And maybe if he knew her thoughts...
And maybe if he still wouldn't answer them...
Maybe she would be grateful not to know the truth.
She thinks the truth always seems to heavy, everyone holding onto it like it were salvation, redemption, or somewhere in between.
They pair of them have a common tie to Dusk. They are children of Dusk. And then this is where it ends, like perpendicular lines, he crosses into Day while she crosses into Night.
She likes it when he smiles.
Because it looks like a secret. Something just between them. And she thinks maybe she should start smiling like a secret, too. Because she smiles loud, for everyone to see, and wouldn’t it be better if he felt like her smiles were just for him, too? Her mother says greet everyone with a smile, just like she does. Elliana wonders what could happen if she stopped.
She tries it, mirroring that smile of his the best she can. Fails miserably at it, because it doesn’t fit her face the same way it fits his. Because she is not as thoughtful and, she suspects, not as kind. Or maybe because he will one day fly and she will not. So the most she can hope for is that he might like that she gives him smiles that don't quite fit her, that she wears it like blue and grey paint strung across her lips.
“Death isn't sad,” she says, shaking her head, and she ponders. “Usually she is so scary, but not when I paint her, not when i make her. Now she isn't scary. Would you want something scary or something sad, if you had to choose?” She is rambling, a horribly unattractive quality, but she is too young to know that yet.
She watches him on the rock, stretching out his wings, Elli thinks maybe he could climb the mountains Denocte just as easily. She rolls her shoulder in response to his question. Elliana is far too young to understand the complexities of leaving home and what it entails, what it means. She can picture it only as well as she could picture a dream. “Some where with lots of wildflowers—and quiet.” Yes, quiet, where even the sound of petals on a breeze is deafening.
@
