|
Well, he didn’t make fun of her but his first question inspires a strangled sort of laugh from Maze as she tries to stop the flow of tears. As he continues to chatter - exasperation finally wins out over sadness and she turns fierce eyes to where Gale stands. Her voice is quiet but pointed. “How… how can you offer a hug when you won’t even get close to me?”
But once the words are out she’s not sure she wants to know the answer to that question, and she is reasonably sure she’s being pathetic by asking it in the first place. If he prefers this distance she shouldn’t let it bother her so much and she certainly shouldn’t let him know it bothers her. Maybe he had resented the way she had invaded his space back on his island, maybe her inexperience with matters of the heart had led her far astray and she had misinterpreted everything.
So instead of waiting for an answer she inhales a deep breath and then, though her voice cracks a little, she just says her new truth - orange eyes staring straight up at the starless sky and part of her wishing she could be swallowed up by the shadows. “I can’t shift anymore.” Further explanation, in that moment, fails her. Her brain stalls out on that single fact the way it always did whenever she tried to focus on her quest or literally anything else. Mazikeen remembers telling Gale how much shifting had meant to her - and her excessive use of it probably would have told him that even without words.
She doesn’t know what to expect in response and with another deep breath to steady herself, her tearful gaze finally moves back to him.
|
