love around the edges / kieran & paige

[dars]

MAYOR KIERAN EMBERSTATT They’ve seen a lot together over the years, Kieran and the girl he’s been in love with since he was fifteen. Victors and tributes and marriages and pregnancies and children and also elections and illnesses and fights and silences. He’s glad for every second now, standing on the other side of it and looking back. Emerson is one year away from being in the reaping- Kieran’s options on what to do these days are limited. He couldn’t pull out of the mayoral race or it would look like he was trying not to pick a side in the brewing rebellion, so running for re-election was a must, which meant he would be subjected to another five years living under the public eye, his every movement documented for later use. One misstep and it was game over- Emerson would be the punishment, and Elonna is only two years behind him, Eden only a couple behind her. And that’s only if he wins. If he loses, someone else becomes mayor, hears about the rebellions that’ve been happening in other districts, and Kieran is suddenly the bad guy who held the truth from them. Who lied to them and said it was for their own good. The monster. Winning is a must. However— “I love my wife.” He smiles at her sitting there, braid falling over her shoulder, mustard-yellow shirt four sizes too big and covered in white paint from the kitchen remodel she’s been focuses on for the last two weeks. She knows already— he knows she does. He just doesn’t get tired of saying it. He hopes she isn’t too stressed— he’s been busier than ever and Emerson is almost a teenager, if anything they should be reenforced with backup, not splitting the forces they have. “Eden keeps talking about the zoo trip—” their way of cleverly disguising the need for Kieran’s presence in the Capitol for several meetings on the upcoming weekend. “I bet he’s gonna work with animals when he grows up.” Kieran certainly hoped so, because that meant he would likely be staying in Ten. Truth is that Eden wouldn’t ever dare to travel so far away from his mom regardless— sure, he was only a kid now, but Kieran didn’t see that changing anytime soon. Elonna was easy, because she’d been mentioning raising her own cows since she could speak. Emerson, though… He talks a lot about music, a lot about architecture, and a lot about leaving. He’s the most like his old man in that way, Kieran supposes, desperate to be anywhere else so he can convince himself it’s better. The job there has never been begging him to stay, though, Kieran is only going to let him know he has a home to come back to if he ever wants, when the time comes. “Everybody packed and ready for tomorrow?”

[d7f amber bosch 🌿 tris]

^✧ paige lowe _✧

In her softest moments, she is terribly hard on herself. She knows that it’s a process, reminds herself that it takes time for a wound to close, but she stares down at the red staining her fingers. She trades self sabotage for a paintbrush. Pushes down the grim realization that she erased herself from her first child’s life, only to give herself back with the arrival of the second, and the third, painting little exotic animals she’s studied relentlessly from a Capitol magazine she swiped from Kieran’s study. She’s trying. For the first time, perhaps the last time, she is trying so desperately to move forward.

Over her shoulder, her worst mistakes state back at her.

Failure of a daughter, sister, wife, mother, all while being blocked from the truth. Because all of her victims love her, save for herself, and it’s like birds eating from the palm of a burning hand. She ruins. She doesn’t know how to do anything more than live like a spark igniting. But what follows the flash bang? She chokes on dead smoke like an aftertaste. And in those shadows, she wraps her arms around the love of her life, her anchor, her siren call in the deep sea. It’s not drowning when it feels so much like the first time she’s allowing herself to breathe. If anyone deserves her whole, it’s him, and their children, and she will paint over every wall of herself if that’s what it takes. She urges herself to realize it’s not a betrayal.

”Our perfect angels haven’t packed a thing with all this playing, but Mom’s got it covered. It’s just me and you left, actually.” in the ceaseless night, their memories meet, lantern to love to / what follows the boom? She is a woman made of aftermaths. ”Meet me in the bedroom. I’m looking for your perspective on something.”

On all things. North Star of a boy.

[dars]

MAYOR KIERAN EMBERSTATT "Meet me in the bedroom. I’m looking for your perspective on something." The look he currently wore was something of a signature of his: left eyebrow quirked up with interest, mouth slightly ajar, lips sharpened to mischievously amused points. "Oh?" He inquired, mocking innocence to her as she made her way down the hall. Either she heard and chose to leave him guessing, or she was already too far gone by the time the words would've reached her, but she didn't answer. He did what was inherent of him, of course, and followed after her. Made it all the way there without being spotted, too. He found her waiting for him at the bedroom doorway. "Alright," he said, hands pulled up to matching rests on each hip, "Whatcha got?"