[Ortus does not mind being clung to. He does not mind Gideon hiding her face in the crook of his neck, bravado and levity fled from her voice. Tenderness rises in him as a bruise, a diffuse welling up of care, accompanied by a solemn responsibility.
She is offering him her trust once more, as bravely as she did when she told him the truth of her parentage, as she did when they spoke of what became of the Ninth House. He is as unworthy of it now as he was then, but he has begun to truly understand a thing that he did not, in the depths of the world that shadows them both still.
He is a fortunate man, to be given the privilege of making amends.]
Cleaned and oiled.
[He may not have taken to most of Captain Aiglamene's lessons, but proper maintenance of a blade was not one of them. Simple, factual words, accompanied by the slow, careful stroking of her hair, that red-hot hue cool to the touch.]
We kept all of your belongings. Your garments, your trophy, your [an exceeding delicate pause] periodicals. All is as you left it, save for its place.
[He had taken care of all of it, a thing he had not thought to question until it was done, animated by the same spirit that subtly bears him up to support her weight as if an unshakable pillar. He has never felt more his age.]
no subject
She is offering him her trust once more, as bravely as she did when she told him the truth of her parentage, as she did when they spoke of what became of the Ninth House. He is as unworthy of it now as he was then, but he has begun to truly understand a thing that he did not, in the depths of the world that shadows them both still.
He is a fortunate man, to be given the privilege of making amends.]
Cleaned and oiled.
[He may not have taken to most of Captain Aiglamene's lessons, but proper maintenance of a blade was not one of them. Simple, factual words, accompanied by the slow, careful stroking of her hair, that red-hot hue cool to the touch.]
We kept all of your belongings. Your garments, your trophy, your [an exceeding delicate pause] periodicals. All is as you left it, save for its place.
[He had taken care of all of it, a thing he had not thought to question until it was done, animated by the same spirit that subtly bears him up to support her weight as if an unshakable pillar. He has never felt more his age.]