Is this even better than Pet? Holy crap, I think so. The struggle. The hope. The tenderness. It knocked me sideways. I love it.
Bitter had learned it was better to be stoic, to be a blank and unfeeling wall, because if you were entirely armor and no underbelly, then they couldn’t stab you in the soft places. She made a mental note to ask Aloe how he managed to move through the world with that tenderness, what kind of armor it gave him. Who were you? The armor or the person underneath? Was it possible for the two to fuse into one, and if so, how did you describe it to the girl standing in front of you, waiting for an answer?