I've made a lot of promises in my life. Even kept a few of them, though I don't make a habit of it. What's the harm in telling someone what they want to hear?
He Xuan had been ready to leave the desert well before Shi Qingxuan had finished her little investigation. It wasn’t the sun, or the sand, though both were unpleasant, but Crimson Rain’s stupid voice on the private communication array: « Oh, sorry, are we walking in on something? If I knew there was a dress code I would have gotten done up. » And if it wasn’t that, it was the tinkling of jewelry in Shi Qingxuan’s hair as she moved, or the meaningless asides that were disorienting in…
He Xuan had been ready to leave the desert well before Shi Qingxuan had finished her little investigation. It wasn’t the sun, or the sand, though both were unpleasant, but Crimson Rain’s stupid voice on the private communication array: « Oh, sorry, are we walking in on something? If I knew there was a dress code I would have gotten done up. » And if it wasn’t that, it was the tinkling of jewelry in Shi Qingxuan’s hair as she moved, or the meaningless asides that were disorienting in the scale of their inanity: “Isn’t this fun? I love having fun with you.”
Mipha would go out with the Guard and take stock of the Domain. She would eat fish fresh from the river and feel the sun on her skin. And when the sun began to set, she would be ushered back to her rooms and told to stay the night, safely in the center of the Domain. Nobody noticed when she slipped out, dressed in armor meant for a man who did not exist, exploring the world around her.
One night only — this is the only way they meet, with her bruises on his body, with his old name at the back of her throat, choked. He's broken away from what he used to be, but what he is now, there's no name for — just a warm shape in the dark.
Masks, and the people who wear them.
Jay-z gives Rihanna the Talk.
Castiza contemplates the skull of Gloriana.
Distantly, she hears footsteps approaching, and looks up in hope, praying that it’s the paramedics arriving–but it’s just Higgins, shockingly normal in his suit and tie, asking, “Rebecca, someone heard shouting–” and then he sees Rebecca crouched over Ted’s prone body and gasps, the file folder in his hand fluttering to the floor.
“Leslie,” Rebecca chokes out, “Ted’s collapsed, I need you to go downstairs and wait for the ambulance.”
“Yes, yes,” Higgins stutters, “But–”
“ Distantly, she hears footsteps approaching, and looks up in hope, praying that it’s the paramedics arriving–but it’s just Higgins, shockingly normal in his suit and tie, asking, “Rebecca, someone heard shouting–” and then he sees Rebecca crouched over Ted’s prone body and gasps, the file folder in his hand fluttering to the floor. “Leslie,” Rebecca chokes out, “Ted’s collapsed, I need you to go downstairs and wait for the ambulance.” “Yes, yes,” Higgins stutters, “But–” “Go,” Rebecca orders, and Higgins stumbles over his own feet, rushing out of her office. (Futurefic, set seven years after s1.)