“Grapes?”
There’s a nod between the tall man and the child.
And they get to work, soil turning over their fingers.
All hands work the same with any sort of earth.
“Mister?”
Riqi-Tio’s ears perk up, and her smile brightens.
“… yes?”
He smiles back, a little weakly but putting on the best effort he can muster.
“Do you think everything is going to be okay?”
A well-aimed gunshot.
A friend lying in a pool of his own blood seeping across a sea of gold.
The bright Light shining in his eyes, shifting over-
“… mister?”
“Oh, I… I’m sorry. I just… was lost in my own thoughts.”
His hands dig into the soil, and he gives it a glance.
Oh, how it crumbles so easily between the fingers.
… he can’t-
Oh, how he won’t do the same.
Otolin looks up to her.
“… it’s going to be okay.”
“Promise?”
“… I don’t make… make promises I can’t keep, yes?”
