virtusxcor-archive ;   "I won’t let you be on your own, not when you’re like this."

Send me one of the following (bruised and battered version):

         _{Stubbornness could be both a virtue and a downfall. A great hubris, almost, something that could seriously harm a person or lift them up to a place where they would be okay, where they would be safe. Yet at the same time being stubborn could give rise to more or less negative feelings in a person towards another, because denial of something, insistence of something else, furrowed eyebrows could cause great distress. Or large amounts of exasperation depending on the situation, as reactions to a stubborn attitude varied according to external forces.}

                                             _{In that moment it was causing her great distress.}

         _{As many things seemed to be, it really had been an accident. Once more he had come to the old mansion, once more on a day when she was there and their paths crossed once more, if only by chance. And she was alright with that, because she would never openly deny company or look down upon it, and out of everyone that she met Ed was certainly a character, he had quirks to him that set him apart from others and piqued her interest, if only a little bit.}

         _{The young man really was very interested in the vast expanse of books that the mansion had, though many of them were old just as the mansion itself was. But she was more than happy to let him peruse the shelves of books, largely in part because they were not truly hers, but also because—well, books were meant to be read, weren’t they? Many of the books on those shelves did not interest her very much, though she had read several in her time spent in that place, and it was nice to know that someone could show some interest in them at least.}

                  _{Naturally, that was when the Heartless decided to creep into the room and attack. Darkness and shadows were always lurking in the corners of this place, so much so that she had begun to become desensitized to their general presence within the walls of the mansion. They were always there, except for within her room, and generally tended to leave her alone. Already she should have guessed that they would have been drawn to them by the young man, by his heart that was almost like a beacon to them, and she should have expected that their presence would cause some sort of trouble.}

         _{Yet she had not and as a result ended up lying on the floor of the library, hair in disarray as she struggled to breathe evenly past the pain that she could feel, burning bright and hot. Claws had dug into her stomach as she had leapt in front of Ed while his back was still turned and she had not had the chance to warn him verbally, and the gashes were bleeding slowly, bright red that stained the fabric of her dress that had stayed so white and pristine for so long. The fabric was torn, likely irreparably, and inanely enough she wondered if that was a sign that she should really get more clothes, and soon.}

         _{And there he was, asking if she was okay and insisting that he could not leave despite her protests, despite her telling him that he should leave, right then and there, the way that he had come. It was not safe for him there, not with the Heartless lurking that would keep on coming because he was unusual, because he was new and strange and a presence that they were not used to. Darkness did indeed lurk everywhere in that mansion, and she could feel it crawling up the walls, hiding in corners, even through the veil of pain that she trembled behind.}

                                                      _{”—You need to go…”}

                  _{Another denial was tossed her way as she was turned onto her back and she let out a small pained noise, trembling hands trying to hide the extent of her injuries even though that really was such a stupid attempt. Blood got on her fingers and on her palms and on her hands and she stared at the ceiling, at him, and then over at the wall where she could see darkness welling up—and then she closed her eyes.}

                       _{So stubborn.}

                              _{”—We need to get to the white room. Where it’s safe.”}