It wasn’t an unusual trait in a world plunged into perpetual night. Where monsters lurked and danger loomed at every turn. Sanctuaries were nonexistent, safety, just another lost term. There was no more time for simple recreation. Nothing that would put the people to laughing easily, or walking with their heads up high. Nothing was certain in a world gone mad.
Exhaustion was a symptom of it all. The fight to survive just another rotation in the normal flow of life. Just another thing to do in addition to eating, sleeping and seeking something of a shelter from the elements outside.
His worn demeanor was something else. Something that went beyond the obvious. The pain he felt was internal, a wracking guilt, perhaps, or hurt that he hadn’t addressed the true affliction of his soul. An investigation he couldn’t launch because of his inability to even recognize what it was that plagued him so.
He wandered until his feet ached, and the calluses on his hands bled, open, body sore from the work required to survive and leave the mark of his presence upon the lands he traversed without ever making a concrete enough impression to stay for very long.
He stood, almost startled at the reverberation of sound carried by her projected voice. Almost as though he hadn’t expected her to snatch up his quiet prodding with any sort of response at all. Almost as though such a warm intonation reached the coldest part of his soul and ignited it with something more than what it was.
She exuded warmth.... somehow carrying a presence that seemed to glow against the background of their world, standing out above all else against the dull atmosphere.
Piercing blue eyes connected with his unusually tinted violet eyes, lulling him into a false sense of calmness, quite contrary to the flustered state he suffered standing on the street. The equivocal illumination existing behind those icy irises did not change, making it impossible to search for meaning behind the delicate features of her face.
He took far longer to return back to himself long enough to continue on with his intent.
“...” He bowed, keeping his head low. “I’m sorry. It... it’s been some time since I’ve seen another wandering so openly. I almost forgot how to speak.” It was easy to fall into the danger of silence, to hold onto that mute part of them set to preserve against inevitable strike. Sound could be deadly in a place like that. Sound could rally forth trouble in an instant, however innocent.
“I’ve been wandering a long time. I would humbly ask if you, perhaps, have some manner of resources I could use in carrying me forth, a warm place to lay my head for the duration of these few lingering hours? I do not take needlessly and I will return whatever gesture is extended to me.”