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[indent][indent][indent][color=gray][sub][right][color=dc143c][b]Location:[/b][/color] City Streets -- The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria[/right][/sub][/color]
[hr]It wasn't a surprise when Seele chased him down. Graves knew the woman well enough to know she wouldn't give up that easily. Usually, he found her stubborn determination admirable. Today? Today it was infuriating. She wouldn't let anything stop her: not pain, not him, not even the truth. What did surprise him, however, was the look on her face when she finally got in front of him. She was angry. Try as she might to hide it, it boiled up in her voice like a fire that wouldn't be doused. [i]Liar.[/i]

Graves stopped in his tracks. He wouldn't be able to get by without touching her and he'd never lay his hands on any of them again. Instead he stood, jaw set, eyes wet with tears. He felt a tremble in his hands he couldn't make go away. A thump in his ears like someone was taking a jackhammer to the inside of his head. It was all too much. Andrew wanted nothing more than to find his usual little hole in the dark so he could curl up in it and forget he existed. But that hole wasn't here- it was a world away. And he was trapped on this street with no easy exit.

[color=dc143c]"I know!"[/color] He roared back, throat raw with emotion. Like trying to speak past a gag. [color=dc143c]"This has been...You all have been the best thing to happen to me in years."[/color] Graves turned away, walking a few steps to the side so he might hide his shame. [color=dc143c]"Runnin' around on my own ain't exactly paradise. Think I know better n' anyone else that I'm not good company. I thought I could make it work. Make some things right that've always been wrong."[/color]

He looked down at his hands.

[color=dc143c]"If I stay I'll just hurt somebody again. S'only a matter'a time."[/color]
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