the bottle explodes next to her, its blood-red ichor and green scales scattering across the floor. she is turning before she has time to react, a hundred eyes swiveling in unison to look at him, look at him, see what's going on-
he shouts, a sound without words, and she flinches. her hands reach up and cover her mouth, the sudden rush of air blowing cold against them as she gasps. she is frightened, cowed by sudden movements and the sound of a man yelling and something else she doesn't quite know how to describe. but even if the feeling doesn't pass, the panic does, and she forces herself to step forward - to raise her hands off her mouth in the universal gesture for "please stay calm," to try and reach his side and offer some sort of reassurance. ]
It's okay! It's okay. I promise. [ maybe it's not okay. but she knows it can be, at least. her steps are small, her breathing as even as she can force it past the gut surge of awful, crying panic. he's laughing now, a terrible sound that splits her apart like a knife, but she forces herself to smile a tiny bit back - to give her own laugh, nervous and brittle. ] It's- it's okay, alright?
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the bottle explodes next to her, its blood-red ichor and green scales scattering across the floor. she is turning before she has time to react, a hundred eyes swiveling in unison to look at him, look at him, see what's going on-
he shouts, a sound without words, and she flinches. her hands reach up and cover her mouth, the sudden rush of air blowing cold against them as she gasps. she is frightened, cowed by sudden movements and the sound of a man yelling and something else she doesn't quite know how to describe. but even if the feeling doesn't pass, the panic does, and she forces herself to step forward - to raise her hands off her mouth in the universal gesture for "please stay calm," to try and reach his side and offer some sort of reassurance. ]
It's okay! It's okay. I promise. [ maybe it's not okay. but she knows it can be, at least. her steps are small, her breathing as even as she can force it past the gut surge of awful, crying panic. he's laughing now, a terrible sound that splits her apart like a knife, but she forces herself to smile a tiny bit back - to give her own laugh, nervous and brittle. ] It's- it's okay, alright?
[ she takes another step, steady and cautious. ]