All expectations make her heart feel numb
The youth wondered how he could stand to be near the fire, the coals, the embers, for so long. Her own instinctual pull and inclinations to remain away, away, away kept her right in the same place – a surveyor, a witness, not comfortable with the tangible, deadly elements of flames. Maybe he had no choice, given this occupation, maybe he knew his own breaking point, where he could hover between misgivings and ominous, threatening potential.
Her inward thoughts were broken away by something else though – eyes shifting quickly to the bundle he pointed out along the countertop, and then the quirk of her brow to follow, at the insinuation of its existence. “A gift?” Perplexed, there was an air of suspicion cast around her frame, not of distrust, but of the unknown, of the uncertainty; pretending as though she didn’t have something in return in her back pocket. And then she felt like she was being watched, under a scrutiny, and she slid off her chair, reaching for the bundle. “I haven’t done anything to deserve a gift.” Her hands slid under it, lifting the pieces contained together, and returning to her makeshift throne, fingers pressing over it, but not unwrapping it. Not yet.
On a second thought, she leaned, grabbing hold of the bound and wrapped bounty, and offering it to him silently.
Her inward thoughts were broken away by something else though – eyes shifting quickly to the bundle he pointed out along the countertop, and then the quirk of her brow to follow, at the insinuation of its existence. “A gift?” Perplexed, there was an air of suspicion cast around her frame, not of distrust, but of the unknown, of the uncertainty; pretending as though she didn’t have something in return in her back pocket. And then she felt like she was being watched, under a scrutiny, and she slid off her chair, reaching for the bundle. “I haven’t done anything to deserve a gift.” Her hands slid under it, lifting the pieces contained together, and returning to her makeshift throne, fingers pressing over it, but not unwrapping it. Not yet.
On a second thought, she leaned, grabbing hold of the bound and wrapped bounty, and offering it to him silently.
MABEL
