Kaisel
She feels like stone beneath his arm, stiff, unyielding. The brightness he remembers is gone, her color leeched like the rose thorn took more than infection when it pierced her. She doesn’t respond, and Kaisel wonders, did they fix her, or break her differently? Isn’t there a saying, something about the cure being worse than the disease?
His mind flicks to Flora. She’d come back from this. Noe could too. He has to believe that.
Koa’s arrival is a relief—he always knows what to do. Always. Except—shit—he looks exactly the way Kaisel feels. Kaisel throws him some eyes, a silent plea to rein it in. Slap on the mask. Hold it together. They can’t all fall apart at once, and Kaisel sure as fuck can’t be the most stable one in the room or they’re doomed.
He swallows, though it's difficult to do when his mouth has suddenly gone dry. Kaisel nods to Soh and gently presses along on Noe's shoulders, guiding her forward. She doesn’t resist, exactly, but it’s like leading a stubborn goat: sometimes compliant, sometimes planting her feet like she’s forgotten how to move.
They make it to the apartment, and that’s something. She slips out from under his arm and drifts toward the window like a trapped bird. He stays rooted in the living room, staring after her, the distance between them somehow wider than the space around them. His hands flex at his sides, useless and unsure. “Do you have a calming tea, Soh?” he asks, glancing her way. It's a small thing, something to do, something to offer. It allows them to give Noe space, to leave her with Koa. As close as he is to both of them, nothing trumps your sibling.
His mind flicks to Flora. She’d come back from this. Noe could too. He has to believe that.
Koa’s arrival is a relief—he always knows what to do. Always. Except—shit—he looks exactly the way Kaisel feels. Kaisel throws him some eyes, a silent plea to rein it in. Slap on the mask. Hold it together. They can’t all fall apart at once, and Kaisel sure as fuck can’t be the most stable one in the room or they’re doomed.
He swallows, though it's difficult to do when his mouth has suddenly gone dry. Kaisel nods to Soh and gently presses along on Noe's shoulders, guiding her forward. She doesn’t resist, exactly, but it’s like leading a stubborn goat: sometimes compliant, sometimes planting her feet like she’s forgotten how to move.
They make it to the apartment, and that’s something. She slips out from under his arm and drifts toward the window like a trapped bird. He stays rooted in the living room, staring after her, the distance between them somehow wider than the space around them. His hands flex at his sides, useless and unsure. “Do you have a calming tea, Soh?” he asks, glancing her way. It's a small thing, something to do, something to offer. It allows them to give Noe space, to leave her with Koa. As close as he is to both of them, nothing trumps your sibling.
There's darkness in the distance
I'm beggin' for forgiveness
But I know I might resist it
I'm beggin' for forgiveness
But I know I might resist it
Wearing a watery blue, faded and stretched-out sparkling hair tie on his left wrist
