the trees arenât speaking to him but about the other who lingers by the boardwalk just out of their canopy shadow. they wander toward the figure, the tentative peace treaty or maybe boredom enough to give finn the urge to be neighborly. finn thinks during this approach that whoever lingers at the edge of the park is a stranger; vampire by smell and familiar only in that simple sense. finn is mistaken and the trees do not tell him this. they should have known better after elio's appearance, maybe, because it is not an unknown but a strange memory that he finds. suwon. finn almost forgets to breathe all together. they almost turn to leave, but still instead, wholly overwhelmed for a beat too long to escape unnoticed.
there must be something in the water of this cityâ something about the harbor that draws all the wayward souls from his life across the sea to the same port the way the ocean had brought bran to lorelai. whatever that something is, finn would like to put in a formal request for gift receipts because they have had enough, thanks. death is one thing that they have learned to cope withâ mourning, anger, a fightâ finn will take any over the stillness of a breath he doesnât know how to let go. what are they supposed to do when immortality is an option for two of the only people finn has ever felt something forâ is an option for finn but hadnât been for lorelai? finn doesnât deserve it, surely.
they're getting ahead of themselves. brain tripping over all the words in all the languages they know and still coming up empty for something decent to say. âwell, shit,â they repeat their first words to elio, finding these to be equally fitting for suwon. his two ghosts, both vampires. how stupidly fitting.
finn lifts a brow, hands dipping into their pockets in search of cigarettes and for once does not opt for silence. he speaks as if picking up from a conversation theyâd already been having, as if thirty years is the breadth of a blink, âhad i known weâd live forever maybe it could have been this lifetime. though i supposeâ" their eyes slip over suwon in all his familiar, beautiful glory, and his smile falls just short of sharp, just long of kind, ââ the whole opposite sides of the war thing would have been an issue.â finn finishes tapping out a cigarette and sticks it between their teeth but doesnât light up yet.
