Lookedinfinite - Blog Posts
with his mouth in a tight line, arthur's head turns away to look straight ahead. hers is not an unfamiliar sentiment - one that's been mostly BEATEN out of arthur some time ago, but still there somewhere. still huddled inside the shell of a killer & a thief.
❝ ain't no shame in lookin' for the GOOD in the world. ❞
his words are low, as if arthur were sharing a secret. the next moment, he's waving his hand up & shouting for the attention of the barkeep. ❝ lemme buy you somethin', ❞ he says, giving maeve a sideways glance. ❝ seems like you need something to get your mind off things. what'll you have ? ❞
reputations are everything, maeve isn't blind to that. she hides behind whichever one suits her best - those who label her as just a gentle, sweet woman. those who notice cleverness, that underestimate it all the same. everyone seems to be painted by so many artists... it's almost hard to keep track of which whispers come from where.
like seeing in the dark, it's often a matter of gut && experience.
her time with bobby was far from kind, far from gentle. but that doesn't mean she wants to let herself become used to the bad over the good.
"I just worry once I let myself always expect the bad, I'm setting myself up for that being how I see the world forever." and at that point, it becomes only surviving, not living. maeve can't help the part of her that is sure it's risk the danger to herself to simply... try to keep seeing at least some good. "I learn my lessons, I just don't want to forget there's a world outside of those bad moments. which probably sounds silly."
a short bark of laughter comes from arthur as he stands, thumbs coming to hook into his gunbelt. his smirk is CROOKED, stretching over tanned skin in a way it often doesn't. it half comes from amusement, half because he's always a little put on the spot when teased by a woman.
" can't have that. i've got a reputation. "
arthur is QUIET for a moment, his smirk fading because he feels his work isn't yet done. emotional upkeep falls far beyond his scope of expertise - but arthur knows how it is when the chips always feel like they're down. like he's run out of options. it's not a feeling he wishes on any decent person.
" all's i'm saying is gut feelings ain't there for nothin'. what's the point in learnin' something the HARD way if you don't learn from it ? "
"trust your instincts. when the chips are down, they’re all you have." from @quastari / arthur
her gut is a constant: the way instinct has kept her alive, kept her aware. young woman is a contradiction - the gentleness of her features, of her mannerisms, even of her silence... yet how cleverness fills those doe eyes, always studying the world as if waiting for the next disaster. she's not blind to the universe and how things really seem to go. yet over, and over, brunette does her very best to keep on choosing to see the good even when she knows how likely it all is to end badly.
"the chips always seem to be down." it's a dry little joke, quiet under her voice, attention still on the papers she's carefully sorting through. if anything - she knows it's a flaw she's so often tried to ignore her gut in favour of trying to understand other's opinions. it's how she ended up engaged to bobby after all, isn't it? "careful, I'll think you're concerned about me."