[Physical pain is nothing new in the hard world he comes from. He'd thought months of training with Sunny, months more getting whalloped by Ava, and months of being bled through thin cuts like a stuck pig had taught him a thing or two about pain--but this. The second time around makes burned flesh no less a fresh hell.
If anything, the relief of being pain and scar-free here makes the descent back into that state all the worse, remembering how unbearable those long days and nights had been, every move, every bit of clothing touching his skin an agony. This isn't really happening, you know it's not, it's the spirits, he tries to tell himself.
But his body remembers better than his mind.
He can't answer--can't, because for one, the phantom detonation is deafening, and for another, he couldn't relax his jaw from its pained clench even if he tried. He can only roll from his left side onto his right, taking his weight off the worst of the perceived injury.]
so sorry re: lateness, this is great!!
If anything, the relief of being pain and scar-free here makes the descent back into that state all the worse, remembering how unbearable those long days and nights had been, every move, every bit of clothing touching his skin an agony. This isn't really happening, you know it's not, it's the spirits, he tries to tell himself.
But his body remembers better than his mind.
He can't answer--can't, because for one, the phantom detonation is deafening, and for another, he couldn't relax his jaw from its pained clench even if he tried. He can only roll from his left side onto his right, taking his weight off the worst of the perceived injury.]