and at once I knew, I was not magnificent [Adaline]

[adaline]

— A D A L I N E — your mouth is poison; your mouth is wine (you think your dreams are the same as mine) There are many things that plague Adaline’s thoughts at night, plenty of fears and worries and concerns that cause her breast to ache as she chases what is often elusive sleep. But the fear of being a monster has never been one of them. She knew that was alien in appearance—she knew that she was different from her peers—but that deep-rooted knowledge had never manifested into a self-conscious thought. She had never once given time to fretting that she may not fit the traditional mold of beauty. That is, until now. Something in the way he stands speechless before her and the way his gaze takes her in and then cuts away as if she was too repulsive to see shakes her to her core; she feels herself warm with the utterly new feeling of embarrassment. Wrapping the gossamer-thin wings around herself, she stammers in her lilting voice. “Yes, glass,” she says quietly, ashamed of what she was for reasons that she could not understand. How foolish of her to think she would be accepted as normal when she so obviously was not. Her mouth pulls tight and she takes a subconscious step backward, unsure of how to proceed. Still, good manners reigned. “Nice to meet you, Ledger.” She cannot bring herself to meet his gaze and she looks everywhere but him, frowning down at the grass flooded with moonlight. How simple it would be if she was anything but she was; how pleasant to be seen as another being and not an otherworldly creature. “That is alright,” her voice wavers here slightly before she stiffens her metaphorical upper lip. Forcing herself to catch his gaze, she gives a weak smile. “I just wanted to see if you were okay. I didn’t want to intrude.” Shifting uncomfortably. she takes another step, “Have a good night, Ledger.”