They were hugging after all. It was okay. Darlene hadn't started it, but she hadn't had to, and it was okay now. Max was crying, and it was okay. Darlene was crying too.
She wasn't crying for any particular reason this time. It was a sympathetic reaction, the sort of thing she'd read about somewhere online long long ago but couldn't even remember the very basics about right now. She'd been looking all around while Max just stood there, still and silent, and she hadn't been looking when the hug started. At first she had shifted and squirmed, in surprise rather than discomfort, rather like when she was ambushed and scooped up by a favorite aunt at a Christmas party, but after a second or two it felt inevitable, like it had been going on forever. The red parrot-like bird took off, seizing the opportunity of a lull in the breeze. Darlene sniffed and tasted salt.
Her fingers dug into Max's shirt. She'd always hated how her fingers felt so chubby and stumpy and clumsy, and she hated it now too. Max's shirt felt smooth and nice, maybe somewhat rumpled and worse for wear now but she could tell something cheap from something good by texture and she didn't feel like she should be clutching so hard but her grip didn't loosen even a little bit. She hated her fingers, but only a little. It wasn't important.
What to say? What to do? But there was nothing. More, there was nothing left. She had said and done already, and if there were words for this moment they weren't hers.
Darlene started humming again, a single note held, vibrating through her and Max.
But quietly.
After all, she had said that she would listen. Whether Max had anything further to say or not.
But, What Ends When the Symbols Shatter?
And, what will happen to hearts? —Private—
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MurderWeasel
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MethodicalSlacker
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Max started to pull out of the hug at the same time as he began to speak. For once, he did not have much to say.
"We should try and find Jonah and Arizona. They're probably alright, but I want to make sure."
There was a lot going through his mind. Max considered himself adept at navigating the rivers of thought that coursed through his brain, but right now he was at a loss. It all seemed too much. Incomprehensible mush.
Instead, it was the undercurrents that he now understood. The effects of the causes. The reverberations. Echoes. Primarily of an emotional tint. Max felt warmth. Renewal. He felt as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He had not shared anything with Darlene but the hug. No reawakened memories, no sum, quotient or product of the operations he had done on the prior contexts of his own life. No revelation but contact.
He looked off down the forest path. In all physical sense, the woods here were small. The island was puny.
But from this point of view, the trees looked as though they stretched on forever.
"We should try and find Jonah and Arizona. They're probably alright, but I want to make sure."
There was a lot going through his mind. Max considered himself adept at navigating the rivers of thought that coursed through his brain, but right now he was at a loss. It all seemed too much. Incomprehensible mush.
Instead, it was the undercurrents that he now understood. The effects of the causes. The reverberations. Echoes. Primarily of an emotional tint. Max felt warmth. Renewal. He felt as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He had not shared anything with Darlene but the hug. No reawakened memories, no sum, quotient or product of the operations he had done on the prior contexts of his own life. No revelation but contact.
He looked off down the forest path. In all physical sense, the woods here were small. The island was puny.
But from this point of view, the trees looked as though they stretched on forever.
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MurderWeasel
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Darlene nodded as she sorted out her limbs again, now that she was disentangled from Max. She didn't note what had happened, exactly, or what it meant, but she could feel it. Something was different. She thought it was better. When she looked at the dog sticking out of her bag, she could almost convince herself that its stitched mouth was smiling. If that wasn't auspicious, she didn't know what was.
Wait, who was she kidding? What was real good was that they were now on the same page, focused on the same goal, and it was exactly what she wanted. Max had even been the one to bring it up! And now, now Darlene could actually help. She could do something and be useful in a way that probably nobody else could. The excitement was almost enough to make her manic. It stirred a glowing energy within her, one that told her being tired could wait just a little bit longer.
"I, uh, um, Jonah... Jonah told me, he gave me a sign," Darlene said. She was too excited to talk clearly and took a couple deep breaths. She redirected her energy into popping up off the stump and getting started gathering her things together. It didn't take much work. She hadn't really unpacked.
"He said to follow the—I mean, never mind. He made a, a trail of those marshmallows. He was carrying the whole big bag, and we were going the same way for a while and I kept seeing them and I, I checked the compass and I dunno for sure but I think if I read the map right, I hope I read it right, I think maybe they were maybe going in the direction of the houses?"
Five minutes ago, Darlene would've felt like she was intruding with this ramble, or like she was sounding stupid for how it all spilled out of her. Now, she felt luminous, like she was radiating pride. They were going to go get Jonah back. She was helping.
At least for just right now, it was going to be okay.
Wait, who was she kidding? What was real good was that they were now on the same page, focused on the same goal, and it was exactly what she wanted. Max had even been the one to bring it up! And now, now Darlene could actually help. She could do something and be useful in a way that probably nobody else could. The excitement was almost enough to make her manic. It stirred a glowing energy within her, one that told her being tired could wait just a little bit longer.
"I, uh, um, Jonah... Jonah told me, he gave me a sign," Darlene said. She was too excited to talk clearly and took a couple deep breaths. She redirected her energy into popping up off the stump and getting started gathering her things together. It didn't take much work. She hadn't really unpacked.
"He said to follow the—I mean, never mind. He made a, a trail of those marshmallows. He was carrying the whole big bag, and we were going the same way for a while and I kept seeing them and I, I checked the compass and I dunno for sure but I think if I read the map right, I hope I read it right, I think maybe they were maybe going in the direction of the houses?"
Five minutes ago, Darlene would've felt like she was intruding with this ramble, or like she was sounding stupid for how it all spilled out of her. Now, she felt luminous, like she was radiating pride. They were going to go get Jonah back. She was helping.
At least for just right now, it was going to be okay.
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MethodicalSlacker
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Max chuckled. Sounded like something Jonah would do. It was a clever solution to a simple problem. He suppressed his instinctual reaction to label the action as juvenile, knowing full well that if literal breadcrumbs took the position of the marshmallows that he would regard Jonah's actions more fondly. A relic of Max's efforts to appear sophisticated. Why waste perfectly edible bread on creating a trail when marshmallows were both less nutritious and more readily visible? For the sake of literary allusion? Max chuckled some more, and shook his head.
"Let's try that," he said, walking over to the spot where he had put down his things. The man-catcher lay propped up on the bag, caught in one of the straps. Briefly Max considered picking up the weapon and throwing it into the woods like a javelin. He certainly felt like it would be satisfying to rid himself of the glorified pole. A fitting way to close out these moribund days of his existence upon this Earth.
It still had use, however. He could use it to put distance between himself and any attackers. He could use it to pick something up that was out of reach.
He could, he realized, as a last ditch effort, if the teeth were sharp enough, use it to snag on somebody's...
The thought fluttered away from his mind. Max reached down and tugged it off of the bag, wincing at the sound of the strap tearing slightly with the loosening of the tooth. Pushing it off to the side, he slung the bag over his shoulder using the undamaged strap. Max did not want to chance losing the rest of his supplies during an escape from an enemy, or to be interrupted in defense by a sudden shift in weight on his back. His right shoulder could more than hold the weight on its own. A little awkward for the bag to be hanging down so low, but it was better than the aforethought consequences. Then, he picked up the man-catcher and stood, facing the direction from which he and Darlene had come.
"The village," Max said as he stepped off, "right. Let's see if we find them there."
[Max Rudolph continued in Circle of Steel.]
"Let's try that," he said, walking over to the spot where he had put down his things. The man-catcher lay propped up on the bag, caught in one of the straps. Briefly Max considered picking up the weapon and throwing it into the woods like a javelin. He certainly felt like it would be satisfying to rid himself of the glorified pole. A fitting way to close out these moribund days of his existence upon this Earth.
It still had use, however. He could use it to put distance between himself and any attackers. He could use it to pick something up that was out of reach.
He could, he realized, as a last ditch effort, if the teeth were sharp enough, use it to snag on somebody's...
The thought fluttered away from his mind. Max reached down and tugged it off of the bag, wincing at the sound of the strap tearing slightly with the loosening of the tooth. Pushing it off to the side, he slung the bag over his shoulder using the undamaged strap. Max did not want to chance losing the rest of his supplies during an escape from an enemy, or to be interrupted in defense by a sudden shift in weight on his back. His right shoulder could more than hold the weight on its own. A little awkward for the bag to be hanging down so low, but it was better than the aforethought consequences. Then, he picked up the man-catcher and stood, facing the direction from which he and Darlene had come.
"The village," Max said as he stepped off, "right. Let's see if we find them there."
[Max Rudolph continued in Circle of Steel.]
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MurderWeasel
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"Let's!"
Darlene felt light on her feet, almost even more than she felt lightheaded. It would probably be a good idea to have some water right about now, actually, if they were about to walk the whole long way back, but she could drink while they walked. Or, well, Darlene actually had a little bit of trouble with that, had tried in the past and mostly just spilled all over herself, and after the rain she'd had enough of being soaked for probably the rest of her life even if that wasn't such a short span, but what she had learned—what she could do—was to pause for a few seconds, gulp down a big sip of water, then jog to catch up, then repeat the process again a few minutes later.
Oh, sure, they could just wait a minute or two while she properly refreshed herself, but Darlene wasn't about to suggest that. They had too much to do. They were going to find Jonah again! She wasn't exactly anxious about him ending up in danger, because he seemed almost incredible in his ability to take care of himself even while watching out for others and also he had Arizona with him and Darlene was pretty sure the basketball player could kick anyone's butt if she really put her mind to it, just from the little while they'd spent together. True, there had been some dead people that they'd seen. The cheerleader girl, and Beryl, but it didn't feel like that could touch the core group they'd formed, not yet.
She took the little prickling doubt that Beryl had been part of their group and it hadn't helped her and squished it like she was accidentally stepping on one of those shiny fat beetles.
Step by step, Darlene kept pace with Max, dog bouncing along at her side, only occasionally losing her balance just a little because she was still not used to walking through the woods and couldn't figure out when a bunch of twigs might roll from beneath her shoes or a patch of dirt might actually still be sticky wet mud. It didn't matter! She never fell. She didn't really have the focus to spare for the birds anymore, should probably have been paying better mind to their surroundings in general in case someone was nearby waiting to jump out of the bushes and shoot at them, but her attention was on sticking to Max and keeping moving.
There was just a little left to spare to quietly start to sing under her breath.
"Dashing through the snow..."
((Darlene Silva continued in Circle Of Steel))
Darlene felt light on her feet, almost even more than she felt lightheaded. It would probably be a good idea to have some water right about now, actually, if they were about to walk the whole long way back, but she could drink while they walked. Or, well, Darlene actually had a little bit of trouble with that, had tried in the past and mostly just spilled all over herself, and after the rain she'd had enough of being soaked for probably the rest of her life even if that wasn't such a short span, but what she had learned—what she could do—was to pause for a few seconds, gulp down a big sip of water, then jog to catch up, then repeat the process again a few minutes later.
Oh, sure, they could just wait a minute or two while she properly refreshed herself, but Darlene wasn't about to suggest that. They had too much to do. They were going to find Jonah again! She wasn't exactly anxious about him ending up in danger, because he seemed almost incredible in his ability to take care of himself even while watching out for others and also he had Arizona with him and Darlene was pretty sure the basketball player could kick anyone's butt if she really put her mind to it, just from the little while they'd spent together. True, there had been some dead people that they'd seen. The cheerleader girl, and Beryl, but it didn't feel like that could touch the core group they'd formed, not yet.
She took the little prickling doubt that Beryl had been part of their group and it hadn't helped her and squished it like she was accidentally stepping on one of those shiny fat beetles.
Step by step, Darlene kept pace with Max, dog bouncing along at her side, only occasionally losing her balance just a little because she was still not used to walking through the woods and couldn't figure out when a bunch of twigs might roll from beneath her shoes or a patch of dirt might actually still be sticky wet mud. It didn't matter! She never fell. She didn't really have the focus to spare for the birds anymore, should probably have been paying better mind to their surroundings in general in case someone was nearby waiting to jump out of the bushes and shoot at them, but her attention was on sticking to Max and keeping moving.
There was just a little left to spare to quietly start to sing under her breath.
"Dashing through the snow..."
((Darlene Silva continued in Circle Of Steel))