quiet in the dark; LILITHA

[Romek]

fuck all your dreams; they're not all they seem.

He thought he had felt grateful before, but it was not a patch on what he felt now as he watched his little fire-girl burst out the brush, tears rolling down her face. He holds her close to him, protectively, his own eyes feeling a little watery. He felt bad for misplacing her in the first place, for not realising she was not there instantly – but there had been so much going on, that he truly hadn’t noticed.

”Where were you? What happened?” he asks her, in his best stern-parent voice, despite the overwhelming relief he feels at finding her. She shouldn’t have gone wandering off on her own. They were all busy that day. ”You didn’t think I’d be mad at you for telling the gods what-for, did you?” he remembers her burning anger with… Pride. That was it, he was proud of her for sticking to her guns so fiercely, proud of her for not rolling over when everyone else was. Romek begged. He would’ve begged and rolled onto his back if it meant securing a home for his family (not that he didn’t try to understand why the gods were so angry - he found it hard to believe that they would tear their own land apart just to spite them all).

”Come home.” he says. ”Taiga is lovely. Your siblings like it. There’s a lot to explore. Come on, Lily, let’s go home.”

Romek