to see a genuine smile on will was a rare and fragile sight. but even when smiling will had a way of being somehow completely unreadable. nonetheless, he emits something effervescent, a glowing ball of subtle light even in moments of seeming completely unable to interpret. “ i think i’ve grown tired of people comparing people to things in the sky and things in the ground. ” will chimes in with a breathy laugh, his hands gesturing vaguely before he continues. “ you know what i mean, right ? so many writing pieces and poems i read lately have something to do with that. people compare their lovers to stars, planets, the sun, the moon, and clouds. or it’s flowers, trees, leaves, and grass. i see it all the time. it makes me wonder whatever happened in the middle to make people focus on just way up or way down. am i making any sense ? ” the boy laughs again, hues of honey brown squinting, his expression remaining content but wandering. “ i sound bloody mental, don’t i ? ”
always a bit of a moth to will’s flame, winter sways into his orbit. the smile is a gift; he almost feels guilty for the way his mind immediately locks the memory of it away for safe keeping. quiet and at ease, he listens to will speak with careful consideration. he can understand the questions, a writer himself — he hates to admit to himself that he hadn’t really asked the why so much, least not the this level. there are plenty of other things keeping him up at night. “ people write what they know, ” he concedes eventually, the words feeling worn out and obvious on his tongue. hands fiddle themselves into knots, fingertips working circles into his palms as he struggles to explain himself. “and when they can’t write what they know, when they don’t know — they try to find a way of expressing the unknowable with things they understand; try to make other people understand what they don’t know. it’s people trying to connect with other people in some way that makes sense when nothing makes sense. maybe it’s all a lie, but maybe everything is.” winter cringes a bit at himself; at the way it sounds deeper than it probably is and how he’s probably out of his depth to begin with. “or maybe we’re both bloody mental and we just don’t know the reason for anything.”