mental link

[adamance]

WISDOM passing on her legacy, her knowledge, and showing a willingness for more	COMPASSION looking upon her people with care, with hope, and understanding a different layer of strength
STRENGTH strength is more than just mere words or mere actions—it is everything	PURPOSE being born for this

( CODE BY WHAMBAM )

Comments

[decommission]

[ Something like a nod. Saying that he prefers speaking face to face isn't the whole truth anymore, just the truth that he'd prefer to acknowledge. At least after re-awakening from his coma it's easy to say that he'd rather meet each of his friends in person, to know for certain that they're really there.

He finds Lexa's room, knocking against the wall to announce himself. ]

Hey. [ A beat. He frowns, deep lines creasing at his forehead. ] I wanted to apologize, shoulda come to find you sooner - [ After the fight with Ilde. ]

[adamance]

You weren't yourself. Realizing that must have been unsettling. [In truth, Lexa can at least be grateful for the fact that her brood is gone for that reason, if nothing else. But then, she wonders if she would do better with some of Nate's charisma or Ahsoka's hotheaded passion. (She and Hux were always too similar.)]

But if you were prone to defending one of your own, it wouldn't be surprising.

[decommission]

[ There's discomfort in his features, across the tense line of his shoulders, all of it focused inward. ]

Ilde didn't need defending. [ They aren't really speaking much since he woke up. A shake of his head, and he meets Lexa's gaze again. ] How much have you been practicing with your shields and the rest of it? [ The whole symbiote shebang. ]

[adamance]

I will not improve any further unless I begin to use my special ability. [The words come in a crisp admission, but it's a reality that she's been forced to face.

Unlike Prince, she has no one to lean on, no broodmates who will pick up the slack.

It is only her, isolated as she had been until the day she met Clarke Griffin.]

[decommission]

[ His hands shove in his pockets, head cocking to one side. ]

What's stopping you?

[adamance]

I would've thought that you'd know the answer to that question.

[But perhaps he doesn't. Perhaps he had bypassed this as an immediate concern long ago. Perhaps it is only those from her world that can see it as an issue.

(Then again, they most certainly do.)]

[decommission]

[ His eyes train on a spot over her shoulder. ]

This is like quicksand on a good day, and getting tossed around in the tide on a bad one. [ It's hard to keep track of the days that pass, harder to keep track of what they've been losing - or gaining in the process.

There's only so much he or anyone else can fight the changes the symbiote demands of their minds. On top of that, while he's struggling in a fight he's slowly losing, there are others - and will be more, that'll become stronger than him, the sort of people like Ren or the Darkling. Or Ilde.

He's got to make a change. ] Let me know if you change your mind.

[ He trusts her enough to practice testing shields, or more. ]

[adamance]

You misunderstand. I already have. [It's odd for Lexa to think that (aside from Ilde), those who have adjusted more easily have been lost to the lasting sleep that has swallowed most of those who woke up with them. She worries that if she adjusts, she will lose herself, but she knows that causality isn't really in place there. Surely there is a reason why the symbiotes cannot manage to maintain their bodies, but she doesn't have an answer for it.]

That doesn't mean that the answer pleases me. But Kylo Ren won't be the only man who attacks me. I always intend to push too far, for the sake of the war that we're in. [That Ilde intended to follow is hardly surprising, but Lexa doesn't point that out. Steve's aggression toward her could've easily been drawn from any number of places. She knows how she is, but clearly sees no reason to put an end to it.

(Her adjustments are far more subtle than even she realizes.)]