1250 words today... i thought i could finish this draft but. it is getting Longer 😨 tomorrow for sure, i promise. anyway, have a snippet. spoiler! the bartender is twilight!
He fills a glass, and she expects him to slide it across the counter, but instead he holds it out to her. Forces her to reach out. To feel her fingers brush against his. It feels like nothing. Cold, maybe, because of the condensation. Slippery. But there is no spark, no feeling of things falling into place. It simply feels like anyone. Like they’ve touched a thousand times before, and this is just one more.
Yor, unconsciously, breathes out a sigh of relief. Takes a sip of the water, and then drinks more deeply until she’s drained the glass. Lets the man take it from her to refill. Doesn’t feel anything the second time their fingers brush, nor the third when she takes the glass back.
He eyes her for a moment, before asking, “Are you okay?”
“Why—” Her tongue is so heavy in her mouth. It takes some effort to turn it in the direction she wants, to make it do her bidding. But Yor has always been strong—strength, the one thing she always has. You’re strong, Yor. “Do I not look okay?”
The bartender exhales, something that feels like it wants, very much, to be a laugh. “I didn’t say that.” He turns his head, casts a glance over at the other side of the bar. No one waiting for a drink, and the couple balancing on the bar stools over there look like they would not appreciate being interrupted. “You just… the way you walked over here, I mean. You looked…”
Angry, maybe. Out of place. A mess.
“Scared,” he finishes, and his voice softens. A confession only for her ears.