Pulling her attention from the stone bust Reinette turned towards Jack's voice only to still again. The light was different, bright and artificial in a way she was coming to know. And of course she and the room were the barest acquaintances now.
But Jack?
Jack was Jack again. In a way she had not seen in far too long. And perhaps, she thought? Perhaps he was no different than that morning she chose to take her walk. But the sudden shift? From courtly frippery to everything that was not?
For a moment she held silent.
There was that odd, old feeling of inequality then. Before it was always that sense of how much more he knew. But now? Here was was at utter ease in his own skin, so sure. While she was in a still hideously imagined shade of blue. Staring at a woman in stone she did not know.
But there it was still. Jack. As Jack. Pulling herself from her thoughts Reinette met his gaze and smiled warmly.
"Little Jack? I never would have thought to hear you refer to yourself so."
no subject
But Jack?
Jack was Jack again. In a way she had not seen in far too long. And perhaps, she thought? Perhaps he was no different than that morning she chose to take her walk. But the sudden shift? From courtly frippery to everything that was not?
For a moment she held silent.
There was that odd, old feeling of inequality then. Before it was always that sense of how much more he knew. But now? Here was was at utter ease in his own skin, so sure. While she was in a still hideously imagined shade of blue. Staring at a woman in stone she did not know.
But there it was still. Jack. As Jack. Pulling herself from her thoughts Reinette met his gaze and smiled warmly.
"Little Jack? I never would have thought to hear you refer to yourself so."