[Martel stares blankly, first at Yuan, then at the chain and pendant on the table.
No, not pendant. Ring. Their ring.
Martel's hands grip her knees until her knuckles turn white, then she breathes deeply, in and out, before hesitantly reaching across the table. Her hand hovers a second above the ring itself, but she picks up the chain instead, raising her arm to let what is unmistakeably their engagement ring swing before her eyes.
It looked so old.
She could barely make out the letters. Of Yuan only remained "Y". As for her... "Ma"... perhaps the "r", too, if she squinted just right. "True love", however, was almost poetically untarnished, even though the vow it came with seemed to have faded along with their names.
It had taken her all of an hour to lose it. How long had he managed not to?]
1/2
No, not pendant. Ring. Their ring.
Martel's hands grip her knees until her knuckles turn white, then she breathes deeply, in and out, before hesitantly reaching across the table. Her hand hovers a second above the ring itself, but she picks up the chain instead, raising her arm to let what is unmistakeably their engagement ring swing before her eyes.
It looked so old.
She could barely make out the letters. Of Yuan only remained "Y". As for her... "Ma"... perhaps the "r", too, if she squinted just right. "True love", however, was almost poetically untarnished, even though the vow it came with seemed to have faded along with their names.
It had taken her all of an hour to lose it. How long had he managed not to?]