[ x - accepting / @khvdzye ] ❝ you and i aren’t as different as we thought. ❞
Once upon a time, there had been fear. Terror to meet one affiliated beneath a banner that had caused the child no small share of strife. To meet one whom he was certain must be foe, not friend. Yet oh, how fate liked its trickery. To twist situations on its head, and leave one disoriented and confused.
Once, he had thought that the pair could not be more different. A shared sentiment, it would seem. Alas, the truth was not so simple, nor clear. He could feel it then, a sensation he'd had yet to ascertain, and he could feel it now. The thrum of an undercurrent - a power which few could relate. Touched by something larger than them both, for better or for worse. ( Could others sense it too? He did not think so, no… Those unaffected by what clung to such unfortunate souls blessed to be blissfully unaware. )
" Can I ask a question? " Emil wondered, even as a cat held his tongue. Stalling and stalling… " Oh, I guess that was a question, wasn't it? What I mean is... " And stalling… Deep was the breath he took, before violet eyes turned to his unlikely companion. Brimming with curiosity, with what had been rolled over and over within his head until at last it burst. " What was it like? "
There was no explanation, no further offer as to what "it" was, but did he need one? The question carrying weight in the tone of a child who just wanted to know more - even as another voice rose within in protest.
" N-not that you have to answer! " The somber reality of what he'd asked, it set in fast. " Of course! I know I don't like to talk about it… but I don't remember, either. Is it the same for you? " He had an out, and Emil would not begrudge him for it either. Downcast gaze befalling the hand that rest in his lap, gloved - startling bone encased in metal, with not a speck of flesh to call its own. ( What a heavy thing silence could be. The shadows long, and the night even longer. ) " I was just curious, is all. You don’t hear much about it, you know? No one… knows… Which is good! I'm glad this isn't something you see every day. But… sometimes… Sometimes I wonder. " He wondered a lot, to be honest. A plethora of questions swimming around the whirlpool that was his mind, related and unrelated to the topic at hand. But, one at a time.
One at a time.
