"Of all traits," she said on the other side of the phone, "It had to be 'fascinating'. There's 'intelligent', there's 'lively', 'humorous'..."
"How about, 'athletic'?" I offered, half-seriously.
"There you go," she said. She was quiet for a moment, and the line hummed ever so slightly. "Though that one's kind of stupid. Wait, is 'athletic' that important to you? I figured it might be thinking back to—"
"Ok, what's your point?" I groaned, adjusting my grip on the handset.
"Hey, you don't have to be so bashful about it. I'm not trying to ridicule you—overtly, at least." The was a shuffling noise, probably the sound of maneuvering the receiver to her other ear. "'Fascinating' a dangerous choice. It's like you're trying to dig yourself into a pit."
"Yeah, like I'm not already in one," I scoffed.
"Doesn't you have to go for broke, jackass," she retorted. "And you're doing better than you think. Trust me on this one."
"You just know?"
"Not just know. I know, okay? But I can't get into it. You can believe me, you can disbelieve me, that's up to you..." She was being annoying now.
"Okay, okay. What were we talking about?" I asked.
"Witches," she said.
"Witches?!"
"Witches. With snakes."
"Snakes? What the fuck?"
"Are you just going to repeat everything I say? Go look up the etymology of the word 'fascinating'."
I sighed, and, hanging onto the phone with my shoulder and ear, typed etymology fascinate into the search bar.
- fascinate
- 1598, "bewitch, enchant," from M.Fr. fasciner, from L. fascinatus, pp. of fascinare "bewitch, enchant," from fascinus "spell, witchcraft," of uncertain origin. Possibly from Gk. baskanos "bewitcher, sorcerer," with form influenced by L. fari "speak" (see fame). The Gk. word may be from a Thracian equivalent of Gk. phaskein "to say;" cf. also enchant, and Ger. besprechen "to charm," from sprechen "to speak." Earliest used of witches and of serpents, who were said to be able to cast a spell by a look that rendered one unable to move or resist. Sense of "delight, attract" is first recorded 1815.
"See?" she said, smugly.
"It's more complicated than just witches and serpents," I protested. "And you were looking at the same webpage when you said that, weren't you? Just to be weird?"
"Hey, hey now," she said deliberately. "I'm not saying you're into gorgon sorcerers or anything." She'd apparently decided to ignore my actual question. "And I'm not picking on your word choice either, which is probably what you're about to complain. You make things complicated is all I'm saying.
Like a limb thawing from a deep freeze, the pain is a good sign. I'm alive.