Danilo
After the cookies, he looked beyond exhausted.
He tried to hide it, Kolli always tried to hide it, but I could see it in the way he was sitting. He had finished his second cookie in small, careful bites, like he was savoring it but also like chewing was taking effort. His hot chocolate was half-drunk, marshmallow foam still clinging to the rim of the mug. He had that pale look under his eyes, faint purple shadows that the warm light from the tree couldn't hide. His hand never left his stomach. It just rested there, circling slowly, unconsciously.
He looked at me, then at the fire, then at the window where the snow was now coming down so hard it was a white wall. No sky. No trees. Just white. "You should sleep," he said suddenly, his voice quiet. He set his mug down with a soft clink on the coffee table. "You look terrible."
I laughed. I couldn't help it. "I look terrible? Have you looked in a mirror?"
