I Think I Have To Try

the rot will always be there, under the surface, waiting for your mask to decay

you swore to your parents that you would be virtuous

In the end, she had been fairly reclusive. Having left for her quest which was a failure from the start, having returned heartbroken and destructive at the end before everything went up in flames. It doesn’t surprise her that she doesn’t recognize him. Nor does it surprise her that he doesn’t recognize her. Still, she’s somewhat surprised at the easy smile that crosses his face and something in her reverts to her survival mode — pushing all her feelings and thoughts away to get through it, to pretend if only to fall apart later. So she offers him her own small smile and nod in acknowledgment.

“I’m Kiada.” She says, taking his hand and giving it a shake, wondering if he can feel the scars on her hands, if her body is as cold as her heart has become. “Seems like I found the right person, Nathaniel.” She says, aiming to add some humor in, to place the mask back over herself. A brief smile is sent his way though as he explains. Shrugging her shoulders, her eyes flit back toward him. “Informal is fine. I can always come back for more official things when it’s better out there.” She offers.

“Just some basic first aid would be nice. How to stop bleeding if it’s really bad, what kind of wounds need what… things like that.” Mostly how to deal with them until they can get somewhere.

the things you've done, come to you in the night

and whisper 'you lied, you lied'

KIADA