I'll drown eventually so don't save me
With the sun at it's zenith, shadows reduced to pinpricks beneath their source. There was nothing to muddle or obscure the colors of the earth and Maea roamed the expanse of hot springs in a daze, overwhelmed by their vibrancy. She had seen it before, of course, but never at this time of day. Always hiding from the sun, or the heat, or people who might know her; this time it was just to breathe and escape the scent and sight of death.
Hunching down by a pool that shimmered with heat, she hesitated before reaching out to test the temperature. Would it burn this time, when the medium was water and not pure flames? No... apparently not. What would be scalding enough to lose skin on another was merely pleasant to her. With a sigh of relief she dunked both hands in, and began to scrub away layers of grime accumulated over hours and days. The ache in her spine from carrying and lifting, building and tearing down matched the one in her chest, and she found herself sniffling when pent up emotion finally had a chance to overflow.
She'd been doing that a lot lately, and it always surprised her. It would seem that the opposite of numbness was caring to the point of breaking.
Hunching down by a pool that shimmered with heat, she hesitated before reaching out to test the temperature. Would it burn this time, when the medium was water and not pure flames? No... apparently not. What would be scalding enough to lose skin on another was merely pleasant to her. With a sigh of relief she dunked both hands in, and began to scrub away layers of grime accumulated over hours and days. The ache in her spine from carrying and lifting, building and tearing down matched the one in her chest, and she found herself sniffling when pent up emotion finally had a chance to overflow.
She'd been doing that a lot lately, and it always surprised her. It would seem that the opposite of numbness was caring to the point of breaking.
Maea
