( no, Zenith is not the only choice she can make, but it's the one she up until this point hasn't been able to. if this is what the narrative needs to be rewritten to in set's eyes (and hers, perhaps) — that he had overwhelmed and compelled her to accept it, though it had been his intention to do neither — then so be it. it is his opinion that she might able to find relief from the terrors that plagued her accepting it into her heart rather than Meridian, but his awareness of the fallibility of humanity means he knows there's no way to know for sure than to see it through. at this point there's no point in arguing about it further. their points are made, and unless set or any of the other Meridian were willing to confirm the poor girl's fears and kill for her supposed transgression, she would do just that: see it through.
the removal of set's weight from his chest elicits a gradual and unsettling ache; even setting apart the already-compromised structural integrity of his rib cage, he had scarcely had any time to try to recover from the dissipation he had already suffered at set's hands before they had been taken out of time to come to this place, to later be held captive within the warren of these tunnels to suffer the Iconoclast's trial. he grimaces in pain, his hand shaking for a moment before moving to rest tenderly over his sternum. his relative separation from the Eye might be a strange freedom in his mind, but it's not around to hold his body together — he hates feeling this fragile, and the fear that accompanies it.
after a long moment, he struggles up from the ground and into a sitting position with a faint sound of pained exertion that catches in the back of his throat; his back bent and shoulders bowed, he rests his elbows and the weight of his upper body on his knees, carefully ushering breath in and out of his lungs. perhaps petulantly, he refuses to look up at set, but he would just really rather not be forced to see himself once again in the situation which had, in their last encounter, ended in his own death.
it seems at first he might not say anything more to him at all, but then, )
Should she regret her choice and wish to return to Meridian, I will do all in my power to ensure that she returns to Springstar safely.
( it's not really much of a guarantee. he finds it annoyingly contradictory, that sometimes it feels as though set treats him as if he possesses some great strength or ability that he patently doesn't have — that he damn well knows he doesn't. all he can do is all that he can offer. )
You aren't the only one who would do anything for those you feel responsible for.
( as tight of a grip as he has over their shared Communion, a vague sense escapes him at this; a wounded sorrow, and something he had left behind in yima's manor, hoping it would be safer there than it would be here with him.
one day they would all be kept there for safekeeping, regardless of whether or not they would hate him for making that decision for them. )
no subject
the removal of set's weight from his chest elicits a gradual and unsettling ache; even setting apart the already-compromised structural integrity of his rib cage, he had scarcely had any time to try to recover from the dissipation he had already suffered at set's hands before they had been taken out of time to come to this place, to later be held captive within the warren of these tunnels to suffer the Iconoclast's trial. he grimaces in pain, his hand shaking for a moment before moving to rest tenderly over his sternum. his relative separation from the Eye might be a strange freedom in his mind, but it's not around to hold his body together — he hates feeling this fragile, and the fear that accompanies it.
after a long moment, he struggles up from the ground and into a sitting position with a faint sound of pained exertion that catches in the back of his throat; his back bent and shoulders bowed, he rests his elbows and the weight of his upper body on his knees, carefully ushering breath in and out of his lungs. perhaps petulantly, he refuses to look up at set, but he would just really rather not be forced to see himself once again in the situation which had, in their last encounter, ended in his own death.
it seems at first he might not say anything more to him at all, but then, )
Should she regret her choice and wish to return to Meridian, I will do all in my power to ensure that she returns to Springstar safely.
( it's not really much of a guarantee. he finds it annoyingly contradictory, that sometimes it feels as though set treats him as if he possesses some great strength or ability that he patently doesn't have — that he damn well knows he doesn't. all he can do is all that he can offer. )
You aren't the only one who would do anything for those you feel responsible for.
( as tight of a grip as he has over their shared Communion, a vague sense escapes him at this; a wounded sorrow, and something he had left behind in yima's manor, hoping it would be safer there than it would be here with him.
one day they would all be kept there for safekeeping, regardless of whether or not they would hate him for making that decision for them. )