afternoon / latern festival / @valentinaromanova
heads and faces and activities and stalls and places, and is this how the younglings live all the time? pressed for it, ever conscious of the setting sun that will bring an end to the number of things to be explored, the number of people to talk to, the number of things to try? a greeting to near every person in the town, like saying good morning to every fish in a shoal, but each one new and different and containing something fascinating.
he’s still weak, despite months recuperating, but there’s another familiar face, and despite lazarus’ entire knowledge of valentina resting on a single conversation where he only caught her name at the end, he stepped forwards with a smile of familiarity, calling out her name.
‘ val! i got that right, didn’t i? i mean, it was only - ‘ he breaks off, eyes rising for a moment. ‘ a week? right? anyway, ‘ his eyes settle back as his hand brushes through the air as though physically pushing away the thoughts, ‘ how are you? still settling in okay? ‘