weatheredlaw:

from Hyacinth

Eli tossed another log into the fireplace and, for the first time that evening, Rosie took stock of the luck they’d had. Eventually, she knew, it was going to run out. But for now, it felt good to have a roof over her head – even if it was leaking.

“Are you afraid?” Eli asked suddenly, still looking into the fire. Rosie peered at him, confused as to where the question had come from. Had they not run the last five miles together? Had she not handled herself in the woods well enough? What more did she need to prove.

“Of what?” she responded, unable to keep the annoyance out of her voice. If he heard it, he pretended not to notice.

“Anything. Everything. I don’t know. Do you ever get scared?” Finally, he turned to her, his face an impenetrable mask. “It’s okay if you do. You have every right to be.”

Rosie scowled and began her own vigil over the fire. “Are we talking about me?” she asked. “Or are you just trying to make yourself feel better?”

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weatheredlaw:

from Hyacinth

“Shit,” Eli muttered. “Shit, shit, shit.” He continued this way for several minutes, kicking the ground in disbelief, cursing the Lady’s name, cursing the names of people Rosie didn’t know, cursing himself for being so stupid. Finally, he grew silent. He was tall, she noted, watching his shadow stretch in the moonlight. He was tall, but right now, he looked so very tiny compared to the rest of the world.

“We’ll go,” she said. “We can still make it.” Eli laughed, loud and harsh.

“It’s impossible.”

“I trust you!” she yelled, spitting out the words he’d demanded she say not two hours ago. “Is that enough? Is that enough to get us there? I trust you!”

He looked at her, eyes glazed with tears of frustration, and gave her a small, sad smile. 

“You don’t understand. She’ll find us. She’ll always find us.”

weatheredlaw:

from Hyacinth

Rosie felt Eli’s hand on her shoulder and she spun around, her palm making contact with his face before she could really react in any rational way to his touch.

“What the hell?” He reeled backward and continued cursing violently, his eyes searing with anger. “Listen to me, alright? I know that maybe you’re a little on edge right now, okay? I get that.”

“If we get caught -“

“Then one or both of us is getting shot,” he deadpanned, and Rosie stopped. She’d forgotten that Eli’s life hung in just as precarious a balance as her own. 

“What are we going to do?” she finally asked, when the image of hers and Eli’s dead bodies was as gone from her mind as she could possibly manage.

“First, you’re going to tell me you trust me.” 

“I’m not going to sit here and humor you all day. We-“

“Aren’t you the one that told me you’d die before you gave yourself up? Before you gave in to this pathetic law and this dimwitted administration? Wasn’t that you?”

“I don’t want to die,” Rosie responded, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Then trust me. That’s all I’m asking.” Their eyes met briefly and he managed to hold her gaze for longer than he had all day. “I know,” he began, almost sadly. “I’ve got the body of the enemy. I’ve got the wants and the needs and the instincts of the enemy. But I’m asking you, please, just…trust me.”

weatheredlaw:

from Hyacinth

Eli narrowed his gaze and contemplated Rosie’s tattered shoes and dirty jacket. Compared to his clean coat and recently-shaven face, Rosie knew she must have looked frightfully out of place and slightly off-putting. She certainly smelled it. 

“You’re one of those scary single girls, right?” He smiled when he said it, and she wondered how many other girls he’d delivered this line to.

“Does that scare you?” she challenged, standing up a little straighter. Eli gave her a wicked grin.

“Not in the slightest.”