[L's not breathing hard; he's scarcely breathing at all, not unlike a prey animal caught under the gaze of something fierce that kisses with its teeth. His knuckles are white where they grip the book in his lap; he bleeds, blithely, all over his clothes.
There's a stifled yelp when she pulls him up by his shirt, and he stumbles, because he could use his arms for balance, but his hold on the book is an unbudging priority.
It's like moving a scarecrow, both due to his insubstantiality and his tendency to trip a bit over his own still-wobbly legs. The alley is at least out of sight, but is it also out of frying pan and into something hotter?
Nothing more so, he thinks, than his burning cheeks.]
I didn't know, that it would-
[The explanation might sound fumbling and half-hearted, because well, it's only true insofar as L didn't know he would be Augustine, didn't know they would try to seduce the Emperor together. It would probably go over better if his participation hadn't been so obviously active and enthusiastic.
He's not sorry; he realizes there's no lie he can tell to make it seem like he is.]
no subject
There's a stifled yelp when she pulls him up by his shirt, and he stumbles, because he could use his arms for balance, but his hold on the book is an unbudging priority.
It's like moving a scarecrow, both due to his insubstantiality and his tendency to trip a bit over his own still-wobbly legs. The alley is at least out of sight, but is it also out of frying pan and into something hotter?
Nothing more so, he thinks, than his burning cheeks.]
I didn't know, that it would-
[The explanation might sound fumbling and half-hearted, because well, it's only true insofar as L didn't know he would be Augustine, didn't know they would try to seduce the Emperor together. It would probably go over better if his participation hadn't been so obviously active and enthusiastic.
He's not sorry; he realizes there's no lie he can tell to make it seem like he is.]