(May '17) Prompt #3 - "Reflection." [Archive]

ArtisticVicu

08-04-2017, 04:37 AM

"Hey."

She looked over, her fingers fluttering uselessly in response in a form of sign language no one understood.

Her visitor interpreted the gesture correctly, though, and settled at her side, arms on the rail in a position that mirrored hers. She turned her attention back on the scene before her, not really seeing much of it. as her mind wandered. Her visitor shifted and she looked over, watching as they pulled out a cigarette packet. She arched an eyebrow at them when they noticed her gaze and she gestured as if to smoke, an incredulous look on her face.

They chuckled. "Hey, you don't know everything about me."

She gave them a flat look. She pointed at the cigarettes before pointing at her visitor and then crossed her arms, hands straight and rigid. It was enough that her visitor understood. They gestured at her with the box. "I do too smoke." She swiped at the box and nearly had it. Her visitor skittered back a few steps. "I just don't smoke around you."

She glared at them before crossing her arms, arching an eyebrow in challenge. Her visitor flinched. "Alright, alright. I stole them from Cronis. I just..." Her visitor looked down at the cigarettes in their hand. "I just wanted to see if they worked how I need them to."

Her entire demeanor softened and she stepped up, placing a hand on their shoulder. They gave her a tired smile. "Guess his death was hard on all of us, huh?"

She nodded, no feeling up to attempting a comforting smile. It wouldn't come out right anyways.

The cigarette box was placed on a nearby table as she waited at the railing. Her visitor came back, resuming the first position they had taken upon arrival. She mirrored them, looking out once more.

The silence wasn't oppressive like it had been with most that had come to be with her. Unlike the others, this particular visitor understood. At least, understood to the extent an outsider could understand. There was no pity, no walking on eggshells. It was nice.

"I can't believe he's really gone," they spoke, their words soft and heavy. She glanced over and took note of the unshed tears in her companion's eyes. She didn't bring any attention to them. It would not surprise her if her companion had yet to truly grief the loss. She had long since run out of tears within the last week. Heck, after the first day. She focused back out onto the view but she didn't really see it. "It's still so surreal. I keep expecting him to be there and then I remember and it's so hard."

She felt a weight being put on her soul and she closed her eyes. He wasn't just hers, she had to remember that. He had been around the others and, while he may have been her twin, he had been friends and family for many others. She was not the only one to have lost.

She still felt irrational rage at the words her companion spoke.

How dare they.

"I can't begin to fathom what your loss is compared to mine, Miko."

Ice flooded her body as the conversation turned in a direction she hated. Her companion didn't look at her, though, and she was grateful for that small amount of mercy.

"He was at your side since birth. He was your voice, your way of communicating with the world. You two had always been together and, while there were times you two had been apart, he always came back and now..." Her companion rubbed at their face. "And now he's just gone."

The words were spoken in a whisper but she heard them clearly and they hurt. They hurt so much. But she didn't have any tears left to cry. Stuck in a sort of painful limbo, she pressed her face into her hand, wallowing in turbulent emotions she had no names for.

A careful hand was placed on her shoulder and she looked up. Her companion was crying. "I'm.....I'm sorry. I don't know how else to say it, to portray what I want to say. Sorry's the best word I've got in my repertoire."

She shrugged, not sure how else to react to that.

Her companion's hand left her shoulder.

There was a sniff from her left but she ignored it. The pain, the anguish, had turned to fury. She was mad at her companion for saying such things. She was mad at everyone for thinking that he had been theirs. She was mad at her brother - her twin - for abandoning her like that. How could he?! How could he leave her here all alone with no ability to communicate with the world without having to rely on technology?!

How could he leave her like that?! Why did he leave her?!

Why did he have to die?

The sobs hurt. Oh, how they hurt. But with no vocal cords to utilize, her sobs were silent screams of anguish, only noises coming from her gasping for breath between every choking sob. Her legs gave out from under her and she slid to the base of the rails, clinging to them like a lifeline as she crumbled. Distantly, she noticed that her companion was still standing but sobbing just as hard, leaning on the rail for more support that they had been earlier. That small part of her that noticed was grateful they were too busy with their own anguish to touch her. She didn't want to be touched, to be comforted like that. Too many had tried comforting her like that when all she wanted was her brother's arms to wrapped around her one last time, his face in her hair and his comforting voice speaking soothing words.

She hoped her companion wasn't drowning like she was.

She wished her brother was still alive.

She wished he hadn't died.

She wished she had died instead.

She had given up on wishing a long time ago.