Comments | the_blank_slate: The lonely end of the rink

m_pinocchio in the_blank_slate

The lonely end of the rink

Nov 30, 2010 14:26

Mike is already pretty sure by the time he gets to the rink; you don't see someone for a while, and then you just get a feeling, like there's a hole in the world in the shape of them, like there's been a subtle shift in all the various gravitational pulls that everyone you know and love exerts on you. There is no pull from them, because they are ( Read more... )

mike pinocchio, neil mccormick

Comments 16

little_moons November 30 2010, 21:10:18 UTC

I stay hovering in the doorway for a long time, just watching. The dogs, the set of Mike's shoulders... It's all too familiar. I know what's happened without even having to ask.

Hal wanders over, bumping at my hand with her wet nose, and I crouch down to scratch behind her ears, murmuring softly to her and giving her one last pat on the head before I push to my feet.

Stepping up behind Mike, I let my hand sink into his hair, just resting there. I don't know what to say.

m_pinocchio November 30 2010, 21:39:36 UTC

He closes his eyes at the touch, but he doesn't say anything immediately, pulling cold air in through his nose. Remembering. Memory is a weight and it's starting to get very heavy.

"He was one of my first friends here," he says finally, quiet. "Him and Chris." And now that's all a wound that won't ever really close.

Not that he ever expected it to. Not that he doesn't have a few of those already.

little_moons December 1 2010, 03:59:53 UTC

"I know," I murmur softly, dropping to my knees behind him, one hand in his hair and the other resting on his shoulder, thumb brushing the bare skin above his collar.

"It seems like he's always been here." Actually, he pretty much has been. I didn't meet him right away, but it wasn't that long after I got here that I first heard about him. And Chris. And all that complicated shit I never really understood.

m_pinocchio December 1 2010, 04:24:12 UTC

"No one's always here," he whispers, and swipes at his blind eye, not quite angry--because he's a little beyond that--and still not quite crying--because he's a little beyond that too.

"Think I knew this was coming. I kinda got a sense from him. He was..." He looks down at his hands, blinking hard. Gordon looks up at him with soulful eyes.

"He was already starting to come loose."

Thread 16