#strangerfromthesea

“ Well, I’m sorry! ”

She drew back with lifted hands, either palm upturning---letting out a short, exasperated breath.

Immediately, she regretted allowing herself to behave so crossly, but---in her frustration, the response had simply come out.

Indeed---it felt as though she had been holding it back for a while.

She took another breath---silently willing her temper to cool before speaking again. 

“ But that’s not my fault, is it? Perhaps you should have thought of that before---then we might have avoided this altogether. ”

Her lips were faintly pursed, and she swallowed---still in the process of softening back up, but---she felt that was she was making progress.

Enough to try again, anyway. 

He grimaced a faint smile. 

“ ---yes, I see. ”

Indeed, he imagined that he saw a great deal---and perhaps a small matter more than he necessarily would have fancied to, but---alas, what was one to do? 

Very little, he expected. 

“ ---well then. ”

He spoke in an undertone, the furrow of his brow lifting---giving a cynical quirk, and he lowered his eyes---staring at the ground underfoot---sliding his tongue along the backs of his teeth.

“ I suppose there’s nothing more to be said on the matter. ”

Another pause ensued, and he rubbed at the back of his neck---not exactly uncomfortable---he didn’t suppose it ran so deep or so serious as that, but---that was not to say that the conversation altogether pleased him either. 

He breathed a quiet sigh---his eyebrows going up a tough higher---sounding moderately amused now.

Ironic, at the very least. 

“ Yes, Stephen, I hear you. You have said so more than once. ”

Although she still harbored many of her own strong feelings on the matter, and could have matched him very easily---she refused to be drawn this time, and did not rise to meet him. 

She felt that, unless he refused to be reasoned with at all---no good would come from another argument, especially so late in the day. 

“ But, I very much resent the implication that there could ever be any secrecy---any wickedness, about his coming here. He’s my cousin, and has every right to call if he so wishes. ”

Her choice of words may have been firm enough, but there remained a mollifying quality to her voice---placating, non-confrontational. 

She was sitting with her legs drawn up, and she hugged them a little closer to her chest now---watching him, tangling her fingers loosely about the tops of her knees. 

|     “ if ye come back around here, you’ll wish ye hadn’t! ”

bornunderablackmoon asked:

|     “ i’ve a right to see my own cousin, by god! ” there was a thud from the other room.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Without hesitating---almost without daring to think---she leapt to her feet and dashed across the room, feeling her mouth run dry---coming to a halt in the doorway. 

At the sight of them, her stomach plummeted. 

“ Stephen---! ”

She was upon them both in an instant, throwing herself between them. It was impossible not to be reminded of Ben---and everything that’d followed. 

“ Enough, please---leave him be---! ”

Her hair had come forward, getting in her eyes, and she attempted to pry Stephen away---to get a hold on him, somehow---halfway furious with him, halfway desperate---completely determined not to allow the situation to progress any further. 

The thought of that chilled her to the bone.