we’re friends. despite a certain smile , the word faded into a question. ‘maybe once.’ a voice commented , it was vaguely sad. emotion now was like a sliver of water struggling to carry down a dry bed. or maybe it was easier to think of it as polluted river. there were only a few memories cradled in a mind that continued to slip and even now – they were only echoes. the echo of her head rested against the edge of a bed , braids’ tip tickling ekko’s face. echoes of their conversations , they shared a certain technological genius. ( hers was far less pronounced ). her laughs once devoid of mania , clear and sweet. she saw a faint pink in his gaze, but she’d never seen him that way. anyway, that color faded the further away from – her she became. youth was a privilege that she clung to with bleeding nails. even when she could no longer pretend that there wasn’t another person bursting at the seams , she gripped. she knew that he could not accept her for what she was becoming , though she admired herself more than ever. a burning need to decimate , to outsmart , to leave the world scorched in her path. she had become something to be feared , awed by. but , he wouldn’t see that. he was afraid. and she would never let herself see the disgust. no it would bring beats to her still heart. she couldn’t be herself around him any longer and for awhile - left zaun. he was a smart and capable boy , he could handle himself. though once a time later, she slipped and in the deep of night he saw her and for the first time in a long time she saw him. he was not the same. loss grayed his eyes , bitterness weighed into his bones , but the most painful thing about him — was the hope she saw burned into the back of his gaze. what he wanted , she could never give to him. he saw in her his old friend , a person who had died so – so long ago. but , she would stay – some old , crumbled thing in her would not let his hope die. | @resonanthope