{"id":3413,"date":"2017-11-17T00:00:17","date_gmt":"2017-11-17T05:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3413"},"modified":"2017-11-16T17:43:47","modified_gmt":"2017-11-16T22:43:47","slug":"twenty-six-05-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3413","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-six – 05"},"content":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Phelan’s point of view.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Matt stared at him deadpan for a few seconds, though there was a maelstrom flickering through his eyes, emotions tumbling over each other in rapid succession before they were gone. His fingers tightened visibly around the hammer in his hand and for a second his jaw went tight as well.<\/p>\n

Then the tension eased and Matt sighed, shaking his head slowly. \u201cSomehow, even though it\u2019s gone, that place never seems to let go, does it?\u201d He scrubbed a hand over his face, leaving a faint trail of soot across his cheekbone and jaw. \u201cWhat did you tell her?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat she\u2019s connected to it. I can\u2019t believe I didn\u2019t put it together sooner.\u201d Phelan stopped working the bellows, slumping onto a bench. Matt just shook his head, pulling the heated metal out of the coals and beginning to shape it again, hammer falling in a smooth, easy rhythm, almost automatic, instinctual.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes sense, though, thinking about it. Marin\u2019s always pointed out that Kel\u2019s connection to the lines and everything has been stronger, that she\u2019s always been more in tune with that sort of thing.\u201d The ghost of a smile curved his lips, though briefly, and his gaze never strayed from the metal under his hammer. \u201cI know she didn\u2019t think I was paying attention back then.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cActually, I think she thought you thought she was full of some kind of bullshit,\u201d Phelan muttered, watching the metal flatten out a little more with each blow of the hammer. The sound was soothing, the motion something to focus on rather than the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. \u201cI shouldn\u2019t have said anything about it, Matt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToo late to take it back now,\u201d Matt said with a slight shake of his head. \u201cHow did she react?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know that I\u2019ve ever seen her face that color.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat well, huh?\u201d Matt shrugged with the shoulder holding the metal steady against the anvil. \u201cIt\u2019ll be all right, Phelan. You know her well enough by now to know that she\u2019ll sort through it all her own way. She\u2019s going to have questions, though. Are you going to have answers?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre any of us?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not what I asked.\u201d Matt thrust the sword back into the forge and pumped the bellows once, twice. \u201cShe\u2019s going to look to you for answers, Phelan. What you need to figure out is what you\u2019re going to say when she does\u2014and who you\u2019re going to look to for her sake when you don\u2019t<\/em> have the answers she needs. What do you do then?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Phelan whispered. \u201cI really don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Phelan’s point of view.] Matt stared at him deadpan for a few seconds, though there was a maelstrom flickering through his eyes, emotions tumbling over each other in rapid succession before they were gone. His fingers … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[240,276,14],"tags":[150,171,170,181,149,173,148,168,147,165,146],"class_list":["post-3413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-6","category-chapter-26-book-6","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-matthew-astoris","tag-original-fiction","tag-phelan-ocredne","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-T3","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3413"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3414,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3413\/revisions\/3414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}