Belief Extraordinary

Gesture

Sarah's eyelids fluttered open. The look on Pan's face was so earnest that she almost believed him in spite of herself. She stepped back, crossing her arms underneath her chest as she forced her eyes away from his face. "You stuck me in a cage." She began. Pan opened his mouth, but she cut him off. "You had me chased, shot at, dragged through the jungle. You threw a knife at me! Yesterday you tried to choke me and the week before that you dropped me twice – twice – from a height that if it didn't kill me, would at least have hurt a whole heck of a lot." Her voice grew louder as she read off the laundry list of all the ways Pan had shown her exactly how little he cared about her. She shoved her sleeve up, displaying the jaggedly healing cut from where he'd pushed her arm into rock. "You've thrown me against rocks. You've mocked me for everything I do, pushed all my boundaries, and threatened me constantly with violence and intimidation." She worried that she might be ratcheting up to another explosive bout of anger so soon after her earlier rage, but as she pressed on, she realised it wasn't anger that dominated her feelings. It was hurt. "What part of that." Her voice faltered, and quieted. "What the hell part of that says you care, Peter?"

Pan's mouth tightened to a grim line as he listened. This was...unexpected. He wasn't used to being called out for his actions, but under his annoyance at her defiance was the slowly rising understanding that his plan might take a good deal longer than he had anticipated. Because yes, when she put it that way, no objective observer could possibly conclude that he cared – the opposite would be more likely. He took in her tense position, her refusal to look at his face as she accused him. No objective observer could – but Sarah, he knew, was far from objective. "It bothers you." Sarah turned her eyes up to look at him aghast. Of course it bothered her! "Thinking I don't care," He added. It was a struggle to keep a victorious smile from sliding over his face, but he managed. "Which means you wish that I did, doesn't it?"

Sarah drew her eyes hurriedly away. "It bothers me that I can hardly go a day without a near-death experience." She grumbled defensively. She didn't want to admit to herself that yes, she wanted Pan to care. She had dreamed of places like Neverland her whole life, and to be so constantly rejected, dismissed, treated as though she were nothing but a game – it hurt. She wouldn't admit it to herself, let alone Pan, but it hurt.

Pan's brain was spinning quickly, trying to think of a way to turn this around. With an affected sigh, he sat down on the pine needles below them, patting the ground beside him. Sarah looked down at him, suspicious, and shook her head. "I would think you'd enjoy the rest after your morning." He quipped. It was true, she was tired from the running, walking, and fighting she had done earlier in the day. Even so, Pan's unusual behavior was keeping her on the defensive. Pan looked up at her. "Will you sit if I promise I'm not planning to murder your family or whatever it is you're thinking right now?" Reluctantly, she sank to the ground beside him. The needles were cool beneath her hands, softened by dampness. It reminded her of home, a favourite park she had gone to whenever her odd moods made her particularly restless.

"It's difficult to lead, you know." She resented the lightness of his tone. After all she had said, for him to sit there so idly unaffected was a fresh insult which she felt keenly. "You have to prioritise order, whatever your real wishes may be." Sarah snorted. Was that his excuse? She wasn't buying it. "And of course, I'm not pretending I've cared about you this entire time – what reason could I possibly have to care about a strange girl who landed on my island without my prior knowledge or permission?" Sarah's hands clenched into fists. He wasn't exactly helping his case. Pan turned his head to face her, though she shifted her eyes resolutely towards the ground. "Is it so strange to think I might have come to care about you over time?"

Sarah frowned. Why was he so determined to convince her that he cared? He wouldn't get anything out of it, surely. Was it possible he was being honest? Yesterday. She reminded herself. He tried to suffocate you yesterday, and he wasn't exactly friendly when you ran into him earlier today, either. She growled, at Pan or herself she couldn't say. Don't be a fool.