Blind date event | For the_earths_salt
They came out of the darkness, and for a moment she could only relish the touch of warm air on her skin. It had been so cold, passing between, in a way that seemed to have nothing to do with temperature--not physical, but a sense of absence and emptiness, a void. And in that absence, she had felt how the darkness reached for her light.
Now it was gone, and she could feel warm air on her skin and hear the sound of water. But it wasn't the sound of the sea, she realized a breath or two later, her eyes opening. They caught the silvery gleam of running water...water bubbling up from the fountain, catching the glow of streetlamps. They were still in the city, in the park, in the twilight--only a little darker now, and the secluded oasis within the park's greenery was still empty, as though they hadn't gone anywhere at all. But they had, hadn't they?
Her fingers were curled into the front of Lexaeus's coat, and she was afraid to let go, but she lifted her head and looked at him, her eyes reflecting her bewilderment. "What happened? Didn't you...didn't we go to the islands?"
She wanted him to say that he hadn't even tried yet. She was afraid to hear what she already suspected, that he had tried and failed--that for whatever reason, the islands or the darkness or maybe this city itself hadn't allowed their return.
Now it was gone, and she could feel warm air on her skin and hear the sound of water. But it wasn't the sound of the sea, she realized a breath or two later, her eyes opening. They caught the silvery gleam of running water...water bubbling up from the fountain, catching the glow of streetlamps. They were still in the city, in the park, in the twilight--only a little darker now, and the secluded oasis within the park's greenery was still empty, as though they hadn't gone anywhere at all. But they had, hadn't they?
Her fingers were curled into the front of Lexaeus's coat, and she was afraid to let go, but she lifted her head and looked at him, her eyes reflecting her bewilderment. "What happened? Didn't you...didn't we go to the islands?"
She wanted him to say that he hadn't even tried yet. She was afraid to hear what she already suspected, that he had tried and failed--that for whatever reason, the islands or the darkness or maybe this city itself hadn't allowed their return.