Trying to hype myself up lately. I wrote this passage this year, and I just really like it
For one calm, contented moment they breathed together, soft steady breaths lifting their chests as if linked. He barely had the chance to truly enjoy that moment because without warning her full weight melted into him. She was out. The tiny droplets of sweat that scattered across her forehead reminded him of the freckles that flecked her cheeks and nose in a precious pattern he’d memorized long ago. Since the day he met her, he’d studied the strange facial markings, wondering why they captivated his attention so often; eventually, he knew them so well he could sketch them perfectly, from one golden point to the next.
Turians believed that spirits rest amongst the stars that blanket a cool night sky. So, it was the image of fiery flecks scattered against a contrasting backdrop that his kind turned to in a moment of crises, when they yearned for hope or inspiration. Vakarian was born too pragmatic to believe in anything so mythical — that spirits actually existed and provided guidance — yet the weight and beauty of the vast night sky had always held some inexplicable significance to him. It drew him in. Every creature, even him, was just skin and bones — beautiful, yes — but weak and small beneath the power of the stars. He found solace in that.
Even as a child, peering upwards provided comfort and guidance when he had to look inwards. He never admitted it, of course, not to anyone. On a few occasions his dad caught him, chin raised and eyes wary, looking up at night, but even then he hid his fascination and need. Watching for ships, he’d explained to the dad who saw through every one of his falsehoods.
So it was truly ironic that he met someone, a human, who in her delicate little body possessed all the warmth of a star and the comfort of a mythical force. But of course she did — just like stars across the night sky, freckles blanketed her pale skin. They danced across her cheeks and nose as if painted there.
