Lacey
She was tired of the pain. After so long, it should've turned to numbness. Wasn't it always supposed to go numb at some point? But it never did, not really. She had no reason to love this deep, not especially him. Not after everything. Not when he'll never let himself be enough. Not when she could never possibly be enough. She was too plain, too young. Her love was too real. She wanted too much.
So she was fatigued when Tiphon found her, emotionally drained just enough not to be numb, as usual. She'd love to not feel it anymore. Instead, she still suffered the pain and didn't give a damn about much of anything. He stood in front of her, slipping into existence between the trees. She sighed softly. She didn't have the care for this. For anything.
"Hello again."
Her brown eyes were sharp, staring boldly at him and waiting.
"We've met before, but I genuinely cannot remember. I'm sorry."
The muscle in her jaw twitched and she cut her gaze away. Yeah. She was pretty forgettable. She was nothing. Got it, loud and clear. Nothing new there. She started walking away from him. If all he was going to do was remark on just how unremarkable she was then she'd rather be somewhere else.
"Can you remind me? Maybe tell me if we have a history? I only remember the name of Ischia, but nothing more."
She stopped and looked back at him, her eyes narrowing. He'd never been one to lie, or intentionally cause someone hurt. Perhaps she was letting her damned brokeness warp her world. It consumed her, this pain, this ache. It was all she'd ever know anymore.
"You helped Ea lead. And Ashley." The magician had given her hair back after it'd been shorn off, grew it out to be softer and more beautiful. It didn't make her any more attractive or likeable. He'd healed her physically, save for the scars drawn in a lace pattern on her hips. But she hadn't seen him since the Invasion, when he'd betrayed Ea. And Ischia. And her. And she hadn't seen Tiphon for longer than that.
"Our history was nothing. It doesn't matter."
Nothing did.
"Was there something else you needed?"
No, of course not. Not from her.
She was sharp and abrasive and she was nothing.
