#graysistance / 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫. — 18

[aniimvs]

𝐇𝐀𝐙𝐄 𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐎𝐅 𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐙𝐎𝐍. a celestial patchwork that matched the silver currents that turned the seas of chandrila a lilac steel. the planet was too temperate for drastic seasons ( which is why a mind prone to dark suspicions always found it curious there were no native sentients, not even buried in the fossil record ) and this stirring was about as unpleasant as a rotation could get just shy of a storm. but what counted as pestilent weather to most locals, there was at least one native son taking refuge in discomfort.

      the breeze bouncing off the shoreline stirred the loose granules. small tornados chaffed exposed flesh and embedded a wet itch in wounds. it would drive a sane being mad feeling that grind against open skin, but ben solo stood an obelisk against the sunkissed beige, at peace with the scalding assault on the souvenirs from his latest brush with violence.

      suffering was an old acquaintance, one his past inflicted willingly. this slight tussle with the unbearable wasn’t enough to draw his eyes from their obstinate fixation. his track along the sand brought him to different articles deemed unnecessary by their rambunctious owner, mainly consisting of clothing that she deemed offensive to her balance ( hence why the shoes were the first to go ). ben plucked them free without stopping, shaking the stubborn layers of damp grit as he watched the distant figure explore the natural sea wall without a care for ruddy knee or sliced finger.

      tidepools teeming with memory. a series of self-contained ecosystems occupied each rocky terrace. he was once the jubilant explorer, totally ignorant of the concerned eyes that watched him shred his shins as he clamored to follow a translucent crustacean that was chasing bubbles in the sand. now he was the weary watcher that was folding up clothes, including his own, so that he and his companion had something to return to when the tide returned to its prime.

      with a silent sigh from the depths of his chest, ben unraveled the scarf that spared his moonlit complexion its radiant cousin, slipped off his boots and peeled off his sand-stamped tunic. already he felt the chandrila star bearing down on him, nibbling at the untampered breadth of his shoulders with the promise of freckles. the last bit to come off was the vocoder mask that occupied the lower half of his face. his hands hesitated against the lukewarm metal, testing the dips and ridges of the simple design for a sting of mind change. exhaling, he unlatched the mechanical straps that secured around his ears. an alien emptiness pressed against his lips. to be this exposed this far from felucia . . . even speeding stars of hyperlanes rarely saw this much of his face.

      his mask fell with a muffled plop atop the neat stack of black shades already dusted by beachy speckles. the soles of his feet recognized the eroded peaks of the granite. hanna city’s shoreline was home to a more porous variant. brown-grey with streaks of a muted pink that sparkled in the sun like unfastened veins. ben weaved his way up the intertidal fringe. it’d been decades since he traced the outcroppings, his steps much larger than the spindly reminiscence that had scraped the sharp edges without care. no grain of sand was the same as before. the creatures he spent hours crouched over ebbed and flowed into time, leaving lively descendants to nestle in the beds of sweet salt.

      a slip of violet algae threatened to steal his footing, but dormant instinct flexed its stiff limbs and corrected his balance. for a time, it seemed like he’d never close the distance; the closer he got, the further away the young woman went. eventually, the rocky shoal came to a tapered end, feeding into a narrow stretch of sand that blinked into existence with the tide. it connected the greater mainland to the neck of a long dead giant. forests covered the mineral rich dome with roots that only left several feet of coast unoccupied.

      ❝ they're venomous, ❞ ghost of a grin hiding in the corner of his lips offset his chastising hum as a familiar arthropod skittered away from rey’s wobbling silhouette.

@graysistance