Little Talks (Dragonfly #7)

Dissatisfaction

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Zara
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    Jay was staring at me from across the counter, we'd gotten home a few hours ago and I had washed off the bracelet and found a bag to put it in with the other stuff we had collected. He had been sparing me glances for the last half-hour, which was unsettling enough, because Jay didn't stare at someone to look at them, he did it to send a message. Something was on his mind. Probably about our fight earlier. I tasted iron on my lips from the memory.

"Are you trying to tell me something?" I asked, finally breaking the silence.

"I'm deciding."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay fine. You want something to eat? I'm hungry."

"Sure, since you're making it."

I opened that cold box-thing where Jack kept all of his edibles and rifled around until I prepared something that humans might consider a sandwich. I stared back at Jay as I slid him a plate. We chewed silently, though the tension between us seemed to buzz with a certain energy and noise.

"I could smell blood on you earlier, it wasn't yours." He said, though I almost didn't hear him.

"I thought you said you couldn't smell anything with a man nose." I clenched my teeth.

"The week is dragging on, Zara. We're becoming less human as the spell wear off, thank Glamora. I don't know what Zach did to us but I hate it." His voice was cold and metallic.

    "He's helping." I sighed.

    "Is he?" Jay tilted his head.

    I felt a dull ache in my head again, I pressed against my right eyes and hissed under my breath. "What are you saying?"

    "Why can't he be content with death? Isn't that what he wanted? To sacrifice himself for you?" Jay's voice was shaking.

    "What are you saying?" I asked again with more force.

    He shrugged and tilted his head down. "I don't know."

    I think he might have been crying but with Jay it was always impossible to tell.

    "Zara." He said slowly. "I...I miss him too b-but you can't... you can't it consume you like this. I can't... bear to see you like this, okay?"

    I froze up, I expected to feel ice in my veins but instead all I felt was fire. A subtle warmth flooded through me and I opened my mouth answer answer him but nothing came out. Glamora's Wrath consume me, I didn't know why I felt this way or even what this was. I wanted to get so and at him. I wanted to punch his jaw and set fire to his skin but I couldn't, and I wouldn't. They were just scary thoughts from and even more terrifying girl. It was all just cycles of fear and forgetting about the fear and maybe I was a lot smaller than I thought I was.

"I...know." I started. "Look it's just a few more days okay? Just... let me do this and even if it doesn't work at least I'll have some closure."

He nodded slowly. "Okay."

"Okay? You're not going to push that a little more?" I blinked.

He shrugged. "Nope."

I looked down at my discarded sandwich. "Okay."

There was another tense silence. Then the door clicked and Jack walked in, putting down his work bag and sighing melodramatically. He looked very tired.

"Hey kiddos, what's up? Did you guy's have a fulfilling day?"

"Could have been better." I shrugged.

Jay wiped his eyes. "I'm going to go lie down."

"Honestly me too, you wanna watch- er uh, do you guys even know what a tv is?"

I shook my head and Jack half-shrugged.

"Figures. Okay I'll just be sitting around then."

Both of them left me alone in the kitchen and I felt a strange stillness fill me up and sink into my toes. It was quiet now. We probably could have done more with today but it didn't help we were rubbing each others fur the wrong way. Hopefully tomorrow would be better.