OTA

[pecked_by_birds]

The past month- Months?- Had been strange. One night he'd found himself compelled to go out, as though something was calling to him. A silent siren song that had coaxed him into his car  and out into the country.

Where had he gone? What had he done?

Those were the questions he had to ask himself when he woke up in the middle of Hyde park in a rumpled suit and a brand new body. ...Possibly brand new. Certainly new to him in that moment, since he couldn't recall much of anything from the past few weeks. His head was pounding, and he was in agony. 

A large bird sat upon him. A hawk, he thought absently- Or maybe not. He couldn't seem to focus on it. Not when his gaze was so strongly drawn to all the blood. ...His blood.

"No," he said softly, trying to chase it away with a weak wave of his hand. "I'm free, you can't- He can't," he insisted, right before the world went dark. ...Not that it mattered. It would heal, he would heal. He always did. How else could the punishment continue?

Comments

[pecked_by_birds]

"Fortunes can change, Vanessa. Don't write off a happy ending just yet," the titan said softly, though he didn't sound terribly optimistic.

[miss_ives]

Vanessa simply shot him a sardonic look. Said the Titan who she had found getting his liver eaten by a bird of prey again.

[pecked_by_birds]

"They can," the titan insisted softly.

[miss_ives]

"Let's agree on fortunes," Vanessa stated. "But fate?"

[pecked_by_birds]

"If you ever meet her, she'll assure you nothing is set in stone," the titan shrugged. "Though I suppose that doesn't mean it's not cruel."

[miss_ives]

Vanessa looked at him curiously. "So it's not three of them after all."

[pecked_by_birds]

"Oh, there are more than three. Fate has so many forms, so many different histories," the titan assured her.

[miss_ives]

"Tell me about the one you were thinking of, then," Vanessa requested, ever thirsty for knowledge.

[pecked_by_birds]

The titan hummed, then wet his lips thoughtfully.

"She is tall, near six foot, her hair a mass of rope like braids piled high upon her head. Her eyes are golden brown, and when she smiles faint lines appear around them. Her voice is low but bright, filled with a warmth that is only for her. People catch glimpses of her in a crowd, but they can not see what she sees, the invisible steel bars and pathways."

[miss_ives]

"That sounds lonely," Vanessa remarked quietly, watching him closely now, as she had while he spoke of her.

[pecked_by_birds]

"No more lonely than the rest of us, petal," the titan assured her.

[miss_ives]

Vanessa's lips ticked up at what he called her; it was good to know that some things did not change. "Define 'us'."

She truly believed that there was a range of loneliness. She watched people; a great many of them were not as lonely as she felt, or as she felt some of them were.

[pecked_by_birds]

"The world- But in this moment, perhaps just you and I," the titan shrugged.

[miss_ives]

"I can only begin to imagine how much worse a long life might make it," Vanessa admitted.

[pecked_by_birds]

"Oh, you adapt," he assured her. "It just becomes a part of who you are. ...Though I'm a bit mad, so my opinion might be slightly warped."

[miss_ives]

"Well." Vanessa smiled one of her usual, close-lipped smiles, more evident in her eyes than on her lips. "Madness loves company."

[pecked_by_birds]

"That it does," the titan agreed, holding his teacup up as though toasting to the idea.