nothing gold can stay [zahir]

[toska]

SOMEDAY WE MAY SEE A WOMAN KING

the sun is gentle today. nonetheless, sophia faintly wonders if she used enough sunscreen on her legs. she had taken plenty of general science classes during her childhood, but nevertheless, she can swear that the sun that shines in sol city is a different sun that shines elsewhere. she does not offer the city her frustrations for its lack of violence and strife. she offers it her silent blessings. hopefully, neither herself nor her colleagues will ever have to fight on sol's shores. sophia gazes down from the restaurant's balcony and wonders how long the wooden beach huts below would last against cameron's flames. not very long, probably. a waiter finally comes around to ask her if she wants a drink. sophia sends him away after requesting his return in a few minutes. zahir is the one who called her out, after all. he must have had good reason to call a busy woman all the way to sol city. sophia wants to hear him out. some people speak johto dialects to their friends. others learn the morse codes of hoenn. theirs is the language of wine. sophia remembers it better than any radiology chart.

NOTES 2tsunz

SWORD IN HAND SWING AT SOME EVIL AND BLEED

[2tsunz]

love is not a fairytale for the faint of heart. there are no rivers in nerio. he grew up in a cage of concrete and steel. the only blue river he saw was the sky, punched through by skyscrapers and the sharp waving cables that strung from building to building, far above his head. still, when he looks at sophia, zahir thinks he maybe he understands rivers, if not sol city: a city that is dying and refuses to talk about it. he can feel the heavy weight of knowledge draped over the huts. spread over the entirety of kohaku. they don't want to talk about it. that's why he chose sol city. today, he doesn't want to talk about it either. sophia is at the table already. zahir steps aside an on-rushing level and sits down across from her, smiling. "the weather here is much nicer than what you're used to, i expect." toska

[toska]

SOMEDAY WE MAY SEE A WOMAN KING

"it's nice" sophia glances up and smiles - maybe it isn't what it had once been, not since daniel stopped coming home. she's not sure whether other people can see the cracks, but she tries. this boy (since when did he shoot past her shoulders?) makes her want to try a lot of things. she tells herself not to buy into his smile immediately, but it is a warning long lost. already, the sun is becoming muted and pax seems a million miles away. ironically, sophia thinks that he would be a more dangerous man to her if she wasn't constantly preoccupied the threat of exposure. she wonders what that feels like, but she stops herself before she begins hoping. (don't you realize when you're being unkind?) the waiter returns rather quickly, much to sophia's relief. "any recommendations?"

NOTES 2tsunz

SWORD IN HAND SWING AT SOME EVIL AND BLEED