"No." It's like the sound of a hand slapping a table. Demanding attention and silence. But nothing moves.
Nothing save the very small movement that is Jo giving up pretending she's not paying attention just as much to Thorfinn's conversation as she is to everyone hovering in front of her curtains. Yes, she still thinks of the curtains as hers. (Maybe, she still thinks of Thorfinn as hers, too.) But both of those are neither here nor there, and neither of them is the reason that word came out.
Her eyes are on Thorfinn, without even getting to Jesse. "You don't know that."
"We--" She emphasizes the word and gestures between just the two of them. "-don't know that. None of them--" This one a gesture to everyone from Jesse to the rest of the crowd in a sweeping gesture. "--know that. No one can be sure of that. You aren't dead, and it means you might go back again."
It hurts to put that out there so flat, so possible. It's too many words. So many he might not even get what she was trying to say, refusing to let him keep believing, but she hated that tone he'd said that in, and unlike her, he had gone home, for years time between when they'd met on the islands and then again after he came out of the fountain a few weeks ago. There were still chances for him, and all of his people.
Jo refused to stay silent, say sorry.
Nothing save the very small movement that is Jo giving up pretending she's not paying attention just as much to Thorfinn's conversation as she is to everyone hovering in front of her curtains. Yes, she still thinks of the curtains as hers. (Maybe, she still thinks of Thorfinn as hers, too.) But both of those are neither here nor there, and neither of them is the reason that word came out.
Her eyes are on Thorfinn, without even getting to Jesse. "You don't know that."
"We--" She emphasizes the word and gestures between just the two of them. "-don't know that. None of them--" This one a gesture to everyone from Jesse to the rest of the crowd in a sweeping gesture. "--know that. No one can be sure of that. You aren't dead, and it means you might go back again."
It hurts to put that out there so flat, so possible. It's too many words. So many he might not even get what she was trying to say, refusing to let him keep believing, but she hated that tone he'd said that in, and unlike her, he had gone home, for years time between when they'd met on the islands and then again after he came out of the fountain a few weeks ago. There were still chances for him, and all of his people.