08-07-2018, 10:29 PM
"Unnecessary between those two, yes."
She understood why Evelyn had been discomforted by the lech of his stare now it pinned her. He saw a sum of parts, dissected them up like a meal with all the subtlety of a predator baring teeth. But Natalie was hardly the delicate flower appearances suggested her to be; she did not wilt from it, just raised her defiant gaze to treat him in insulting kind. Openly scrutinising the web of scars stealing half his face. The pale orb of his ruined eye.
He was not Russian, but perhaps from one of her neighbouring sisters. Brandon had been laughing when they passed him in the hallway, but she could not imagine natural buds of friendship between the two. Nikolai's lips had barely pressed into a smile the entire time Natalie had spoken to him before -- aside from the briefest flutter when Evelyn's name came up. She might not have given it a second thought, but now the question cast a shadow. Her eyes narrowed faintly; a curiosity captured and swept aside for later.
Because his name came with an apparent price. The slight pull of his grip was unexpected; such intimidation hardly seemed warranted given their difference in stature, and she hadn't anticipated pettiness. It tipped her weight forward, slamming pain that flinched her expression. Her jaw tightened with the effort to reign back the flash of weakness, flattening out her stare.
Standing in his shadow was like night with no stars. But she weathered it nonetheless.
Once she would have feared the consequences of a retaliation she could not control. It snaked like flames against her soul, twisted with the burn of chloroform against her face. But now that she'd snapped down the bars of control, she was loathe to lean on it like a crutch, despite the temptation to treat him to some discomfort of his own. Though the challenge hardened her pale gaze, she did not reach for the gift.
Her hand released, but she refused to immediately pull back from his uneasy proximity. "A gentleman, I see." Words bone dry, the sarcasm sharply dismissive. It rang like judgement before she finally stepped back, whatever had driven her to seek him out apparently satisfied, or perhaps left wanting.
She understood why Evelyn had been discomforted by the lech of his stare now it pinned her. He saw a sum of parts, dissected them up like a meal with all the subtlety of a predator baring teeth. But Natalie was hardly the delicate flower appearances suggested her to be; she did not wilt from it, just raised her defiant gaze to treat him in insulting kind. Openly scrutinising the web of scars stealing half his face. The pale orb of his ruined eye.
He was not Russian, but perhaps from one of her neighbouring sisters. Brandon had been laughing when they passed him in the hallway, but she could not imagine natural buds of friendship between the two. Nikolai's lips had barely pressed into a smile the entire time Natalie had spoken to him before -- aside from the briefest flutter when Evelyn's name came up. She might not have given it a second thought, but now the question cast a shadow. Her eyes narrowed faintly; a curiosity captured and swept aside for later.
Because his name came with an apparent price. The slight pull of his grip was unexpected; such intimidation hardly seemed warranted given their difference in stature, and she hadn't anticipated pettiness. It tipped her weight forward, slamming pain that flinched her expression. Her jaw tightened with the effort to reign back the flash of weakness, flattening out her stare.
Standing in his shadow was like night with no stars. But she weathered it nonetheless.
Once she would have feared the consequences of a retaliation she could not control. It snaked like flames against her soul, twisted with the burn of chloroform against her face. But now that she'd snapped down the bars of control, she was loathe to lean on it like a crutch, despite the temptation to treat him to some discomfort of his own. Though the challenge hardened her pale gaze, she did not reach for the gift.
Her hand released, but she refused to immediately pull back from his uneasy proximity. "A gentleman, I see." Words bone dry, the sarcasm sharply dismissive. It rang like judgement before she finally stepped back, whatever had driven her to seek him out apparently satisfied, or perhaps left wanting.