Zoe drops by with some life altering news
10. Connor: The first summer
Connor can only faintly remember the last time he saw summer, the snow has completely disappeared, the lakes and rivers have thawed, everything has grown, and now the sun seems to have acquired a personal vendetta against the amounts of green in the ground
It's on one of the cooler nights that his sister visits, and he knows, as soon as he feels her presence, that she'll read him instantly, that she'll know how helplessly Connor has fallen. On the one hand, he doesn't particularly like the idea of his sister meddling with his and Evan's… whatever it was that they had; on the other hand, he really wants to talk about Evan with someone, he would've preferred Alana for this
What happens is a bit unexpected, she's isn't here to convince him to go back to the north, she's here looking for someone else
"The top guns didn't tell us about it, but apparently the guy was why everything didn't just die off when the whole angry goddess thing happened"
She pulls a face at this, obviously displeased at being lied to
"Everyone's looking for him, because apparently he doesn't know either; can you believe it?"
"I can surprisingly"
"Oh, har-har"
She looks around
"Anyway, how come it's so warm in here? Usually it's chillier in raining season"
"This is summer"
"What?"
"You should've seen spring"
"That's… of course! He's here, isn't he? Connor you can't kidnap deities because you're lonely"
She's always had the ability to piss him off, but before he can say anything another voice cuts him off
"He didn't kidnap me, I ran away"
Connor wonders how long he's been there, and when did he get so used to the other's presence that he didn't notice him
"I'm sorry, but I'm staying here"
Zoe blinks, and asks the question Connor's been dreading to ask; only he would've used softer words when speaking to Evan, and a kinder tone when talking about his home
"You want to stay in the south?"
Evan gives a sharp nod before he directs his full attention Connor, smiling softly
"There's so much beauty here, and I feel like I make sense here"
Then he turns back to Zoe, irritated
"Why would anyone want to leave?"
Connor can feel Zoe turning to him, possibly to imply that he brainwashed Evan, but Connor cares very little what she thinks right now; Evan has become the only thing Connor can focus on, he can't pry his eyes away, and he doesn't want to
It makes no sense that a nature god, someone so tied with life, would like a place as tied with death as the south, that Evan would like a place often plagued by the seasons that caused everything. Yet here he is, resplendent and ethereal, claiming that he can't understand the millions of deities that have left the south behind, and Connor prays to everything, that he does get to stay