[21][written/action]

[offallingsnow]

[first of all, there are several inconsequential doodles. This should be concerning because Nephry just doesn't doodle. Next there are several sentences that are so well crossed out they are unreadable. An ink spot where the pen rested too long on the page. A few more doodles.]

I...think I should go for a walk. I will take my journal with me just in

Comments

[offallingsnow]

[she looks up quickly, startled out of her thoughts. Thankfully it's dark enough that he shouldn't be able to see her eyes that well...or how strange they look at the moment]

Oh! Minato. ...I'm sorry, I must have been...preoccupied. Have you been standing there long?

[offallingsnow]

[she turns to look down at the water again]

My thoughts are wandering about as freely as this river. I'm not sure they're worth even that.

[offallingsnow]

Usually to an entire ocean.

[offallingsnow]

I am accustomed to an environment where the rivers are frozen.

[this literal and metaphorical talk is fun though. In a muted kind of way]

[offallingsnow]

No. It's so cold that even in the short summer it melts slowly.

...It's been so much warmer here.

[offallingsnow]

But in a place like this, even that is unpredictable. And I am led to believe that spring comes quickly.

[offallingsnow]

Of course.

[and here she clears her throat a few times and very discreetly rubs at one eye under her glasses]

[offallingsnow]

[the way she's standing, it's noticeable that her hands are shaking. ...Well, Minato will notice. It seems to have escaped her]