#* ty soma!!! it's always fun writing something for these two :3

[phantasmaw]

♢*   —    @crimsontroupe ​ /  𝐮𝐧𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 & 𝐢𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐱 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬

❝ they stole my voice. this is me taking it back. ❞ - nox and vis!

     〈♕ *〉┊  How does one steal a voice? 

      A foolish question to ask, and so it does not leave his lips. The answer comes to him when he glances up at the man's severe face. The prince subsequently looks back down at the dusty manuscript lain before him. Those in power pluck at whatever strings they can wind 'round their fingers: politics, social issues, historical accuracy, economics, religion, and so on. What would stop them from treating the vocal cords of the masses, much less a singular being, the very same way? It begs the question of how many scripts he has overwritten in his time as the veiled emporer. Little more than parts and pieces bound by arcane duty, he talks with a thousand stolen words and thousands more to come. A little laugh huffs from his nose. Yes-- he does already know the answer.

     "And if it gets taken again?" He draws a deliberate, thick slash through a faded line of text. The coy smile attempting to turn his lips upward loses its strength, letting the corners of his lips quirk down into their natural state of musing. Another line, this one through nearly an entire paragraph. "...I can help. Potentially. Nothing extra required in return; I don't believe we could give each other anything we might need directly." He coughs then. His lungs cinch, ablaze with the need to expel all the oxygen from his system, bones audibly creaking beneath skin. Phantom fingers press at the soft dip at the base of his throat, warning him not to even entertain the idea of fraternizing with a foreign power's disposed pet project. It's almost funny. Very, very funny. 

       "Food for thought; no need to answer. At the very least, we can hope whoever you want to speak to would hear you." Oh, but probably not. The thrones of the powerful were empty more often than not. If prayers went unanswered, why would the hollering of a hit dog gain an audience?