She was right, as I think she is often right. My threat was entirely empty. I had no intention of ceasing to kiss her when it is so rare that this side of myself is ever afforded the opportunity to do just that and truly I find the way the colour flushes her cheeks to be rather endearing. There is a sweetness to it. Something feminine and tender and I like it. I liked the silence we were afforded too- this single perfect moment of alone time that we were so rarely allowed. Not because there was a lack of privacy- our shared room surely private enough with the door closed but because my mind is often shared with another, because Tetradore is barely five steps away at any time, Nadya wanders the halls, Jackal is forever seeking someone to sign something and the roar of the crowd permeates even the thickest of walls. We are, both of us, caught between worlds in every sense of the word and there is a true pleasantness in having even this single moment together, alone, and without the interruption of life itself. Solitude is peace. Silence is peace. She is my peace too- in so many ways. The metaphorical calm to the veritable storm that is my existence in every sense of the word.

I disliked the frown my words seem to bring to her features and yet I hardly ceased to speak them. She asked and I was determined to offer her an answer- at least, to the best of my ability. I had been so very young though, so many of my memories were fractured from that time even without the injuries that had occurred. I remember, truly, that it was the first appearance of him- the one whom had slowly assumed control in the wake of the incident. I owed him that I suppose. He survived- for both of us, where I surely would have perished in that mass of water and stone as my...parents had. At least, I think they had been my parents. I didn't quite recall. Who else would scream my name over and over if not my Mother? I had no siblings, of that I was assured....mostly. I shook my head slightly once more, attempting to offer as much information as I could find within myself to deliver in a cohesive way and yet truly it hardly seemed like much- or enough. I was frustrated at myself, for my utter lack of memory and yet in that regard he was as silent and unsure as myself. Of that incident neither of us remembered it all. The say in the greatest hour of need we often find a strength we do not realise we have. That when we least expect it we find ourselves capable of one final effort to survive. For whatever reason and in whatever way it simply seemed that for me I had split into two. A completely wild to myself had taken over- the same way Raven's feral side seemed to possess her at time and yet where hers remained a part of her, a side to her, attached to her- mine eclipsed me entirely. Mine became me.

Whatever happened that night, whatever atrocities occurred they must have been....truly terrible if the answer to my survival lay in tearing myself in two. In protecting myself by keeping that sane part of my mind locked away and safe. Hidden from whatever the rest of me had seen. Maybe....I was lucky not to remember.

"I am grateful too- in my own way."

I uttered the words softly, laying myself down upon the blanket, content to take her with me for no other reason then because I desired that closeness- rare and fleeting as such things often were with myself and between us, enjoying the girlish giggle it seemed to tease from her lips as she rolled slightly- pressing a kiss to my forehead before pushing thick lashes of dark hair from my still-golden eyes. Her words brought a chuckle to my lips, a deep, rumbling sound erupting from within the depths of my throat.

"No darling, you're not being selfish at all. Your one of the least selfish people I know."

I assured her simply, lips pulled into a soft smile as my own gaze turned towards the steadily lightening sky, fast approaching the dawn in which he normally awoke. I was running out of time and yet I hardly found myself concerned. I was oddly content in this moment, no matter how long it should last. I was pleased to have had any of it at all. I nod, easily, at her assurance she would ask the question of him when he returned. I was assured she would like the answer or at least take some pleasure in it if nothing else. I hoped so, anyway. She surprised me though, her final question seeing my own head turn towards her. More she could do? Was there anything she did not do? I smiled softly once more, shifting to press my lips a final time to her cheek. There was more I wanted, selfishly so, truly selfishly and yet I could hardly bring myself to ask for that- for things I knew she was not ready to give. One day. One day.

"No Raven. You do more than enough. You're going to miss the sunrise- look."

I pointed briefly upward, seeking to draw her attention away from myself and towards the rapidly painted sky above. If she continued to look at me she would miss it, the very thing she had come here to see.

That was truly the last thing I remembered telling her. How I hate goodbyes.

His slender form shifted, unable to comprehend how or why he had come to be upon the blanket atop the top deck of his home, features scowling slightly, fathomless dark gaze moving from Birdie to the sky and back again. He was oblivious, entirely, as to anything that had occurred before, lips parting to allow those fractured words to echo into the dawn as the first rays of sunlight speared the sky, the boy squinting in response.

"Sky is.....very....bright."

It is too bright, an irritable huff passing his lips all the same though he makes no attempt to move, despite his confusion, one finger curling almost playfully within a single curl of the woman's own hair, a snicker of delight at this newfound game seeing a grin echo across his features. A decidedly boyish look.

madness, as you know, is like gravity: all it takes is a little push