Better Men
Violet
When we left the restaurant, the snow was up to my calves. “Well, we might’ve just had a blizzard.” Charles commented, his lips already turning blue from bitter cold. I went to give him his jacket back but he wouldn’t accept it. “Absolutely not, you’ll freeze. My place is closer than yours, you know. Would you like to go back there? I can get you to the hotel when the weather clears up, if you want.” I nodded eagerly. He took my hand and we started off running, both of us slipping on the layer of ice beneath the powder.
By the time we had reached the doorstep of his apartment building on campus, we’d fallen to the ground countless times. Covered in snowflakes, we shook with laughter as he brought me up to his fourth story apartment. “Well, this is it.”
“It’s –nice.” He led me into the living room, a monstrous place lined with bookshelves, taking the coat and discarding it on the rack. He lit the fireplace in the corner. Grabbing some blankets from a chest behind the sofa, he sat down and patted the spot beside him.
“I’m fucking freezing.” he chuckled as I sidled up next to him. He covered us both with the afghan and I settled against his shoulder. We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes. I watched him as he shut his eyes; seemingly slipping into that mysterious veil behind what I saw of him. He seemed to get lost there, lost in his thoughts- or, maybe someone else’s. It took him a while to get back to the present.
After a minute, I glanced up at him. “What’s it like?” I asked.
“What’s what like?”
“To read minds? To be in your head?”
He chuckled, “Noisy and very crowded.”
“No, seriously.”
He readjusted himself so that he was facing me head on. “I don’t know, really. I’ve never been any other way.” He let me touch his face. “I suppose, it’s a bit like being in a crowd and trying to listen in on everyone’s conversations. I hear my own thoughts extremely clearly but the others are muffled. Kind of like static, they all just blend together. I really have to focus to hear them individually.”
“I wish I could see the way you do.” I told him.
He just shook his head. “It’s not as fun as it sounds. I’d give anything to be alone in my own mind for a while.” We fell silent again. I could feel him shift nervously. When I went to ask him what was wrong, he pressed his finger to my lips.
I wasn’t expecting him to kiss me. With his hands against my temples, he pushed his lips on mine. Something warm seemed to engulf the moment. When I closed my eyes, I saw a wave of violet on black- so Technicolor that it seemed to leap from the depths of my vision.
By the time we had reached the doorstep of his apartment building on campus, we’d fallen to the ground countless times. Covered in snowflakes, we shook with laughter as he brought me up to his fourth story apartment. “Well, this is it.”
“It’s –nice.” He led me into the living room, a monstrous place lined with bookshelves, taking the coat and discarding it on the rack. He lit the fireplace in the corner. Grabbing some blankets from a chest behind the sofa, he sat down and patted the spot beside him.
“I’m fucking freezing.” he chuckled as I sidled up next to him. He covered us both with the afghan and I settled against his shoulder. We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes. I watched him as he shut his eyes; seemingly slipping into that mysterious veil behind what I saw of him. He seemed to get lost there, lost in his thoughts- or, maybe someone else’s. It took him a while to get back to the present.
After a minute, I glanced up at him. “What’s it like?” I asked.
“What’s what like?”
“To read minds? To be in your head?”
He chuckled, “Noisy and very crowded.”
“No, seriously.”
He readjusted himself so that he was facing me head on. “I don’t know, really. I’ve never been any other way.” He let me touch his face. “I suppose, it’s a bit like being in a crowd and trying to listen in on everyone’s conversations. I hear my own thoughts extremely clearly but the others are muffled. Kind of like static, they all just blend together. I really have to focus to hear them individually.”
“I wish I could see the way you do.” I told him.
He just shook his head. “It’s not as fun as it sounds. I’d give anything to be alone in my own mind for a while.” We fell silent again. I could feel him shift nervously. When I went to ask him what was wrong, he pressed his finger to my lips.
I wasn’t expecting him to kiss me. With his hands against my temples, he pushed his lips on mine. Something warm seemed to engulf the moment. When I closed my eyes, I saw a wave of violet on black- so Technicolor that it seemed to leap from the depths of my vision.