Parce Qu'ils Croient

Absinth wasn’t entirely sure what was happening. She felt a pull to continue on in this inexplicable relationship occurring now between them. Was it a kinship between two beings without a place they belonged? Perhaps. But Absinth was not a creature who thought such flowery things, so she instead stopped thinking and let herself go with whatever flow they were bouncing back and forth. “Oh, I don’t think any time spent thinking about you would be a waste.”   She breathed in an honest tone, one she hardly had to try to attain. She had already said it herself- how curious he made her.

She watched him from her sitting position at his side, then gazed forward when he angled his face away, offering him some privacy to control his expression; though he hardly needed to in her presence. She listened to his worries, something she was guided through by her father.  Her charcoal face now returned to him as he finished speaking, eyes fully scanning his own- analytical expression melting in those amber eyes of his. He poured his fears out into her. She welcomed it entirely, waiting for him to finish. “Then, do you think you can live your life  restrained to this extent? And control? A practiced thing. Don’t be what you’re  expected  to be- by anyone. You have to be what is already inside of you.”   She was certain of it, and she would offer more to him as he had done the same. “I was meant to be sold to a brothel, that's why I ran. My father was gone, older siblings gone away too, mother- a penniless whore. My worth as the king's daughter was gone along with him, all that was left was my body. I refused, and ran, because I was not a lamb for slaughter. I am the butcher.”   She was destined for things far  greater than what her orifices could  take. Absinth wanted him to see her clearly now- as clearly as she felt she could see him. And there was still so much more to both of them.

He began to nod slowly in understanding of her request, but then he brought up a new argument. One she hardly had to think about before she answered to reassure him. Her emerald gaze was consuming, yet seeking to comfort him. “Because we don’t fall into the same black and white category as others. That’s what makes us able to play the  games  with Sephiran, and  dally with the good-natured on occasion. Flexible, but capable of so much.”   By this she was speaking of Talyssa, the princess who’d cared for her after her initial arrival on these lands- though she’d never spoken of that girl to Aresenn yet. Absinth thought to test the waters of his enticement now, shifting to lean against his fiery frame with nonchalance. “Whatever souls are made of, mine and yours are the same. I’d say that’s a good reason to be friends. Don't you?”

wormwood