#enherited

❝   near.   ❞   he had found it lodged beneath a table leg. a last puzzle piece — from a glance, L can’t know what image this puzzle piece was making up. it’s a soft hue of blue with no other characteristic. though, it’s that alone that indicates to the elder that near was missing a puzzle piece.

which is actually uncharacteristic. he can only assume that a bold  ( and possibly cruel ) child within the home hid the piece surreptitiously. L holds it out between his middle and index finger, showing it to the shorter.

                                      HE’S  LEAVING  SOON,  HE  knows  it.  MELLO’S  leaving  &&  where  MELLO  goes,  he’ll  follow,  the  SECOND’S  SECOND,  the  THIRD  left  to  trot  at  his  heels,  orphan  boy  thankful  for  a  PLACE  to  belong.  but  he  has  more  to  leave  BEHIND  than  he  thought,  arms  wrapping  TIGHT  around  the  other,  clutching  him  fast  to  SHAKING  frame.  he  doesn’t  want  to  be  forgotten,  doesn’t  WANT  to  be  left  behind,  to  be tossed aside, so  he  will  follow  MELLO.  there’s  no  place  at  the  house  for  the  THIRD.  his  heart  screams  otherwise,  but  when  have  t h e y  ever  had  time  to  care  ? 

so  he  holds  TIGHTLY  to  what  time  is  left,  fingers  digging  into  yielding  FLESH  where  it  hides  beneath  the  thin  cotton  of  pale  shirt.  he’ll  leave  BRUISES  across  near’s  shoulder  blade,  but  he  WANTS  to.  he  WANTS  him  to  have  marks,  to  r e m e m b e r  him  when  he’s  gone.  his  EXISTENCE  mapped,  DARK  STARS  over  his  constellation  skin.  perhaps  it  is  not  HEALTHY,  to  want  to  hold  him  so  tightly,  to  want  to  leave  HIS  mark  on  NEAR’S  body,  but  he  can’t  care.  HE’S  LEAVING  SOON.  he  doesn’t  have  t i m e  to  care.  so  he  holds  him  tighter,  his  FACE  tucked  neatly  into  the  curve  of  a  slender  neck.  he  holds  him  TIGHTER,  as  if  with  his  strength,  he  can  beg  them  both  simply  NOT  to  let  go.

                                     EYES  FLUTTER,  BLINKING  THROUGH  rosy - tinted  world  afforded  him  by  the  GOGGLES’  film.  head  tilts,  lips  FLICKING  up  at  the  corners  to  JOVIAL  graces.  RECOGNITION,  of  course,  bittersweet  AIR  of  meeting  companion  long  lost.      ‘      NEAR,  it’s  been  t o o  long.      ‘