freya tucks some of her own flyaways behind her ears. her expression softens at the request and she reaches for the towel slung over one shoulder, patting her sweaty palms dry before gesturing robin follow her. 

she doesn't take her back to baloo and kaheera. no, instead she takes her to the small orchard where a few apple tree transplants grow. the first of them has an appletun curled up at the base of its trunk; the dragon lifts its head, chuffs once, and then allows them to pass. 

syrup is soft and sweet, fresh in the air. 

"you sleep well enough?" she asks. she doesn't wait. she goes to working on the snarls in robin's hair, thin fingers as gentle as they can be. she's done this before for delta. the thought warms her and saddens her all at once.

"should've warned you - baloo's a snorer." 

robin coello

☉

robin asked only for her hair to be untangled, but freya's fingers find a natural rhythm as they talk, twisting gently to create the plaits she weaves into her own hair. robin's hair is softer than what she's used to and she murmurs an apology when she has to tug a bit tighter to stop the first braid from slipping. 

"oh," she says, blinking, "i didn't know you were seeing gwen."

although it makes sense. gwen had mentioned her, hadn't she? that first time she came through to her office. and love, be it for better or worse, meant doing anything to protect the ones you love. 

"hopefully i'm not working her too hard lately." a pause, fingers pitching another half-done braid in one hand so she can squeeze robin's shoulder with the other. "and you don't have to thank me, but i appreciate it. just glad i could help."

robin coello

☉

robin stumbles over the word like a newborn faun and freya's brows knit in confusion before she remembers just how young her and gwen are. fingers pause in robin's hair; she can't help but smile at the girl's reddening ears. and honestly, she might be just as helpless in this situation. almost thirty years old and she's only ever felt anything akin to attraction for a select few. 

her fingers find their rhythm again. 

"not exactly." because then again, maybe it's more like what she has with ALEXANDER STONE. she loves him, and she always will, but neither of them would be happy sharing a life with the other. 

"i should know better than to assume. she cares about you a lot. you're the reason she and i met in the first place."

robin coello

☉

there's no doubt in her mind that robin was the person gwen was talking about that day, even if she never called her by her name. another couple of folds and she tucks the next braid in on itself, tilting her head to assess where she should start next. her hair is long, thick, with plenty more room to work. 

"why she came is why i took her on in the first place. she wanted to protect someone. someone who evidently came back from patrol with a broken nose." her lips quirk.

absentmindedly, she adds, "i did the same for a woman i loved too." it never worked out, in the end. she couldn't save emma, and emma couldn't save her. her hands are back in robin's hair, and she's thinking of a younger self, before the world was a mess.

robin coello

☉

before the world was a mess, when everything made sense, and she was naïve and hated blindly, thought all things had one answer. swore she was brandishing justice. that her truths were truths, and that the people who cut out her ekans' eye deserved to die, writhing in flame. 

she wanted to protect people too, and when she couldn't protect herself, when she failed over and over and over again, when her body was broken, when her spirit broke too, and everyone left and the people she loved died or refused to forgive her, she scorned those who still remained. for power. and twisted self-mutilation.

it took her a long time to ask for help too, after that.

her eyes are soft and there is anguish there, a grief that will never go away, when robin turns to look at her. she untangles her fingers from her hair, thumbs her cheek, and nods.

"yes," she says, "because we are more than our mistakes and the people we love, they know that. even if we don't get it right sometimes, they help us. that's what partners do. and i can't tell you what to do or what to say, but just...don't wait too long. life, especially this life, is too short."

robin coello

When someone leaves your life, those exits are not made equal. Some are beautiful and poetic and satisfying. Others are abrupt and unfair. But most are just unremarkable, unintentional, clumsy.
- taz, balance arc :3

☉

life is too short and love is too long. she read that somewhere once. and how cruel it is for humanity with that truth. humans, capable of loving so hard that they can damage their hearts, ruin themselves over something so good. 

freya takes her hand from robin's face, returning that squeeze.

"good. it's not worth it, holding onto things like that. regret is an ache that never really goes away." even if something is made right. the time in between will always linger - empty wasted seconds, minutes, hours, where love could have filled the gaps. 

"the braids suit you," she says, tucking one stray lock behind robin's ear. she smiles. "but i might be biased." she's sure, though she doesn't say it, that gwen will like them too. 

robin coello

☉