Johanne
I will start out bc this is something I've been thinking Abt now

Valio sat against the night sky, drifting against the sounds that coil into an ugly feeling against her ribs. It was a little polluted admittedly but this was as good as she could get. She could see the stars softly fade into dawn, it was such a pretty sight. She watched the cradle, as lively as it was, a void of black dancing in her ears as she watched a cat jump from Amelie's dorm window to the ground the cat in question? She trotted into the woods. 

Valio's mind fell heavy on her eye, feeling like it bulged from it's socket. A feeling of something moving in the only source of vision she has left makes her nauseous. It's so different from the moonlight staring from her with it's gleeful gaze. 

She leaned back, settling herself against the roof of the cradle. She let her feet swing off in a practiced daze. The gentle hum of her arms, her body, it felt nice. 

It was nicer than whatever was happening, she was just trying to calm down.
Michael
Esmeralda didn't have much a taste for the roof. Or the Swedish winter. It was Esmes first real cold season in Scandinavia, and it made Manhattan, to her, feel like Hawaii. 

But, she crept onto the roof, a coat pulled tight around her pajamas and a bonnet keeping her curls safe against the weather. She smiled when she saw a familiar, lurking figure leaning back, watching the stars. 

"My love?" She called, softly, as not to disturb her too much. She padded up behind Valio on gentle footsteps, her phone and a little gift tucked into her coat pockets. "It's only me. I'm right behind you."
Johanne
The sound of Esmeralda's voice curled so softly around Valio's heart. Her fingers twitched in habit as much as Valio willed herself stable there was always certain parts of her that sowed a her thoughts of fear physically. 

Valio smiled, a soft and meek thing as Esme approached. 
"Esmeralda."
Valio said with obvious joy with how she melded each syllable with a excited kick that hit against the concrete wall. She spoke gently, as she always did. She hung off each word Esme said with glee. 

She shoot up right with vigour. 
"I thought you disliked being outside in this cold." 
She spoke with a tight taste of worry in her throat.
Michael
"It's not my preferred way to be," She admitted, finishing off her little walk up to Valios side and lingering there. "But I would rather be cold with you than warm without you."

Esme deftly sat down beside her, carefully, settling against the concrete. A bluster of wind came by, and she hid against Vals shoulder. 

"Goodness! Very breezy this evening. How have you been?" 

She peered up at Val from her arm, a little smile still on her face despite the breeze shuddering her down to her bones. 

"I heard things are settling down in the basement, correct?"
Johanne
Valio looked surprisingly small with the way she was hunched over. She trapped her fingers with Esme's own. It was warm, it was the feeling of heat that made Valio shrink a little more. To hide against the heat of another like one scared against the ice. 

"I've been thinking, honestly. It's a lot."

Valio didn't quite feel the cold, she was a gentle warmth after all. She stared at Esme with a thinly veiled concern that warped the air around her mind. 

"Yeah. It exploded from what I remember, though I am still plenty scared."

The promise of snow seemed to only make Valio's worries worse.
Michael
"Thinking about what?" She asked, rubbing her thumb over the back of Valios hand. "I'd love to hear any of your thoughts you'll share with me."

She remembered the days she spent encased in crystal, the stiffness that still holds her joints in place sometimes, the way she scrubbed at her hands and her arms until they were nearly raw just to try and get the gemstones to finally leave her alone. 

Her gaze zoned out for just a moment, before she came back to. 

"Scared?"
Johanne
Valio just held Esme's hand, looking at it as if it was a savior within the dark. She didn't say anything, the sound of the wind filling her with a visceral feeling of something empty. 

Everyone is having it rough and her mind is skewed in so many places, she dosent want anybody to be alone. Not being there is just a violent fear for her. Just sitting there getting a grasp on herself while Esmeralda was in a crystal. If she was there she could've done better.

She always has to do better. 

"Always. I am terrified so often."

The air around her bleeds into a heat that coils like a snake in the frost-like air. 

"I was terrified that I had lost you. And others."

*Just like you lost her Valio.*
You promised yourself to never let it happen again, you broke it. 
Valio frowns.
Michael
"But you try so hard," Esme said. "That must count for something, doesn't it?" 

She blinked, once, twice, watching her beloved in the muted security lights hanging over the campus. Valios expressions were often unreadable, until she finally cracked a smile, or her brow furrowed in discontent. 

"It wasn't your fault any of this happened - or your fault any of this is still happening now. You are such a kind person - you care so much. I do not blame you at all." 

She squeezed Vals hand again, looking up at her, imploring a gaze in return. 

"Do not take on the world - even Atlas could only hold it for so long."
Johanne
"I don't know..."

Valio was drowning in static, how it crunched in her ear left her feeling disgusted. Wading through a sea of muck and rot. Ever the thing that covers itself out of fear. 

Valio looked at Esmeralda, she felt as though there was steam coming off from her. The sound of humming that bursts in her ears so loud. 
Valio looked as though she was merely echoing through water. 

"Mythology? Really?" 

A small laugh that was muffled passed through the air. Her lips parted as if going to say something, looking somewhere else for a second and then she smiles at Esme. 

"You're so cheesy. How are you that cheesy."
Michael
"It's a talent!" She chirped, cuddling closer to Valio's arm and holding onto it. "And - well, I haven't much to do around here, except read, be afraid of the horrors, and fawn over you, so I suppose you could say my expertise in Greek stories has improved!"

She looked up at the stars.

"There's so many out here - stars! Back home, I never saw any - except, maybe one or two, on a very clear night. I wish I knew any of them."
Johanne
Valio's face morphed into something akin to a scrunch but due to the scars it looked more like she was trying to remove her features. 
"You're more than that. You've helped plenty of people, hatsume would willingly vouch for me." 
Valio looks confused for an odd moment.
"Why particularly Greek stories?"

Valio didn't stare up at the sky for she has done that enough. She was looking at the sky's reflection in Esmeralda's eyes, and how they shined brighter than any star on a clear night. 
"I know enough. Dare I say I've found one I never knew about myself." 
Valio spoke with awe lacing her tone.
Michael
"I'm not sure," Esme shrugged - "I know a lot of Mexican folklore stories, my mother is from Baja California, you know. I suppose I just wanted to branch out a bit - plus, we are in... More Scandinavia than Europe, I think? If there is a difference."

She was rambling just a bit, head tilting side to side as she went between her different points. 

"Besides! When I get home, I'll probably go to college somewhere with some vague Greek inspiration. Might as well read on it now! My father was in some frat back in, oh, goodness, Virginia? I'm not sure. My mother said it wasn't fit, but, she's got all sorts of opinions on what is fit - Oh!"

Esme paused her ramblings with a deep flush of pink striking her cheeks. A smile pulled on her face, the awe just on the edge of Val's tone. Val had a way of looking at her like she pulled Selene's grand chariot itself, as if the moonlight over the Swedish winter was in Esme's very hands. It was humbling, and deifying, all at once.

Despite everything she had ever done, and all the wealth she had been born into, Esme would surely trade it for another moment here with Val, beneath the stars.

"You did?" She asked, her voice softer than just a moment ago. "Which one did you find?"
Johanne
"You'll have to tell me them sometime." 
Spoken gruffly, but still like it danced within shadows and enclosed spaces. Unbefitting of someone of Valio's stature. She knew her lessons.

Valio only listened to Esme with apt attention, she loved listening to others speak. She tells so many tales of her own she finds it amazing when others speak of their own, better if it's woven with their interests. 

Valio took her hand not preoccupied by Esme's own, to gently place it on Esmeralda's face softly. Valio was ever diligent about touch, being so feather light that you almost couldn't feel it. She was scared of hurting others. 

"You wouldn't believe me but..." She trailed off, her thumb caressing Esme's cheek. Her hand dropped and she looked away from Esme back to the stars. Valio faces the wind and the light that is shown so brightly above her with a joyous gaze. 

"I found *You*, Esmeralda."
Michael
Esme's eyes widened, just a little, in the kind of softest surprise. She leaned into Valio's hand, her smile growing as the surprise fell away. Small was the laugh, like spun sugar cowlicks wafting off the conversation as Esme reached out, her fingertips brushing the faintest edges of Valio's jawbone. Her heart thudded in her chest, but, she held no fear. 

"I believe you," She answered, her voice light. "But can you believe me, too? Please? My rose, you are so kind - you're the sweetest person I've ever known, I think. I haven't ever met a more selfless, brave person - everyone here should be happy that they've even, even *Met* You, much less been your friend. I know your friends have to know that, I know it, everyone does. You take care of everyone - and I really hope this doesn't offend you, *Cara mia,* But I want to take care of you, too. You deserve it - you've been through too much."

Tears shone on her brown eyes, and she blinked them away as the feeling rose in her chest. 

"I don't know where you'll end up - I really don't. I just know I love you as much as I can. Is that enough? Can you trust me with that?"
Johanne
Valio didn't move to Esme's touch, she couldn't feel it at all. It felt like Valio was miles away when she wasn't at all, it was frustrating as it was slightly relieving. It was a thin line painted in gleaming red that Valio stood on. Odd enough. 

Valio was stunned into silence at the besotted ringing of Esmeralda's voice. Her tongue pressed against her teeth, how the sound of her voice swam with bright effervescent colour that Valio couldn't even dream about. 

Valio hummed, looking at their hands held together so tightly. They at least look tight together, she wasn't sure. 

"That's enough."
Valio says but there's uncertainty that clogs her thoughts, it makes everything less than clear. 
".....I hope so." 

Again. Uncertainty. She was scared.
Michael
"You look afraid," Esme told her. Her voice barely fanned a candle flame, fingertips brushing Valio's face. "I hope it's not because of me."

She leaned just a hair closer to Val, tilting her head just a little, light flickering out of her dark eyes. 

"What do you want, my dandelion? I'd give you the world - you know that, right? Just tell me and it's yours."
Johanne
The huntress said nothing, looking like a wild animal caught by prying eyes and sound. Mere inches apart and delving into curious territory while the air filled with uncertain love. So close, the air between them both electric and yet so very much cold. 

The light of the moon shining onto Valio's eye showing how the pupil was warped, gleefully shining on her mistakes. 

Valio leaned forward and rested her head into the crook of Esmeralda's neck, her lips just shy of skin. 
She speaks almost inaudibly, cowardice from a strong woman. 

*"Can you show me? What it means to be your world?"*
Michael
"Of course I can," She answered. She rested a hand on the back of Valio's head, combing her fingers through her hair. Esme rested her head on Val's, closing her eyes to the sounds of light ambience from afar. 

"You will have to be patient with me, I think," Whispered Esme. "I haven't loved as I've loved in a while - though, I do count my friends - I'm awful at articulating. I hope you know what I mean. But I care about you! You are... Jee. I don't know where to start, really, isn't that terrible?"

Esme looked out at the world as she spoke, as if the silent campus could give her the words she fumbled over. She almost giggled as she spoke, something like nerves tingling her cheeks in embarassment.

"There aren't a lot of people who care about me like you do - there never has been. I don't know how to explain to you what it means to me without stammering, and faltering - and we can't have that, can we?"
Johanne
Valio just wrapped her arms around Esme, holding her loose just enough for Esmeralda to just slip away if she so wished. To be loved is something they both knew so little about, she felt denuded. 

She just sat there holding Esme. Not answering her. The stars slowly fading to dawn, it's fickle light dancing it's last before the closest star showed it's warmth that the ones so far away could not. 

She didn't know what to do, so she gave warmth. Something familiar, something close.
Michael
Esme slipped just out of her arms, just far enough, to lean over and give Valio a kiss on the cheek. She curled back against her in contentment.

"You're very warm. I think that's why I always sleep so well beside you."

She rambled off into some tangent, murmuring about her bed at home, and how warm it was, but Val was more comfortable all the same. Valio gave her the space to just *Be* And she loved that. She closed her eyes again, the rambling almost breakinig off into fragmented sentences. 

"I think I love you. Is that alright?"
Johanne
Valio felt the kiss just slightly, the feeling of Esme's lips on ragged and scarred flesh just gently pushing into a soft plush of something light. The dew-like touch of Esmeralda, addicting yet... Oh Valio was all too drowsy to chase. Tripping and falling onto a fine sheet of snow, curling into it's waiting cold. 

Curled against Esme like one was to hold onto something so prized like the answer to life itself. The Air seemed to shiver and falter with the heat of Valio. Pressed against Esme enough to crease the clothes against her skin. 

There was no blizzard within the mind of Valio Adjuk at the moment, for there was just the sky meeting her skin. The words Esme spoke were quiet, barely heard and sticky from emotions withered through tongue. The cold nips at her fingers, her voice small and falling like dust through the cords in her throat.

"ᵢ ₜₕᵢₙₖ ₛₒ?"

She closes her eye, and falls asleep in the cold. Her fingers now curled against the fabric of Esmeralda's clothing, clasped in it's worn leather. There was a small chattering of Valio's fingers before what was once a slightly annoying humm of electricity, soft and weak against the brilliant pillar of Esmeralda.
Michael
Esme fell into giggles, happily cuddling herself against her girlfriend and laying her head against her arm. Valio's little words and nervous fidgets were almost cute, so out of place for someone usually so sure and confident. It, she thought, made them about even - Esme found herself in much the same place when she thought about Val. She never knew much what to say - and often found her own words inadequate.

"That's okay," She said, "I'm not sure either. I'm not sure about a lot of things but I'm - I'm alright with that! I think I can handle it, as long as we're together."

She leaned over, and quickly pecked Val on the cheek again, landing back into a giggly puddle. 

"I'm always a little nervous, too, you know, with you. I always hope I'm doing things right. I hope that's okay."
Johanne
Valio was floating, within her own mind. She smiled against Esme whilst hoping this moment could last. Like a wee dream Valio was holding onto. She found herself left lost in a river of laughter. 

Valio felt so light, so happy and a delusional mess. She felt as if nothing bad had happened, oh if she was strong enough to protect everyone. 

"ᵧₑₐₕ. ᵃˡʷᵃʸˢ."

She words floated against Esme's skin like a gentle promise. Valio was going to keep it.
Michael
Esme let her head rest where it was, content, and a bit loopy herself. 

Once, as a child, she'd stood at the counter of a candy shop near Times Square. She hadn't been tall enough to see over the glass container, but she remembered it, the dizzying smell of warm, fresh chocolate, intricate golden leaves and strawberries all in little bowls and plates. 

This reminded her of that day, the ease of which everything came, the giggly blunder in which it left her. She hoped it would stay, if just for a little while longer.
Johanne
————————(THANKIE)————