❀
She asks then if he’s difficult to manage - yes - and he laughs a little. He can hardly manage himself, and he’s certain that everyone else has it figured out. He tilts his head and grins when she calls him charming - this is going well, isn’t it - and says, ”I could say the same of you.” Not once did he think of whether she had Someone, or more than one; his heart beat for this moment and this alone. For now. He laughs at her joke but thinks: You, I could tell apart. Hajduk sighs exasperation through their bond. Unlikely.
His stomach trembles when she bumps his nose; what touch has he felt recently, save that of a sparring partner, a stranger passing in the market? His loneliness curdles, a sour bit of ocean water that never became a wave. Her words are almost lost on him but she says “wave” and he nods, absently, and then more vigorously. ”In their own way, they do. They move, sometimes. The wind rules them as it rules the ocean. There are storms, like the ocean, too, and there is absolute stillness like ice. You may know it better than you think.” And there is a softer smile, to the rescue. ”If you keep heading northeast you’ll reach the desert, or perhaps crest some hill that will let you see it. South of that you’ll find the oasis. It’s a paradise. But we’re not close. I could show you, if you’ve no other obligations. In this weather the journey will feel like nothing…”
@
the sun in my palm;
