There was a gasp, followed by the tinkle of broken glass.
That, in turn, gave way to a deafening voice, spewing out string of obscenities and insults.
So fuckin' loud.
The Mole was sitting in the mud. He knew he'd been sitting there for a while. He couldn't remember why.
He opened his eyes. He saw his hands. Filthy. Thinner than they should be.
He heard a trembling voice beneath that loud one. he knew that voice. It was th' girl from the fields. Ella.
He smiled faintly. Ella. An ingenue. But she's here. A bad place. She shouldn't be here. Not in the mud. Not made to carry out the bidding of.. Loud man. Right.
The Mole lifted his gaze.
Spittle landed on Ella's cheek as the loud man continued cursing at her, taking hold of her shoulders and shaking her.
Then he slammed her against the wall.
The Mole flinched at the sight and sound of impact. That snapped him out of the haze. Shit. Right. The town. The fire. That sadistic, deafenin' freak. He marveled that he had been able to tune out that inhuman voice.
Ella was sobbing, trying to shield herself from the those horrible hands, poised to strike.
The Mole clenched his fists. This was too much. He'd survived on next to nothing for days, he'd been awake for far longer than he thought possible, he'd nearly forgotten who he was, and goddess fuckin' knows he was fuckin' fed up with all this bullshit. Goddess knows he was fuckin' done.
***
"I miss skin."
"..sorry?"
"Skin. Skin contact."
"Ah."
"Skin to skin. All over."
"I get it."
"Skin against skin."
"Look, if you're that desperate, we can go shag in the closet."
*SLAP*
{"Sure.."}
