week 7; saturday ( stephanie )

[axilium]

[belph is a bit difficult to find, tonight—namely because he's in the last place steph might think to look for him.

...

which is to say that he stands in the observatory, watching the constellations play out. it might be a lie to call him peaceful, but if nothing else, he looks contemplative.]

Comments

[vigilantics]

[ well, it's a good thing that stephanie is persistent. after literally every other spot in the castle turns up nothing, she will eventually find her way up here. ]

Oh, there you are.

[ she sounds genuinely surprised to have found him here. ]

[axilium]

[...

he turns towards her, smiling softly.]

Hey, Steph.

[vigilantics]

Hi.

[ she'll walk towards him, stopping once she's next to him. ]

That sure was a trial.

[axilium]

[he looks back up at the constellation.]

... Yeah. It was.

[vigilantics]

What are you doing here?

[ she doesn't want to flat out say, "i thought you hated this place," but. it's there. ]

[axilium]

... I was just thinking over some things.

[he's quiet for a moment, before—]

Back home, while I found it incredibly boring, the planetarium was her favourite. This place reminds me of her.

[which may or may not explain why he hated it.]

[vigilantics]

[ she glances up at the stars before looking back to him. ]

Why now?

[axilium]

[...]

You know what my wish from my first objective was?

[vigilantics]

No. Tell me?

[axilium]

... As long as she remained in our world, I'd have to go back. That was the promise I made to my uncle, after all: I wouldn't kill myself if he made sure never to go after her. So, I couldn't afford to go missing.

[for a few seconds, he watches the constellations.]

That was my wish. For her to go to a world where she'd be safe and happy—somewhere my uncle could never touch her, and somewhere better than the cage we lived in.

[a world with more opportunities, where the surface hadn't been poisoned and the underground wasn't ruled by oppression. somewhere she could be free, the way he would never be.

he smiles, his heart full.]

She even found someone else. I almost feel sorry for the guy, but... she looked happy.

[and that's all belph ever wanted. even though the heartbreak is almost suffocating, with thoughts of the future they never had—the fact that she's content is enough for belph.

with that wish, his life was effectively over.]

[vigilantics]

[ she's not really sure what to say there. she knows belph is suicidal, and what his uncle is vaguely like, and how he loved this girl. still loves?

but hearing it all laid out like this... she doesn't reply right away, instead focusing on the constellations above them again. ]

I'm happy for her then.

[ because she's important to belph, so that means she matters to steph. even if there's a small part of her that twists at the thought. ]

... what about you?

[axilium]

[finally, he turns to look at her, his expression soft.]

Once that was fulfilled... to be honest, I didn't care about anything anymore. I figured I'd just use my remaining time to carry out my job as a Vizier—help people out here, if I could.

I wasn't supposed to have a future past that point.

[...]

So, the idea of having one now terrifies me.

[vigilantics]

The world is kind of a scary place, Belph.

[ all worlds. everything from an entire universe to just the space between them qualifies as one, she thinks, and that is definitely very frightening. ]

Will you come with me? Please?

[ she doesn't mean to whisper it, but it still comes out that way. ]

[axilium]

[... it really is something he doesn't know how to deal with. he's been resigned for so long that he can't even imagine what living would be like. how to recalibrate the way he thinks. enjoy life again. believe in something.

he'd have to relearn so much—all the things he abandoned years ago. what does he even do with a future? but...]

... I already told Dragon that I want to send a letter back to my uncle. It'd look rather silly if I didn't follow through with that.

[vigilantics]

[ and with that, she turns so she fully faces him before... closing the distance so she can hug him. steph presses her face against the space between his shoulder and his neck and just. rests it there.

she doesn't actually say anything. ]

[axilium]

[...

well, he doesn't move away from her, but.]

... This wasn't quite the reaction I was expecting.

[vigilantics]

Shhhhh. Don't ruin the moment.

[ she says that, as if it also doesn't ruin the moment. ]

[axilium]

Me not talking is the only way to keep the moment, huh?

[vigilantics]

Pretty much.

[ she'll step away, although she's still pretty close; steph mostly just wants to look at him properly. ]

Thank you.

[axilium]

... What are you thanking me for?

[vigilantics]

For... everything. You humored me a lot the last two months, you know. And you did and a lot of things for me that I know you didn't want to. I think that might make me a bad friend? It kind of feels like I kept taking advantage of you to get you to tell me stuff...

[ she trails off, not entirely sure where she's even going with this. her gaze fall down towards her feet. ]

But you're still here right now with me. So. Thanks.

[axilium]

[he pauses for a moment, as if trying to understand what she's saying.]

... Are you kidding me, Steph? You—you have no idea how much you've done for me, do you?

[vigilantics]

[ the confused expression on her face answers that no

she has no idea. ]

[axilium]

... You told me once before that you wanted to give people hope. That even when things seem grim, and impossible, there's a chance that it'll change. That there's still something to make you smile even when things are suffocating.

You wanted to spread that feeling to others. For you, that was what being a hero meant.

[...]

You were my hope. From then, and up to now.

[she kept him going.]

[vigilantics]

[ it's a good thing that the observatory is so dark because her face immediately flushes red at his words.

steph, as a hero, has floundered a lot through the years. she has made mistakes, had bad motivations, and caused practically all of the other vigilantes in gotham to put her on a metaphorical blacklist. she's been trying, little by little, to fix her past errors in order to build something new, not just for herself, but for the rest of her city and everyone in it.

the people here have been so kind to her. even with her injuries, people still called her capable and strong, and every time it bewildered her that even when she failed here and gave everyone reasons to doubt her ability to do anything useful, they still backed her. it's what she wanted.

she has to take a deep breath. ]

I think you made that sound a lot better than when I said it.