[ Boots settle even against the concrete. His words took up time; hers do too, and while he doesn't love the delay, his chin lifts in silent approval that she's not wasting the chance to get her bearings. Arms cross over his chest, unperturbed.
Except at that last bit. His head tilts. Reward has only a distant and hazy connection to things like back-slaps and arms slung over shoulders, bright raised voices he remembers only muffled by indirect angles and half-closed doors, words not meant for weapons' ears. More than any of that, reward means a skinny elbow crooked around another girl's neck and a snap. ]
You get to survive, [ he says again, with a questioning lilt, like maybe he wasn't clear last time. His brows knit, eyes flicking down to her arms, back up to her face, struggling. ] No threat to eliminate, no reward.
cw: oblique reference to child murder....sorry
Except at that last bit. His head tilts. Reward has only a distant and hazy connection to things like back-slaps and arms slung over shoulders, bright raised voices he remembers only muffled by indirect angles and half-closed doors, words not meant for weapons' ears. More than any of that, reward means a skinny elbow crooked around another girl's neck and a snap. ]
You get to survive, [ he says again, with a questioning lilt, like maybe he wasn't clear last time. His brows knit, eyes flicking down to her arms, back up to her face, struggling. ] No threat to eliminate, no reward.