She looked at him fully, and Shahar had the sudden inclination to step back and away, to distance himself from the confusing woman before him.She herself didn’t seem to be in a much better state; she began to sign confusion, lack of understanding with a broad, indistinct inflection. Shahar’s hands began to hover on the precipice of a reply, although his signs were undefined and meaningless. What was he supposed to say?
Yes, came a final, decisive motion. It may be be best if you do.
So that was it, then. Whatever lay unspoken between them, good or ill, it would remain unspoken. It was time to leave. Shahar was hesitant for a moment, but then it turned into a thank you that was thick with formality, as one might thank a stranger. He didn’t say anything else, simply turned and left the shop, laden with clothing.
His mind whirled as he left the tent behind, trying to process what had made the communication between he and Rue so volatile––and even more so, what exactly it was that had happened between them in the first place. The unexpected intimacy had been alarming at first, but he’d realized the necessity of it and forced that alarm to disappear. But in its absence, something else entirely had sprung between them, something that he didn’t know whether he wanted to forget or remember.
