She laughed softly and poked at his ribs. “Old man, you give yourself too much credit. You're not half as smart as you would be if you were as old as you pretend to be.” After all, if Shawchert really was an 'old man,' what would that make her? Middle aged? No thank you, sir.
Everything happens for a reason? Yeah, that's what people said all right, but Orin wasn't sure that she believed it. So far things never seemed to puzzle out. Things happened that caused a series of events for sure, but even after reading a hundred tales of great gods and wonderful heros, Orin wasn't sure that she bought into it. Maybe she had just lost her faith, maybe it was Desdemona still haunting her, making her a more cynical woman than she used to be. At least it felt like that part of her was fading, fast. Still, she wasn't sure that Demetrius's death had happened for a reason.
She chewed her bottom lip, trying not to give away the path of her thoughts but being terrible at hiding her emotions, as always. The strife in her face melted away soon though when Shawchert mentioned how wonderful yesterday had been. Her ears perked and it felt like she could hear the girls' laughter screaming from the roller coaster. Of course the old rides weren't nearly as epic as they had once been, but the two parent Luperci seemed to have done a good enough job at pushing the carts to the top of their faded wave-mimicking hills, and letting them roll down with cargo pups.
Orin reached out to Shawchert, slipping her arms around the man and hugging him tightly. She was half his size, but somehow she found it within her to give him a crushing hug. “You're right. I don't know what I believe in anymore, but right now I believe in the spirit here. I wonder if anybody else ever comes here. I might have made a home here once.”
A gull landed on the pier railing next to them, pecking at something on the old wood. “Oh god, how I hate seagulls...” she said with a laugh. Once upon a time, this place would have been her worst nightmare, crowded with flocks of seabirds trying to cash in on kids' clumsy fingers, picking at old popcorn and dropped packets of peanuts.
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