GODSENT | reyge

4-2; as thin as the cicada's wing

"Why did you bring it up?"

Expectedly, Sage corners Reyna in the hallway, arms crossed over her chest and looking betrayed. It's in the earliest, ungodliest hours of the morning, but Reyna had been roused from bed with a ringing alert from her Protocol-licensed phone, much to her chagrin. Has she mentioned she wasn't a morning person? Especially at one in the morning.

"She has gotten better." Reyna grips her mug handle, manoeuvring around Sage to seat herself at the kitchen island. Luckily, coffee helps with waking and stimulating her brain, though she can't say the same for her Radianite heart. "It might do her good to test her limits again. Won't it be terrible if it were to remain a muzzle?"

"You know how she feels about it." Sage sounds almost exasperated, following Reyna with an incredulous gaze. Of course she isn't affected by the hour. "Let her decide it on her own terms."

Reyna remains silent. Radiants should never be restrained in showing their full potential, but it would be wise not to anger her benefactor before an important meeting. So she merely studies Sage going about making her own tea with a fervour belying her emotions—jasmine, judging by the smell, a pleasant, familiar aroma filling the kitchen.

Neon has demonstrated stellar progress in the past week, and it is time to take a step forward. Instinct tells her that the time is now. Young agents have the most potential, and Neon shouldn't hide behind her fear.

Sage heaves a sigh, taking the seat next to Reyna, their shoulders brushing. "One Chamber is enough for her. Think about what is best for her, your own interests excluded." She punctuates that with a small sip of her steaming tea.

Perhaps this is why Reyna had Sage make that promise. It had been a product of both impulse and deep reflection, thinking of Lucia's mortified face should Reyna ever disclose what she had done to keep her alive. Thinking of Lucia dying without ever seeing the world again.

Perhaps, then, the world doesn't need saving.

"The meeting starts in five minutes." Sage takes another graceful sip, her frustration gone with the wind. She looks the same as always: pristine, calm and controlled. Reyna, habitually, tunes in to her heartbeat, always watching, always eager for the jumps and lulls.

Would she ever destroy a world with Sage in it?

Reyna smiles to herself. It is best that she never finds the answer. It's blurry for her, has been for a long time. She has come far since establishing Rosarito into the peaceful port town it is today. It gets hazy. What is she here for? Yes, Lucia. But will it all matter when Lucia will eventually die? No, she cannot fathom such an outcome. Blurred lines, a spinning head.

"You were right as always, cariño." Reyna shrugs, lowering her coffee and smirking at Sage, who looks a little unfocused. Reyna squints slightly, but the outlines of Sage's body get no clearer. "Brimstone is as unmovable as a boulder."

Sage manages to look twice as exasperated than she had earlier. "Consult me before you email him for frivolous reasons."

"No guarantees," Reyna hums. Even her coffee is swimming. She blinks. Shakes her head slightly. It goes away.

Sage studies her closely, then sighs, picking up her tea and downing it all in a single gulp. "Come, we shouldn't be late."

They aren't late. So it is just Brimstone and Callas staring at the two of them as they enter the meeting room, door sliding closed behind them.

Sabine—Viper—looks up from her tablet and raises a brow, flits her gaze between both Sage and Reyna. "You are early," she says miserably, as if they shouldn't have been. "I wasn't aware both of you were...on amicable terms."