stuff us in boxes that's where you want us

cardboard is boring, we brought our matches - look how it burns

How that scalpel-pointed tongue had gotten her into enough trouble in life and yet for as much as it hindered her, the myriad of times it had saved her skin. It would appear it was a double-edged sword. One she had wielded with perhaps 75% accuracy. Silence was not Harley's forte, especially when faced with a looming threat, her mind was a weapon that could be the very thing that saves her as well as be the very thing that destroys her. It would be a precarious tightrope she would need to learn to walk upon, but if anyone could master it, it was her from her sheer defiance and will to live alone. What a force of nature she could become if only she could tame those unruly flames that seemed so set to light flame to the world that rioted against her. Harley was practically incapable of taking the easy route, the path less travelled was her own and perhaps for that reason it would be enough to help tip the scales in her favour. Ambitious thinking perhaps.

Harley did not anticipate a response, at least not a real one, she had already written it off the moment those words left her lips. What an expert that fairy was, dangling that carrot before her, always to come up quite short. Which was why surprise struck her when he uttered those words, her own mind had already thought of those very chocolates only a few minutes ago. Shock rippled through her frame almost immediately, how quickly she tries to recover that uncanny revelation, an easy playful shrug finds the woman. "No one can go wrong with chocolate, ever. I have to say, you must irritate a lot of people around Christmas time." She muses momentarily, partially considering changing her course just because she hardly liked the idea of him knowing. Harley took pride at being unpredictable. Perhaps her mind already formulating yet another plan or ten instead, as if to mislead that fae on many different obscure pathways. Harley was certainly creative when she had to be.

Their conversation shifted to the pyramid of misery, it was a fitting calling as far as Harley was concerned. How she desired to see her own picture above the rest, just to put those very faces behind her. How she would give anything to find some silver lining to this dismal shitshow her life seemed so content to parade itself in. Was it wrong to want more than the hand she was dealt?

Now Matteo was ever the cruel creature, providing a weapon so potent and impressive, only to have it suddenly... yanked away. Now, what an impressive dazzling display that firepower could have created! That look on her face, of sheer disbelief and disappointment shifted into a willing grin at the mention that her words were her warning shot. "Some people need a little extra persuasion. I am very certain that with a machine gun I wouldn't need words at all." There was something playful, as it was entirely devious as she spoke even if that disappointment lingered within the confines of her mind especially as she could not help but think how beneficial that firepower could have been laced with silver bullets. If she ever had the opportunity to talk with her brother, she was sure she would need to bring it up, maybe he would know something. How quickly she retracted that very idea, something close to dread seeped within her veins. Her brother didn't know what she had become... of all the fucking enemies she had in the world, now she had to face her brother on the other side of that blatant, deepened line in the sad. If it were possible the woman perhaps paled a little, shaking her head to rid that gripping ugly thought. Of the last family she had in this world, she was irrevocably alone.

The way his hand toys with his crucifix again is nearly mesmerizing, yet this time, his silvered gaze is set upon her, she knew she had a touched upon an unsavory topic. How much quicker she was beginning to read the man, her observations nothing more than severely astute, even with so much rolling within that mind of hers. "I hope one day, I could have a façade of that kind of composure." there was a compliment there, how she wished she could keep her fiery emotions behind a perfectly placed mask. The true question was would she live long enough to forge that very seamless mask. After all, she was a wildcat in every sense of the matter, she could be ruthless, bold, and yet amongst all that bravado of hissing and spitting. Perhaps better yet of everything else she had those sharpened claws. Who needed a stupid gun anyway when you had those deadly claws.

How unreadable his gaze became then so suddenly, his expression became locked up tight, as his mind reflected inwardly within his own cavernous mind. Harley could hardly help but question what would over 2000 years of ruin, of heartache do to someone? What would living that long do to her? Those thoughts hardly lingered long as their conversation seemed to move along near rapidly, there was certainly not a lack of things to talk about. There were no awkward pauses, no nervous fiddling, it was all just so seamless as though they had been friends for longer than they had. Perhaps it was a testament to Matteo himself or perhaps there was no words lacking for the dismal subject matter at hand. What a morbid picture it painted, shades of grey and black, at the very least they were her colour.

It was no surprise that those forged words could be a worthy weapon, but as Matteo had so proven, they could be a very noose as well. How rare it was, but perhaps this was where that silver-peaked tongue fairy showed his age. Harley had talked herself into her own damn hole. A fucking truce.. with Tetradore. It was the most absurd notion ever. What the hell could that fae see in him that made him so compelled to care for him? Of all the things he could ask for, he asked for the near impossible. How a fierce growl nearly rips from her then, one that was hardly human as the thought of the horrors that very man inflicted. How she could recall with perfect clarity the way he slices away her skin blade or claw, human or beast. She was pretty sure they were both the same vile thing. It was so difficult to think of him as anything else other than a villain in her story, one of many. Yet it some morbid fashion she mused at the thought that Tetradore was the closest person to ever get the woman to spill her guts and that was not in the talking sort of way. Just how dark that mind had slowly become to be with time and experience eroding her with sick glee.

It was when Matteo echoed those words that it caused her to peer at him, tugging her out of her own mind so she could actually study the man. She pauses for but a moment, considering those very words before admitting them out loud. "I think that's what makes you dangerous." How honest those simple words were and yet how aware she was of them all the same. She muses about that singular thought for a moment, it probably should have made her wary but she had already waded to far into those murky depths.

Risque, that final photograph seemed to gaze up in distinct, near regal mockery. How distant Matteo seemed to be swept away upon the breeze of his memories or thoughts, who could really tell other than himself? How telling that very detached face seemed to be, Harley couldn't help but consider it based on how rare that looked seemed in that moment. How uncharacteristic it was to the mysterious fae.. Was he this haunted by Risque? There was surely a story to tell, she would wager every last thing she owned on that very deduction. Yet how curious it was, just how that very animated soul seemed to hide it so close to his chest then. How that inquisitiveness swells within her and yet even she knew better than to poke that beast even if it went against everything. Perhaps another day, but not today, not with that look upon his face. That very look seemed almost seemed pained. She could hardly help the way she comfortingly reached for his arm then, affording some kind of reassurance and perhaps coax him back to the present before those merciless thoughts swallow him entirely. How she knew that sensation all too well.

How she attempts for reassurance in those moments, pushing back her own feelings on the matter just so she could pull him out of that pelting storm of his own mind. Just how she would have wished someone had done that to her, how many times had she suffered those thoughts alone. How convinced she was it was better that way. It was almost disturbing just how quickly that touch of amusement returned to him, as though a light once again flickering on. How easily those words had parted her then, mentioning that they will deal with her like one should deal with monsters. That was what she was after all. However, she could hardly help that jest that laced within them, despite how truthful those words were. That agreement that left his lips was all she needed, to nod her head. What a battle that lay ahead. How badly she wished to ask him those burning questions and yet it hardly felt right, allowing those questions to die out while she welcomed that deep seeded, simmering rage that those very monsters planted within her.

One thing she did offer him, that truly transformed Matteo's face into something cherished that she would not forget. That one assurance that everything was going to be ok. Had he not offered her the same thing? She had never thought to see that carefully composed man to be baffled by anything ever. Perhaps he too was baffled by his own bafflement. For once, the very man seemed at a loss for words, that thanks offered from him then. That was how this worked. They helped each other, even if it meant simply reassuring. Nothing was ever a one way street with this raven haired spitfire. That silence however, is almost amusing to her, like she wanted to paw at it. "Did I render the great Matteo without words?" She asked so very softly, barely a brush of words that barely seemed like the brazen woman at all. Did that mean she won again? Yet she does not flaunt that now, even though how easily it could have been. A genuine fleeting smile met her lips before she pulled her hand away. Smiles were always so very fleeting, at least she was still capable of them.

How she pulled her own knees into herself for but a moment, affording herself that rare moment of vulnerability. All before she can merely get rid of it, she had no desire in lingering in it. There was no use for weakness, for vulnerable things. How used to dealing with these monsters alone, how no one had to see what she had to become to survive them. What would happen when those few people she cared about in this world saw her then? How tightly those fingers dug into herself for but a moment.. There was no room for fragile emotions to distract her, for sham of hope to buzz and flutter around her head. No, she had to forge herself into something greater than herself. She knew this and yet just one last glimpse of innocence that had been torn away from her could hardly seem that bad. Matteo downed that very shot and with it she tossed it all away. All that neglect, all those emotions that could hider her she slammed into it as if she could obliterate it. There was a look of utter determination that coursed through her then in a surge so unlike that image she appears like then. A huff of an exhale leaves her, as though it were so much but a mere breath that left her then. She collapses near dramatically back into that couch, staring up at the imperfect ceiling like the answers lingered there.

That mention of sleep of course draws her back to her former sarcastic glory, before a trust of honestly escapes. How many sleepless nights had she endured and put her body through? Insomnia almost felt like a bitter old friend she knew so terribly well that she was sure she would only grow to know more intimately before. But she hardly thought much of it, it wasn't like she was going to sit up all night feeling badly for herself. She challenges him then, slightly, that sarcasm dancing easily from her words. Disbelief strikes her resolutely, scoffing at him before he simply vanishes in the wake of his tormenting chuckle. It seemed to linger like a phantom whisper within the empty air around him. Only to appear doing the dishes, that very domestic act hardly seemed to resemble the man. How she could hardly hide that surprise on her features before he merely flicks off that switch, blanketing the room in sweeping, enveloping darkness. Those protests hardly do nothing when he suddenly reappears scooping her up within his strong arms, his words thick with vibrant innuendo. If only he could see the way her eyes widen before quickly regaining that control. She knew exactly what he was doing, a pretty little distraction.

How she attempts to regain that control and his empty but teasing words with sarcasm. How that vulnerability moments before had left her almost unprepared for this and yet how quickly she could cement her walls in place.

She snorted laughter then, she felt that there was daddy joke in there somewhere. Yet, she could hardly help that the very question that left his lips almost seemed like a trick question laced in amusement and his own brand of sarcasm. She rose her brow at him that striking gaze look him dead in the eye. "To give you the satisfaction of daddy jokes? What do you take me for?" This banter felt like a comfort to her. Despite it all, it was so very easy and welcoming to lose herself within especially when Matteo made it so damn easy to seize. He was at the very least an adept opponent, a challenge and how rare those came.

How easily the man seemed to up their game with no intentions or inkling that it affected him like it did her. Harley was almost entirely sure he was as calm as a cucumber while her heart raced like its life depended on it. This position in particular, seemed to incite those distant desires that seemed to loom and yet she hardly seemed to grasp, not fully trusting herself what to do with them. But how she knew the innerworkings of this game, reminding herself of them while she scraped those remains of control. He was strikingly handsome even down to the last strand of his unruly locks, in which case she was sure he used to his advantage. Those suggestive words only serve to rattle her further. He was taunting her! What a wicked man he was, that thought made her eyes narrow with determination. At what end did this game have? Until one of them or both of them gave in? That very thought of what that would even be like dared to enter her mind.

That was when he leaned down, forward close to her. His lips a whisper away and how she wills herself not to move, not to beckon him like her body seemed to crave. Invulnerable. How she had once believed herself to be exactly that, but in this proximity, within this bed, there was something close to anticipation. For but a moment their breaths are shared and how she clings desperately for control, uttering those suggestive words, moving her head so very slightly, unintentionally that their lips met. How easily it could have been her unraveling, that very jolt that shatters through her. He peels his body away, easily as unaffected as always. How her heart beat sang at even the barest of touches. His laughter flooded her very room and how she could hardly help but join it.

That was so very close. She drew in a steadying breath as she allowed her head to sink into the plushness of her welcoming pillow, the only thing she could trust not to fuck her over right in that very moment. How awake she felt now, this game was doing the fucking tango on her adrenal system. Even though her body was jolted her wake, her mind never falters her, it was her own saving grace. That devilish smile upon his face was enough to be any woman's undoing, those French words flowed from his distracting mouth. How should could have cursed him then. She swallows then. "Requests?" How it was impossibly not to allow her mind to wander, but how quickly she refuses to fall into that trap despite how easy it could have been to do so. "This reminds me of a time... when a devious fairy man waltzed into my place of work, when we were closed mind you. I remember him comparing me to the Arctic of all brutal icy places. So, I asked him this question and you know what he responds with? Of course, I feel like you already know this one." She rolled onto her side with a devious hint of amusement upon her face, how she nearly giggled, not impervious to the alcohol that danced through her veins. It was only three but still with her petite stature and how she could hold that liquor she was hardly immune. At least until that newly enhanced metabolism burned it up. "I suppose you will forever be destined to wonder." She allows a potent pause. "You are more than welcome to take some time and imagine what I would have said.. but I doubt you would guess what I'm thinking this very moment." A shot of his own medicine, she wondered if he would remember the reference in which it came. He was toying with pandora's box with clever evasiveness. Never giving too much away. Both then and now. But how she knew how she wanted to answer how she could have answered.

Matteo, bathed in that moon's brilliant glow would not be an image that could be erased anytime soon. She became so drawn in to his story, finding a spot half on him while he wove his tale. How she appreciated that gesture all the same, so many people did not put their money where their mouth was and Matteo seemed to be a man of his word. How rare that notion was. Once that story was finished, Harley refused to let that game go unspoken for. As it was her turn to make her move was it not? How easy it was to simply toy with this idea, how easy it was to simply toy with the others resolve. She swore she heard a hitch, but that laughter drowned it out. She would never get a rise out of him..

A mischievous gleam entered her vivacious violet eyes. "Least uptight potato farmer award goes to you apparently." How the moonlight seemed to paint his face in that near dramatic silver. How his eyes seem to come alive within that lunar glow.

Losing family sucked, losing those you cared the most about in this world would always leave behind a bitter gaping hole where they once were. How she could hardly deny that pang she felt in her heart then as it resonates with her. How rarely she talked about them now and how it still hurt with such a potency.

A frown danced upon her face then, as he suddenly wraps his arms around her to pull that lithe form into him. It seems to envelop her near entirely, her body uncurling so that she can rest easily along him and far less spring loaded. It hardly took a moment of near resistance to settle, her heartbeat still possessing a mind of her own but it began to settle as did she. "What happened to her?" She asks softly, that concern in her voice replacing that often sharp that sarcasm. How thoughts of her own parents linger in her mind, the first thought seemingly an innocent memory when she was younger, darting around that house like a hellion without a cause. She still remembered that smell of her parents cooking, still remembered the dreadful cologne her dad liked to wear. But those memories as usual were often robbed from her. So briskly and resolutely she stilled like death itself against that comfortable, welcoming form of Matteo, that sad whispering caress cradled her. Oh, she didn't dare move as her mind could remember walking into her home, when her were slaughtered like helpless sheep. Their blood stained the back of her eyes even as she closes them for a second now. With such a force, she pushes those memories back into the cold embrace of the past where they belonged, back where she didn't have to see their faces swimming in her mind. Didn't have to see the faces of the culprit who did it. That alcohol that thrummed within her veins seemed to make it easier to forget, easier to focus on that warmth of his body, the sound and feel of his voice, that scent. She almost asked him why he was so damn comfortable, but at least in this she learned her lesson.

"Pft, speak for yourself I could play this time all night.." She utters that final teasing defiance. "I do happen to agree with some of what your saying.. and I think in this we are both too good at this game, more than I anticipated. I think you are like candy.. your bad for my health." Those buzzed ramblings made her laugh then, his body shaking with amusement. Her cheek pressed against his chest, listening to that steady soothing metronome heartbeat. Her own finally starting to settle as if attempting to mirror is own. How much in those moments did she craved to be held.. How she hated that her body wanted such things and how she refused to simply be held like this, at least just once. That scent only seemed to lull that inner beast that almost always seemed in a perpetual state of pacing seemed. "I'd like that." She admitted finally at his offering of another story.

That home he described sounded like her own, minus the straw and the field, and the farm and the animals. Ok maybe not even close and yet it seemed to whisk her away, at least for a little while. "I think I can picture it... its beautiful." She invented those blazing colours in her mind, like she could touch it. Such brilliant hues she could only wonder if she could capture them with pigment. "Did you fall off??" Those words starting to draw out, that heaviness laced within her voice. How she tries to tease and yet it hardly seemed to carry that normal zest.

"Hey Matteo..?" She very well could have been floating in that moment.

"I forgot to ask, in all your mystery and smoke, how do you like the word at your feet?" She mumbled, it almost seems like gibberish.. She yawns, that wide mouth breath filling her hungry lungs, her body near stretching only before nestling in once more. Her eyes sealed closed, unwilling to open. She had forgot to demand to see his feet, she was entirely wrapped up in all that had happened it was an easy slip.

She near nuzzled into him then before returning to that topic on his family. She enjoyed hearing about them, it made her feel closer to her own in some bizarre way. "I want to hear about your favourite moment with them.." Why she asked that she hardly knew but it felt right.

That once fierce spitfire swore she drifted to sleep then... Her body startled alert for a second and when she realized that all was the same. She knew he was still there, she wasn't even sure how much time had actually slipped away. It was probably only a few moments. She drew a steadying breath before inquiring yet another bizarre question plucked from the vast many that reproduced there.

"What do fairies like you dream about?" She seemed to recover quickly from that start as though something jump scared her. She wasn't quite sure the last part she heard, except that blissful, cradling sleep that took her then.

Harley Westward