You're so cold
but you feel alive
A secret for a secret, thought for a thought. The bridge between them was charcoal black and brittle from fire, but with every exchange the offers to rebuild solidified what little remained of it. When Sunjata made no attempts to resume the exchange from before and her own hurt settled into the dull, aching throb of a chipped tooth, Maea found that she actually could relax a bit. It was still not the fun, enjoyable experience she had hoped this training session would be, but far better than storming off and condemning this relationship to the flames before it had ever truly developed. Too many things had been burned already, thrown to the pyre to make way for new things.
He offered to speak to Safrin about the matter. Maea thought it an excellent idea and smiled at him, glad to see that he latched on to her theory. "If you do, I would love to know what she says about it. I'm not the only one who wants options to the portals... If I can be of assistance at all, you only have to say the word."
No sigh of relief or slumped posture came when he offered the break, but Maea accepted it all the same. Joining Sunjata in collecting the arrows back, she inspected the shots she had made more closely. The first few arrows were shallow, the tip barely deep enough to keep it lodged in the sack and straw. With each addition the puncture became deeper, until she came to the last few. They too were loose, and she considered how her stance and posture would have changed as she tired.
"This is not as hard as I remember it," she mused, refilling the quiver before she followed along to join him in the shade. It was a clear relief and she ran a tongue over her dry lips at the sight of the waiting water. Had she remembered to drink before she left her room this morning? Maea couldn't recall.
"Really? What kind of work?" she asked him, when the topic changed to Zariah and the things the Merciless had tasked him with. She knew nothing of the secrets he kept, or that he tried to be circumspect about it; the look she gave him was curious and nothing more, only keen to sate her ever-present hunger for knowledge.
He offered to speak to Safrin about the matter. Maea thought it an excellent idea and smiled at him, glad to see that he latched on to her theory. "If you do, I would love to know what she says about it. I'm not the only one who wants options to the portals... If I can be of assistance at all, you only have to say the word."
No sigh of relief or slumped posture came when he offered the break, but Maea accepted it all the same. Joining Sunjata in collecting the arrows back, she inspected the shots she had made more closely. The first few arrows were shallow, the tip barely deep enough to keep it lodged in the sack and straw. With each addition the puncture became deeper, until she came to the last few. They too were loose, and she considered how her stance and posture would have changed as she tired.
"This is not as hard as I remember it," she mused, refilling the quiver before she followed along to join him in the shade. It was a clear relief and she ran a tongue over her dry lips at the sight of the waiting water. Had she remembered to drink before she left her room this morning? Maea couldn't recall.
"Really? What kind of work?" she asked him, when the topic changed to Zariah and the things the Merciless had tasked him with. She knew nothing of the secrets he kept, or that he tried to be circumspect about it; the look she gave him was curious and nothing more, only keen to sate her ever-present hunger for knowledge.
lay your hands on me
one last time
MAEA
