Week 2, Post-Trial: Shinshin

[withsadness]

Hey! Hey!

[It's not exactly a time to celebrate, but they do have a small victory on their hands. And this one: it's for Eleanor. So Mary can't help bound up to Shinshin with hope on her face.]

We got her! We got her! We were right!

Comments

[withsadness]

What's it for?

[She's trying to understand, but it's not the kind of gesture she's ever been given before. It's a pretty unusual situation. She takes the hair carefully, holding it like a treasure in the palm of her hand.]

[shinssin]

Maybe there'll come a time when I can't save you. Maybe you'll have to fend for yourself, you know? I don't want that to happen, but...

[ He puts the knife down, then curls Mary's hand around the lock of hair. ]

In case you kill someone, leave this behind. They send everyone looking for evidence, right? When they find this, they definitely won't come for you.

[withsadness]

[Mary's face contorts as it sinks in: he's saying he'd take the fall for her. Her cheeks color, her lips shaking so hard that her heartbreaking frown is almost angry.]

I don't know why you'd do that for me.

[The things that he's said gives her the information she needs to understand, but the emotional block from her entry fee makes it hard for it to come through the way that it needs to. Mary nods--because she'll do anything to win, but also because she can tell that Shinshin isn't the kind of person you just argue with. If this is what he's set his mind on, this is how it's going to be.]

I won't lose this. I think it's the biggest gift I've ever gotten.

[shinssin]

[ Though he smiles, his heart aches. They are both tragic characters who want their happy-ever-afters. He wants his place in the stars, to survive, to live. Setz's words echoes in his mind, voicing Eleanor's wishes. But... if he is destined to fall here, he wants a death he can take pride in. ]

Really? I'm glad. I always know what a girl wants, after all.

[ But no more jokes. He gets on one knee, presses a palm to his fist and bows. ]

If you would kindly receive this offering, then as one of the 108 Stars of Destiny, it would be my greatest honor.

[withsadness]

[Although what he says are pretty words that don't really mean anything to her with her limited young knowledge, they're still pretty, pretty word. Mary nods again, keeping his lock of hair save in her closed fist as she dots at the corners of her eyes.]

I do receive your offering and I'll keep it safe.

[Keep it safe and hope she never, ever has to use it. With her hands curled up to her chest and Shinshin's form bowed before her, Mary leans in and plants a sweet kiss onto his forehead where his bangs are parted.]