Jude
In my head I am hunting for myself
but I come up empty again
There is kinship here, and Jude too considers testing their mettle against one another - until his face throbs, reminding him of wounds still unhealed and prompting him to take another few sips from the flask in his hands. Slowly, the wounds stitch together until all that is left is deep bruising which will surely heal next, and the uncomfortable crust of thick, dried blood on his face. It begins to itch, making his nose wrinkle and distracting him further from thoughts of sparring.but I come up empty again
"My mom would probably say something like 'balance in all things'," he says in mimicry of his mother's voice; young and airy, but serene - almost annoyingly so to any teen who would be subjected to it. His shoulders fold in slightly, reminded of how much he misses her and how wide and terrifying this world feels with every guiding light removed from it. Subconsciously he leans closer to Noe because of it, needing to feel just a little less alone.
Because of it, her flirtatious overtures are physically closer, and even in the torchlight she will surely see how his face fills with crimson. As easily flustered as she had assumed. "I - well - maybe," he sputters, certain that he doesn't agree but completely unequipped to deal with her confidence. At least he manages to surprise her in the end, restoring them to more even footing and giving Jude enough confidence to join her in her laughter, hoarse as his own is.
Except...her question makes him pause. Where would he be right now? Jude only knows Torchline, the Greatwood, Stormbreak, and little else. An entire world at his fingertips, and he's struck with the realization that nowhere sounds comforting. Except maybe - "I had a treehouse in the Greatwood. Where my mom lives." It makes him flush a little when he realizes how stupid and childish it sounds, fiddling with the flask in his hands and watching it gleam in the torchlight. "Right by the river. I used to lay in it and write. Poetry, music, whatever came to mind." Koa inviting him into the Carpenter treehouse had reminded him of that private place, a place that was just his, the first and only of its kind. "If I could go anywhere and do anything...I think I'd go back there. Because I don't...really know where else I'd go?" He turns his head to look at her, helpless and lost. Covered in blood and looking quite young as he comes to the realization that any other place that once brought him joy is now gone.
the night is a cavern
I am underneath it, inside it, anything but free of it
I am underneath it, inside it, anything but free of it
