Zelda only looked away from Dio when Dio moved, training her stare instead on somewhere other than Ari's face - the collar of his shirt, maybe.

There was some loaded married-people conversation happening in front of her, and as soon as Ari spoke again, Zelda understood it. She shouldn't have lied; shouldn't have come here, either, taken her chance with someone else. Should have called things off in the garden earlier. Unconsciously, she reached up to twist the scarf in her hands, desperately needing something to hold onto while things spun out in front of her.

Sometimes she and Ari were allies, Zelda thought; the thing was, it was rare now, and Zelda never knew whether or not they were on the same team until Ari decided.

"Ari please," Zelda said, still in that distant voice; she couldn't find the ability to beg for it, because all the bravery she had was keeping her stuck to the floor. She wanted to bolt, but where would she even go? "We didn't -" she cut herself off. She didn't know if it was going to be better or worse if she told Ari it was just her neck, and there was a part of her that doubted - would he even believe her?

"We didn't do anything else," Zelda finished, still looking at Ari's collar instead of at his face.

It wasn't just Ari's stare - she had not looked at his eyes but she could feel it on her face - keeping her stuck begging in the sitting room. It was a stark realization: Zelda wasn't sure if she could do this, the whole courtship thing, the way it made her feel small and trapped and unlike herself, if it was about to get harder.

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The following 2 users Like Zelda Darrow's post:2 users Like Zelda Darrow's post
   Ari Fisk, J. Alfred Darrow