[ She startles a little when he puts his arms around her and draws her in. She's not sure when she was hugged last. A long time. It's been a long time.
Then he calls her Chy. He calls her what her parents used to and he tells her that he's sorry, and something cracks open inside her. She presses her face against his chest and starts to cry. To sob. To empty herself out in that weeping, gasping, wild way that there's no coming back from once you start.
It occurs to some part of her to be embarrassed. It's small, fierce, angry, and humiliated that she couldn't keep it together, telling him all this. She's bawling into his shirt like a child.
It occurs to some part of her to feel guilty. He gives her stories of Atlantis and she gives him stories about death.
But the momentum of tears carries her until she's spent, until she's doing nothing but breathing and shuddering and feeling the damp on his clothes pressing against her cheek. She swallows and tries to straighten up. ]
no subject
Then he calls her Chy. He calls her what her parents used to and he tells her that he's sorry, and something cracks open inside her. She presses her face against his chest and starts to cry. To sob. To empty herself out in that weeping, gasping, wild way that there's no coming back from once you start.
It occurs to some part of her to be embarrassed. It's small, fierce, angry, and humiliated that she couldn't keep it together, telling him all this. She's bawling into his shirt like a child.
It occurs to some part of her to feel guilty. He gives her stories of Atlantis and she gives him stories about death.
But the momentum of tears carries her until she's spent, until she's doing nothing but breathing and shuddering and feeling the damp on his clothes pressing against her cheek. She swallows and tries to straighten up. ]
I'm sorry. I don't know what-- I'm sorry.