The summer fades. Fall approaches. With it, the colors of the leaves turn bright until they, too, fade.
Their footfalls crunch lightly, and she skips from rock to rock. He watches her. "Can't you be quieter?" She finally announces.
His eyebrow shoots up. Okay, he thinks, the kid wants him to be quieter. Yet, he's about the silentest when walking through the woods. He knows animals like the back of his hand. And she's demanding him to be quieter. Immediately and gruffly, he lifts his feet in stomping footfalls, pounding the leaves into the ground as he goes. Some may complain he sounds like an animal, but no, now he sounds human.
She glares.
He glares back.
"Loosen up." He finally says.
She winces and falls back, but only slightly. Then, her jaw sets again, and she turns away, her plaited hair swinging.
"Catnip..." He protests.
"What?" She snarls back like a cat, just out of his reach. Her eyes are hard and cold, like coal, a small flame within. But her face is emotionless. Totally concealing any hurt or anger, even if it shimmers just below the surface.
"Com'on, I've known you since spring. Since before the reaping. For almost eight months now. I'm not going to hurt you."
"Trust is hard to come by." She says.
"Even if you don't trust me," He's struck by the realization that he actually does trust her, and even care for her, "You don't have to act like a statue."
Oops. Not the thing to say.
She hits him, pushes him with all of her very small body (to be honest, it's not much.) and then stares at him. Her lip twitches. Her eyebrows knit. She folds her arms and glares, and glares, while her fingernails dig into her own skin, like she's challenging him.
Eyebrows go up. He leans against a tree behind him, drumming his nails on his own arm. It's a staring contest, and he won't blink. Neither of them will.
"Lighten up, Catnip." He says tersely. "This isn't life or death. I'm not going to kill you and make a stew out of you, I promise. I've told you I'd help you're family...at the reaping. I'm your friend."
The chin goes down slightly, but her eyes remain locked on his. "I trust you." She admits in a small voice. "But I'm not a statue!" There goes the soft voice.
"Please." He mutters under his breath. She doesn't hear, or pretends not to.
She shoves against him again, and runs. Her footfalls make the leaves crunch and probably scare the game away for miles.
"There we go." He says out loud, and chases after her with the knowledge that this won't last, and he's not too good with 'loosening up' either. But, hey, what's one day.
I like this one..:D Please review!
