Falls

The worst did not come to light; Björn did not listen to her story and come to an eventual conclusion that she was right, she must have been crazy. He listened to her speak of deities in the flesh, of powers that one born here should only dream in imagination, and there only seemed to be wonder as he looked at her. It touched her more than she could ever voice, her heart seeming to sigh with relief as everything that she held dear was validated in the night. All Avangeline could manage to do to convey her emotions was to look at him with much the same wonderment as he did her, and to smile softly before saying, “Thank you.”

Then, though they knew each other not, she closed the space between them. Her long, nimble legs took her agile body forward until she could rub her cheek against his wither, over his chest, and tuck her neck beneath his chin. He was warm, as was she, and for a moment she closed her eyes and envisioned beautiful lights glowing and dancing around them, enveloping them in the love that was her faith. She pressed her cheek to his skin and exhaled a soft, low breath…

And then she realized what she’d done, how she’d invaded his space without warning, clung to him without knowing him. A shy, awkward smile was on her mouth as she slowly pulled back, enough to lift her chin and give him a brief look before laughing and looking away. “Sorry…” she trailed off, though she knew she wasn’t sorry for “hugging” him in a sense, but sorry that she’d done it so unexpectedly. “I’m Avangeline.”