[ One of the first things Noelle learned - really learned - about other people is that they like it when you are small.
Small can mean all sorts of things. The physical is most obvious, and can be achieved and maintained with enough of something Noelle might have once called willpower. But that's just one aspect of an entire way of being. There are small voices, quiet and soft, that speak in short, direct sentences. There are clothes that hide a body, so it isn't noticed. And, crucially, people who are small are not burdens. A relationship with them barely weighs anything at all. So light it might not even exist.
Noelle lets Krouse bear a little bit of the guilt. The real guilt, not what he wanted to turn upon himself. Not the status of being the bad guy. And he doesn't buckle, and he doesn't leave her.
She uncurls her shoulders a little. There's less of a crushing weight pressing against them. Noelle's heart hasn't mended, but Krouse's probably hasn't, either. They can have one whole heart between the two of them. Noelle returns the smile, just a secret, and just as soft. It's only for him. ]
Thanks.
[ Noelle starts off in the direction of the sloping hill. She trusts Krouse to follow. ]
I don't think it's far.
[ Unless Krouse pipes in to speak, Noelle will spend the journey in relative quiet. She can't be silent - her lower half snaps too many branches, scrapes against too much bark and wheezes with exertion. But this slight forest, she thinks, is still peaceful nonetheless. ]
cw: eating disorder
Small can mean all sorts of things. The physical is most obvious, and can be achieved and maintained with enough of something Noelle might have once called willpower. But that's just one aspect of an entire way of being. There are small voices, quiet and soft, that speak in short, direct sentences. There are clothes that hide a body, so it isn't noticed. And, crucially, people who are small are not burdens. A relationship with them barely weighs anything at all. So light it might not even exist.
Noelle lets Krouse bear a little bit of the guilt. The real guilt, not what he wanted to turn upon himself. Not the status of being the bad guy. And he doesn't buckle, and he doesn't leave her.
She uncurls her shoulders a little. There's less of a crushing weight pressing against them. Noelle's heart hasn't mended, but Krouse's probably hasn't, either. They can have one whole heart between the two of them. Noelle returns the smile, just a secret, and just as soft. It's only for him. ]
Thanks.
[ Noelle starts off in the direction of the sloping hill. She trusts Krouse to follow. ]
I don't think it's far.
[ Unless Krouse pipes in to speak, Noelle will spend the journey in relative quiet. She can't be silent - her lower half snaps too many branches, scrapes against too much bark and wheezes with exertion. But this slight forest, she thinks, is still peaceful nonetheless. ]