HighVoltage
Active member
Lark just didn’t look well. They kept swaying and unfocusing, almost like they had to consciously focus on being present, as if they were barely holding themselves together. They wanted to go back, to tell themselves that everything was going to be okay. Lily thought back, all the half-hidden flashes of something that had crossed Lark’s face, the smiles that hid a touch of something indescribable. With what she knew now, Lily realized what it was.
It was the constant reminder that their time was running out.
Lark had lived their entire existence knowing they were going to die. All those awkward moments when they had pushed her away, when she had tried to get close and they had put up their walls. It wasn’t that Lark didn’t want to be around her, didn’t want to be with her, didn’t want her…
They were doing damage control. They wanted their death to be as painless as possible, pushing the arrow out instead of pulling.
Lark gave the answer Lily dreaded, but suspected. A full-body shiver ran through their body and Lily squeezed their shoulder, trying to give them something to focus on. Silvery drops of mercury welled up in their eyes before turning clear and falling and Lily moved, wrapping her arms tightly around them.
“It’s okay, Lark. You couldn’t have known.” She spoke softly, hesitating before letting her fingers run through the tangled silvery locks. “I know it hurts. I know you’re holding yourself together by a sheer thread. You can let go.”
Lily kept running her fingers through their hair, making quiet calming noises as she held them tightly. She understood how they felt, the sudden feeling of everything dropping out from under you and leaving you in a freefall where you can only see the ground coming up to smash you. It was the same feeling she’d had when the Lotus had cut her out like a tumor, after everything she’d given them.
“I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
It was the constant reminder that their time was running out.
Lark had lived their entire existence knowing they were going to die. All those awkward moments when they had pushed her away, when she had tried to get close and they had put up their walls. It wasn’t that Lark didn’t want to be around her, didn’t want to be with her, didn’t want her…
They were doing damage control. They wanted their death to be as painless as possible, pushing the arrow out instead of pulling.
Lark gave the answer Lily dreaded, but suspected. A full-body shiver ran through their body and Lily squeezed their shoulder, trying to give them something to focus on. Silvery drops of mercury welled up in their eyes before turning clear and falling and Lily moved, wrapping her arms tightly around them.
“It’s okay, Lark. You couldn’t have known.” She spoke softly, hesitating before letting her fingers run through the tangled silvery locks. “I know it hurts. I know you’re holding yourself together by a sheer thread. You can let go.”
Lily kept running her fingers through their hair, making quiet calming noises as she held them tightly. She understood how they felt, the sudden feeling of everything dropping out from under you and leaving you in a freefall where you can only see the ground coming up to smash you. It was the same feeling she’d had when the Lotus had cut her out like a tumor, after everything she’d given them.
“I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”