Prosaic.

Sacrifice

"Uh-huh." And he laughed gently, too. When he laughed, all of his imperfect teeth showed, his cheeks lifted fully, a dazzling brown under the white sunlight, and his eyes crinkled harshly at the corners, narrowing so they appeared closed. His wide nose flared out as he laughed. His laugh could make others feel at ease, and made him easy to love and trust. Felicity felt a sudden pang of emotion for him, and also wondered if this is what Tati looked like when she smiled, too. Their faces were remarkably similar in shape and size, soft at the edges and warm and welcoming. Tatiana's expression, though, was vastly different from Zephyr's. Zephyr's eyes were always open completely, wide and twinkling, the threat of a smile always on his face, his cheeks always raised in welcome, comfort, and glee. His sister kept her eyes low to the ground, giving a narrowed, aggressive look, and Felicity was uncertain that she'd ever seen her smile without it being sarcastic or passive-aggressive.

The outdoor air hit the two gradually as there was no block or door in the entrance of the mine. It wasn't much colder than the cave's air, about 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit, but the wind was relentless and sharp. The wind hit Felicity's legs, sparking a shiver as it ran through her clothes as if they weren't there.

Zephyr wrapped his arms around himself, giving a comical, "Brr!" And Felicity laughed. The light that ran down the hallway from the entrance was white. The sky was white, clouded but white and bright and cold. Felicity could see browned leaves drifting from the trees at the top of the hills down to the water where they rested on the dark, reflective, moving surface.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" Zephyr said, following her gaze to the shimmering, contrasted water, and then side-eyeing her with tenderness.

"Yeah, but I'd rather it be warm."

"Amen to that."

Felicity's eyes drifted to the edge of the roaring flooded river, where some adults stood, fishing poles in hand, wearing warm, thick overalls and rainboots to stand in the water some ways.

And she suggested, "Want to go talk to them? Despite the cold, with those winter clothes I wouldn't mind being a fisher."

"Yeah, that sounds good. Let's go down there." The way down was steep and crumbly, so the two decided to board the large unused elevator platform. Zephyr took Felicity's hand to help her up into it, then pressed one of the two buttons available to make their way down to the riverbed. There, he helped her off of the platform just as politely, and she thanked him with a warm smile, stepping onto the rocky, muddy shore. They wandered up to one of the fisherwoman, who seemed a bit bored yet eyed the water with interest.

Felicity spoke first just as she tended to do now, a slight rattle to her voice due to the cold, "Excuse me."

"Oh, hey hon. What's up? You new?"

"Yup, both are. We're just checking things out today. Job searching, I guess... You like fishing? Is it hard?"

"I love fishing," she laughed, a bright, older smile, "It's calming, you know? Watching the water. Boring at times, of course, but it helps to know that food is essential for building our society. Its also interesting biologically, because we have no idea what animals floated down here from the floods, everything being connected now. Its fresh water, not brackish, but it turns brackish at the entrance of the valley with a sharp line. We're getting trout, salmon, cod... we're getting fish we don't normally see here this time of year, and some types we can't even identify. Not to mention all the fish farms are open-range now," and then she laughed again. Her laugh was bright and genuine but hoarse with age and from clear abuse to her lungs. Still, she felt calming to Felicity, and Felciity listened to her, highly interested in learning about the new environment of the new world.