“Wait a minute, slow down, what are you— what are you talking about?”
Brian wasn’t being deliberately obtuse. He was trying to make sense of what Valerie was saying without having had the courage to say it yet. The gyst of it, though – between the stammered apology and certainty she wasn’t good enough for him (a kind of strange assertion, since she was an actual, real life superhero) – didn’t sound good. Definitely not like the kind of conversation he wanted to have with his door wide open to prying neighbors’ eyes.
“Uhh.” He put up a finger. “Hang on, sit down.”
He gestured vaguely at the couch and closed the door. The telekinetic faced the latches.
He was hesitant to turn around and look at Valerie. Instead he stared at the metal dial and length of chain for a few seconds, contemplating whether to turn them or not in an act of procrastination. His arms hung at his sides. The deadbolt squeaked and rotated the slightest bit as he stared at it. Then it clicked back into the unlocked position.
“Okay.” He took a breath. There was a weird sort of feeling in his body. A buzzing, right at the base of his skull. As he took a seat on the coffee table and faced the couch, he tried not to do what felt natural: worry. “So you haven’t done anything, but you’re attracted to someone?” He pushed his hair back and grabbed onto the denim thighs of his jeans.
no subject
Brian wasn’t being deliberately obtuse. He was trying to make sense of what Valerie was saying without having had the courage to say it yet. The gyst of it, though – between the stammered apology and certainty she wasn’t good enough for him (a kind of strange assertion, since she was an actual, real life superhero) – didn’t sound good. Definitely not like the kind of conversation he wanted to have with his door wide open to prying neighbors’ eyes.
“Uhh.” He put up a finger. “Hang on, sit down.”
He gestured vaguely at the couch and closed the door. The telekinetic faced the latches.
He was hesitant to turn around and look at Valerie. Instead he stared at the metal dial and length of chain for a few seconds, contemplating whether to turn them or not in an act of procrastination. His arms hung at his sides. The deadbolt squeaked and rotated the slightest bit as he stared at it. Then it clicked back into the unlocked position.
“Okay.” He took a breath. There was a weird sort of feeling in his body. A buzzing, right at the base of his skull. As he took a seat on the coffee table and faced the couch, he tried not to do what felt natural: worry. “So you haven’t done anything, but you’re attracted to someone?” He pushed his hair back and grabbed onto the denim thighs of his jeans.
‘Easy, buddy. Just hear her out.’