i'll be with you still

you are the angel that I couldn't kill

Audette listened, how long in his life had his voice become an ancient tomb filled with cobwebs. Yet with her.. He rambled like a child. He told her things she didn't even need to hear. Things he wanted to share, about himself, about this place. Why had he wanted her to like Sacrosanct? To see the beauty he somehow still saw, even amongst the rot and the filth it was made up of. That tale was only a small drop in a vast ocean. How many families had he been unable to save? His own included. He couldn't even save his own blood! What kind of man did that make him? To hold such hate in heart? To hold such blame. When in actuality that blame had been wholly made for himself? How blind he was to it, by his own shadows, his own design. His own creation. Fighting with monsters in an endless battle with nothing to show for it. Except maybe.. Maybe just a small slice of salvation. Never did he take a damn thing for himself. Reach for something and yet... here he was reaching. As if he was unable to himself. It broke all his self-inflicted strict rules he had made to survive. Drowning his own burdensome pain with a semblance of his own control and yet he was only just fooling himself in the end. How easy it would be to simply let those immortal years pass.. Doing the same grind and yet it would seem life... had other plans. Or maybe he was only fighting with another part of himself he had forgotten still existed. Still wanted to connect. There were rules... rules that had brought him order and a semblance of control.... And he shattered them. Took on the responsibility of a newly turned dark hunter.. Found himself unable to keep away from that beacon of a fairy. He couldn't even bear to look at her too long.. Light was an invasive thing to him after all. He could hardly stop that story from leaving him. Even though his mind screamed at him to keep his distance. He didn't recognize the man he was with her.

She moved with that dancer-like grace to the edge of the building before she perched herself there, her hand reach to invite him to that spot beside her. He was hopeless to deny her. So he did, his long legs soon dangled off the ledge, his shadowy eyes scanned that city with a hunter efficiency long installed by his maker. There were times where he loved it.. But how he felt that longing for the solitude of his home outside those city limits that he had found a quiet, a solitary stillness that eased his mind. The city would forever hold a chaos for him. An inability to turn off being on edge, aware of every last movement in the shadows along with what they might possess.

Audi's sudden exclamation that he did not live with his lack of chocolate. He could hardly help that twitch of his lips at her jesting horror. How did she do that? Disarm him so aptly? "Do you think I look like I am withering away?" He retorted, knowing well enough that there wasn't an ounce of fat upon his own muscular figure. He was almost solid muscle as if he made himself like the weapons he wielded, a warrior even if he was dressed up as something else. He rose a single dark brow. "You are a bad influence. I have not had a cheat day for as long as I can remember." He supposed it hardly seemed like a bad thing to indulge every once in a while. But to what end? He hardly needed to be as strict as he was.. Immortality, training, and his hunter's work would surely give him at least some leniency. Right?

He placed the bag onto his lap, as his fingers moved to open the bag of treats he rarely ever indulged in. Tonight, he was willing to break his own strict rules, what was one more? Slippery slope and all be damned. Ah fuck, he was screwed. He even swore in his head now.

Even he had to admit they smelled delicious, the croissants provided the air with a sweet, delicious scent he had deprived himself of. His mouth watered. Did he truly do it to cherish the temple that was his body or was it torment himself? He couldn't help but wonder which it was when faced with that delightful smell. Surely if anyone were to understand the importance of a good diet was... an athlete herself! He noticed the sheer glee upon her features as she reached into the offered bag to claim her croissant, her grasp was delicate as she looked at the baked good like it was her one true love. The sound of pure bliss matched the look upon her face as she tasted it. Alright... here goes nothing. He grabbed the remaining one before he drew it to his mouth. How did she eat that cursed thing without the powered sugar going everywhere? Yet he was far too focused on just how good it was. It was like a melt in your mouth kind of good, he savoured that bite. His baritone words slipped free of that fact, eyeing the gentle smile that lit up her face. He enjoyed the sweet sound of her French lilt before she giggled... Huh?

Oh, he got sugar on his nose? Adrien shouldn't have been surprised, the powder unruly in nature peppered was all over his lap and jacket, along with his face. He was sure, there was no right way to eat it.

He moved quickly to try and brush the powered sugar away with a floundering hand as if he was embarrassed. Oh, she was getting far too much enjoyment out of this. A grumble escaped him, content to make... the croissant his enemy, at least in his mind. "How do I make a simple act so difficult." He eyed the remaining part of his croissant with distrust. "It's lucky it's delicious." He grumbled as if speaking to the half-eaten croissant. Even though, in reality, a little bit of sugar upon him was hardly the worst thing he had on him.. There was a reason why the hunter wore mainly black after all. While it was no good for sugar, it would seem... blood on the other hand. Fortunately, by a random act of mercy, the man recovered, content to eye the cityscape below with his hardened scrutiny.

The hunter's mind drifted to her almost bitter words from earlier that night. They were almost forgotten and yet, now... as he peered out into the cityscape searching for troubles unknown.. He couldn't help but think of it.

Something what almost seemed like a resigned sigh escaped her, before her gaze transformed into something almost sheepish. He watched her face as she admitted she expected some kind of.. lecture. She was worried about a lecture from him? How bad was this story?

He almost seemed entranced by that very story, the man shook his head as she finished. A mugging, acidic pollen.. This woman seemed like she had a knack for finding trouble.. Or she was simply at the wrong place.... Wrong time. Yet, she clearly survived. That pollen didn't leave any lasting damage that he could see. He couldn't help that surprise that crossed his features. Walking into a string of bad luck was hardly a cause to lecture the poor girl. It sounded traumatizing enough. "Were you hurt?" Were the only words that escaped him then, even though he could not deny that surge of protectiveness well up within his chest. How he could not explain that feeling then! That need to track down whoever put her in harm's way and end them... in the worst kind of way. That sudden urge to scoop her up and make damn sure he could keep an eye on her, forever. What was wrong with him.

Why? He had never felt that way about a woman before... that caveman instinct.... And yet it was there all the same... He frowned deeply.. Trying to process what the hell that meant. She was not his... yet he felt the need to protect her like she was. The ugliness of that city never failed to rear its ugly head. She sighed, that very sound indicating how unpleasant that experience might have truly been. He was also quite sure there was a lot more to that story. But she was here.. She was alive and seemingly well. He wasn't going to ring every last detail from her if she didn't want to share it... even though the.... Feeling of wanting to know... everything was raising its ugly head.

The blonde fae then questioned if that city was normally so... exciting. That sound displayed the jadedness he wished he could have kept from her. He studied that frown, realizing he hardly liked seeing it there. Yet he had no desire to feed her pretty head with little lies. "It has its moments, I am afraid." The deep serious rumble of his voice escaped him, his tone almost morose with the reality of that city. A city that possessed so much potential... while also somehow contained more terrors than he could even dream of. The things he'd seen... the things he'd done. He was certain she would never look at him the same.

"Sounds to me like you need a hunter on speed dial." The corner of his lips turned up at the corners in what looked like a crooked grin that surprised even him. He drew that still warmed brew to his lips, tipped the last of his hot espresso into his mouth.

"It's a good thing you have a perfectly capable hunter at your disposal. If you ask me nicely." His eyes shifted to the corner to eye the petite fae. " It is a limited-time offer... one that must be purchased on rooftops alone." He shrugged simply as if he hadn't just made a jest.. Like he didn't make the rules..

Adrien Westward