Repose Feelings (reposefeelings) wrote in repose, @ 2017-04-05 00:42:00 |
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The man in the boat, despite his deep curiosities, didn't have very many friends. He could have a difficult time connecting to people. If he was a star, he was one distantly-flung, kept in the isolated nothingness of space. He could be picked out of the black only just, because it yawned around him, all-consuming. It was different tonight. It was different in the boat, with the girl committed to her ordinariness. Perhaps friendship was mundane. He liked it all the same. Just as he enjoyed her offer made in jest. "You're truly kind," he told her with that same sun-crest smile. He didn't listen to The Cure, but he laughed anyway, because she had a point. He couldn't help the way his gaze averted when she called him exceptional, nor could he help the flush of his cheeks, high amid freckles. "Oh," he said. The nighttime tide of curiosity was waning, he thought with a click of awareness. He should have asked her why, and he should have asked for the difference between them, him and her, to set them apart so much in her estimation. But, instead, he found himself rather tongue-tied on the topic. Finally, he managed: "Thank you." Her question about people and pearls managed to pique the trove of identity the night had hidden. The man nodded. "Certainly. Why not?" It seemed possible. Probable even. He smiled. "We gather them in our mouths like pearls." He laughed about the skunk. "Unless you're feeling equally as creative." When the girl reiterated his words, the man looked back at her with a borrowed steadiness. He offered her the shell on his palm, if she wanted it. Then, he was in the water and out, being reeled in. It didn't matter that he'd soaked himself. He settled back in his seat as the paddles took to water. He was gazing toward the east, when he realized, perhaps, the sun was about to make its entrance on the stage of sky. "However far out you wish to take us," he said to his companion. Daybreak seemed to come on quickly, and as the veil of darkness lifted and the lake began shimmering in a riveting pink, Newt dipped a finger into the water as if to touch beams refracted. He looked to his friend once more, and smiled. |