08-31-2018, 08:46 PM
There was no telling her, and Asha was not the argumentative sort, so she said nothing to the monologue that followed. Rowan was genuine, but smothered in too much showy artifice to make Asha truly comfortable in her presence. She condescended like a goddess on high to mere mortals who ought to be grateful for the attention, like the recognition somehow plucked them from obscurity.
She called her child.
Asha realised too late that the growing ball of anger was not her own, and by that time it had exploded from Tobias's lips, swallowing Mik's earnest question and Rowan's supreme confidance in a raging storm.
The hands that had been on her lap squeezed tight between her knees now. It probably didn't help that his was now the only energy of the room, leaving no real retreat from that lashing wind. She hunched a little like it was a physical pain, though it wasn't; she just didn't want to get swept up by it. There wasn't exactly a sense she could block to numb the feeling. It just had to be weathered.
Though if Rowan snapped back; god, if she dropped her hold on her power, Asha didn't think she'd be able to cope. Not without an anchor.
Her head dipped into her hands. Her heart raced. It was too much stimulus for one body. "I didn't know it at the time. He's not even my uncle, not by blood. My parents thought I was a curse. I guess he disagreed. We parted ways eventually though." The very way she said it it was clear there was a painful story behind that, and not one she was particularly able to articulate right now even if she'd been inclined.
She thought of Aria's journals and of the coffee table manual; of the sea monsters Elias chased; of Nox's kindness and the paradox that was his existence. She'd spent her whole life trying to catch a glimpse beneath the veil, but she'd never really understood the depth of the strange world she chased until Moscow.
Her gaze fell. Tobias held his hand open like an invitation. The trust made her feel strangely safe, though he was still far too tumultuous to risk that kind of connection right now. He didn't want to be here, which made her wonder why he stayed. Something flashed like darting fish in a pool, but he was too wound up to really puzzle it out without straying too deep. She nudged him with her arm, a fleeting connection. "Neither of us are going to convince her. Please don't let it rile you," she murmured.
He'd promised he wouldn't let anything happen to her; was that really the reason he stayed? He'd tamped the frustration down but she could still feel it simmering as he reached for the pot. And no wonder considering the things he saw. Her uncle had protected her from that; the sharpness with which she knew she'd feel another's death would have sent her insane long ago otherwise. Seeing it unbidden must be no fun either. But she didn't know how to offer comfort. Except that if she sensed he truly wished to leave, she would go with him.
For now she glanced back up at Mik. "Fanatical zealots. That's what Nox told me. They hunt anything that's different, things you would probably call myths. But some of them are different themselves. I guess that muddies the waters a bit."
She called her child.
Asha realised too late that the growing ball of anger was not her own, and by that time it had exploded from Tobias's lips, swallowing Mik's earnest question and Rowan's supreme confidance in a raging storm.
The hands that had been on her lap squeezed tight between her knees now. It probably didn't help that his was now the only energy of the room, leaving no real retreat from that lashing wind. She hunched a little like it was a physical pain, though it wasn't; she just didn't want to get swept up by it. There wasn't exactly a sense she could block to numb the feeling. It just had to be weathered.
Though if Rowan snapped back; god, if she dropped her hold on her power, Asha didn't think she'd be able to cope. Not without an anchor.
Her head dipped into her hands. Her heart raced. It was too much stimulus for one body. "I didn't know it at the time. He's not even my uncle, not by blood. My parents thought I was a curse. I guess he disagreed. We parted ways eventually though." The very way she said it it was clear there was a painful story behind that, and not one she was particularly able to articulate right now even if she'd been inclined.
She thought of Aria's journals and of the coffee table manual; of the sea monsters Elias chased; of Nox's kindness and the paradox that was his existence. She'd spent her whole life trying to catch a glimpse beneath the veil, but she'd never really understood the depth of the strange world she chased until Moscow.
Her gaze fell. Tobias held his hand open like an invitation. The trust made her feel strangely safe, though he was still far too tumultuous to risk that kind of connection right now. He didn't want to be here, which made her wonder why he stayed. Something flashed like darting fish in a pool, but he was too wound up to really puzzle it out without straying too deep. She nudged him with her arm, a fleeting connection. "Neither of us are going to convince her. Please don't let it rile you," she murmured.
He'd promised he wouldn't let anything happen to her; was that really the reason he stayed? He'd tamped the frustration down but she could still feel it simmering as he reached for the pot. And no wonder considering the things he saw. Her uncle had protected her from that; the sharpness with which she knew she'd feel another's death would have sent her insane long ago otherwise. Seeing it unbidden must be no fun either. But she didn't know how to offer comfort. Except that if she sensed he truly wished to leave, she would go with him.
For now she glanced back up at Mik. "Fanatical zealots. That's what Nox told me. They hunt anything that's different, things you would probably call myths. But some of them are different themselves. I guess that muddies the waters a bit."