â some people are so good at disappearing that you start to doubt your memories that they were ever there. â
A softer world sentence starters
     Itâsa rare, intimate exchange their having on Kateâs couch, their morose expressionshalf in shadow, and half bathed in the glow from the redheadâs TV, in a waythat might almost be comical, Jack-o-Lantern like as they are, if the exchangehad been something other than all the people theyâve lost. Still, itâs nice. FeelingKateâs heart beating against her collarbone, her own matching its slow, steadyrhythm⊠The arms wrapped around her waist, periodically tightening to draw herin close against her chest⊠The quiet and the dark and the unique glimpse sheâsgetting into Kateâs life⊠Itâs melancholia pregnant with acceptance and understanding.She might not be a fellow X-Man, or even a fellow mutant, but there aresimilarities there regardless, and a depth that Kitty had expected at thatfirst meeting.
     Andwith that, with her eyes on the shaggy carpet on the floor and fingers absentlytwisting in Kateâs shirt, she finds the strength to confess, âI canât rememberwhat he sounds like anymore. I have a recording. Of his last moments before⊠Hewas looking right at the camera, as if he knew I would be watching⊠Thereâs nosound, but heâs saying he loves me, that heâs proud of me⊠Iâve watched it somany times itâs burned on my brain, but I canât remember what he sounds like.â
     âFora while I didnât want to remember, but I had these dreams⊠Now I just want toknow what his voice sounded like, and I get nothing,â she sighs, the bitternessseeped into her voice and the wet, reflective glaze thatâs come to her eyes belyingthe gentle rumination theyâve found in the living room. While the bitternesspasses in the silent seconds that follow, drowned under a wave of regret, a hottear slips across her temple, soaked up by her hair and the other womanâs abusedshirt.
     Itdoesnât keep her for long.
     Sheshifts slightly, arms folding under her chin and head angling to meet Kateâseyes. Some things are easier shared with gazes averted, but for this, she needsthe other woman to know how genuine she is, and thatâs all in the eyes, âTellme about them. Thatâs one way to keep the memory alive.â