Ritchie, realizing what he’d done, did not immediately let go. “It sounded close. And more like a banshee than an owl,” he said defensively as Anthony told him it was an owl, but they were close to the Forbidden Forest who knew what kind of owls hung out there. He glanced at the woods from the corner of his eye, half expecting an owl with a dagger in its mouth to come swooping out. Luckily it didn’t, so that was something.
Anthony’s hand patting his own didn’t bring him much comfort, and while Ritchie realized he should probably let go of him, he didn’t. The proximity was… oddly comforting, like if something were to actually move down the path, Anthony wouldn’t abandon him to let it maul him. Ritchie peered down the ominous path which seemed to grow longer and darker the more he stared at it, which just made his fingers tighten against Anthony’s arm.
“Let’s keep going.” He swallowed audibly. “I’ve made it this far, and it seems cowardly to turn back before we find out what’s waiting at the end.” Hopefully some kind of sweet treat for the efforts of walking the path – that was something Ritchie could look forward to.
Ritchie tried to convince himself that the ground beneath his boots was perfectly solid as they started walking, that the shadows were only shadows, that his heart wasn’t hammering inside his throat because they were willingly walking into darkness. He finally dropped his hand from Anthony’s arm, although he stayed close enough that their shoulders brushed. He told himself it was practical to stay close – safety in numbers, right? And well, Ritchie felt safer by the fact that Anthony seemed entirely unbothered by the darkness.
“I’ll have you know,” Ritchie said after a second, glancing at Anthony from the corner of his eye, “that I almost never –” But before he could finish the thought, the path twisted and curved in a new direction right that hadn’t existed a second ago.
Anthony’s hand patting his own didn’t bring him much comfort, and while Ritchie realized he should probably let go of him, he didn’t. The proximity was… oddly comforting, like if something were to actually move down the path, Anthony wouldn’t abandon him to let it maul him. Ritchie peered down the ominous path which seemed to grow longer and darker the more he stared at it, which just made his fingers tighten against Anthony’s arm.
“Let’s keep going.” He swallowed audibly. “I’ve made it this far, and it seems cowardly to turn back before we find out what’s waiting at the end.” Hopefully some kind of sweet treat for the efforts of walking the path – that was something Ritchie could look forward to.
Ritchie tried to convince himself that the ground beneath his boots was perfectly solid as they started walking, that the shadows were only shadows, that his heart wasn’t hammering inside his throat because they were willingly walking into darkness. He finally dropped his hand from Anthony’s arm, although he stayed close enough that their shoulders brushed. He told himself it was practical to stay close – safety in numbers, right? And well, Ritchie felt safer by the fact that Anthony seemed entirely unbothered by the darkness.
“I’ll have you know,” Ritchie said after a second, glancing at Anthony from the corner of his eye, “that I almost never –” But before he could finish the thought, the path twisted and curved in a new direction right that hadn’t existed a second ago.
Bee made the lovely grey set<3