Everest
Ever nodded once, slow and tight, already knowing that Mateo offering to fly La Verbena had wasn't really an option, whatever state he was in. "I’ll take her," he said quietly. "Not yet. But soon." Because the thought of La Verbena in the sky, of being somewhere quieter, somewhere away, was something like a star he could steer toward.
As for peace—his peace, lost or stolen—Ever opened his mouth, then closed it again. It didn’t feel like peace had been taken. It felt like everything else had been returned, all at once. Like being handed a thousand puzzle pieces and told they used to make sense. "I think Isla—" A pause. A hitch. His jaw clenched. "I don’t know." It was the closest thing he could manage to a truth; there were thoughts, and there was Isla, and somewhere in the mess of his mind there were thoughts about Isla.
At the welcome, Ever’s eyes flicked upward, and though they didn’t linger, there was a flicker of something soft in them. "Thank you," he murmured, this one not obligatory. He breathed in deeply, as if trying to settle the weight of the words around him, and then—slowly—he exhaled, letting himself lean just slightly deeper into the couch.
As for peace—his peace, lost or stolen—Ever opened his mouth, then closed it again. It didn’t feel like peace had been taken. It felt like everything else had been returned, all at once. Like being handed a thousand puzzle pieces and told they used to make sense. "I think Isla—" A pause. A hitch. His jaw clenched. "I don’t know." It was the closest thing he could manage to a truth; there were thoughts, and there was Isla, and somewhere in the mess of his mind there were thoughts about Isla.
At the welcome, Ever’s eyes flicked upward, and though they didn’t linger, there was a flicker of something soft in them. "Thank you," he murmured, this one not obligatory. He breathed in deeply, as if trying to settle the weight of the words around him, and then—slowly—he exhaled, letting himself lean just slightly deeper into the couch.
I was a dead man walking,
with bloodshot eyes—right place, wrong time.
with bloodshot eyes—right place, wrong time.
