11-13-2021, 11:26 AM
Her words hurt, and the blame settles uncomfortably on Malik's dark shoulders. It doesn’t matter, she says, he still forgot her, even if he wished he hadn’t. Even if the memories had been taken away rather than willingly given, even though Gale had shrouded Malik’s first year of life behind a veil of shadows that have only just begun to clear away.
Malik shakes his head, huffing out a hard breath as he starts to look away.
But then she changes, becoming a small leopard cub. That is a shape he remembers, one he often wore himself. One that he’d worn when his memories had been taken from him, Malik remembers. A foul taste rises at the back of his throat at the image, and he thinks that perhaps he will not wear the shape of a leopard again for a very long time. He is thinking of Gale, of the experiences he now remembers, and a shiver runs down his black marked spine.
Sickle’s voice, small and sad, breaks him from the grim memories.
Is she worth remembering? Yes, some part of him knows, but he is still flinching internally at the fresh memories of long-healed wounds. “He is wrong,” is all he manages, trying to convince himself of the same.
@Sickle
Malik shakes his head, huffing out a hard breath as he starts to look away.
But then she changes, becoming a small leopard cub. That is a shape he remembers, one he often wore himself. One that he’d worn when his memories had been taken from him, Malik remembers. A foul taste rises at the back of his throat at the image, and he thinks that perhaps he will not wear the shape of a leopard again for a very long time. He is thinking of Gale, of the experiences he now remembers, and a shiver runs down his black marked spine.
Sickle’s voice, small and sad, breaks him from the grim memories.
Is she worth remembering? Yes, some part of him knows, but he is still flinching internally at the fresh memories of long-healed wounds. “He is wrong,” is all he manages, trying to convince himself of the same.
@Sickle