#illusersi

what a romantic sentiment spun free from the lips of his other half   :        he isn’t sure if they had been programmed for love       (        or if it were merely a side effect of constant exposure to the human experience        --        they were natural mimics,   after all         ).       they learned in slow tandem with the world around them,   a sleepy youth masquerading as a full life.     HOW MANY MORE TIMES WILL THEY REPEAT THIS LESSON?     a first kiss spanning lifetimes,   an endless reset where gravitation is the only option   :      ajak has not told him how many times he has fallen in love with sersi,    but he cannot imagine a lifetime where his heart doesn’t call for hers.     his hands find her cheeks,    a gentle pinch to blur teasing with affection.         ‘   this is the part where i ask you to never leave my side then,  isn’t it?   ’

triumph,     tragedy   ;     history     is     a     tale     without     truth,     told     without     concession     to     question,     carved     in     stone     and     carved     in     code.     here,     the     air     is     sweet   ;     here,     upon     crumbling     paper     and     smooth     marble,     stories     twist     into     truth     beneath     the     watchful     gaze     of     scholars.     or     so     they     say.     two     saviours     stand     side     by     side   ;     his     is     a     story   -   spine,     decorated     with     one   -   time     lifelines,     with     the     stain     of     false     history     and     its     painful     insistence.     there     is     a     familiarity     that     reaches     through     the     echoing     corridors     of     this     building     and     his     memory     ———     a     poisonous     familiarity,     a     sense     of     security     that     provokes     doubt.     the     softness     of     his     voice     belies     an     almost     childish     wonder   :     ‘   how     much     of     it     is     true?   ’

  “for  playin  the  piano?“  dane  teases  then,  reaching  with  his  free  hand  for  her  to  take  and  take  a  place  sitting  beside  him.  “i  think  you  are  the  miraculous  one,  sersi.  without  you,  i  wouldn’t  even  be  here.“  he  points  out,  knowing  well  it  had  been  her  kindness  and  words  that  led  him  to  make  amends  with  his  uncle.  her,  who  led  him  to  dig  deeper  into  his  family  and  learn  to  have  a  place  in  between  the  past  and  the  future  and  learn  to  live  in  the  now.  “aye,  you  must  be  my  own  personal  miracle.“