“Shit.” Her voice breaks and it makes Herman wince. “Sorry. I just…”
She takes a deep, frustrated breath through her nose, wiping at the runniness before turning to him. Kate smiles, kindly and sincerely, and he blinks in shock at the sight of it. “I just can’t believe that I’m seeing you… That you’re the same.”
He doesn’t speak, simply watches her watch him, and nearly begins to cry right along with her when he realizes that the Kate sitting beside him is not the same that left him broken all those months ago. How could he even begin to be angry when this creature is merely a ghost of what once existed in that horrible girl?
“What happened out there?” Is what Herman finally whispers.
After a moment of her hiding her face in her hands, she exhales shakily and looks off to the bright light flooding in from the entrance. “Dad’s gone.”
She is suddenly a child, he realizes: nose red and running, eyes beautiful and large with the shine of tears, lips deeply flushed and puffy from fighting against the sobs that wrack her ribs.
“I just—… I just got him back, Manny.” Kate chokes on her words, battered agony radiating sickly behind her eyes. “All that time, looking and failing… All those people I—…” She pauses, swallowing audibly, and pushes her clenched fists against eyes. “He left me again...”
Herman’s heart drops from the sudden realization of what she speaks of, closing his eyes to erase the image of a motionless, paled James from his mind.
“Honey…” He can’t think of anything to say, doesn’t want to hear of any more tales of her scars or nightmares. “I’m sorry. I really am, Katie.”
Kate blinks a gathering of tears from her eyes, smearing at the grime coating her face, and looks to him underneath thin, wet lashes. She sniffs loudly, uncaring, and reaches a calloused hand up to his face.
He flinches away at the sight of dirt underneath her nails, though one look from her reddened, pitiable eyes makes his heart sore enough to bypass obsessive compulsions.
“You’re so clean.” She muses, almost as if to herself, and smiles in wonder as she meets his eyes. “You’re so handsome, Manny. It’s wonderful to see a face like yours, after all this.”
Her sudden change in mood is off-putting, enough to make him forget that she ever left—however momentarily that bittersweet feeling is; he feels as if this is another tryst, with her cackles still laced with malice and her sparkling eyes haunting him in their absence of pity.
He doesn’t trust her, he decides—not in the slightest.
Herman lets her explore him after so long; innocent, chaste touches and observations that make him feel like the outsider—though he supposes that if the people out there dress and look anything like Kate, than he must look strange after so long.
“What’re you doing here?” The question dawns on him after the initial shock begins to fade.
Kate’s fingers pause in their gentle journey down his cheek, her eyes looking confusedly into his for a brief moment. “Amata. She asked for my help, said things were fucked.”
Herman’s brow rises. “I’ll… pretend I didn’t hear that.”
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
Missed Me 1b/?
Date: 2012-11-20 08:11 pm (UTC)She takes a deep, frustrated breath through her nose, wiping at the runniness before turning to him. Kate smiles, kindly and sincerely, and he blinks in shock at the sight of it. “I just can’t believe that I’m seeing you… That you’re the same.”
He doesn’t speak, simply watches her watch him, and nearly begins to cry right along with her when he realizes that the Kate sitting beside him is not the same that left him broken all those months ago. How could he even begin to be angry when this creature is merely a ghost of what once existed in that horrible girl?
“What happened out there?” Is what Herman finally whispers.
After a moment of her hiding her face in her hands, she exhales shakily and looks off to the bright light flooding in from the entrance. “Dad’s gone.”
She is suddenly a child, he realizes: nose red and running, eyes beautiful and large with the shine of tears, lips deeply flushed and puffy from fighting against the sobs that wrack her ribs.
“I just—… I just got him back, Manny.” Kate chokes on her words, battered agony radiating sickly behind her eyes. “All that time, looking and failing… All those people I—…” She pauses, swallowing audibly, and pushes her clenched fists against eyes. “He left me again...”
Herman’s heart drops from the sudden realization of what she speaks of, closing his eyes to erase the image of a motionless, paled James from his mind.
“Honey…” He can’t think of anything to say, doesn’t want to hear of any more tales of her scars or nightmares. “I’m sorry. I really am, Katie.”
Kate blinks a gathering of tears from her eyes, smearing at the grime coating her face, and looks to him underneath thin, wet lashes. She sniffs loudly, uncaring, and reaches a calloused hand up to his face.
He flinches away at the sight of dirt underneath her nails, though one look from her reddened, pitiable eyes makes his heart sore enough to bypass obsessive compulsions.
“You’re so clean.” She muses, almost as if to herself, and smiles in wonder as she meets his eyes. “You’re so handsome, Manny. It’s wonderful to see a face like yours, after all this.”
Her sudden change in mood is off-putting, enough to make him forget that she ever left—however momentarily that bittersweet feeling is; he feels as if this is another tryst, with her cackles still laced with malice and her sparkling eyes haunting him in their absence of pity.
He doesn’t trust her, he decides—not in the slightest.
Herman lets her explore him after so long; innocent, chaste touches and observations that make him feel like the outsider—though he supposes that if the people out there dress and look anything like Kate, than he must look strange after so long.
“What’re you doing here?” The question dawns on him after the initial shock begins to fade.
Kate’s fingers pause in their gentle journey down his cheek, her eyes looking confusedly into his for a brief moment. “Amata. She asked for my help, said things were fucked.”
Herman’s brow rises. “I’ll… pretend I didn’t hear that.”