contact part deux

[bouchonne]

if this were modern times byerly would probably make you listen to total eclipse of the heart before you were able to leave a message

Comments

[coquettish_trees]

Leaving. You—

All this while we have been speaking about such difficult things, perhaps some of the most difficult, and I have not once felt you were pulling away.

[bouchonne]

[ He does pull back now, painfully self-conscious. His brow and mouth are tense. ]

I didn't - realize that I do, normally.

[coquettish_trees]

It... feels so, but—

[ I should not have said anything, why did I— ]

I do not want to be something you have need to protect yourself from. I am—

[ She smooths the cloth that covers his shoulder with her thumb, and smiles: small, tentative, a little sad. ]

I am sorry. That I am.

[bouchonne]

No. You're not. I -

[ He runs a hand over his face, frustrated and unhappy. ]

I'm simply no good for this. I am sorry. It is my fault.

[coquettish_trees]

If it is mine to forgive then I forgive it.

[ She runs her fingertips down the side of his face, gentler than he had been with it. ]

I am not good at this either, for all that I wish to be.