behind the cellar door

Kiada nods to him as he voices the name of the event that’s coming soon. “Yes.” She says, glancing to him and offering a small smile. Though she too is new, and has no idea what to expect. There’s a deep dark part of her that continues to writhe with the possibilities, and worry is beside it as it gnaws at her stomach to see all the Naturals preparing and leaving cryptic warnings. Her own eyes remain on the fire, however, as silence overcomes the two of them. But she finds silence in Seiji’s company a comforting reprieve. She finds that she doesn’t have to continue to speak to fill the void – that she can simply be. And that is enough for her. But her iceberg gaze slips back to him, from the fires that she finds herself yearning for night after night, as he speaks of not sleeping well and she nods. She understands that – it took her some time too to get used to it all and decide that this world hadn’t quite been out to kill her yet. She gives him a larger smile as he mentions that he’d like to stay there with her, and she nods her head with it. “Stay as long as you like.” She offers to him with a quiet wave of her hand, to show that it didn’t matter to her if he stayed a lifetime or a week. “We’ll head there before it begins and bring some extra supplies just in case.” She adds as if the thought had just occurred to her that they could come prepared even if they were surrounded by others. “Anyway, we should rest on it. There’s a couple of empty rooms, I prefer the one closest to the door down here. Take your pick.” She says to him with another wide smile, though she remains on the couch. She’s not sure if she plans on sleeping in her own bed tonight, or if perhaps sleeping beside the fire as it crackles above the silhouette of her spine will bring her comfort tonight. KiadA and here you come, with a shield for a heart, and a sword for a tongue.

coding

S E I J I

---

Outside of her, consumed by his own thoughts, Seiji cannot see the worry Kiada harbors. To him, she seems confident. Reliable. He is glad to have her, with darkness approaching. He nods in response to her words.

His seat beside the fire is nice, but he thinks, too, a bed in a room of his own may be nicer. Seiji stands and stretches, watching the flames dance in the hearth a second longer. “Okay,” he says. “I am glad to have a friend with me.” With a smile and a nod, he turns away from the light of the fire toward the hallway, where he will take the room farthest from the one Kiada has claimed, for courtesy’s sake.

The rain is full
of ghosts tonight