[maybe it does make her the third wheel. maybe all of this was by god's design. maybe this is what god wanted and maybe this is why anna has turned away from the face of god. they're coming at this from similar angles, she thinks. she can realize that. they both think it's bullshit, probably, but anna has abandoned it and venus has consigned himself to live in it. and if that's going to be the life that he chooses, anna thinks, then she can make a few choices of her own.]
[see, she watched the way he ashed that cigarette. he's a natural at it. and, not that she wants this to be her first go-to, but he's done a good job at making her feel like she's competent in this conversation. so what she does is she takes a slow drag off her cigarette, she ashes it into the water, and she blows the final plume of smoke out closer to both of them. she leans in, then, with one sleeve rolled up, and she puts the cigarette out on her own arm without even flinching. and in that same low voice she'd used when she lit them, she asks him a question.]
Then how are you going to get the devil out of me?
no subject
[see, she watched the way he ashed that cigarette. he's a natural at it. and, not that she wants this to be her first go-to, but he's done a good job at making her feel like she's competent in this conversation. so what she does is she takes a slow drag off her cigarette, she ashes it into the water, and she blows the final plume of smoke out closer to both of them. she leans in, then, with one sleeve rolled up, and she puts the cigarette out on her own arm without even flinching. and in that same low voice she'd used when she lit them, she asks him a question.]
Then how are you going to get the devil out of me?