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[spoil-of-war.insanejournal.com]

WHO: Briseis & Achilles
WHEN: 25th June
WHERE: Boston
WHAT: A charity gala

The gala was being held by a group that helped homeless youth, which was the sort of event that Briseis was always happy to be involved with. The only problem for her was that this particular charity was one that David had helped in the founding of and had introduced her to, and the people involved were all those that had always been close to him.

Briseis wanted so much to drop out of it but she couldn't bring herself to do that. She had made a promise and David would want her to go. (A few weeks and it would be a year to the day since Set had murdered David, and the loss felt even more raw because of it.)

She came and knocked on Achilles' hotel room door and waited, wearing a nice dress and make up only because it was required of it. It had taken effort to be bothered with that much.

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[info]chink_in_armor
2011-07-05 11:46 pm (local) (link) Track This
Achilles could hardly turn Briseis down, not when his heart was still so securely fastened to hers. It seemed a trivial thing to keep her at a distance when she needed his strength, his comfort. She had not asked Patroclus, and that for him meant they were making steps forward after his unfortunate brush with Hybris. Briseis was trusting him again.

That day was nearing, he knew, when he and Patroclus had had to pick up the pieces of what Set had done to her. Achilles inwardly had no other competition standing in front of him with David out of the picture, but really could he deny Briseis her happiness? He'd been too blinded by being second best when David was a threat that he'd not given her that. Now he wasn't pressing, but his heart was still rather sore.

Pulling on his black jacket Achilles opened the door ready to be an arm for Briseis to hold onto for this event. It had meant much to her before, so it would mean just as much for him. He stood in the entrance lifting her chin up gently with his finger so he could see her eyes. It was a forward gesture to kiss her softly, but he would deny himself that. His hand cradled the back of hers so to whisper consoling words into her ear.

"It will be alright," he promised her that.

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[info]spoil_of_war
2011-07-07 07:28 pm (local) (link) Track This
Briseis nodded as she took a deep breath. "I know," she told him, making herself believe it even as she spoke. "It's just...the day of it gets closer and I keep thinking that he's going to show up and-" She forced herself not to look over her shoulder to where she imagined Set lurking. She couldn't help feeling like he was always there these days, ready to attack again.

Briseis swallowed and shook her head, forcing a tight smile. "I know," she promised Achilles when she looked at him, because she did know what he had been going to say: that he'd protect her, that he wouldn't let it happen again. "I'm just... not comfortable."

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[info]chink_in_armor
2011-07-07 10:20 pm (local) (link) Track This
"No one's here, no one but me," he said softly. He wouldn't let anything happen to her again, not like that. It seemed to be a reoccurring theme that he when she needed him the most he wasn't there, leaving for his own sense of glory, but Achilles had beaten himself down. He wasn't going to be just a wandering phase in her life that plucked away anything she had.

He could give her this and sacrifice himself in the process. He would be that strong and errant figure that she needed.

His hand fell from her neck, resting on her shoulders, silently promising her more now than he had ever been able to before.

"Take a minute," he instructed her, kissing her forehead.

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[info]spoil_of_war
2011-07-15 07:21 am (local) (link) Track This
"Thank you," Briseis said to him softly and nodded. "Actually," she said and walked into his room.

"Maybe a quick drink for courage," she told him with a nervous smile, going for the mini-bar. Courage to forget about Set and courage to face a room full of David's friends. Briseis found it endlessly frustrating that even now, when she'd tried so hard, she was still defined by the men who died and left her.

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[info]chink_in_armor
2011-07-15 11:12 pm (local) (link) Track This
His hands left her but still kept himself a close distance from her as she reached for the courage she was seeking. He wasn't a fan of using vices to calm nerves, but he could hardly tell Briseis otherwise. Not tonight.

"It'll be fine." When she needed someone to lean on, needed his strength he would not hesitate to lend it. He would be her steady arm tonight, the wishes of a long-lost lover in the far corner of his mind. Tonight he was what he'd always been long before he'd taken from her what he wanted. A companion. A friend.