09-30-2022, 04:59 PM
Though Malik knows better than most how to make himself unseen, there are some things that he cannot hide. No measure of shapeshifting can disguise the desolation behind his charismatic smile, not from someone in whom the same desolation churns. One cannot witness their own reflection without allowing their mirror image to observe them in turn.
It is not a comfortable feeling: being truly seen.
He is grateful when she breaks their gaze, and for once the reminder of the ravenous sea is not unwelcome. It gives him something more tangible to focus on, and he’s thinking of the waves when he turns back to see the tear-like dew on her cheeks. The smile that had faded from his dark lips returns at the sound of his name, but he does not slip entirely back into the charade.
The hand of Fate on their meeting is too heavy to ignore for long, so as he begins to lead the way toward the Brilliant Pampas, he says: “Would you tell me more of your brother?” He needs to know what he is looking for, after all.
It is not a comfortable feeling: being truly seen.
He is grateful when she breaks their gaze, and for once the reminder of the ravenous sea is not unwelcome. It gives him something more tangible to focus on, and he’s thinking of the waves when he turns back to see the tear-like dew on her cheeks. The smile that had faded from his dark lips returns at the sound of his name, but he does not slip entirely back into the charade.
The hand of Fate on their meeting is too heavy to ignore for long, so as he begins to lead the way toward the Brilliant Pampas, he says: “Would you tell me more of your brother?” He needs to know what he is looking for, after all.