We let our hearts subside tonight, Thoth. (continued from b2g board)
Posted by Dakota on August 21, 2019, 7:32 pm
When he doesn’t return her embrace fully, her stormy blues look up to see his flat expression, laced with just a hint of suspicion. She finds that she can’t blame him for his reaction, even if she wanted to. She was practically a stranger to him now. They had both grown up the last few years away from each other, away from the bonds of family. She supposed that she should be slow to place her trust and faith in others, for it had only ever burned her lately, but reconnecting with her family (well most of them) had been one of her biggest reasons for coming back. If she was going to turn to stone one day, she wanted to do so without regret and with those she loved close by. During her time away, she had often thought about each member of her family, including her Uncle Thoth. She had thought of his brittle bones, his intelligent mind, his logical approaches to life. He had never seemed to let his illness slow him down. She remembers when his own sister, her mother, had not taken him in. How he had been sent into foster care. She had cried over that, worried that she would never see her Uncle Thoth again. She had been angry with her mother for not helping him, angry at her mother for leaving her as well in a way. She had been taken care of by her sister Ellie and sometimes her brother Jasper. Both of them had done more for her than her own mother ever really had. Yet, even in her worry for her uncle, she knew he would be okay in the end. He was smarter and mentally stronger than anyone else she had ever known even as a young child. At least, that’s how she saw it. Thoth had been formed into a sort of child hero by her creative mind, someone she would always look up to even if he was younger than her. Even in the few letters she had exchanged with Ellie and Poppy, she would ask about him and how he was doing. Their answers had often been vague and lacking in any real detail, but she knew that he was out there doing something grand. Now he was here before her, deemed an outlaw by the bad guys, fighting against them in his own way. No, Thoth had not allowed problems in his life to stop him from living and that seemingly small thing had inspired her to continue herself. Even though he has changed and grown up, her child hero still resides somewhere within him, of that she is sure. She won’t push him to accept her right away though, even though she longs to sit back with a drink and a meal and exchange stories about their lives for hours. She can tell from his current state and her own that it is not what neither of them needs in this moment. So she tells him a little bit about her great adventure to find a cure for her ailment and her great failure of coming back empty handed. She is sure she lost more than gained on that expedition. As she speaks, she can see his features softening into a more neutral expression. She finishes with a question of her own and can’t stop the slight smile that crosses her lips as he answers it. His words are logical and more of a statistical fact as he lists off their missing and present family members. However, as he continues to mark them as absent her smile falters and descends into a frown. Only 22% of her family remain close by? Were they dead? Were they just traveling? Her heart felt heavy as she went through his list again in her head. So many of them just...gone. She struggled to come up with something to say. She was trying to determine if it would be best to switch the conversation all together when Thoth made the decision for them. Grey-blue eyes peered up and found his gaze as he asked about the gods. She paused for a moment to think before shaking her head. ”I never even thought to ask. Why would the gods waste their time with a silly girl turning to stone? They have much more important requests to take their time. I’m sure in the current political atmosphere that they receive hundreds of requests.” Her words hold no malice or animosity towards the gods. She does not feel anger towards them for having important things to focus on, not when she knows just how unimportant she is. Self esteem has always been her biggest enemy. Suddenly, something else clicks in her head that he said. “Wait...grandmother is the grim reaper? How did that happen?” Her shock at the discovery of this news is apparent upon her face as she peers at him. ”Does Po...Mum know? Well rather, does she even care is a better question. Has she even bothered to come see you, her brother, at all?”
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