with @warbyrds / to simon
— stay for the night.
a full minute passes, and still, no response. no words. no movement. simon barely even blinks to give her signs of life — instead, he stares, armored and suited for war in the doorway. he's dressed like he's about to go dark in a dangerous country, drop in on the enemy, infiltrate a high-security landmark... but this is a barely-open roadside motel, and they're alone. there are no enemies. there are no stakes. there is no mission —not yet — and he's lingering there, dressed like there is. he's dressed the only way he knows how, and acting the only way he feels comfortable. silence. unanswered questions.
stay for the night. it's a terrifying request — or is it an order? carol has made it clear for many months that she outranks him, technically, and simon's been far too lazy to confirm or deny that claim. if it's an order, and carol's demanding he stays, then... what? what comes of this? what does she win? what does he lose in the process?
he still hasn't answered her, but by the look on carol's face, she's accustomed to that. if she hasn't rolled her eyes by now, simon knows she's serious. it's not an order (she'd never), but it's... an ask. the pleading kind. it tells the guarded figure at her motel room door everything he needs to know, and nothing he wants to find out.
wordlessly, the soldier steps inside. seconds pass before he turns, uses his boot to toe the door shut behind him, and suddenly the noise of forest rain outside is muffled, and the stare between simon and carol continues in... well, more silence. if she's affected by his approach, she doesn't say so, or give simon any context clues to let him know she's uncomfortable. that means she's not. she's happy. she just got what she wanted, and simon gets... what? a sleep on the pullout nearby? he'll need clarification.
"i'm fine with the truck," he says at last, and the sound of his own voice through the near-permanent silence almost makes him jump. "sleeping in it, i mean. don't wanna disturb you." his accent tastes thicker here. his voice sounds distant. "you'd think a fucking motel would have more than one room with running water."
