[Part of her is afraid to start looking when the odds seem to lean heavily in favour of "no one leaves, not now, not ever." Wonderland has a habit of forcing its residents into precarious positions and theirs is a very specific niche of Involuntary Guest. Even with Philip's reassurance - one of the strongest and most resolute she has heard in some time - it is hard not to be dissuaded from the endeavour by hypothetical impossibility.
Evelyn remembers her last return and their estrangement, reaching across a table that felt like a vast chasm for the hand of a dead man who curled his fingers in and pulled away. Philip leans forward now, and takes her hands in his, slipping to her wrists and pressing a pulse beneath her fingertips. The contact from another person itself is almost more validating than her own heartbeat, swallowing a protest that being "alive" shouldn't feel this cold.
action;
Evelyn remembers her last return and their estrangement, reaching across a table that felt like a vast chasm for the hand of a dead man who curled his fingers in and pulled away. Philip leans forward now, and takes her hands in his, slipping to her wrists and pressing a pulse beneath her fingertips. The contact from another person itself is almost more validating than her own heartbeat, swallowing a protest that being "alive" shouldn't feel this cold.
She never did wear cynicism well.]
Thank you.