thecapitol | Woman, You've Got Too Many Brambles [Closed]

WHO| Venus, Wyatt and Maximus
WHAT| Awkward relationship talk.
WHEN| A few days before the Arena.
WHERE| Training Center
WARNINGS| Discussion of relationships, virginity, sex and social mores surrounding women. Basically, I am hella pretentious.

Fear isn't a totally foreign feeling to Venus, but it's one she came to piece with a long time ago. Generally it's managed by the knowledge that she doesn't have much to lose, that pain and humiliation are both temporary states of being that one passes through rather than becomes.

The fear she feels now is different. It isn't the passing assessment of a threat so much as a nagging sensation that some part of her is damaged, broken in some way beneath the skin that she can't see. It wraps itself around her bones and follows her throughout her day, sipping coffee with her, putting on her clothes with her, showering with her, especially when she showers. It's worst when she's nude.

It's with her when she's beating the hell out of a tackling dummy, and that's where Wyatt and Maximus find her one morning. She wipes sweat from her brow and straightens up to see them and Ferox. The fear, the sadness, clings to her like a dress that even they should be able to see despite the cocky smile.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Oh, come on. It's not like he kicked me out and threw spare change at me. It's just been awkward since. He loves me enough not to lie about it." It sounds desperate, coming from her, the defensiveness she has over the idea that she is the one at fault here.

But this should have been painfully obvious to her. She should have realized her expectations needed to be ratcheted down, not up; should have vomited up the diet of myths about lifechanging defilements that her culture had gorged her on. And she hadn't.

She still hasn't.

"I just- I thought it would change everything and glue us together and it's just made me miserable."

Maximus frown only deepened at the 'loves me enough not to lie about it'. That was precisely what he should have done. Maximus was, at large, an extremely honest man. He did not lie when he could help it, but he also grew up in Rome. Knew lies were often necessary, even if he was shit at delivering them.

And white lies to comfort your lover? Those ranked far beyond 'honesty' in this particular case. But he kept his mouth shut on that point. She was already defensive, and he had no wish to make her more so.

"It is not a magic balm that instantly heals everything," He murmured lowly. "It is an action, like any other. A conversation. Sometimes conversations go poorly, but that does not mean we wish to be mute."

Wyatt was of the belief that if he'd really loved her enough, he'd have kept her close and they'd have tried again. And even if it weren't earth-shattering, she'd have still had fun, and she would still know she was loved.

And practice would make perfect.

But he held his tongue.

"If ya don't want it to stand this way, there's only one thing ya can do. Ya need to see him, an' if he ain't willin' to give it another go, then ya know where yer problem lies."

Venus gets the unshakeable feeling that one or both of them is going to start investing in shotguns, and she isn't sure how she feels about that. Father figures have been few and far between in her life, and until now she's considered them all on the same plane socially - family, but brethren.

She nods, rubbing her palm over her elbow as her other hand falls to her side.

"You won't tell him we had this conversation, right? I'm pretty sure the idea of you guys weighing in is a mood killer."

"It is not my business, Venus, beyond you directly asking me for advice. I would not take it to him unless you asked me to."

Shotguns would be a good idea, if he thought of it. As it was, he was only thinking blades.

He wouldn't sit by if Enjolras hurt her purposely. For now, it was only his stupidity doing so. If that ever crossed to deliberate intention...

As if reading Max's mind, Wyatt took a step closer, arm brushing the other man's purposefully.

Awkwardness happened, so long as the boy took steps to fix it, there was no sense in sticking him yet.

"What you've told us, will stay with us until you deem otherwise." He smiled gently at her. "Ya need some help though, you don't be afraid to ask, huh?"

"Well, since I've already made this incredibly awkward-" Really, there's no going back now, and that blush has gone all the way to her ears. "Do you have advice for what I could do?"

The alternative is reading Cosmo, and that suggested spritzing his nipples with ice water. She's pretty sure that's not the way to go.

"Slit his throat," Maximus said, completely straight-faced, in the way he would say so to one of his soldiers, flatly and completely.

After a moment he offered her a warm smile. "Don't let it define you," he murmured, lowly. "Do not take it to heart. It is not who you are."

Wyatt slanted Max a bemused smile, snorting gently before turning back to Venus.

"Jus' remember that nobody runs before they walk, an' if he can't swallow that, he ain't worth yer time."

Venus pauses for a moment, looking stunned, only to break into laughter as soon as Max laughs. She shrugs and shakes her head. "I'll figure out who I am someday. Promise."

She still feels, especially by Wyatt's comment, that she hasn't made herself totally clear, but there's nothing she can do about that.

Woman, You've Got Too Many Brambles [Closed]

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