08-09-2018, 05:52 PM
Playing the damsel stung more than the wound she had been tolerating all night, but Natalie would use whatever tools were at her disposal -- however foolish it made her look. Jensen must have little idea what he'd stumbled into, but he was unwaveringly gracious in his concern. Only Jay's final words fanned the blood as they departed.
The darkness felt familiar.
"Life is seldom fair," she told Jensen once they'd moved away. His attempt at lifting the mood was earnest, and it sparked in her relief for the respite from darker manipulations. Enough that she offered him a small smile, though also spared a glance at Jay for the sting of her next words. "In fact sometimes it's foolhardly and goes on unnecessary detours. I'm Natalie."
Once they'd escaped the ballroom, Jay helped her down onto a bench. She wasn't quite such an invalid, but she didn't stop him either. The tension writ his face like stone before it eased out with a breath; she read the toll of hard lines in his jaw, and wondered how much more weight would be revealed to crush his shoulders before the night was through. His attention already spun round like he feared what might come bursting through, before he finally sank beside her. Buried his face in his hands.
It sprung something loose in her chest, an instinct that offered to share the burden. She didn't know the details, and though eventually she would ask, she would also take silence for an answer. But the weight she would carry whether he agreed or not, whether he knew or not. Natalie had no platitudes, but something in her ached to smooth the line of his fingers, to kneel and break the shield across his face.
If they had been alone she probably would have.
Instead she turned her attention to Jensen, one palm raised from her lap to forestall him before both returned to a poise of elegance. "I wouldn't wish you to waste your gift on this. It'll heal on its own. I regret the ruse was necessary to part from unsavoury company. But we do need your help."
The darkness felt familiar.
"Life is seldom fair," she told Jensen once they'd moved away. His attempt at lifting the mood was earnest, and it sparked in her relief for the respite from darker manipulations. Enough that she offered him a small smile, though also spared a glance at Jay for the sting of her next words. "In fact sometimes it's foolhardly and goes on unnecessary detours. I'm Natalie."
Once they'd escaped the ballroom, Jay helped her down onto a bench. She wasn't quite such an invalid, but she didn't stop him either. The tension writ his face like stone before it eased out with a breath; she read the toll of hard lines in his jaw, and wondered how much more weight would be revealed to crush his shoulders before the night was through. His attention already spun round like he feared what might come bursting through, before he finally sank beside her. Buried his face in his hands.
It sprung something loose in her chest, an instinct that offered to share the burden. She didn't know the details, and though eventually she would ask, she would also take silence for an answer. But the weight she would carry whether he agreed or not, whether he knew or not. Natalie had no platitudes, but something in her ached to smooth the line of his fingers, to kneel and break the shield across his face.
If they had been alone she probably would have.
Instead she turned her attention to Jensen, one palm raised from her lap to forestall him before both returned to a poise of elegance. "I wouldn't wish you to waste your gift on this. It'll heal on its own. I regret the ruse was necessary to part from unsavoury company. But we do need your help."