Part of shutting out fear is replacing it with something else. Seiji concentrates so hard on his current task he doesn’t notice the dark-haired woman standing over him until she speaks. Her voice is gentle, but still startles him — the sudden nearness of a stranger, the movement in the corner of his eye.
Seiji’s hands draw in reflexively, the knife blade skidding over wood. By some miracle, he fails to harm himself, but his heart beats double-time in his ears. A terrible crescendo of sound blocking out the noise in the rest of the room.
She crouches before him, bringing herself down to his level. Nothing about her is threatening, once he has the opportunity to take her in. But his nerves are still on edge, still waiting for something terrible to happen. He tries to smile though, consciously bleeding the fear from his face.
“No. Thank you.” Surely there are others who need more attention than he. He is fine, and safe enough for the moment. Just… “I am not used to this,” he explains. “I feel like… I should do something.”
Seiji’s hands draw in reflexively, the knife blade skidding over wood. By some miracle, he fails to harm himself, but his heart beats double-time in his ears. A terrible crescendo of sound blocking out the noise in the rest of the room.
She crouches before him, bringing herself down to his level. Nothing about her is threatening, once he has the opportunity to take her in. But his nerves are still on edge, still waiting for something terrible to happen. He tries to smile though, consciously bleeding the fear from his face.
“No. Thank you.” Surely there are others who need more attention than he. He is fine, and safe enough for the moment. Just… “I am not used to this,” he explains. “I feel like… I should do something.”
