HARPER
Harper doesn't pout when the kid doesn't look up to watch his dismount. He doesn't. But he's easily mollified by the kid's attention when he looks up at Harper as he plops down in front of him. It's still attention, which is like the fuel that keeps Harper moving. He blames his upbringing, but his mentor used to fondly tease that he was just always meant to be an over the top showboat. Clearly she's wrong, but he wiggles a little closer when the kid speaks nonetheless. The kid's breathing is slowing - part of the reason he'd come down was noticing his mounting anxiety - so he doesn't point it out, and watches instead as the kid brightens with a sudden idea.
One that Harper is very invested in almost immediately.
Leaping up he toes off his own shoes and leaves them where they fall, smile beaming with childish delight. "I haven't! Wanna see who can get farther?" Challenge sparks in his blue eyes, edges crinkling with mischief as he proposes the idea. They're lucky there's nobody in this area, because Harper is pretty confident this is going to end in some hilarious property damage. Or bodily damage, who knows!
One that Harper is very invested in almost immediately.
Leaping up he toes off his own shoes and leaves them where they fall, smile beaming with childish delight. "I haven't! Wanna see who can get farther?" Challenge sparks in his blue eyes, edges crinkling with mischief as he proposes the idea. They're lucky there's nobody in this area, because Harper is pretty confident this is going to end in some hilarious property damage. Or bodily damage, who knows!
caught in this reckless raging fury
that they call the love of God
that they call the love of God
