12-24-2018, 03:02 PM
Kali clung tight to Daddy’s side, sighing and resting her head against his neck. She used to fit tucked right against the curve of his shoulder, her face barely able to pillow right there in the crook of his neck. Now though, she was too tall to fit like that, lean and lanky and what used to be elegant, but had lately started to edge toward gaunt. Hollow eyes echoed the hollows in her body where she’d started to lose muscle mass, ribs peeking through beneath her dull coat.
The coming winter hadn’t done much to mask it, living on the island as they did. Still, she was cold all the time, burrowing into family members for warmth as well as comfort. Couldn’t seem to shake the chill that felt bone-deep now, her body quietly protesting the way she’d been treating it, depriving it of food and water because it was so hard to force herself to eat or drink or even breathe sometimes.
She stopped when Daddy did, staying nestled against him and held close under his makeshift iron wing that he wrapped around her, keeping it at the same temperature as the rest of his body, warm and snuggly even though iron should by all rights be cool to the touch. Or that was what it was like when it was inert, but that cold, lifeless iron had always felt so wrong to her. Hard and empty and still and dead, when iron should be alive, supple and smooth and warm and malleable enough to bend to her daddy’s will and keep her snuggled up and safe.
As safe as she ever felt nowadays.
“Hey Kerb.” A familiar voice called from close by, close enough that Kali figured she could open her eyes and look into gold ones. Could. “Hey Kali-girl,” that familiar voice continued, trying to coax her in. “I’ve missed you.” The voice was closer, and she drew a reluctant breath, peeking one dull brown eye open to look at Roma.
She still mostly looked like herself, not ancient and deeply changed. Well that was good at least. She sighed and rubbed her cheek against Daddy’s neck, still looking Roma over. She had a wing up just a little, inviting Kali to come tuck herself up against her side and snuggle. But that sounded like so, so much work. Kali let her eyes drift closed again and let her head stay rested against Daddy’s neck.
“Sorry,” Daddy murmured, reaching back to fuss over her forelock and lip at her ears and press a kiss to her forehead. “She’s been like this since…” Since the thing they didn’t talk about, ‘cause she was still too fragile and traumatized or whatever. Didn’t matter. Not talking about it wouldn’t make it go away. “If you wanna come give her a hug or a cuddle, you can. Just coaxing her into doing anything on her own takes work.”
The coming winter hadn’t done much to mask it, living on the island as they did. Still, she was cold all the time, burrowing into family members for warmth as well as comfort. Couldn’t seem to shake the chill that felt bone-deep now, her body quietly protesting the way she’d been treating it, depriving it of food and water because it was so hard to force herself to eat or drink or even breathe sometimes.
She stopped when Daddy did, staying nestled against him and held close under his makeshift iron wing that he wrapped around her, keeping it at the same temperature as the rest of his body, warm and snuggly even though iron should by all rights be cool to the touch. Or that was what it was like when it was inert, but that cold, lifeless iron had always felt so wrong to her. Hard and empty and still and dead, when iron should be alive, supple and smooth and warm and malleable enough to bend to her daddy’s will and keep her snuggled up and safe.
As safe as she ever felt nowadays.
“Hey Kerb.” A familiar voice called from close by, close enough that Kali figured she could open her eyes and look into gold ones. Could. “Hey Kali-girl,” that familiar voice continued, trying to coax her in. “I’ve missed you.” The voice was closer, and she drew a reluctant breath, peeking one dull brown eye open to look at Roma.
She still mostly looked like herself, not ancient and deeply changed. Well that was good at least. She sighed and rubbed her cheek against Daddy’s neck, still looking Roma over. She had a wing up just a little, inviting Kali to come tuck herself up against her side and snuggle. But that sounded like so, so much work. Kali let her eyes drift closed again and let her head stay rested against Daddy’s neck.
“Sorry,” Daddy murmured, reaching back to fuss over her forelock and lip at her ears and press a kiss to her forehead. “She’s been like this since…” Since the thing they didn’t talk about, ‘cause she was still too fragile and traumatized or whatever. Didn’t matter. Not talking about it wouldn’t make it go away. “If you wanna come give her a hug or a cuddle, you can. Just coaxing her into doing anything on her own takes work.”