hail of arrows

[apassingafternoon]

To graduate from utter silence to the constant roar of Gilead was something else. Though she had been here for over a week now, and would stay for much longer, Kaine was not used to the constant noise. Even at night it felt as if she could hear every shuffle of bodies in sheets and night clothes, every fuck whether positive or not, and all those conversations that were never suited for daylight. It all made sleeping outside difficult, but even lying beside Nariko didn't make it any easier to deal with the walls all around her. They were suffocating. At night and in the day, they threatened to drive Kaine out of her mind.

So she took to wandering around because there wasn't fuck else to do around here, not for her.

Which might have explained catching sight of him towards an edge, around a corner. The specifics weren't relevant, that Kaine saw Bert and spun on her worn down heel and followed him was relevant. It should have also been worrying for her, this unnatural and constant fascination that was tempered by the occasional bout of good sense felt odd. It was a ... Not a problem, but not exactly good. Crushes on men that you hardly knew, that hid the way Cuthbert did, that never let her finish talking the way Cuthbert did couldn't end well.

She followed anyway, and not with any real ounce of subtlety or control. Eventually one of them would have to say something and in her own way she knew he might take that responsibility first. So she followed, and even if Kaine happened to be wrong he was pretty interesting to stare at anyway. Maybe it was the hair.

Comments

[askthelookout]

Cuthbert went on walking, whistling merrily, for a good few moments more before acknowledging her. He'd noticed her the moment she fell in behind him, of course - being a clown didn't make him any less a gunslinger, and a gunslinger learned early on to be aware of his surroundings - but, frankly, he was curious to know if she'd stay at his heels for any length of time. So until he had completed his errand - which happened to be taking stock of the armoury, which he did while completely ignoring her - he was quite willing to let her go about her own devices.

When he turned away, slate in hand, he looked her up and down with the most slack-jawed, fake surprise he could muster. "Oh, God and the Man Jesus, I've picked up a footpad!" Smiling from ear to ear, he saluted her, half-turning to lock up the armoury behind him. "Hile, sai Kaine. Settling in okay?"