Prompts

I am not used to shivering, and I do not care for it. The days are meant to be spent in leisure, slow enough that the heat doesn't touch, and the night sweet and lonesome and warm. But this year - this year there is more time spent around the fire, and I simply hate feeling smokey. The paints have a film on top of them, slick and brittle and rather unhelpful. Ayaa... it is strand to see the others gathering so, huddling close and touching often. It is not a thing we do, and my brother, when he visits, has fallen into a habit of less-subtle touches. Not overt, but casual, and he does not see the faces I make when he uses them on me. I do not need him to touch my shoulder when he laughs, and I do not need to spend the time gathered around, learning strange things simply because of the cold.

My brother left a blanket, thicker than my own, when he went to his new "home" the last time he visited. I will be fine, without the warmth of others. I need only to borrow his blanket,, wrap it around mself, and remember a time before the pools were limned in ice.