#OKAY im going to sleep and maybe this will make.more sense tomorrow

[sparring-spirals]

oooggghhh that Imogen message scene! so many small choices, all so heavy.

imogen, wanting a moment of quiet, of course, sure. imogen doing so by using her powers, easy and confident. invisibility, fly. using them for secrecy. All of that power, all of that capability, geared towards slipping out as quietly as possible, without alerting her friends. without telling them. without asking them, for help.

Imogen tells Orym; when she lands on the windowsill and he, ever perceptive, glances over. She went through the trouble to sneak out, she did not tell him until he had looked over, and even then, only the bare minimum, that she would be back.

It was not an explanation. Just a reassurance- for his benefit, not hers.

Imogen, flying up above everything. Not away, not out, not a secluded spot- above, high up, high enough until she can see the city sprawled out below her and it is finally, blissfully silent.

And she casts sending. Alone. In the blessed quiet. Asks her mom- where are you? Im in Yios. I know you said you wanted me to stay away but-

(but-)

She does this alone. She does this alone because the rejection was always a possibility, because asking for help is its own kind of vulnerability, especially when the plea could be rejected. She does this alone and in secret and high above a city that is far too loud, and so. When her mom responds, says no, says she needs to run, says its for her benefit, that she needs to stay away, because she wants so badly for her to be safe, that's all she's ever wanted.

When her mom says no, pleads her in it, Imogen is alone, in secret, above a city that hurts her to be in, carrying all kind of weight from the last few weeks alone, much less from the decades, alone. Imogen says, please, I'm worried the storm is going to sweep me away, if you don't come help.

Liliana says: If you come, it certainly will.

And Imogen says nothing.

Because at a certain point, what can you say? What good will it do?

Imogen says nothing, and she flies down, down, and asks Orym, quietly, voice ever so level and fragile, if he can cover for her, real quick, and casts invisibility again, with all that power, and slips back inside.

Alone, alone, still in secret, no explanations given, nothing shared.

Because, at a certain point, what can you say? What good will it do?