Chimera Fields your hands can heal, your hands can bruise

her heart thumped so strongly in her chest that she could feel it in her teeth, her ears growing hot and flush after speaking her father's name— she thought that she wouldn't care how he reacted, that she had gotten past all the heartbreak of her formative months. but the moment she spoke, vesper couldn't deny that she very much cared. she swallowed, mouth suddenly dry, as she waited.

the snow fell, collecting on her coat. if she waited for him long enough, she would disappear in it— even as dark as she was.

he sank back in silence, and she blinked back heat collecting in her eyes. vesper exhaled, then swallowed again, fighting the thickness building in her throat. she wanted to scream at him, to tell him every broken piece of her heart, but that was never her style. even now, despite everything, she loved him— and maegi— so desperately. she didn't want revenge or to hurt either of them; only for them to know how badly she had needed them the whole time they had been so focused on prevost and peregrine.

she had never been good at articulating her feelings.

vesper relaxed, surrendering. her tail, shoulders and head dropped with an exhale. she looked at her prone father and simply said, quiet, okay.

that simple word held all her pain, her anger, her love. once, she might have settled in next to him, and that closeness would have been enough. perhaps that was what he expected of her. instead, she lifted a paw and began to walk away.