[The mountaintop shouldn't be such a strife. Wilhelm is always at its peak, always cresting at a range's ridge, and he has full view of the valley. It is lush, yes. It looks like a soft place to lie. Wilhelm crests above it, and he wants to know why Yeshua finds it so hard to come up higher. Yeshua's voice shouldn't need to roll up toward him on a current of lifegiving moisture. He could easily be speaking close to Wilhelm's ear, if he chose to. But Yeshua is a defiant piece of life. He would rather... Wilhelm is cresting, but Yeshua would have him step down through mountain passes, down into the dips of the valley... Wilhelm knows better. He knows better than what Yeshua is fearing. Yeshua is sure-footed, with the nobility of a hart and the harmony of a hind; he could walk upon high places. He could do that. But he asked Wilhelm to settle in the valley. That's not going to happen, Wilhelm said, in silk and in resolve. It isn't ever going to happen. I recommend against asking me again. It's for the best.
Yeshua left him, then. Yeshua went--perhaps he didn't come here from that far away, but he had to go there first. It's distance. Yeshua left in favor of distance.
Wilhelm closes it between them, for the first time in... well, it's only been a while. His hands are a cradle like bulrushes, like an ark. He reaches through the space between them to touch Yeshua's glove.] Even if you had. That's right. You have come closer over time, haven't you? I know. [His eyes are settled upon Yeshua's wrist; he examines there while he speaks.] You didn't come from that far away, but where you had gone was further. [The heart of him, that's what Wilhelm means.
He undoes the fastener on the inner wrist of Yeshua's glove.]
And when you left, I believe you wanted to go far away from me. It's no wonder. Yes, Yeshua, I do understand. [Wilhelm takes each of Yeshua's fingers, and he tugs the tips of the glove away from them, just enough to loosen the glove's fit.] Much time has passed since you first began to pace your way back and forth between the stars. [With the glove's five fingers made loose, it will only take a steady pull to remove the glove completely. Wilhelm pinches the middle finger of the glove, and he raises his eyes to look into Yeshua's while he begins to bare Yeshua's hand.] Now, I would not ask you to bring a thing. I do not need one thing. Tonight, the things I have here will be for you, and so you will have dinner, and so you will drink as you please.
[The glove slips away at last. But Wilhelm will wait for Yeshua to bring them skin to skin. It's always, always up to Yeshua, how long he wants to go without being touched.]
This was an invitation. I am ordering no tolls. This place... [Of learning, Wilhelm said. Kevin Winnicot takes his lessons here with Wilhelm, and when they share meals together, they'll do it here as well. But, you know,] It's what you ask of it, tonight.
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Yeshua left him, then. Yeshua went--perhaps he didn't come here from that far away, but he had to go there first. It's distance. Yeshua left in favor of distance.
Wilhelm closes it between them, for the first time in... well, it's only been a while. His hands are a cradle like bulrushes, like an ark. He reaches through the space between them to touch Yeshua's glove.] Even if you had. That's right. You have come closer over time, haven't you? I know. [His eyes are settled upon Yeshua's wrist; he examines there while he speaks.] You didn't come from that far away, but where you had gone was further. [The heart of him, that's what Wilhelm means.
He undoes the fastener on the inner wrist of Yeshua's glove.]
And when you left, I believe you wanted to go far away from me. It's no wonder. Yes, Yeshua, I do understand. [Wilhelm takes each of Yeshua's fingers, and he tugs the tips of the glove away from them, just enough to loosen the glove's fit.] Much time has passed since you first began to pace your way back and forth between the stars. [With the glove's five fingers made loose, it will only take a steady pull to remove the glove completely. Wilhelm pinches the middle finger of the glove, and he raises his eyes to look into Yeshua's while he begins to bare Yeshua's hand.] Now, I would not ask you to bring a thing. I do not need one thing. Tonight, the things I have here will be for you, and so you will have dinner, and so you will drink as you please.
[The glove slips away at last. But Wilhelm will wait for Yeshua to bring them skin to skin. It's always, always up to Yeshua, how long he wants to go without being touched.]
This was an invitation. I am ordering no tolls. This place... [Of learning, Wilhelm said. Kevin Winnicot takes his lessons here with Wilhelm, and when they share meals together, they'll do it here as well. But, you know,] It's what you ask of it, tonight.