She turned to Forrest, her eyes wide and hurt; an incredulous pain behind them, like windows, the light shining through. “What the hell are you talking about?” she demanded.
“…kid.” She broke out of her snide mirth for just a moment. It seemed to pale in front of the hurt fury now radiating out of the younger woman. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I apologize. Maybe through all of this I’ve lost—”
“Do you have a single shred of common decency left in you?” Brynn snapped, the words spilling out quickly. “What is wrong with you?”
“Probably not,” she answered the first question. The second was far too uncomfortable to answer here. Not next to the corpse sprawled against a crudely drawn rune. “I’m sorry.”
Brynn blinked, hard. “Do you like yourself?”
“No. If I saw me in a bar I’d start a fight just to leave a black eye on my face. I’d pummel me and leave me unconscious in a back alley somewhere.”
The younger woman started to shake, raising a finger. “Don’t you joke with me—not right now—”
“Brynn.”
“What?”
Forrest smiled faintly, shaking her head and rubbing the back of it awkwardly with her hand. “I’m not joking,” she said quietly, turning and leaving the room.
Brynn, frozen in place, stared down at the poor soul who’d died in terror and fear by himself, and then let out a long breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.
“Oh.”
(Source: velvetdemon.net)
