Chernobyl

Whatever had amassed between them had grown from a small bloom into a massive blossom full of color and life. The thought reminded her of the weed that Murdock had been protecting upon their last meeting. It was something that she had thought was so strange then and yet, now she believed it to be nothing out of the ordinary- at least for him. The idea made her smile. She wondered what had bruised his intellect into believing inanimate objects were things of feeling and life and then decided that it wasn’t even worth contemplation. If he loved a plant then she loved it too, all for the sake of believing in something or rather someone.

The night began to fall around them and she felt at ease and slightly exhilarated that she would be able to watch the sun fall from the sky by his side. It was something that she found truly magical because there was no rhyme or reason for its slumber and yet it did anyways… It disappeared beneath the crest of the earth until it rose again the next day. There was no explanation for it and she turned to Murdock with a questioning gaze. “Have you ever wanted to explore the end of the earth?” That is, if one even existed. The concept was too large for her to wrap her head around. She had traveled a great deal and had never been close to finding the horizon. Was it just her destiny to continue looking forever?

However, she had been so entranced with her theories that she had totally forgotten to acknowledge Murdock and his attempts to break through her wall of despair. It seemed that she had forgotten her troubles for a moment while pondering what it would be like to travel by his side. She decided that it was better to forget reason while she was with him here and turned back to his gaze, eager to justify her presence in the Steppe. “I came to get away from the pressures of the Basin. It can be a little overwhelming at first.” But that did not mean that she would betray them. She would never risk her place amongst the Plague, a place amongst her family. But sometimes she wondered when they would start feeling like exactly that- a family.

She tossed the thought aside and instead settled on something new. She would discuss her duties in the Basin one day with him but it wouldn’t be today. She didn’t want to ruin his chipper mood, after all, she had just ruined their game of tag and that was enough to weight heavy on her mind. She looked down to contemplate the injured ankle and she lifted it in order to test its stability. It quaked momentarily before complying and she knew that it would be fine in a few days paired with a bit of rest. She wouldn’t want to disappoint her explorer with bad news so she smiled into his eyes and spoke softly. “I’m glad I happened upon you again explorer.”

But oh, I'm staring at the mess I made
As you turn, you take your heart and walk away