be patient, I am getting to the point —
The pain in her expression does not get by him, and his eyes narrow in concentration. It wasn’t that he particularly enjoyed causing her agony, but he figured that the situation was a little like a snake bite: you had to suck out the poison before the healing could begin. So he doesn’t apologize or gloss over it, instead tilting his head to the side and considering her. She was stronger than she thought she was, although he had to think that she would never admit that. She seemed like the type to consider herself weak.
That is, until she had a knife to someone’s throat.
But alas, he did not fear for his life and did not move out of range from her wings, instead walking by her side with the lazy stroll of a stallion who had never feared anything. “There isn’t much to know about me, but if you’d like to know just ask,” there is a quick flash of teeth.“I am an open book.” Not entirely true. There were secrets that he kept tucked into the corners of his mind, thoughts carefully placed and hidden. It was one of the unfair, but wonderful perks of his trait. He could flip open another’s mind as easily as he liked, but he also knew how to guard against a similar intrusion a little better.
“You aren’t boring,” he responds carefully, not looking at her but testing the edges of her thoughts as they hung in the air around him. “Perhaps a little testy, but not boring.” He laughs, the sound of his rich and calming in comparison to the jagged edges of her own. “You do have terrible taste in men though.” There is silence for a second as he considers bringing up the obvious before easily brushing it aside, “I mean, you have the chance to run away with me and you have to think twice?” He clucks his tongue against the edge of his teeth in mock disapproval. “Terrible taste indeed, Queenie. Leap without looking for once.”
His words fade away and, for a moment, there is silence between them as he listens to her without responding, wondering if he would indeed ever be able to make her feel safe again. It was unlikely. He certainly was not a knight in shining army, and there was nothing that he could do that would ever inspire her to open up. He wasn’t the type to sweep someone off their feet with grand gestures, and he was not exactly the reliable type. It would be foolish of him to pretend otherwise and cruel to let her believe so.
“I am afraid I won’t be able to give you a reason to feel safe,” but she already knew that. They both did. “You’re just going to have to get their on your own.” Another casual shrug of his shoulders, the meadow opening up before them as the sun began to slant through the trees, the crowds slowly beginning to form. “Why do you need a reason?” he counters quickly before exhaling. “Perhaps I would just like some company. It has been a long time living alone.” Perhaps he saw a project that could keep his busy mind occupied. Perhaps she struck a rare, compassionate chord within him. Or, perhaps, he was just bored.
dempsey