Zixk

because why not #1 CONNECTION He ran on the rooftops of Venice with the wind whistling in his ears. Few things felt as good as this. He snagged a feather and a flag, euphoria keeping a smile on his face even as he hid from a guard. #2 The Touch A cup of coffee sat on the counter. He sat behind it, waiting, patient. This time of the year, they came to his shop more frequently. #3 Fire Flower The two sat on the roof and watched explosions of color fill the night sky. The boy moved his hand a few inches, only to grimace when the girl ground it under the heel of her hand. He smiled though, when she held his hand immediately after. #4 You'

Did (one) She's mumbling directions when neither he nor she is shouting their lines so the audience can hear. She mouths the name of every move he makes, every blow she blocks. Their fight is about to end, they see the classmates dressed as his army fall to classmates dressed as her army. She ends their duel with a flashy move that sends his sword into the air and hers into his chest (his armpit, really). He falls to the ground and she announces her triumph. Did (two) They're fighting monsters back to back, she with a claymore and he with a rope dart and she somehow finds time between lopping off heads to wonder at his skill. But they get

she sees him round a corner at around ten thirty from her perch beside a gargoyle, and her lips press together. Things run through her head, things he had said before, to her face and behind her back. It would be so easy to just jump down from these twenty stories, grab him, and run. You can run up walls, just bring him up to some roof and eat him. Nobody would know it was you. She bites her thumb. So easy. She shakes her head. No, she thinks, all those things he said. Those were years ago. And besides. Sticks and stones. And not even those can break me now. Her stomach rumbles. Eat him. You're hungry. Listen to your bo- Oh, I see. You'

a lake, ridiculously deep. still waters. wall around it, made of iron and concrete. a trench surrounding the wall. sharks in the water. a young girl, sitting on the wall, swinging her legs. buckets of blood hanging on the wall, within arms' reach. get over the trench. over the wall. past the girl, see how she moves her hand to a bucket. jump into the water. all the sharks are near the bottom, for some reason. swim and show the girl you're not afraid. laugh. feel your eyes widen in horror as she tosses the contents of the bucket into the lake.