Thanks for letting me know I missed the notes in the chapter F.C. ;)

As asked, second update today. We hope you enjoy.


A few hours later...

"I'm fine. Last night I just-" Hyades drops her eyes, unable to find any words for last night.

"I'm not here bout last night." T crosses his arms over his chest as he looks away.

"Oh good." Hyades crosses her arms over her chest tenderly. Her hands were fully healed and the pain just a distant memory, drastically over shadowed by the humiliation of her failure, "But that doesn't really change anything. I have some, stuff, I need to work on."

T lifts a brow as he studies Hyades in disbelief. "Yeah, don't think so." He shakes his head. "You need out of this-" He gestures to the tombs around them. "And I already told Gil I'd bring you." He shrugs. "You're coming. Brooding won't undo last night..."

"I did tell Gil I wanted to hang out today-" Hyades sighs, "I just-"

"Just nothing." T shrugs, "You made a commitment to Gil." He reminds her. "Don't add deliverer to messenger." He threatens dryly. "I won't be nearly as delicate as Gil."

Hyades takes a step back, "Not funny."

T rolls his eyes, "Wasn't joking princess." He shakes his head. "Look… I can't pretend that last night didn't happen. We both know what happened. We both know it was an accident. You told the prick to let go, not your fault if he had a death wish… Albeit I doubt that makes it any easier for you… But it's not like this is the first prick you fried and let's be honest princess I doubt it'll be the last. Stupid runs rampant here, and you seem to draw it like a magnet."

Hyades blinks, "Wait, you- You know about- How?" How? She'd never had it happen when anyone else was around. She was always so careful when she was around the others. The others only happened when she was surprised. Or in this instance, scared.

"Well that's the first time I've been up close and personal while you fried a prick extra crispy- But it's kinda hard to miss the screaming Deez…And if ya haven't noticed, I tend to come running…" He shifts as he looks away a blush on his cheeks.

An unexpected smile turns Hyades' lips, "I have kinda noticed your hero complex." She sighs, knowing that T wasn't going to be distracted that easily, "But… I just… I need time. It-" She squeezes her eyes shut, shaking at the memory of her father's rage, "I- when I make a mistake… I need to take time to work on my… Whatever this stupid fire and stuff is."

"Tch, I fucking knew you were going to say that." T rolls his eyes. "But I don't care and neither does Gil, Harry and Uma…"

"You don't understand-"

"No, I don't think you understand." T shakes his head. "I'm not leaving til you do. Beating yourself up and brooding over last night ain't helpin' no one."

"That's not what I'm doing-" She stops at T's look of disbelief. "Fine, that's not all I'm doing."

"Look, I'm not going to pretend that it isn't a big deal that you straight up fried someone extra crispy last night-"

Hyades makes a noise somewhere between a hoarse scream and a growl of frustration. It wasn't just about the man she'd killed. Yes, she was angry with herself for letting her fear take over, but she wasn't deaf to her friends' objections either. The man had wanted her to go with him. She'd warned him. And here they were. But it wasn't just about him; her father had warned her. He was obviously losing patience.

T lifts his brow but continues, "But shit happens, Deez. And the guy clearly wasn't fucking all there- Anyone stupid enough to push you- Isn't all there." He repeats himself for emphasis. "You can't be responsible for other people's' actions… But you can learn to change your own. So how bout instead of sitting around making yourself up to be some horrible monster you learn a way to defend yourself that doesn't end up with you locking yourself up for weeks at a time."

"Thats-" Hyades takes a deep breath, "Fine."

T frowns as he studies her closely. "Doesn't sound fine."

Hyades chuckles darkly, "Because it's not, but I don't want to talk about it." She hugs herself, rubbing her arms against her discomfort, "So you win, I have nothing left to argue with."

T rolls his eyes, "Great," He pushes off the wall before he lazily saunters over to her, taking her by the arm. "But it's not about winning. We're not finished, it's not fine and I'm not done arguing." He continues as he starts pulling her through the catacombs.

"It's going to be funny to watch you in a one sided argument." Hyades rolls her eyes.

"Oh trust me princess, I'm used to one sided arguments-" T shoots her a shit eating grin. "Even won a couple." He adds playfully. "But I meant argue it later when your not so fine-ish all over the place, ya know?" He asks her as he continues leading her away from her room.

Hyades narrows her eyes as she watches T's back. He knew more than he was letting on. It wasn't the first time she'd had this feeling around him, but this was certainly the strongest she'd ever felt it. She navigates the tunnels easily, following after T's stumbling figure as she puzzles him out all over again. For the moment, she forgets all about the man she killed and her father's threat if she didn't get stronger. T, once again, had her full attention.

He knew more than he was letting on. But what? He didn't seem to care about the man. She didn't understand it, but even Jay didn't care about her burning Clayton. Was there a difference? They acted the same… So then what could be bothering T?

Hyades tilts her head to the side when she catches T's gaze drop to her hand, for the third time. It was becoming a pattern. Look, blush, look away, look back for a moment more, keep moving. Repeat. She looks down at her free hand as a chill dances along her spine. Could T have seen that? Witnessed her attempt to free her father from the binding cuff on his wrists?

Her heart skips a beat when T begins the pattern again.

Oh gods! He did… Her steps slow.

T suddenly stops and looks up as he studies Hyades quizzically. He releases her arm before he licks his finger, using the to snuff the little wisp of a flame on the arm he'd just been leading her by. "Sup?" He asks as he steps back, giving her space.

Hyades closes her eyes, "You came by earlier today, didn't you."

T's face suddenly goes as red as her face was white. He turns away from her with a curse, but reaches out to snatch her arm again before he continues to walk without a word.

"Ah." Hyades bites her lip.

"I didn't…" T frowns after several tense feet of silence, his grip on her upper arm tightening.

"I don't… I just don't want to talk about it. Or let anyone else know." Hyades interrupts with a wave from her free hand, "So… Um, can we just keep this a secret?"

"Deal." T agrees a little too quickly as he drops Hyades arm, confident now that she wasn't going to run.

She could live with that. She didn't know much about T's past, honestly she simply didn't know much about T at all. But, she knew that T had a secret. If he was able to keep his, she trusted him to keep hers.

"Best to act like the last twenty four hours didn't happen then… Don't ya think?"

Hyades gives T a small smile, "Works for me."

T nods as he lets out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. "That's what I like to hear." He shoots her a small, sad smile. "Best to just act normal."

"As normal as normal is around here." Hyades points out as they walk out of the tunnel and into the gloomy lack of sunlight.

"Hey man, say what ya will bout the isle, but even we got a norm." T shrugs, "I mean it's a fucked norm, but a norm nonetheless."


So descendants what are you thinking? How do you feel about D and T's shared secret? Did you like how protective T is of D? Do you think the secret's safe in T's hands? Are you liking the developing relationship between the two?