Ink Exchange

Sometimes love means letting go when you want to hold on tighter.

What does it mean when nightmares dream of peace? When shadows wish for light?

Talking won't change it. But sometimes it was what she wanted most, to tell someone; often, though, she just wanted to escape those horrid feelings, to escape herself, so there was no pain, no fear, no ugliness.

He was an answer to a question she'd forgotten to ask.

Do you ever wonder if what you look at is the same thing everyone else is seeing?' He went even stiller at her side. 'Sometimes I'm sure it isn't the same...but that's not so bad is it? Seeing the world in a different way?' Creative vision creates art' he motioned around the gallery 'that shows the rest of the world a new angle. That's a beautiful thing.

We are what we are, neither a good or as bad as others paint us. And what we are doesn't change how truly we feel, only how free we are to follow those feelings.

I'd stop anyone from taking that smile from you. I would, if I were allowed.

He didn't slam the door, didn't rage, didn't weep, he simply left.

It was the only way he knew to protect the court, the faery, and the only mortal who'd ever mattered to him.

I need to check in with Seth before I--" he burrowed his face into the side of her neck, his breath almost painfully warm on her throat--"give in to my unconscionable desire to put my hands on you properly.

In the end mortals always expired before faeries. They were such finite creatures. Their first heartbeat and breath were but a blink from death. To add the weight of nourishing his insatiable court in a time of peace was to hasten that unconscionably.

Leslie?" Irial whispered. "What are you doing?" "Choosing." Tears were soaking the blanket under Leslie's face. "I'm mine. Not anyone else's." "I'm still yours, though. That won't ever change, Shadow Girl." And then he was gone, and her emotions crashed over her.

And sometimes you meet someone who doesn't see you any differently if you tell them. That is everything.

-"You won't like me if I'm cruel." -"I don't like you now." -"We don't lie." -"I'm mortal, Irial. I can lie all I want to.

She turned so they were face-to-face and gave him back the words he'd offered her their first night together: "I survived. Isn't that what matters?

Belief is a powerful thing. If you believe you can…

You're not weak at all. Wounded, but that's nothing to be ashamed of.

She wanted something she didn't have words for- peace, numbness, something.

Safe wasn't quite what appealed to her right then. Safe wasn't how she felt. Invincible, in control, powerful- those words felt closer to true.

He'd given her his vow: to take care of her, to keep her from hurt or pain, from wanting for anything. Her leaving didn't negate his promises; they weren't conditional.

It wasn't the tattoo that had changed her, had given her repossession of her body. It was her actions, her choices. It was finding the path when it looked like there weren't any paths to be found.

You need to face what you're running from

to not act is a choice too

-"Leslie? What are you doing?" -"Choosing. I'm mine. Not anyone else's." -"I'm still yours, though. That won't ever change, Shadow Girl.

Getting ink felt right, like it would help her put her life in order, to move forwards. It was her body, despite the things that'd been done to it, and she wanted to claim it, to own it, to prove that to herself. She knew it wasn't magic, but the idea of writing her own identity felt like the closest she could get to reclaiming her life. Sometimes there's power in the act; sometimes there's strength in words. She wanted to find an image that represented those things she was feeling, to etch it on her skin as tangible proof of her decision to change.

I did survive. I still am. And it won't happen again.

She might scream when the nightmares found her, but not by choice, not when she was awake.

Creative vision creates art" - he motioned around the gallery - "that shows the rest of the world a new angle. That's beautiful thing." "Or some sort of madness", she said.