forgoneloves·:
❛ oh, thank god, ❜ dria made it a show as she feigned wiping sweat away from her brow. that felt painfully stupid to do, but here she was. comitting to the stupid. ❛ i’m glad that you’re the one doing the dirty work and not leaving it up to us. well, me. i’m the one preparing dinner tonight and i’m not sure i could do– ❜ she gestured vaguely to what gage was working on, with the buck in front of him and knife in hand.
❛ i didn’t mean to startle you, by the way, if i did. i was just… coming out here to check up on you. i imagine one of the hunters disappearing doesn’t really make your life any easier, or your position feel any safer. ❜ why she was so talkative was easy to understand, she found him attractive and the unfortunate thing about her is that she got awkward when she was attracted to someone. and– well, look at him. he was that masculine type she was always taught to fawn over and she couldn’t help but find that type of person to be appealing now. here, at the end of the world, where clearly everyone was looking for something or someone to take their minds off of the tragedy they called their daily lives.
there was a time before the end of the world where dria didn’t feel quite so small or quite so useless, but that was somehow what she felt reduced to. cooking wasn’t really her primary skill, but cooking large quantities of food wasn’t an extremely complicated thing to do, and it was better than just sitting around on her ass all day. she tipped her head to the side, just a little bit, as though appraising his handiwork with some kind of sage eye. that lasted all of a second before she turned her gaze to gage.
❛ do you need any help ? i’m not sure i could actually help you skin a deer, but i do provide some pleasant company, if i do say so myself. ❜
it takes him a moment to remember her name, but he remembers her. tanned legs and theatrical antics, an actress reduced to speaking in full stage voice at the end of the world where all anyone wanted was quiet -- a reprieve from the screaming. she was small, but it was the presence that filled up and invaded space. notice me, it demanded. acknowledge me.
“ not everyone has the stomach for it, ” he replies, glancing down at the carcass as if he’d forgotten all about it. “ it’s fine, i spend a lot of time alone. i forget how to be a person around other people sometimes. ” and that is what is commonly known as an understatement.
was it some form of self-flagellation for his failures? more than likely. it was easier to be alone, to linger at the fringes. as much as he wanted to pretend he could carry on in complete isolation it was somewhat comforting to look in on other people living their lives in spite of it all. a background character in the lives of others.
at the mention of the missing hunter something sharpens in his green-eyed gaze, a tension knotting between his shoulders. “ it’s more work, but there’s something that bothers me about it. sure, they were quiet like me, but i don’t think they would have just up and left. ”
some skepticism flits across his face and one shoulder hitches in a shrug. “ if you have a strong stomach, sure. might as well watch, it might help you if... ” if i disappear too.
