[ there’s a lot revealed in that. despite gen’s immature, limited vocabulary, he says everything he needs to in the nervous picking of his skin and his reluctance to put a name to any feeling—particularly the one that he’s trying so desperately to avoid acknowledging. even dextera can understand that not wanting to say it at this age means that it has some truth.
he looks at the real gen, just briefly, out of the corner of his eyes. it’s not the time now, and it may never be, to ask him about all this; even so, it’s a piece of gen that dextera did not know previously. ]
…
[ dextera slips his hand into his pocket to withdraw a well-worn notebook, feeling now as if he has more to say than can be conveyed through gestures or words scratched in the dirt. ]
Do you think it would scare him?
[ he offers the notebook to the child, too, in case there’s something he would rather write than speak aloud. ]
no subject
he looks at the real gen, just briefly, out of the corner of his eyes. it’s not the time now, and it may never be, to ask him about all this; even so, it’s a piece of gen that dextera did not know previously. ]
…
[ dextera slips his hand into his pocket to withdraw a well-worn notebook, feeling now as if he has more to say than can be conveyed through gestures or words scratched in the dirt. ]
Do you think it would scare him?
[ he offers the notebook to the child, too, in case there’s something he would rather write than speak aloud. ]