tolaywaste | 28. » voice + private

28. » voice + private

What do you do about alternate worlds?

I mean, I get that . . . that's a really broad question. I know that. But there are people here who know about me from comic books, and they say, you know, I've done all these things that I can't imagine myself doing. That I love all these people I can't imagine knowing, much less loving.

I don't know. It never bothered me before, but now I can't stop thinking about it. I can't block it out. So what do I do with it?

private } ben

I think I'm changing my deal.

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A sunflower.

[. . . he says out loud, because he's a big dumb dork. He's grinning wider, though, most of the melancholy from before pushed away by the joy of watching Morgana grow something so beautiful, so quickly. She is still angry, yes, but she's got so much power that's unrelated to violence or anger. It comforts him to see it. It makes things seem brighter.]

[It makes her feel brighter, to have just a small reminder that magic can be used so uselessly, so pointlessly, as to make someone smile. And his smile is like the sun breaking through cloud cover. It reminds her of another blond boy's smile, and that has made her uncomfortable in the past. Right now, she only sees him.]

You're the same man who smiled like that when I first showed you I could do this.

. . . Yeah. I guess I am.

God, that was so long ago. Almost a year and a half.

[He can't believe they're both still here, but at the same time, he completely can. Stepping closer, he looks at the flower from close up and smiles wider, softer. Such a little thing. But such a big thing, too.]

[She hesitates a moment, just watching him. And when it passes, she reaches out to take his hand, pressing another seed into his palm.]

So you can grow your own. It won't last nearly that long, but it will be something to pay attention to.

[Something better than the idea of losing himself.]

Seriously?

[His fingers close automatically around the seed.]

But I don't - Morgana, you'd have to show me, I don't know the first thing about plants.

[She shrugs, and later she might be surprised by the realization that she doesn't wonder why she's bothering.]

You'll learn. Water and sunlight - it's not that hard.

But what if I overwater it? What if I underwater it? What if I kill it?

[SWEAT DROP.PNG]

Alex.

[She laughs, a little bit at him. Okay, mostly at him. She settles her hand over his closed palm.]

I'll show you. You won't kill it.

Okay. I don't want to kill it.

[Because it's a gift from Morgana, and he's never gotten a gift like this before. It's important, okay.]

[It might be more important to him than it is to her, which occurs to her only distantly. As it is, she just nods.]

You'll be all right.

[Not just with the flower.]

[People keep telling him that. But Morgana wouldn't waste her breath on him if she didn't think telling him wasn't worth the effort.]

[He smiles hesitantly.]

Thanks. You're probably right. You're smarter than, like, eighty percent of the people here, so.

[She's not sure she believes that, but she takes the compliment with a wry smile.]

Don't tell them that. I'll never get away with anything again.

You'd still get away with it.

[He grins, turning halfway to look at one of the flowerbeds. What she's made.]

But I'll keep it under my hat anyway, okay? In exchange for . . . plant lessons.

Plant lessons.

[Her smile turns wry as she lets go of his hand, turning to see where he looks.]

That seems a fair deal.

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28. » voice + private

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