wilderthan | Snippet - A little echo

Fandom: The Dark is Rising
For: Someone's Christmas present
Quality: Barely checked
Characters: Will, Bran

His favourite chair is the one by the fire. It's always perhaps a little too warm there, the leather of the chair over-warmed, the heat wrapping round him closely, but in weather like this, that's pleasant. He's settled there with his mulled apple juice and a book, by the time he comes in.

He's been in a couple of times now, Will knows. He doesn't remember even all the regulars, and this one's newer than most, he's only been coming to the shop for a few weeks. He's distinctive, though -- Will would know him anywhere, having seen him once. He's an albino, so white of skin and hair that it's a sort of slap in the face every time you look at him. Will almost expects fragility every time he looks at him, at that almost-translucence, but he's strongly built -- not so very tall, but solid, not willowy at all. He's all in black clothes, too, like he's doing it on purpose, pointing up the stark difference. He's wearing dark glasses even in this dreary weather, but Will thinks that might be because he has weak eyes -- albinos do, don't they?

Something about him triggers a little echo in Will -- some kind of recognition, and a more physical reaction, something clenching tight inside him. He's careful not to meet the strange man's eyes.