Theea
I blink, then laugh softly under my breath. “Gods, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to unload like that. I feel like I turned this into a therapy session, and you’re not even getting paid.” I glance over at her with a sheepish, crooked smile. “You’re really good at it, though. Soothing voice, wise nods… it’s kind of unfair, actually. You must make a fortune.”
Still, I mean it—every word of it. She doesn’t rush me, doesn’t try to fix it all with platitudes or tug the pain into a neater shape. Just listens.
When her fingers spark to life, tiny flashes of lightning dancing across her skin, I stare. Then grin. “Lightning!” The grin grows, bright and startled, warming me like sun after a snowstorm. “I love it. My mom was the first in her old world known channel lightning. It just… answered her one day, and after that, everything changed. She became this anomaly, and she was always fighting to be better, became so well known for it. It's always cool to see other people with it.”
I reach for her hand as she offers it, fingers wrapping around hers as I rise to my feet, my knees creaking in protest like tired old floorboards. I square my shoulders, give myself a little shake, like I’m sloughing off the weight of everything we just talked about.
“The Observatory in the morning sounds perfect,” I say, voice lighter now, touched with hope. “I could use a place to start. Maybe I’ll get lucky—find someone hiring, catch the right wind. At the very least, I can get a sense of which ships are heading south. I’ve spent so long feeling like I’m wandering in circles, I’d really love to pick a direction and actually go.”
Still, I mean it—every word of it. She doesn’t rush me, doesn’t try to fix it all with platitudes or tug the pain into a neater shape. Just listens.
When her fingers spark to life, tiny flashes of lightning dancing across her skin, I stare. Then grin. “Lightning!” The grin grows, bright and startled, warming me like sun after a snowstorm. “I love it. My mom was the first in her old world known channel lightning. It just… answered her one day, and after that, everything changed. She became this anomaly, and she was always fighting to be better, became so well known for it. It's always cool to see other people with it.”
I reach for her hand as she offers it, fingers wrapping around hers as I rise to my feet, my knees creaking in protest like tired old floorboards. I square my shoulders, give myself a little shake, like I’m sloughing off the weight of everything we just talked about.
“The Observatory in the morning sounds perfect,” I say, voice lighter now, touched with hope. “I could use a place to start. Maybe I’ll get lucky—find someone hiring, catch the right wind. At the very least, I can get a sense of which ships are heading south. I’ve spent so long feeling like I’m wandering in circles, I’d really love to pick a direction and actually go.”
cause we waited years and years
just to make it worth the tears
to find out that we're not in this alone
so keep your head up high in these hours of the night
so when atlas drops the world on your shoulders, you still won't fall
