𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞. | "oh, how you ache for gentle hands and the smooth waves of calming voices. i am no messiah of these things but perhaps my warmth will be the soothing medicine you have yearned for in the illusions of familiar faces."
一 in which...
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09 | nine
THE TASTE IN HER MOUTH WAS WHAT she had always expected doubt to taste like. It was strange, associating a minute emotion with a tangible sense on her tongue, but it felt real. Aurora could decipher the bitter, smoky, and tangy flavors in her mouth, pointing their presence at the quintessence of uncertainty, which was also intermixed with the sharp mint of her toothpaste.
By now she was more than familiar with the hesitant ritual of slipping into bed, not knowing whether or not she would fall beneath the surface of sleep. But now, with the added presence of another shadow in her apartment, it felt more projected, less real.
The doubt shaped and swirled around her reflection of actions. Was it the right thing to let a stranger into her home? To let him stay within her apartment for an unclear duration of time? Certainly, there was nothing wrong with it. Everything was just simple favor, an innocent act of kindness to help out a new neighbor. But Aurora's head worked in disproportionate ways and she ruminated over the fact that he was unknown and hard to read.
Three hours before she had stiffly gotten to her feet from her small desk in her room, head too preoccupied with the thought of James to properly read the file that laid neatly on the wooden tabletop. She had told herself that it wasn't rude of her to reside to her own things, as it was proper for him to adjust for himself and her to go about as if he wasn't a stray. It was to avoid him catching that feeling with her lingering everywhere. But the sinking sun behind her window prompted her to feel guilty anyway, and the brunette had slipped out of her door to find the man sitting in one of the two small chairs on the balcony. He had his backpack beside him, and what looked to be a small journal in his hands.
"I'm sorry to intrude, but would you like something to eat?" Aurora put on a small smile as she gently slid the glass door open, voice soft and hovering just above the white noise from the street below. Her voice had spurred a rushed snap of his book from James, to which she felt slightly bad for speaking without a warning, however, she didn't let her expression falter, nor did she let her gaze linger on the leather-bound cover of the journal.
There was a pause before any words were uttered from James, his eyes were frozen solid, trained directly into hers. It was as if she had pressed a button, and his posture was rigidly sturdy, poised like he was ready to bolt at any moment. Eyelids blown wide and jaw clenched, shoulders leaned forward in his seat, Aurora's newfound roommate swallowed hard before his gaze disappeared and he relaxed in the neat lawn-chair. She studied him carefully, a hint of caution lacing around her leg and causing it to take a small step back through the glass door.
"I'm not hungry, but thank you." He merely glanced at her when the response came in a hushed tone. Aurora saw the skin of his right hand grasp harshly at the edges of the leather-bound book, his palm almost engulfing the whole thing in its hold.
