“I think my attempts at legacy making have been disastrous enough. This age has had quite enough of me.” He flopped back onto his bed, half-made.
“So dramatic.” She said, smiling softly. “This age is not half so boring as to be concerned with the likes of you.”
“You encourage this!” He retorted.
She shook her head. “There are evil creatures lurking in basements now, Wil, bloodred vines reaching from the depths. You were only ever one man.”
He looked at her again, questioning. “I was more terror than man.”
There is a pause. She can hear the intake of his breath, terrified, perhaps, she would agree.
“Your hands shook whenever you spoke,” She said at last, meeting his eyes. “The terror was all of yourself coming apart before us, unraveling onto stone floors.”
“You talk as though I was grotesque to behold.” He said, relaxing, retreating into the blankets. His voice emerged, muffled. “Had I known it was so unfashionable perhaps I would have stopped.”
