Snippet #1828529

Warmth grew on Kore's left side - the young man was moving closer to her. She slowly raised her eyes to his - they were warm, comforting - concerned.

"Okay...How about we start with something simpler? What's your name?"

Name, Kore thought, her eyes lighting immediately. It was like throwing a bone to a hungry dog. It was the only question that she actually knew the answer to.

"Kore!" She blurted out and then blushed, though she wasn't sure why, smoothing out her kyten. It was useless activity - the robe seemed to have been made especially with unsmoothable ripples. "My name is Kore. I -" She didn't know what to say next. Was there something that she could say in a situation like this? What kind of a situation was this even? She couldn't even figure out that part of it.

Kore wanted quiet. She wanted something warm and hot and comforting. She didn't want to think, didn't want to try to remember. She -

Her stomach growled.

Instantly, redness darted across her cheeks, although again, she wasn't quite sure why. The feeling had been building up dramatically over the days and had gotten especially insistent in the past few hours, when even walking around and talking to and touching the trees and flowers weren't enough to quell it. She couldn't remember ever feeling this particular emotion or want before, but instinctively, in the core of her bones, she knew what it was and what it meant.

Hunger.

She was hungry.

Kore looked up into the brown eyes of the young man. They seemed to sparkle a bit in the sun.

"I'm hungry."