meet me in the afterglow

When no one is around, my dear
You'll find me on my tallest tiptoes

I was ten. The words were like a physical blow. Understanding blossomed across Soh’s face, years of grief remembered that were only mirrored by Zavien’s own experiences. ”I’m sorry,” she said, and she meant it. Reaching out, she brushed Zavien’s arm with her fingertips, wanting desperately to offer more comfort, but forcing herself to withdraw. She wouldn’t force him to accept her affection, not when everything was still so tangled and fraught.

The toast interrupted the moment, and Soh gasped as Zavien tried valiantly to rescue it. His hiss of pain caught her attention more than the charred bread, and she had to stop herself from grabbing his hand, just to make sure he hadn’t burned himself too badly. Only when she was sure that he was relatively unscathed did she look back at the toast.

Soh did her best to smother a laugh and failed. ”I’m sorry -“ she managed between giggles. ”It’s just - you have to admit this is kind of funny.” They’d tried to get breakfast to avoid the topic of what to do next, and the universe seemed to be telling them to get it over with. ”I don’t know if we’re meant to have breakfast today.” Shaking her head, she tugged the plate of bread towards herself. ”Maybe we can salvage it?” she wondered aloud. ”Sometimes, if you scrape off the burned parts, the rest isn’t too bad…” But just looking at this particular batch of toast, Soh knew that that wasn’t going to save it.

Instead, she looked over at the eggs. ”Well, eggs it is. And look, we still have some jerky, which is basically just cold bacon, and eggs and bacon is basically a whole meal, so…”

Spinning in my highest heels, love
Shining just for you

Sohalia