the rain had been falling in heavy sheets for hours, drumming steadily against the tin roof of the old gas station jasper had taken shelter under. it was the kind of downpour that blurred the world at it's edges. muted color, hushed sound. he stood just outside the threshold, as far from the doorway as the awning would allow. one boot rests in a puddle, the other planted on cracked concrete. he watches the road – almost as though he expected something or someone to arrive.
he felt it before he saw her. a shift in the current. her emotions were palpable from… a long ways away. but they weren't overwhelming, he didn't find himself drowning within them. he did not fear her, there was no threat to her movements. when he turned – a slow, awkward movement, with how he'd been standing. his leg hates movements like this. – she was already standing there. tiny, yes, but impossible to overlook. her presence hit him like a change in key. unexpected, jarring, and… strangely ? familiar.
he doesn't speak at first, just stares with his brow furrowed. studying her through the curtain of rain, the tension in his frame less defensive than simply wary. the silence feels weighted, but not hostile. charged. finally: ❝ you lost ? ❞ voice is low, even. thick with a texas drawl he still hadn't managed to shake. crimson hues flick briefly to her feet, noting the dry hem of her clothing. how ? ❝ you don't look like 'ya belong in a place like this. ❞ it wasn't an insult. because neither did he.
/ @forefables ( ♡ )