#there's a mutual resentment between them btu also a truce of sorts regarding making life under chen less awful

[razzle-zazzle]

how does skylor feel about cole in eye for an eye?

902 Words

AO3 ver

Skylor made her way down the tunnel as casually as she could manage. There was hardly anyone here, in this particular corner of the maze, but that didn’t mean there was nobody. Patrols came through every so often, to say nothing of those who came out here to get away with things her father would not approve of. Already, she’d passed a pair making out in an alcove.

Another thing to be weary of here was Edengarde, but Skylor knew that the giant serpent’s feeding time was soon—and in another part of the maze entirely. With that in mind, it was easy for her to get to where she needed to be—but she couldn’t rush. Anything she did might end up reaching her father’s ears; best to act normal.

Skylor ducked into a crevice, slipping between the crack to reach her destination. The other end opened up into a small cavern used for storage—specifically, it opened up into the back end, in a little nook hidden within the crates. The nook was so small that Skylor had to crouch down, but there was still enough space for her and one other person to sit and chat.

And indeed, there he was, sitting in the shadows of the nook, arms crossed over his chest. “Took you long enough.” He muttered, reaching into the small satchel sitting in his lap.

���Can it, Cole.” Skylor huffed. “It’s not easy sneaking around when your every movement is recorded.” Cole didn’t have it easy in any sense of the word, but when it came to getting around unnoticed, he certainly had it easier than her. Nobody cared what he was up to if he looked like he was working, and hadn’t caught her father’s attention again. But there were eyes on Skylor nearly all the time. Even moments like these, hidden away in the cracks and crannies, seemed to somehow reach her father’s ears as absences from her usual duties, deviations from her schedule.

—Gray jumpsuit in the corners of the tunnels, tucked into the sides where nobody would notice him. Dark hair held back with old clips, white bandages wrapped around his hand.

A hand on her shoulder, guiding her back into the more ornate halls of her father’s palace, away from sharp glares and a single spot of gray in a sea of colors—

“Oh, touchy today, are we?” Cole snarked, pulling out a small bundle wrapped in cloth. “Are all your pretty princess dresses getting too tight for you?” He sneered, but allowed Skylor to swipe the bundle without protest.

Skylor rolled her eyes, but didn’t rise to the jab. Cole was all talk. Not once since he’d gotten here had he actually managed to do anything he aspired for—all his escape attempts ended in failure, and going against her father never ended well for anyone. All bark and no bite—the power of Earth in her father’s staff proved that.

—Meeting in an empty cell, sitting right below the window on the door and keeping their voices low.

“Oh, so the Princess finally came down from her tower.” Hackles raised, teeth bared, accusation in his whisper. “Finally get bored with being Daddy’s Favorite Circus Animal?”

A sharp kick to his shin, making him bite his tongue and hiss in pain. She had smirked, then, before leaning forwards to ask for her very first favor—help her get onto the factory floor.

Cole had been sold the moment she mentioned her father wouldn’t allow her in there—

But… he never really stopped fighting—he just got better at it. At finding places to hide away, at getting things he shouldn’t have and into places he shouldn’t be. For all that Cole was fighting a losing game, Skylor supposed there was something in how he kept fighting.

—Standing beside her father’s throne as a boy her age was forced to the ground, red-hot iron glowing above him.

Screams as she peeked through her fingers, unable to look away—

Skylor turned the bundle over in her hand. “For what it’s worth… thanks.” She pocketed the bundle, and moved to squeeze back out into the tunnels.

Cole snorted. “Don’t mention it, Princess.” He shrugged. “And don’t forget your end of things.” He reminded her, voice taking on a hard edge.

Skylor couldn’t help but turn back around to look him in the eyes. “Oh, you mean when I wipe the floor with you for an hour?”

“I’ll get you one day.” Cole retorted, and Skylor wasn’t sure if it was a promise or a threat. Maybe both. “Just you wait.”

Skylor turned back to the crevice, and started to squeeze her way through. “Sure you will.”

—”Oh, fuck you.” Words spat with a bitter tongue, frustration heavy in her chest.

A sneer, a response, a “sorry, princess, but you’re not my type.”

A kick to his shins to send him tumbling to the floor—

By all rights, Cole should hate her. And maybe he did. But if there was one thing Skylor could trust, it was that Cole hated her father more than he hated her. If there was something her father didn’t want her to have or to do, Cole would make it happen just to spite him. It was something Skylor could trust Cole on no matter what. The cloth-wrapped key in her pocket was proof enough of that.

Didn’t make him less of a failure jerk, though.