chaele
worship like a dog
At first they do not realize they are being addressed, sucking idly on the hard candy as they peruse the growing collection of lanterns and the drooping branches between them. Theirs is for a man who should have been given an homage a long time ago, but the twisted trials of grief and survival prevented it until this opportunity presented itself. Valeri was better with children than Chaele is.
They step out of the way of his little reaching hand, content to let Mateo ruin the cake and his face with it. There is a short pause as they peer down at the small child through the irregular eye holes of said mask. “Thank you,” they reply flatly, awkwardly, and with a glimpse upward to check if any adults were prepared to rescue him. “One day you will kill a quarry of your own, and you can make a similar mask for yourself.”
They step out of the way of his little reaching hand, content to let Mateo ruin the cake and his face with it. There is a short pause as they peer down at the small child through the irregular eye holes of said mask. “Thank you,” they reply flatly, awkwardly, and with a glimpse upward to check if any adults were prepared to rescue him. “One day you will kill a quarry of your own, and you can make a similar mask for yourself.”
at the shrine of my lies
