I don’t like to use the word: ‘inconvenient’.

It’s a dirty word: soiled by overuse, and often accompanying a tirade or a rant on some tedious labor. But, in some circumstances, no other word will suffice.

I looked over my shoulder, and my eyes locked with a woman’s.

The visual cortex is located at the back of our skulls, and while human reactions are slow, our brains themselves absorb visual data faster than conscious thought occurs.

There was a sudden jolt, and a slow constricting thump deep in my throat.

Apparently, I’d swallowed, seemingly involuntarily.

I was caught off guard, and clearly so was she.

Two sets of eyes quickly averted themselves, but not before an unexpected transmission of data occurred.

Yes, she felt it too.

And, okay, while I will admit that that most of life is ultimately guesswork, now and then the very essence of certainty spreads it’s wings, descends through the sky, and comes to perch, grinning, on your shoulder.

Like a… gargoyle.

She’d felt that same sudden, gut-wrenching jolt.

Have you ever noticed that when people are caught off guard, their eyes widen, freeze in place, and then they rotate their entire head away from the source of surprise as they recover? Pulling off a nonchalant/neutral reaction isn’t always possible when your guard is down and you’re preoccupied with something else. It’s one thing to know you can summon up a decent poker face when required, but it’s another thing entirely to wear it all the time.

If I wanted, I could try and tally a rough estimate of how many calories I’ve expended to type all the characters leading up to this sentence. The truth is, I haven’t expended the effort in writing thus far to chronicle some sort of wistful, ships-passing-in-the-night moment.

So, why am I mentioning it?

Because it was inconvenient timing. Almost as inconvenient, actually, as having a weapon break mid-battle, and being left to scramble awkwardly through your inventory for your backup.

Yep. you guessed it, I’m going to arc le conversation in another direction by hinging off a single word.

In GREEN KNIGHT, “felch” is slang for a type of mineral substrate found in river beds that’s capable of being hardened and formed into weaponry and armor. The first tier of weapons are all composed of it. However, although they’re cheap to produce and supplies can be found in abundance, they’re only good for few dozens swings before they crack and shake apart. By harvesting other resources, such as peat and bark, they’re slightly more durable.

Slightly.

No matter how chaotic the battlefield becomes, they’re still easily identified by their pale green hue, and their typically scarred, notched appearances.

They look a bit like snot, to be honest, but somehow, they’re still pretty.