CIAN
Shifting his gaze to her finally, cheeks hollowing as he pulls in another drag of his cigarette, the man regards her with a tense stare for just a fraction of a second. But how long do two predators truly need, to size each other up? The math is done in the bones and low in the loins, not the mind. Pulling the cigarette from his mouth, he bobs it her way as if to say that you didn't.
The man's smile is not full, nor does it reach the steel of his eyes. A token gesture at best, and one not particularly veiled. "I could tell you who I am, or I could lie. You'd wouldn't know the difference, so what of it?" His tone is caught between philosophical drivel and challenging. Had he laughed then, it might have seemed like a joke.
But he didn't laugh.
"If the snow comes early, that'll make the LongNight preparations all the harder. Snow moss hidden beneath layers of ice, memory snow weakening the boards and growing mould in the warm places it finds..." This was said almost as a threat, as if he, this unassuming man, had control over the winter threats. "Then again.." His lips pursed as he shrugged. "You might well have all that under control." So saying, he placed the cigarette back into his mouth.
The man's smile is not full, nor does it reach the steel of his eyes. A token gesture at best, and one not particularly veiled. "I could tell you who I am, or I could lie. You'd wouldn't know the difference, so what of it?" His tone is caught between philosophical drivel and challenging. Had he laughed then, it might have seemed like a joke.
But he didn't laugh.
"If the snow comes early, that'll make the LongNight preparations all the harder. Snow moss hidden beneath layers of ice, memory snow weakening the boards and growing mould in the warm places it finds..." This was said almost as a threat, as if he, this unassuming man, had control over the winter threats. "Then again.." His lips pursed as he shrugged. "You might well have all that under control." So saying, he placed the cigarette back into his mouth.
But the highway's low, & the low way's mine
You can burn me eternally, out to the snow and the wind and the rain
You can burn me eternally, out to the snow and the wind and the rain
