She knocked and waited, because when the door was opened from within, it had the potential to lead someplace quite different.

All right," sighed Madrigal. "To the baths, then. To make ourselves shiningly clean." Like vegetable, she thought, before they go in the stew.

I'm afraid they're in love," he said, concerned. "They don't want to leave you." He lifted one hand from her waist to gently brush a pair from her neck, where their wings fanned against her jaw. Melancholy, he said, "I know just how they feel.

Don't I deserve to finally be free of you?

Karou saw them with her human eyes, this army she had rendered more monstrous than ever nature had, and she knew what the world would see in them if they flew to fight the Dominion: demons, nightmares, evil. The sight of the seraphim would be heralded as a miracle. But chimaera? The apocalypse.

The worst moment of one's life could be seared into the memory, brighter than any joy.

Thank you, but we respectfully decline your overture, being more enjoyably occupied at present.