With no one wearing their real face It's a whiteout of emotion
"Yeah. I really should." The drink burned on her tongue, turning syrupy halfway down the throat and lingered, lingered, scalding the back of her tongue. Yet it wasn't an unpleasant burn; the aftertaste was that of cayenne and ginger, half a tonic and somewhat soothing. Kicked like a mule, too.
"Could you tell me again, what else I need to figure out?" Sinking down to sit sideways on a chair, she decided that the lack of dismissal equaled an invitation to sit. Leaning into the backrest, Maea picked a slice of cured meat from the plate, only to pick it apart; she was hungry, but there was a lump in her throat that made it hard to swallow. "I'm afraid I didn't listen well enough, last time you tried to tell me." Too wrapped up in her own struggles, not receptive to the needs of a friend who required more than she had been given. Perhaps there were things about herself that would never actually change - but Maea thought she might be able to put in some real effort, this time. Not merely sweep her flaws under the rug and shrug them off as inevitable.
"Can I ask, how you've been? How you're doing..?" Just like with Liam, there were no outward signs of the Void within her younger kin. No way of telling when it had slipped beneath her skin, or whether it altered her in any significant way. The sharp tongue was the same, her raven hair and piercing eyes as stunningly beautiful as always. Night taken physical form, ocean and black sand manifested in this woman who was so much younger than she appeared. Maea always forgot about that. Forgot that the chronically competent and independent pirate was little more than a girl, someone she ought to care for instead of relying upon.
"Could you tell me again, what else I need to figure out?" Sinking down to sit sideways on a chair, she decided that the lack of dismissal equaled an invitation to sit. Leaning into the backrest, Maea picked a slice of cured meat from the plate, only to pick it apart; she was hungry, but there was a lump in her throat that made it hard to swallow. "I'm afraid I didn't listen well enough, last time you tried to tell me." Too wrapped up in her own struggles, not receptive to the needs of a friend who required more than she had been given. Perhaps there were things about herself that would never actually change - but Maea thought she might be able to put in some real effort, this time. Not merely sweep her flaws under the rug and shrug them off as inevitable.
"Can I ask, how you've been? How you're doing..?" Just like with Liam, there were no outward signs of the Void within her younger kin. No way of telling when it had slipped beneath her skin, or whether it altered her in any significant way. The sharp tongue was the same, her raven hair and piercing eyes as stunningly beautiful as always. Night taken physical form, ocean and black sand manifested in this woman who was so much younger than she appeared. Maea always forgot about that. Forgot that the chronically competent and independent pirate was little more than a girl, someone she ought to care for instead of relying upon.
And I've only got my brittle bones to break the fall
Maea
