tell by her inattentive gaze focused on a random point in space rather than the art below. "I wonder how long they'll keep this up," she murmured, lavender eyes eventually falling back down to the spectacle, a soft breath escaping her lungs. His touch fell upon her forearm, tracing down her veins, dark and fully exposed, their fingers intertwining. Her head gravitated toward his shoulder, resting upon it. "Think we'll be alive then?"
He returned the gesture, drawing out a long sigh. "Who knows." As much as he held a disdain for politics and government, Leo could not deny that they were a necessary evil, and the thought of losing the history the Federation had been built upon struck a particular chord in his heart, one he preferred unsung. "Hey, want to get drunk tonight?" Leo asked, his words far more severe than their content would suggest.
"How about as soon as this is over," she remarked, the only response of his being an affirmative, short tightening of his grip. Their conversation halted after that, relegated to silent observation of the works of art before them and the crisp transmission free of any static they had once known as the norm, and before that nothing at all. The floats all together depicted a charming although far from accurate retelling of March 5th, 1 UC. Of course, they knew the complicated truth, after all they had been there. It had, indeed, involved a fair amount more blood and chaos and far less patriotism. Really, a fair amount more was an underestimation, but then again Leo's judgement of such was... skewed, to say the least. Then again, portraying a coup d'etat with flowers was an almost comedically difficult task, and the state had certainly used plenty of red trillium to do it, much to Eris's chagrin.
It was over almost as soon as it began, however, at least from their perspectives. Soon police vehicles passed by their location, resuming normal traffic, a return to the repetitive nature of life. Had he had some expectation for a grand display? Yes, in some subconscious part of his brain, truth to be told. What was there to expect though, after all for the vast majority of the population they had not experienced the fall of one power and the rise of the next? It was nothing more than a date in history now, he constantly had to remind himself, forcing his own memories away from the forefront for the sake of his sanity. Leo dreaded and embraced the distance at the same time, a paradox of fire and ice, between the choice of action or nonintervention. They lived a life of complete and utter contradictions, influential yet unknown, peace-seeking yet violent, human, yet not.
Nope, he was definitely thinking way too hard on all of it. Don't think, don't think, don't think... it repeated in his head about a million times while he piloted their vehicle back home, barely remembering to park it inside in the process. Eris didn't say anything when he offered a sheepish grin after nearly crashing into the automated door, his expression flat and lacking anything beyond its most basic meaning. There was no exaggeration, no facade hiding his true despondency. No matter how well he could deceive others, there was no way of hiding his emotion in that particular moment, no matter how much he desperately tried to. He practically stumbled out of his seat, his steps automatically taking him to the foyer of 33 Sunfall, as its address was. His eyes passed over the curved windows that encompassed the large open space, hued a variety of grays and whites. Instead, he focused only on the considerable bar located near the western entrance, not the one they had taken inside, the rest a blur of familiarity displaced only by the echoes of long faded voices belonging to persons both in the present and past.
Soon enough, they sat at the counter top, two glasses and a bottle of vodka in front of them. He poured the liquid out, and the crystal clashed against one another, them offering a unison, "Cheers." It was a glum word though, devoid of the usual connotations. Granted, such shifted gradually, certainly requiring far more alcohol than any human standard. In time though, they forgot about the date, or at least swept it under the table like they had done the same with plenty of bottles. Somber thoughts turned to snide comments, turned to laughter and drunken antics. In a haze, their consciousnesses drifted off into dreams, for once his not a maze of torment.
Eris sighed, glancing over at him from where she was standing at a window, only a small slice of light piercing through the curtain and into the room. She then pulled the fabric back further, illuminating the entire space including Leo's desk, where he was slumped over some books he had been reading the night before. While the saying went that people looked younger when they slept, his expressions were almost always just the opposite, either lifelessly blank or contorted in some manner. It was the latter that day, such being no surprise on her part. He rarely talked about his nightmares anymore, and she was even rarer to ask, but they were certainly persistent. "Leo, wake up," she stated somewhat quietly, to no response of his. She hadn't really expected any, he had probably only fallen asleep a few hours before as it usually went, and so she picked up a mug of coffee from a nightstand and placed it on his desk, shaking him a little bit in which there was only a strengthened grimace in reaction, though it was not because of her. "Leooooo...." she continued, prodding his shoulder. "Leonidas."
His eyelids flickered a little, almost immediately wincing at the light before he grumbled something incomprehensible, picking his head up from the desk by pushing his hands against it. "Thanks," he said a little more clearly, looking at her, although the word was still clearly bogged down with sleepiness. Then he glanced over at the book in front of him that was open to a random page, annotations scribbled in the margins. Leo flipped it back to the cover, which read The History of the Federation, v. 6. "Huh...." he trailed off. "I have no idea why I was reading this." Taking a sip of the coffee she had put down, he blearily set the book on top of a stack of similar materials, resolving in his head to re-shelf them all in the library later, although knowing exactly when 'later' was could be anywhere from the next day to, well, he tried not to think about the other extreme.
"It's March 5th," Eris stated, freeing him from his rapidly descending thoughts.
He muttered the date a few times, struggling to recall its significance until it dawned on him a few seconds later. "Oh! Independence Day!" he exclaimed, a grin forming on his face just after. "That was a fun time."
She rolled her eyes, turning toward the bathroom. "Hurry up and get ready; I want to see the parade. Here's this." She threw an opened letter addressed to both of them in front of him, the only way Leo could tell the former was that the orange flower seal was already broken. That was odd, Fiore's seal? He drained the rest of his mug's contents, ignoring the nearly scalding liquid's temperature as it reached his mouth. Scanning the paper, he quickly realized it was about the annual gala the president usually held, Argall their name was now? He couldn't remember if he had voted for her, but whatever, it didn't really matter. His attention was more so drawn to a particular number, one that made him set the message down, exhaling deeply.
"Damn," he muttered, leaning back in his chair and starting to fiddle with a pen near him. He always tried not think about the time passed, it just brought unnecessary things back to the forefront. Sometimes, though, it was impossible to ignore, especially when it was laid out flat in plain lettering. He blinked a few times, throwing the dark red writing utensil against the wall in vexation and picking himself up from the chair. Still bleary-eyed but preferring such to the alternative, Leo searched his closet for a few moments, throwing a blue long sleeved shirt - buttons stitched on it to about quarter way down - and khaki pants onto the bed. A shower, change, and a few more cups of coffee later, he sat in the driver's seat of their local transport vehicle, having insisted on taking them to the city despite the fact that they both knew it was Eris's turn to do so. Turning on the engine, the vehicle soon rising a foot or so off the ground, he looked out at the city below them, their house, if one could call it that, being one of a few outlying settlements not sheltered by the cliffs that had long ago formed in the planet's crevices. "Do you remember what it looked like before all of this was here?"
Eris glanced over at him, although Leo was still looking forward and could just barely detect such movement. "Oh, so that's what's bothering you," she said. "Yeah, I do." Her voice was quieter the second time around, almost uncertain.
"It's been a thousand years since...." his voice trailed off, although she immediately extrapolated what he meant. He let the brake go and they crept forward off the edge of the cliff, the vehicle losing altitude for a few moments before leveling off, in which he hit the gas pedal, although what the control actually did was beyond him, and in all likelihood it wasn't combustible fuel at all. "And yet here we are," Leo continued on as if nothing had happened whatsoever, "about to celebrate something a majority of the population has barely heard about aside from a few mentions in a high school textbook and a holiday that doesn't do it justice."
She shrugged. "That's probably for the better. Better that it isn't mentioned."
He nodded. "Definitely. That letter made me feel old though," Leo complained, half humorous, half very much not.
He heard an audible sigh from Eris, and looked over at her with a joking grin. She shook her head, putting a hand over her face until finally she cracked a smile. "I think that was the point," she replied, moving her fingers up in air quotes. "Oh look at our great Federation! Not like we're spreading anti-Union propaganda by bragging about our longevity and history!"
Leo chuckled. "Sounds about right," he said. They fell into relative silence for some time after that, Eris tuning the stereo system to a news channel that was for the most part a conglomeration of nothing, entertaining if only for the fact that the topics it addressed were so pointless, at least from his viewpoint. To be fair, that was mostly the reason why they ever bothered to listen to something as irrelevant in the long term as local news, it gave a perspective that they were often oblivious to now, something seen as so significant, when history told otherwise. And as much as Leo liked to play it off as a joke, and Eris similarly, they couldn't deny that they were history, relics of a past few bothered to contemplate in the ever widening galaxy.
Some time later, they found themselves downtown, vehicle hovering in park under a crevasse protruding from IMG's headquarters. Shade overcast the spot, making the area that would have been rarely traveled anyway even less appealing to those wishing to take a presumed shortcut. Not like the airways were trafficked at the time, the parade route having already been cordoned off by the police, but still a constant place for privacy while still being out in public was one of the first things they always tried to find in any particular location, their current position being one they had come to for many years. While the noise level in the city was plenty loud, it formed nothing more than a constant background drone most of the time from enclosed areas, though that day only wind whipped by at any considerable speed.
Soon the radio switched from the same old same old to the broadcast of the parade itself, mostly music being projected but also the sound of an announcer that was stationed at the capital building. It was not so coincidentally directly across from them, although certainly the place where the voice originated from was lower in altitude, closer to where the floats were travelling by, suspended in the air. No expense had been spared on the works of art, meticulously planned over months and eventually implemented within a few days, a process Eris had gleefully dragged him to help out with. Well, Leo would be lying if he said he hadn't enjoyed it at all, but it had less to do with the activity itself and more so with her and other's excitement to contribute. There was something soothing about strangers being able to work together for a cause greater than themselves, no matter how pointless it truly was or how obscured its meaning. That aside, when Eris was ecstatic it usually tended to rub off on him, and certainly she had been in the preparations.
The final product, however, did not invoke such emotion, he could tell by her inattentive gaze focused on a random point in space rather than the art below. "I wonder how long they'll keep this up," she murmured, lavender eyes eventually falling back down to the spectacle, a soft breath escaping her lungs. His touch fell upon her forearm, tracing down her veins, dark and fully exposed, their fingers intertwining. Her head gravitated toward his shoulder, resting upon it. "Think we'll be alive then?"
He returned the gesture, drawing out a long sigh. "Who knows." As much as he held a disdain for politics and government, Leo could not deny that they were a necessary evil, and the thought of losing the history the Federation had been built upon struck a particular chord in his heart, one he preferred unsung. "Hey, want to get drunk tonight?" Leo asked, his words far more severe than their content would suggest.
"How about as soon as this is over," she remarked, the only response of his being an affirmative, short tightening of his grip. Their conversation halted after that, relegated to silent observation of the works of art before them and the crisp transmission free of any static they had once known as the norm, and before that nothing at all. The floats all together depicted a charming although far from accurate retelling of March 5th, 1 UC. Of course, they knew the complicated truth, after all they had been there. It had, indeed, involved a fair amount more blood and chaos and far less patriotism. Really, a fair amount more was an underestimation, but then again Leo's judgement of such was... skewed, to say the least. Then again, portraying a coup d'etat with flowers was an almost comedically difficult task, and the state had certainly used plenty of red trillium to do it, much to Eris's chagrin.
It was over almost as soon as it began, however, at least from their perspectives. Soon police vehicles passed by their location, resuming normal traffic, a return to the repetitive nature of life. Had he had some expectation for a grand display? Yes, in some subconscious part of his brain, truth to be told. What was there to expect though, after all for the vast majority of the population they had not experienced the fall of one power and the rise of the next? It was nothing more than a date in history now, he constantly had to remind himself, forcing his own memories away from the forefront for the sake of his sanity. Leo dreaded and embraced the distance at the same time, a paradox of fire and ice, between the choice of action or nonintervention. They lived a life of complete and utter contradictions, influential yet unknown, peace-seeking yet violent, human, yet not.
Nope, he was definitely thinking way too hard on all of it. Don't think, don't think, don't think... it repeated in his head about a million times while he piloted their vehicle back home, barely remembering to park it inside in the process. Eris didn't say anything when he offered a sheepish grin after nearly crashing into the automated door, his expression flat and lacking anything beyond its most basic meaning. There was no exaggeration, no facade hiding his true despondency. No matter how well he could deceive others, there was no way of hiding his emotion in that particular moment, no matter how much he desperately tried to. He practically stumbled out of his seat, his steps automatically taking him to the foyer of 33 Sunfall, as its address was. His eyes passed over the curved windows that encompassed the large open space, hued a variety of grays and whites. Instead, he focused only on the considerable bar located near the western entrance, not the one they had taken inside, the rest a blur of familiarity displaced only by the echoes of long faded voices belonging to persons both in the present and past.
Soon enough, they sat at the counter top, two glasses and a bottle of vodka in front of them. He poured the liquid out, and the crystal clashed against one another, them offering a unison, "Cheers." It was a glum word though, devoid of the usual connotations. Granted, such shifted gradually, certainly requiring far more alcohol than any human standard. In time though, they forgot about the date, or at least swept it under the table like they had done the same with plenty of bottles. Somber thoughts turned to snide comments, turned to laughter and drunken antics. In a haze, their consciousnesses drifted off into dreams, for once his not a maze of torment.
Reign
For Reign, March 5th was just another normal day, at least as normal as things were for her now. There was no 'Independence Day' on Elseima, and although some Fioran immigrants chose to celebrate such in their private homes, no decorations could be found in Havoc Squadron's quarters, nor in the vast majority of the Centrapolis. She sat fiddling with her dagger at her desk, door closed and her lamp turned on the lowest setting. From the entrance there were two sturdy raps, in which she, in a panicky gesture, shoved the weapon into a drawer and said, "Come in."
Having expected it to be Revy or perhaps her commanding officer, Reign's eyes widened as Verity turned the handle and walked inside. "How'd you get time off?" she asked, at the same time taking out the knife again and securing it properly in her boot before standing. Her sister smiled, and they embraced, Reign just then realizing she was in her formal uniform.
"I'm in between meetings. Figured I'd swing by. Did you eat yet?" Verity asked, in which Reign shook her head, sighing. She would have said more, but was reminded especially by her attire the truth about their relationship. "I've got a few hours. We could go to Nocturne's if you want, but can I borrow some of your clothes?" She glanced down what she was wearing, offering a bashful smile.
Reign laughed at the thought of the Adelein waltzing into a diner like Nocturne's in full dress, offering a "sure" before ruffling through her closet for a few moments and retrieving a shirt and sweatpants for her. "Uh, I don't think any of my shoes will fit you," she said, trying not to be rude although it was clear that they were obviously different sizes, Verity having at least a few inches of height on her.
"Oh it's fine," she replied, quickly changing into the civilian attire and folding her clothes into a neat square. Reign studied her appearance for a moment before returning to a drawer and opening it. For a moment her broken gaze fell upon mask near one side, visage twisting with pain, but soon she glanced away, picking up a hat instead and handing it to Verity. "Guess you've had to get good at this, haven't you? I'm sorry, but there's not a lot of people I can trust right now."
I'm sorry. Those were two words Reign had never expected to here from her sister, certainly not about what she was implying. Her gaze opened up, although she winced soon after, a stinging, burning pain present in her right eye. She reached up toward it, turning her head away from Verity, holding up a hand as she attempted to help. "I'm fine; it's nothing," Reign lied. "Too dry in here." She faced Verity again, letting her hair fall back over her visage. "Ready to go?"
"Reign, there's nothing to be ashamed of," Verity started, although soon halted her speech as Reign walked out into the common room, pushing past her in the process. "Reign-" she started again, although stopped.
"You coming? My ship's parked on the roof." Verity, of course, didn't know the truth. Not what she had done to survive, not how she had betrayed everything she held so dear. There was a disconnect, a nothingness in the world. But she could tell no one - for it was all treason - most certainly not her sister, Adelein Khinsa. They proceeded upstairs and to the landing pad, where an assortment of personal vehicles were located, Reign's certainly being the most mix-mashed of all of them. "Uh, Revy likes to tinker a lot and she only has her starfighter," she needless explained, sighing afterwards as Verity just shook her head, laughing a little.
"It's okay, better than an insignia plastered everywhere," the Adelein said.
"Do you want to fly?" Reign asked, in which her sister stopped in her tracks, making direct eye contact.
"You're the pilot, and you're cleared. Don't do this, it's not different."
Reign glanced to her left, Verity falling out of her limited line of sight. "But it is. It was different when our parents died, it was different when you became Adelein, it's different now." She returned to contact. "We can't keep on pretending everything is the same. But, okay." She gave in, and they continued onto her ship, and eventually to their childhood home and neighborhood.
Having expected it to be Revy or perhaps her commanding officer, Reign's eyes widened as Verity turned the handle and walked inside. "How'd you get time off?" she asked, at the same time taking out the knife again and securing it properly in her boot before standing. Her sister smiled, and they embraced, Reign just then realizing she was in her formal uniform.
"I'm in between meetings. Figured I'd swing by. Did you eat yet?" Verity asked, in which Reign shook her head, sighing. She would have said more, but was reminded especially by her attire the truth about their relationship. "I've got a few hours. We could go to Nocturne's if you want, but can I borrow some of your clothes?" She glanced down what she was wearing, offering a bashful smile.
Reign laughed at the thought of the Adelein waltzing into a diner like Nocturne's in full dress, offering a "sure" before ruffling through her closet for a few moments and retrieving a shirt and sweatpants for her. "Uh, I don't think any of my shoes will fit you," she said, trying not to be rude although it was clear that they were obviously different sizes, Verity having at least a few inches of height on her.
"Oh it's fine," she replied, quickly changing into the civilian attire and folding her clothes into a neat square. Reign studied her appearance for a moment before returning to a drawer and opening it. For a moment her broken gaze fell upon mask near one side, visage twisting with pain, but soon she glanced away, picking up a hat instead and handing it to Verity. "Guess you've had to get good at this, haven't you? I'm sorry, but there's not a lot of people I can trust right now."
I'm sorry. Those were two words Reign had never expected to here from her sister, certainly not about what she was implying. Her gaze opened up, although she winced soon after, a stinging, burning pain present in her right eye. She reached up toward it, turning her head away from Verity, holding up a hand as she attempted to help. "I'm fine; it's nothing," Reign lied. "Too dry in here." She faced Verity again, letting her hair fall back over her visage. "Ready to go?"
"Reign, there's nothing to be ashamed of," Verity started, although soon halted her speech as Reign walked out into the common room, pushing past her in the process. "Reign-" she started again, although stopped.
"You coming? My ship's parked on the roof." Verity, of course, didn't know the truth. Not what she had done to survive, not how she had betrayed everything she held so dear. There was a disconnect, a nothingness in the world. But she could tell no one - for it was all treason - most certainly not her sister, Adelein Khinsa. They proceeded upstairs and to the landing pad, where an assortment of personal vehicles were located, Reign's certainly being the most mix-mashed of all of them. "Uh, Revy likes to tinker a lot and she only has her starfighter," she needless explained, sighing afterwards as Verity just shook her head, laughing a little.
"It's okay, better than an insignia plastered everywhere," the Adelein said.
"Do you want to fly?" Reign asked, in which her sister stopped in her tracks, making direct eye contact.
"You're the pilot, and you're cleared. Don't do this, it's not different."
Reign glanced to her left, Verity falling out of her limited line of sight. "But it is. It was different when our parents died, it was different when you became Adelein, it's different now." She returned to contact. "We can't keep on pretending everything is the same. But, okay." She gave in, and they continued onto her ship, and eventually to their childhood home and neighborhood.