12-24-2025, 09:09 PM
The pendant still rested in his hand, rough bone wrapped in copper wire, the sigil barely visible beneath his thumb. He hadn't expected her to actually want it. He hadn’t even expected her to listen.
If he was honest, he’d thought that she’d laugh. Or say something teasing in that light way of hers and then toss the thing into her pocket, forgotten by morning. That would have been easier. But Lalitha was watching him now. Marek stared at her hand like it might close around his wrist and pull him somewhere he wasn’t sure he wanted to go.
The night pressed in colder now, as if noticing Sámiel’s absence had left a vacuum in the air. The heater crackled a few paces off, but Marek felt cold anyway. He shoved his free hand into his coat pocket, shoulders tense.
“I, uh...” He cleared his throat and immediately hated how awkward it sounded. She was still looking at him. “It’s nothing fancy,” he said, eyes darting somewhere over her shoulder.
He uncurled his own fingers slowly. The pendant shifted in his palm, catching the light. He set it gently into her waiting hand. It didn’t look like much, not here in the dark.He didn’t know what to do with his hands, so he pushed the other deeper into his coat pocket, boots scuffing the dirt like he wanted to dig his way out.
If he was honest, he’d thought that she’d laugh. Or say something teasing in that light way of hers and then toss the thing into her pocket, forgotten by morning. That would have been easier. But Lalitha was watching him now. Marek stared at her hand like it might close around his wrist and pull him somewhere he wasn’t sure he wanted to go.
The night pressed in colder now, as if noticing Sámiel’s absence had left a vacuum in the air. The heater crackled a few paces off, but Marek felt cold anyway. He shoved his free hand into his coat pocket, shoulders tense.
“I, uh...” He cleared his throat and immediately hated how awkward it sounded. She was still looking at him. “It’s nothing fancy,” he said, eyes darting somewhere over her shoulder.
He uncurled his own fingers slowly. The pendant shifted in his palm, catching the light. He set it gently into her waiting hand. It didn’t look like much, not here in the dark.He didn’t know what to do with his hands, so he pushed the other deeper into his coat pocket, boots scuffing the dirt like he wanted to dig his way out.
“You taught me language, and my profit on’t
Is, I know how to curse.”
Is, I know how to curse.”
Caliban, The Tempest
⛦⃝