[ that layer of ice shatters at those words, and miles looks stricken -- she might as well have just struck him across the face, or maybe kicked him in the stomach, because he looks suddenly sick, anger and hurt flashing over his face before he can stop them. miles' breath catches in his throat and he feels panic cloud his chest. the woman leaning across the desk at him isn't like the girl who'd spurned him all those years ago, she doesn't look like her at all -- but J isn't all that much older than that girl had been, and miles sees her face in J's, calm and cruel and ruthless.
whatever layers of collected confidence, bordering on arrogance, had been there are stripped away now, leaving miles bare and exposed. miles drops his hands to his lap to curl them into fists, refusing to let her see that they're shaking. ]
Get out. [ the words come out half-whispered and hoarse, miles trying to swallow around them, but they almost get stuck in his throat. the panic from the unbidden flashback is making him dizzy, the faint din of that ten-years-past party somehow still reaching his ears, however distantly. he doesn't just look exposed, he looks upset, but god dammit, he's a grown man and he won't cry in front of this woman. ] Get out, you --
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whatever layers of collected confidence, bordering on arrogance, had been there are stripped away now, leaving miles bare and exposed. miles drops his hands to his lap to curl them into fists, refusing to let her see that they're shaking. ]
Get out. [ the words come out half-whispered and hoarse, miles trying to swallow around them, but they almost get stuck in his throat. the panic from the unbidden flashback is making him dizzy, the faint din of that ten-years-past party somehow still reaching his ears, however distantly. he doesn't just look exposed, he looks upset, but god dammit, he's a grown man and he won't cry in front of this woman. ] Get out, you --