Walk off the world just to follow
Through every waking hour
Through all that time devours

Mira gave Tetradore a curious look. He... intimidated? What a strange thing to consider. He always appeared to be so unflappable by the world at large. After all, when it came down to it. Tetradore's family were just people no matter their social status or powers. Yet, she had been nothing short of overwhelmed by them. After the ark sinking, the stolen car... being thrust into the ocean that was Tet's family unbeknownst to her or them! She had barely a moment to catch her breath. Yet she was quite certain no one would be prepared for a room full of those men with emotions running so hotly it was a wonder that fire was only contained to the fireplace. "They are.... Overwhelming at first. But in that and my feelings... they could do nothing to change my mind." She was quite confident in that, her words solidified it with every one her lips formed.. If she hadn't wanted the alpha, didn't care for him... want more from him. She damn well wouldn't have agreed. She could only wonder if he felt the same. He was nothing short of exasperated! Rightfully so. Perhaps he had no business asking at that moment. Perhaps in this she failed in putting his family in their place. Yet..... how she could not deny she wanted it. How the woman was not at all prepared to meet such strong-willed people. Let alone to learn that they were somehow royalty. Not that it changed a thing when push came to shove.

However, it all made sense at the very least why he had kept them a cherished secret all along. A man with so many secrets. It was then that she realized that very promise she asked from him all those years ago was impossible. Perhaps it should have bothered her more than it should have. "Although, I was sure you were going to throttle your father with everything you had. I didn't know who to be more worried for... him or you." She added the last bit thoughtfully, a small smile played upon her lips. What a whirlwind. How she was able to sleep at all she had no idea, perhaps it was the wine... or it was Tetradore's presence that truly settled her rattled soul.

Yet nothing seemed to alter the course of that conversation. At least not this time. That saying to allow sleeping dogs lie..... Certainly had not met the tenacity of Tetradore's will to keep things to himself. Including his feelings for her. His actions alone had kept her.. warm.

Mira caught a strange glimpse of true, gut-wrenching sadness within the vivid rarely emotive emerald green of his eyes as he confessed those words. So raw... that very emotion was. His attempt to convince her against him was weaker this time. As though some part of him felt resigned that neither of them seemed willing to allow the other to go. After all, it was rare when what should be aligned with what they actually did. He claimed he was no good... that he was somehow unworthy of her. Didn't he see it? That for all his attempts to push her away, all his glimpses into who he was... was hardly enough to turn her from him. Perhaps it should have but she could not deny... that seemingly cosmic pull. How little she knew of the secrets he kept safely locked away within Pandora's box. How to her, perhaps in some naive sense that this connection was simple. It made her wonder what it was that continuously held him back? She hardly longed for that cliche relationship... she had no illusions of some fairytale. Some white picket fencing had never been her thing anyways. This... was far more real. Or so she thought. It had little to do with her own projections and rather how she felt about him in these moments. That she could not deny. That when they were together... truly. It was better than anything else.

What made him seem to reject any semblance of happiness for himself beside his own cars? Was that not some form of torture? She was certain that if he had lost those, he would have been well and truly broken.

Mira shifted within that bed to prop herself up and yet still faced him, any semblance of tiredness had fled. But Tetradore... seemed unable to process that complex question. Or simply just didn't wish to. His handsome features took on a detached hardness she had seen before. Mira was almost certain she'd lost him at that single moment. Did he not believe in his own right to be happy? Did they both not? Or at least the chance to try? How quickly he forced any emotion from him then. She could not help but wonder if it was something else. Was it her? Did he just not want her? To commit to her? Was there someone else? Something else in the way a formidable roadblock she must slay? The thoughts were almost overwhelming that she couldn't simply not speak them any longer. She would rather know that truth now even if it hurt.

Why did it have to be so damn complicated? Why could it not just be simple? But he was not a simple man, she knew that. Nor was she a simple woman.

That question. Perhaps the most weighted one of all was asked out loud. She had thought it before and yet never voiced it, even into the vast abyss. Did he not want her? How quickly that detachedness seemed to melt away at her absolutely vulnerable question. She hadn't expected that response truthfully. She hadn't seen the shift within him happen, her own gaze averted as if it somehow made it easier to face what they could no longer run from. It was the shift of his body and the reaching of his hand that so suddenly reached out to caress her face that drew the golden molten hue of her eyes to find his subtly smiling face. That smile, it struck her to her very core. How she welcomed that incredibly feathered touch of his masculine hands, as though that could secure an unfastened emotions within her. How his actions always spoke louder than his words always.

His name spoken so softly then, followed by a singular assurance that was far too profound.... For such few words. Yet she hadn't realized that some part of her had been wanting to hear that exact thing. She could hardly help the way she allowed her features to soften into a warm smile, as if her heat radiated into that very thing. She reached for the hand that caressed her face then, held it there for a moment before interlacing her own with his. Her hand was so much smaller in his and yet... how she relished in the feel. "Then it is simple." How little did she know how inaccurate those words were and weren't all at the same time.

For a split moment she allowed that warm touch of his hands to press against her face, savoured it. But...she had to ask. ".... you weren't.... Aren't seeing anyone else are you? It never occurred to me until recently... that... you might have had something else." She questioned softly, studying his features she had all but memorized. She looked for answers she wasn't sure she would find. They had never once mentioned it, the exclusivity before... Yet, the were king was always disappearing. She had to wonder. How the thought of him with another woman drew something protective and almost venomous with her and yet her question held nothing short of a curiousness. How she too... was one to keep people at a distance and yet why she couldn't seem to prevent these feelings, how she knew that distinct moment when things changed for her. How complicated emotions were. How she thought herself to be above the pettiness of it. Did he feel any of this internal strife too?

There was no rush to finish that very topic until another pleasant lull occurred and yet another question that had lingered within her mind surfaced. It was important. At least to her. Her mind had been raking over the coals of it... and it made so little sense.

"I understand your secrecy of them, your family, even though your secrets would have always been safe with me. They always will. I understand the lengths one can go to keep.... Family safe, hell you know I did it too. But why keep your name from the world too? Aiden.." The name sounded funny from her lips and yet it was him. It must have been the first time she even said it out loud even though that wasn't the case, there was at least one other time she had.. "I happen to like it." She admitted her features observing him almost peculiarly like for once he was the greatest mystery she had ever known.

mira ramos