montparnasse-at-your-service:
schattenwerfenkeineschatten:
Magnon followed each of his movements carefully, as though expecting him to blow up any second.
They were decidedly too close for comfort, swept up in a strange dance of push and pull, hide and seek, spinning round and round without ever stirring from the spot. It was disturbingly familiar and chillingly alien at the same time. Somehow, Magnon had stumbled her way into the lead, but she felt no more in control than her pliant partner.
Perhaps it had been a mistake to get involved. It had most certainly been a mistake to touch him. When he surrendered the cup, he looked just about ready to disintegrate. A shadow, she thought, at once too old and too young. Like her.
The porcelain felt heavy in her hands with something more than tea. “You do?” she asked, wary at his lack of resistance. Although he had demonstrated his willingness to compromise before — well, demonstrated something before — how could she trust it? What else could it be but a trap? She did not dare look away as she put Claquesous’ teacup down on the table — too close to the edge. She tried to catch it but only succeeded in scalding herself before it shattered on the floor with a dull, dismal clang.
Magnon frowned. Her mouth fell open as she tried to make sense of what had just happened. Had she done that? It couldn’t be. She didn’t make stupid mistakes like that, not anymore, not since she had ceased to be a clumsy juvenile.
After all these years, her first instinct was still to freeze, half expecting abuse or a blow. Which, in the absence of volunteers, she would have ordinarily provided herself, but her body defied her.
She slowly turned back to face Claquesous, an anxious look in her eyes and an apology on her lips before she remembered… she wasn’t a child, and she didn’t answer to him. The teacup was her own; she could throw the entire service around if she wanted to!
Magnon slumped down, squinching her eyes shut in a hurried attempt to steady her breathing and chase away thoughts that didn’t belong.
They shot open with a new worry: Montparnasse.
Montparnasse began to stir, some time around when Claquesous gave his tea cup over, not quite processing what was being said. As he fully regained consciousness he looked between the two “adults” who did their best to take care of them. Something felt very wrong, almost worse than when he had drifted off.
He held onto his father figure tighter, because he seemed the more startled, as he locked eyes with Magnon, “What’s going on? Were you two fighting again?” He asked his voice rough, and low. He thought everything had been sorted, why couldn’t it stay calm and happy?
After a moment he disentangled himself from Claquesous, not sure if he was safe there either. The tension was palpable, and suddenly he didn’t know if he actually wanted an answer to his questions.
At first all he could do was nod, though he was quickly jarred from his silence as the cup fell, asking with abundant concern, “Are you alright? You hands--” He fell quiet again. What would he do about it in his current position? Would his worry about her wellbeing even be accepted as such? Or would it be seen as a backhanded slight?
Especially as he felt Montparnasse start to wake up, his own attention shifted back, uncomfortably split between the two of them. He shook his head. “I don’t think we were. We had only been discussing things, unless I misread.” Discussion that had cut him to his core, but civil enough nonetheless, so he felt that he had been honest in his answer.
Something in his chest clenched, sharp and painful, as the boy pulled away. All nerves and looking to Magnon with a silent ‘help me’ in his eyes, “We were only talking. Trying to figure a few things out.”
He moved from his seat now that his hands were free, carefully picking up the broken pieces of the fallen cup. It gave him something to do besides focus on how everything seemed to be spinning out of control again.
