Re: The Woods: Pesha/Tandy
In the time that the two of them had been sitting in the grass under the moonlight and the expanse of stars above them, the subtle smell of woodsmoke had continued to rise from beneath the baggy material of Billy’s shirt. Tendrils of steam curled up against the nape of his neck and ruffled his flop of thick, dark hair as they rose to the sky and dissipated on the cooler gusts overhead. Billy didn’t feel the heat. He was used to it. And he had kept his eyes closed when he spoke the words because sometimes the vrăjitoare flickered his eyes through with fire: umber flashing into carmine for a split second.
He got the skepticism, okay? Welcome to the first several months of the manifestation of unharnessed power in a clueless kid who would have had an easier time believing he was being karmically raptured by some God he didn’t really believe in than accepting that he was descended from a long line of Romani witches. Welcome to lighting a building on fire because he didn’t understand that, untrained, it had a tendency to spark out of him in response to strong emotions like fear and rage. (And it was more than one building, if he was gonna be technical about it.) So he didn’t cluck an impatient tongue in response to the disbelief. Actually, he was more impressed that Tandy seemed to give it all the benefit of the doubt instead of trying to rationalize it away into something more palatable, at least outwardly.
Billy grinned a little, in response to the nickname and to the question that he assumed didn’t really need an answer. He pulled his own knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs, hands coming to link in front of his shins. Shrugged a shoulder under the oversized sweater, not being modest so much as he meant to acknowledge that he totally understood the sentiment. “Welcome to my world,” he said wryly, referring to the incredulity. “Now multiply that by about fifty and you’ll get an idea what the last three years have been like for me.”
Although, he supposed that Tandy got it already. What with the waking up in not-your universe and the headfuck that was sure to entail. Billy rested his chin against one bony knee and considered the other kid’s face as he marvelled at the glamoured ID, and he felt a little pleased that the meltdown seemed at least momentarily pushed to the side.