Wading and Waiting
“Well, that was creepy...” Mahina spat and outstretched her arms, allowing herself to crash back into the high tide of the Mist. The sound of her heavy sighing mingled with the waves and covered the sound from her sensitive ears, allowing her a few precious moments to reflect on the joke of a meeting she’d subjected herself to earlier. She’d met with him. Again. Against her better judgement. Her reward, more unwanted confusion than she could ever hope for.
A scowl carved her lips at the memory of him greeting her with an excess of cheer she’d not seen from him in cycles. Like his old self. The one she’d loved and waited for to return, but never did. Until now. So alarmed by his demeanor, she couldn’t even bring herself to partake of the cake and cookies that he’d prepared for her, thinking them poisoned. A week ago, she’d saved his life outside Abania; dashing into unknown lands at the moment their pearl went off only to find him bleeding out and herself without time to react. She’s managed to save him, but it came with a price. Her arms, her tattoos-- torn open from her efforts and the geometries interrupted. Useless. She saved him and he turned right around and screamed at her, howling over how she was being too apathetic towards him. How she didn’t care. All of this while tossing the key to his recovery at her feet. She spent the next week sleepless and scowling over those documents; dragging them with her to whatever event she was attending. To all of her meals, to her cafe. All to help. The kicker in all of this was, as she’d only just learned, that he planned to go back. He’d infiltrated and escaped Abania twice now. Barely. There was a reason why people said ‘third time’s a charm’ and one way or the other, she knew he was about to find that out for himself. He was already losing his memories and now he wanted to throw his life into the basket, too. “He must’a been gone. He e’en asked me t’spend the night...” Her brows knitted across her forehead upon recalling the offensive offer and she slapped her head into the waters with a groan. “I ain’t learned nothin’ at all, have I...” [ Without Us, they would not exist.]
Her eyes fluttered open and locked on the stars passing overhead. ‘Where did that thought come from?’ The whisper left her tracing the constellations anxiously, listening as if it might have been a linkpearl going off. ‘Surely, I ain’t that vain...’ [ Without them, We would not thrive. ] The words soaked her thoughts; sending a chill down the Keeper’s back that wasn’t just due to the ocean’s waters. It wasn’t a pearl, it wasn’t someone wading next to her and she knew it. Her head felt as if it were trapped in a glass dome, all other sounds muddled outside of the words plaguing her mind. Even the waves lapping at her ears felt malms away. It was just her, the stars, the darkness -- and the whispers. A disbelieving scoff fled her lips, carried away into the too-silent night, and she shut her eyes once more. “Great, now I’m losin’ m’mind to boot...” (( @the-faceless-ffxiv ))
