He’s frozen for a moment in indecision, ready to step back into the rain, but her soft voice decides him as much as the displeasure the thought of returning into the rain does. Stepping forward just enough to bring his rump back under the tree, he maneuvers himself into the somewhat tight confines, side stepping so that they are facing each other at an angle around the tree’s trunk. There is room for both of them, though Rhonen wouldn’t necessarily call it ‘plenty’.
For a moment he simply looks at her, the dark and dappled prettiness of her coat framed in red and feathers. She is nothing like him, he thinks, her voice quiet and her smile so calm. Calm enough to sooth even the roiling bitterness inside Rhonen that causes him to lash out at the world – at least for a little while. Nothing lasts forever, but she brings him temporarily back to Before. Before he fought war, famine, conquest, and death; Before his family vanished.
Still, the boy he once was does not come easily, and it takes those several awkward moments for him to untie his tongue and respond. “Oh – ah, I’m Rhonen.” He shifts uncomfortably, looking away from her but watching out of the corner of his eye. She reminds him of his mother – not in a matronly way, for she is much too young to be his mother even if he’s not that old – but she reminds him of everything that had been good about Natilyn.
Rhonen is so far from everything his mother had wanted him to be, and for a moment that fact overwhelms him, and it makes him sharp again, turning his head from her and looking at the branches above them.
He doesn’t have the slightest idea anymore how to hold a civil conversation.
For a moment he simply looks at her, the dark and dappled prettiness of her coat framed in red and feathers. She is nothing like him, he thinks, her voice quiet and her smile so calm. Calm enough to sooth even the roiling bitterness inside Rhonen that causes him to lash out at the world – at least for a little while. Nothing lasts forever, but she brings him temporarily back to Before. Before he fought war, famine, conquest, and death; Before his family vanished.
Still, the boy he once was does not come easily, and it takes those several awkward moments for him to untie his tongue and respond. “Oh – ah, I’m Rhonen.” He shifts uncomfortably, looking away from her but watching out of the corner of his eye. She reminds him of his mother – not in a matronly way, for she is much too young to be his mother even if he’s not that old – but she reminds him of everything that had been good about Natilyn.
Rhonen is so far from everything his mother had wanted him to be, and for a moment that fact overwhelms him, and it makes him sharp again, turning his head from her and looking at the branches above them.
He doesn’t have the slightest idea anymore how to hold a civil conversation.
![[Image: U5duKtst_o.gif]](https://images.imgbox.com/2f/f9/U5duKtst_o.gif)
Aubri & Rhonen [twins]