06-18-2021, 12:27 PM
GRAVITAS
He’d almost forgotten.
(As in, he had almost managed to erase the memory from his mind. Emerging from the lake fully changed, the stars gone, replaced instead by fire, his sisters similarly transformed.)
If he hadn’t wanted to talk about it, perhaps he should have played it off as if they didn’t know each other at all. But he’d acted on impulse, letting the joke crawl up his throat before he could stop it. Before he could remember that he’d changed.
At least she doesn’t shout.
Still, he shifts uncomfortably beneath her studious gaze, wholly unused to being looked at so closely. And he works to alleviate his own unease by summoning up another smirk in response to her question. He rolls his shoulders, tilts his head and shifts his focus to the horizon. “I don’t know, when does senility typically set in?” he asks, the tone thoughtful, teasing.
He does not want to talk about the change or its catalyst. He does not want to talk about the darkness now any more than he’d wanted to talk about it the last time their paths crossed and he’s grateful that she asks something entirely different.
He draws his focus back to her face and rolls his shoulders again, noncommittal. “I know that you’re the youngest of eight but I don’t know your name. So, if we are buddies, I’d say we’re pretty unconventional.”
(As in, he had almost managed to erase the memory from his mind. Emerging from the lake fully changed, the stars gone, replaced instead by fire, his sisters similarly transformed.)
If he hadn’t wanted to talk about it, perhaps he should have played it off as if they didn’t know each other at all. But he’d acted on impulse, letting the joke crawl up his throat before he could stop it. Before he could remember that he’d changed.
At least she doesn’t shout.
Still, he shifts uncomfortably beneath her studious gaze, wholly unused to being looked at so closely. And he works to alleviate his own unease by summoning up another smirk in response to her question. He rolls his shoulders, tilts his head and shifts his focus to the horizon. “I don’t know, when does senility typically set in?” he asks, the tone thoughtful, teasing.
He does not want to talk about the change or its catalyst. He does not want to talk about the darkness now any more than he’d wanted to talk about it the last time their paths crossed and he’s grateful that she asks something entirely different.
He draws his focus back to her face and rolls his shoulders again, noncommittal. “I know that you’re the youngest of eight but I don’t know your name. So, if we are buddies, I’d say we’re pretty unconventional.”
@[Anuya]