THE MAGICIANS [t.r.]

EIGHT

act two, chapter one
god near the fireplace

WHAT'S WORSE THAN A DEAF GOD? a God that hears the prayers of sorrow and regret and is unable to give a proper answer. Judith dances among the children. she's shivering in the cold, close to hypothermia. she laughs as if she doesn't notice the hunger; life is a cruel torture for does who have been prisoners of the abyss for too long, she keeps dancing.

            TOM
            am i dreaming?

            JUDITH
            do you often dream about me?

y̶e̶s̶,̶ ̶i̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶o̶n̶l̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶m̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶d̶r̶e̶a̶m̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶  Judith smiles as if she already knows the answer. her venomous eyes made of acid dissolve him while she analyses every detail. she digs her fingers into his beard and scratches his skin. he shivers in fear, unused to affection.

the magician is trembling; among wizards and witches her magic becomes silence; a beast on a leash. but it allows Tom to acknowledge her as human. the sky cries and her flowery dress barely protects her from the raindrops. what's worse than a mute God? a God whose answer is silence.

            TOM
            why are you here?

she hasn't ever left Vetusta since she made of the place her little kingdom and yet she abandons it now. Judith knows no answer would satisfy him, she choses to remain silent. the rain allows him to comb his hair back, except for some rebellious locks of hair that remain indomitable. he offers her his arm and leads her home. a̶ ̶w̶i̶d̶o̶w̶ ̶f̶o̶l̶l̶o̶w̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶m̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶w̶a̶l̶k̶ ̶s̶i̶d̶e̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶s̶i̶d̶e̶

in the two months and fourteen days he has spent away from her (he has been keeping track of them meticulously while studying the works of literature she lent him) Tom has learned how to appreciate the music: even dark symphonies have a meaning, they do not adore beautiful concepts; they worship famine and fear, they cry about war and the plague, they are songs about death. they are abominably beautiful and catastrophic; even angeles must agree annihilation is an artistic discipline.

the clouds don't allow the light to shine; midday looking like midnight. a different kind of darkness than the one he is used to. once they arrive, Tom lights the fireplace and prepares some tea, Earl Grey, of course.

Judith takes off her dress and stands bare in front of him. her skin is marked by scars and covered in body hair but it is not meant as a provocation. she sits near the fireplace and brushes her hair with her fingers. women are always victims of desire. a woman's existence is perceived as a provocation. she dries her body and doesn't bother to cover herself (even the action of being oblivious to desire is seen as a provocation). Tom knows culture and the grip it has on the second gender after many midnight conversations with his colleagues at the Slytherin dorms about their female classmates.