Everest
Everest keeps close to Isla as they move through the current of people, the way her arm is looped with his own giving him an anchor to orient against. His eyes move in their habitual sweep—stall signs, lantern clusters, costume masks darting in and out of sight—and each time someone brushes too near, his shoulders tighten before easing again when Isla steadies his pace. The crowd isn’t unbearable, not with her there, but the background noise stacks in layers that his mind can’t help but catalogue and sort.
The corners of his mouth curl into a small, almost private smile as he glances down at her. "I think that usually happens when you visit a place you used to be familiar with," he murmurs, words quiet so they don’t catch on the air. "Time always feels thicker when you’ve been gone." His gaze drifts to the lanterns she’s arranged, cataloguing their shapes with the same care he’d give a diagram. The fiddle he recognizes immediately; the firework cannon startles him into a pause, the snarling dragon’s mouth glinting in the lamplight.
"That one’s…unexpected," he admits after a moment, but his tone holds no judgement. Just surprise and the faintest hint of admiration for the craftsmanship. He tilts his head toward Isla, brows drawn as he considers. "You and Edrei—" he gestures lightly to the lantern, "—were you close as well? The same way you and Varus were?" There’s no edge to the question, no accusation. Just quiet curiosity, his thumb tracing an unconscious rhythm against the inside of Isla’s arm as he waits for her answer.
The corners of his mouth curl into a small, almost private smile as he glances down at her. "I think that usually happens when you visit a place you used to be familiar with," he murmurs, words quiet so they don’t catch on the air. "Time always feels thicker when you’ve been gone." His gaze drifts to the lanterns she’s arranged, cataloguing their shapes with the same care he’d give a diagram. The fiddle he recognizes immediately; the firework cannon startles him into a pause, the snarling dragon’s mouth glinting in the lamplight.
"That one’s…unexpected," he admits after a moment, but his tone holds no judgement. Just surprise and the faintest hint of admiration for the craftsmanship. He tilts his head toward Isla, brows drawn as he considers. "You and Edrei—" he gestures lightly to the lantern, "—were you close as well? The same way you and Varus were?" There’s no edge to the question, no accusation. Just quiet curiosity, his thumb tracing an unconscious rhythm against the inside of Isla’s arm as he waits for her answer.
even if i had to lose you to know you,
i'd still be that temporary phase that you grow through
i'd still be that temporary phase that you grow through
