10-16-2021, 11:34 AM
hadrien
He is a young thing, too. Inexperienced in what it means to try and lift anyone’s spirits. But she smiles at him and it’s weak but it’s not nothing. That means something, he thinks, it has to.
And it’s a pretty smile, even if there is still sadness lurking in the furthest corners of her mouth. Even if it’s not particularly convincing. It’s a smile that makes him want to reach out and touch her, if only to see if he can inject more life into it. But he doesn’t. He is young, but he knows that others are not meant to be touched unless they invite it and she has given no indication that this would have the effect he’d want it to.
So they fall into step instead, venturing quietly through the underbrush for a time. Just the two of them breathing in time and he almost forgets what he was meant to do. For a moment, it simply feels like a walk through the forest with a friend.
But she calls his attention back to his responsibility, his need to find his sister and tell her that their mother is alive, and he glances at her. He is prepared to answer simply: yes, of course, two sets of eyes are better than one. But his heart sinks with her admission. He hadn’t even noticed, he realizes, though it should have been obvious.
He swallows thickly and summons up another smile. “Of course,” he says. Plain. As if she hadn’t even added the second part.
But he’d heard it and he can’t ignore it. So, after a moment of quiet, he asks, “is it hard?” It is perhaps impolite but he is too young to know that. He watches her as they walk and clarifies, “only being able to see out of one eye.”
And it’s a pretty smile, even if there is still sadness lurking in the furthest corners of her mouth. Even if it’s not particularly convincing. It’s a smile that makes him want to reach out and touch her, if only to see if he can inject more life into it. But he doesn’t. He is young, but he knows that others are not meant to be touched unless they invite it and she has given no indication that this would have the effect he’d want it to.
So they fall into step instead, venturing quietly through the underbrush for a time. Just the two of them breathing in time and he almost forgets what he was meant to do. For a moment, it simply feels like a walk through the forest with a friend.
But she calls his attention back to his responsibility, his need to find his sister and tell her that their mother is alive, and he glances at her. He is prepared to answer simply: yes, of course, two sets of eyes are better than one. But his heart sinks with her admission. He hadn’t even noticed, he realizes, though it should have been obvious.
He swallows thickly and summons up another smile. “Of course,” he says. Plain. As if she hadn’t even added the second part.
But he’d heard it and he can’t ignore it. So, after a moment of quiet, he asks, “is it hard?” It is perhaps impolite but he is too young to know that. He watches her as they walk and clarifies, “only being able to see out of one eye.”
but if that chariot they’re driving don’t swing low enough for us
Just paint two crosses on my eyelids and point me out of touch
Just paint two crosses on my eyelids and point me out of touch
@frey