Word Count :: 365
The silvery woman did not need to inquire as to whether he would stay. It was written into him as clearly as if he had boldly proclaimed it on her first sight of him. He was as much a ghost as those he sought, and though she (and others, too) would have welcomed him, it would not happen. She was not so young that she would allow foolish hopes to obscure reality. He spoke again, and the words very nearly surprised her. They were an acknowledgement, or so she saw it -- the first nod toward his homeland and his blood. Hopeless as she was, the old coyote could not help but latch onto such a thing, yellow-golden eye lifting to his with curiosity and silly, silly hoping both written into her twisted scars, hard to read as they might have been. He did not know her as well as Gabe; maybe he could not see through the mask of old tissue and twisted flesh. Even so, he was her son yet, and perhaps he could cut right through that mask she was hidden behind.
“Gabriel is an old man now. He'll come to terms with it, in his own time,” she ventured, figuring she needn't ask for her assessment not to be repeated. “His son Ezekiel leads now.” For her own part, the woman hesitated. What could she say? The defining moments in her life over the past two years had been returning, which he could see for himself; leading again, which she had no desire to mention, as it would inevitably lead to talk of her downfall; Haku, who was buried and dead for good reason; and Samael, who she dared not speak of. “I've seen better days. Worse, too,” she finally said, settling on this noncommittal answer. A faint and half-hearted smile, its corners pulled only just slightly upwards, twitched on her face momentarily, and disappeared just as quickly. “And you?” she asked. There were ten million questions she might have asked him, wanted to ask him -- but she did not dare. He owed her nothing, least of all answers. She had never provided any for him.
#simple-text {
font-family:georgia; serif;
font-size:12px;
width:95%;
margin:0px auto;
line-height:16px; }
#simple-text p {
text-indent:50px; }
#simple-text b {
letter-spacing:.5px; }
#simple-text hr {
width:85%;
margin: 10px auto; }
</style>
[/html]