04-25-2020, 04:48 PM
The next stranger is... larger. Much, much larger than any living thing Evangeline has ever seen, and her watery golden eyes move up, up, up, until it meets the face of the creature. For a fleeting second, something thick lodges itself into the back of her throat, but then the creatures voice fills the air and allows the weight to dissipate from her shoulders. "Tears?" There's a soft, sobbed laugh that jumps from between her teeth, and she brushes against her eyes again—some of her fur catches on the wound, staining itself red, but she doesn't seem to notice. "I have never... expelled tears before? Or bled. Bleeding is—our kind does not bleed like this, I—no. It seems I do bleed, yes?"
There are still traces of panicked sobs in her voice, but she forces herself to steel the uncertainty wavering in her tone. For all her effort, however, the sides of her lips continue to tug downwards, held there by the realization that she is wounded and far from home.
Another creature approaches, much smaller than the second one, and the small feline echoes the others with their sentiment. Safe, they say. Safe... and home? Evangeline doesn't fully comprehend—the Beyond has always been her home, but perhaps she can stay. Perhaps she can stay and heal and figure out where she could go from there... but what of her kinsmen?
"Thank you, but I—" She stops.
She stares.
Their faces are kind faces. Odd faces, so different from what she knows, but there is a tenderness to the air surrounding them that hits her and nearly carries her off of her paws. There is warmth, she thinks, beyond the warmth that the rising sun brings; it transcends the physical and it grabs her, holds her tight, digging deep into her chest and keeping her from running away.
It's with that thought in mind that she finally nods, a trembling dip of her pointed snout. "Yes, I think I would like to... be helped? And to—I mean, if that's alright, to stay for a while in this... group?" She pauses for a second, looking thoughtful, before adding in a smaller voice, "I think I would like a hug, too. At least—at least I do know what a hug is."
There are still traces of panicked sobs in her voice, but she forces herself to steel the uncertainty wavering in her tone. For all her effort, however, the sides of her lips continue to tug downwards, held there by the realization that she is wounded and far from home.
Another creature approaches, much smaller than the second one, and the small feline echoes the others with their sentiment. Safe, they say. Safe... and home? Evangeline doesn't fully comprehend—the Beyond has always been her home, but perhaps she can stay. Perhaps she can stay and heal and figure out where she could go from there... but what of her kinsmen?
"Thank you, but I—" She stops.
She stares.
Their faces are kind faces. Odd faces, so different from what she knows, but there is a tenderness to the air surrounding them that hits her and nearly carries her off of her paws. There is warmth, she thinks, beyond the warmth that the rising sun brings; it transcends the physical and it grabs her, holds her tight, digging deep into her chest and keeping her from running away.
It's with that thought in mind that she finally nods, a trembling dip of her pointed snout. "Yes, I think I would like to... be helped? And to—I mean, if that's alright, to stay for a while in this... group?" She pauses for a second, looking thoughtful, before adding in a smaller voice, "I think I would like a hug, too. At least—at least I do know what a hug is."
EVANGELINE SCHAEFER[table][tr][td]
" be God in the shape of a girl Who walks this world / And I beg, I beg to be drained From the pain I've soaked myself in, So I can stay okay / And more than okay for a while "
[/td][td][/td][/tr][/table]— INFECTIONS OF A DIFFERENT KIND, AURORA