VESPER
Vesper turns just before Jack speaks, feeling that familiar, controlled parting, the deliberate allowance of presence where moments ago there had been nothing at all, and though it still catches him off-guard every time, it no longer startles in the way it once did. Surprise has dulled into recognition, and if he did not know better, he might almost call it considerate of his father.
Straightening from the signpost, shadows loosening their hold but not retreating entirely, rain threading down the line of his jacket and darkening the ground at his boots, Vesper's eyes flick toward Jack, then back to the sign, and he rolls them with a softness that betrays more familiarity than annoyance, a corner of his mouth lifting despite himself. Mention of being thought of earns Jack a look, given that it is not the sort of thing one expects from Jack Barclay, not without teeth hidden somewhere in the delivery, and yet there it sits, offered without apparent malice. Vesper gives a short exhale through his nose and inclines his head a fraction, conceding the moment without comment.
"They do that," he says instead, gesturing vaguely with two fingers toward the surrounding trees where the paths that are already quietly reconsidering themselves. The rain vanishes from around him as abruptly as it arrived, the sudden dryness registering as a relief he does not bother to hide. He sighs, tipping his head back slightly and dragging a hand through damp hair now spared further soaking, fingers lingering there for half a second longer than necessary.
"No," he answers at last, glancing back to the sign as the memory mud stirs again at its base, patient and persistent. "Ain't lost, not yet anyway, but I will be," he adds, dry as bone, "if this fuckin' mud manages to cover the only signpost I recognise." The shadows creep forward again at his feet, already beginning to resume their work. "Other than movin' the mud away though, I haven't really found a way of keepin' it off of shit."
Straightening from the signpost, shadows loosening their hold but not retreating entirely, rain threading down the line of his jacket and darkening the ground at his boots, Vesper's eyes flick toward Jack, then back to the sign, and he rolls them with a softness that betrays more familiarity than annoyance, a corner of his mouth lifting despite himself. Mention of being thought of earns Jack a look, given that it is not the sort of thing one expects from Jack Barclay, not without teeth hidden somewhere in the delivery, and yet there it sits, offered without apparent malice. Vesper gives a short exhale through his nose and inclines his head a fraction, conceding the moment without comment.
"They do that," he says instead, gesturing vaguely with two fingers toward the surrounding trees where the paths that are already quietly reconsidering themselves. The rain vanishes from around him as abruptly as it arrived, the sudden dryness registering as a relief he does not bother to hide. He sighs, tipping his head back slightly and dragging a hand through damp hair now spared further soaking, fingers lingering there for half a second longer than necessary.
"No," he answers at last, glancing back to the sign as the memory mud stirs again at its base, patient and persistent. "Ain't lost, not yet anyway, but I will be," he adds, dry as bone, "if this fuckin' mud manages to cover the only signpost I recognise." The shadows creep forward again at his feet, already beginning to resume their work. "Other than movin' the mud away though, I haven't really found a way of keepin' it off of shit."
And it's all my fault that I'm still the one you want
So what are you after? Some kind of disaster?
So what are you after? Some kind of disaster?
☆ has a pale star tattoo beneath his left eye, and freckle-sized constellations move across his skin
☽ hair changes from bleached blonde to brown
☆ telepathic: Sunlit Shadows | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 60ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
☽ hair changes from bleached blonde to brown
☆ telepathic: Sunlit Shadows | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 60ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
