listenyouidiot: (soft thoughts :3c)
ꜰɪᴛᴢᴄʜɪᴠᴀʟʀʏ ꜰᴀʀꜱᴇᴇʀ ([personal profile] listenyouidiot) wrote in [community profile] deercountry 2023-01-04 05:56 am (UTC)

Even if he's had to dredge the last remnants of his good humour up from the bottom of his heart to muster it, it's an immense relief for Fitz to hear Huaisang try to tease him. Even if he still has tears shining in his eyes, even if he moves carefully, tenderly, as if to walk too fast or too quickly might shatter the parts of him that are still broken, at least he is walking. At least when faced with the choice between sinking down into his grief, to grow cold and atrophied with the familiarity of it, or leaving it behind, he chose the latter. It's a harder choice to make than many realize, until they're faced with it themselves.

"You're welcome to tea," he admits with a rueful little smile, "but I thought you might prefer something stronger."

The inside of the cottage is warm and tidy, if still a bit spare with its furnishings, but Fitz has been diligent about pending the gaps in the walls to keep out the draft, and there's really nothing that compares to the comfort offered by a lit hearth on a frigid winter night. Once they're both inside, Fitz fetches the bottle of brandy down from its coveted place above his stove, along with two glasses. He unstoppers the bottle, pours a liberal amount of the brown liquor into one glass, then glances at Huaisang in silent question. "Brandy?" A pause, before he chuckles once, "unless you'd prefer the tea."

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