36tricks
she spent long years learning how not to pout or burn, faced with inconveniences and things that were just purely and totally unfair. priscila never cries out to the universe for scorning her, because she simply won’t get an answer back; and her breath is far safer inside her body where the things she knows can’t hurt anybody else. she often finds herself wondering where the next skeleton of pain will come from and when, more resigned to it than trying to fight against the fate that holds her hand. if kt is one of many that will hurt her, then so be it — she has no real power to change the future, as far as she knows, especially if nobody ever believes her. for now, she is leading him, aware of where her gaze is whenever she looks up or looks away and trying to keep tabs on his all at the same time. a little exhausting, to say the least, but the only thing to show for it is a slightly cagey expression. “ oh, i like the fish balls and udon, myself. custard buns for dessert. ” when she’s alone, she’ll experiment with different things, but this time the only factor she wants to focus on is her date — is it a date ? it’s hard to tell. “ ah, ” she acknowledges, her cheeks barely pink. there’s something in his eyes when he says the word carnivore. “ fish are friends, not food, is it ? ”
it’s never fails to amuse the siren when he actually takes the time to do more than observe people, to see the way facial expressions melt and shift subtly or blatantly ; humans are always so open and expressive in the smallest of ways, and kt has become adept and reading those nuances - it’s almost too easy to see the wall around priscila’s heart, to know it is there because she has glimpsed into his past and tasted salt and danger on him, and there is equal parts amused satisfaction and equal parts desire to destroy those walls welling within him ; if he plays his cards right, perhaps it will be a slow ruination she faces rather than an immediate devastation. “is that your usual order ? should i order the same thing or is there another recommendation you have ?” and there it is again, a playfulness in voice that lilts intonation and lights dark hues in an almost childish mockery ; kt has no preference for food most days, always open to eating and trying new things. but he cares even less about food when there is someone of interest holding his attention, and the woman is that someone, easily dragging gaze along the subtle roseate coloring her cheeks. lips pull back into a wider grin as gaze lifts from her lips to her eyes.
“something like that,” he responds vaguely, words opaque where they hang before him ; kt’s known only the salt and nostalgia that comes with eating fish, known only the way chest yawns open underneath the overwhelming emotions of missing home and missing his family. he doesn’t make it a habit of seeking out things that only hit home the nail in heart, doesn’t need another chink in the armor when he is what he is ( when he already has a maw of a vulnerability in the way his heart falls fast and hard for people best left alone and alive ). “it’s difficult to eat fish when all you do is study them, wouldn’t you say ?” a more proper, legitimate sounding reason for his preference of meat over fish, a voluntary inclusion of personal information, playing a tenuous game still.
