maybe who we were then is shattered, but who we are in the end is what matters
The blatant excitement is endearing, if plainly indicative of the girl's youth and inexperience. Not that those qualities hinder said endearment in any way. There is a bittersweetness all the same; Seren represents so much of what Hotaru has lost, both in years long gone and so recently that the wounds have yet to heal. It makes it hard to blink when she looks at the girl, makes conversing with her a challenge.
"No, I was not hurt. It was disorienting, a little like spinning around too fast for too long, but there was no pain. Simply a blink, and there we were." Her fingertips snap together at the word 'blink', adding that little bit of storytelling to her tale with a smoky curling smile. Committing the girl's name to memory - and belatedly wondering if and when she'd heard the name before - Hotaru sets her hand back upon the rope and lets her smile warm. "I'm Hotaru. A pleasure, Seren. Though what brings you out this way?" She's more than old enough to be without an overseeing guardian, but the curiosity is present all the same. Or perhaps it is an old echo of maternal protectiveness that she is unwilling to recognize.
"No, I was not hurt. It was disorienting, a little like spinning around too fast for too long, but there was no pain. Simply a blink, and there we were." Her fingertips snap together at the word 'blink', adding that little bit of storytelling to her tale with a smoky curling smile. Committing the girl's name to memory - and belatedly wondering if and when she'd heard the name before - Hotaru sets her hand back upon the rope and lets her smile warm. "I'm Hotaru. A pleasure, Seren. Though what brings you out this way?" She's more than old enough to be without an overseeing guardian, but the curiosity is present all the same. Or perhaps it is an old echo of maternal protectiveness that she is unwilling to recognize.
