Not once do I recall seeing you stay in one place for long. I had thought that your eyes were ever on the horizon. Forever looking onward to the next adventure, the next people to see.
[ His tone grows soft until, finally, he grows quiet all together.
Recollection.
Even in his youth he never thought that she might look his way. At least, if she did, it was as a friend made along the way. Why would she ever think back to their adventure? Why would she think twice about a promise made? She never had the reason to or the inclination to. Looking back at the face she knew and the adventure they once had would surely hold her in place... and all she has ever done has moved forward. Her face a lit with a smile and excitement of what their star has to offer. So many faces, people, deeds. Surely theirs is but a distant memory that might not truly matter much to her now. Yet, it has been the driving force for him.
It is not just their star that he wishes to save. It is a deeper wish - one that he cannot say even if she were to know who he truly was. He may yet tell her when the time is right in a handful of words. Nice, flowery language, that dodges around the heart of the matter. He can already see that it might very well anger her or further frustrate her that he would not be direct in it. Yet, his true wish hardly matters in the scheme of it all. His head tilts back to look at the sky as the snow continues to gently fall.
Faintly, he realizes that she had addressed what he had spoke of. The Crsytal Exarch comes to a stop a few paces ahead of her as he notes that she has stopped. He turns in time to see a snowball in her hands. There is no time to react as it sails towards him and, inevitably, goes straight through him. As if he were nothing more than an echo standing before her.
Perhaps he imagined it, or just perhaps, she has laughed. It is a sound that rings through his whole person. For just a moment, he is taken back to the days around a campfire with those who would seek to know the technologies of Allag. There is nothing but hope, smiles, and laughter. Hers, most inparticular, stands out amid it all. Something of pure joy and happiness. It strikes him then that it has been so long since he heard anyone laugh quite like that. Their days are filled with the struggle of living, yet they push forward with smiles and hopes on their shoulders.
And, yet, none have laughed in such a carefree manner in so long.
A choked laugh escapes him then. His head ducks down, crystallized hand raising to press against his eyes in a hopeless attempt to keep his own emotions in check. How can it be that even after all these years she still has something to teach him? A gentle lesson, one so human that it staggers the mind he has forgotten it at all. Another laugh comes, filled with tangled emotions, but nonetheless one that sticks out the most: ]
no subject
Not once do I recall seeing you stay in one place for long. I had thought that your eyes were ever on the horizon. Forever looking onward to the next adventure, the next people to see.
[ His tone grows soft until, finally, he grows quiet all together.
Recollection.
Even in his youth he never thought that she might look his way. At least, if she did, it was as a friend made along the way. Why would she ever think back to their adventure? Why would she think twice about a promise made? She never had the reason to or the inclination to. Looking back at the face she knew and the adventure they once had would surely hold her in place... and all she has ever done has moved forward. Her face a lit with a smile and excitement of what their star has to offer. So many faces, people, deeds. Surely theirs is but a distant memory that might not truly matter much to her now. Yet, it has been the driving force for him.
It is not just their star that he wishes to save. It is a deeper wish - one that he cannot say even if she were to know who he truly was. He may yet tell her when the time is right in a handful of words. Nice, flowery language, that dodges around the heart of the matter. He can already see that it might very well anger her or further frustrate her that he would not be direct in it. Yet, his true wish hardly matters in the scheme of it all. His head tilts back to look at the sky as the snow continues to gently fall.
Faintly, he realizes that she had addressed what he had spoke of. The Crsytal Exarch comes to a stop a few paces ahead of her as he notes that she has stopped. He turns in time to see a snowball in her hands. There is no time to react as it sails towards him and, inevitably, goes straight through him. As if he were nothing more than an echo standing before her.
Perhaps he imagined it, or just perhaps, she has laughed. It is a sound that rings through his whole person. For just a moment, he is taken back to the days around a campfire with those who would seek to know the technologies of Allag. There is nothing but hope, smiles, and laughter. Hers, most inparticular, stands out amid it all. Something of pure joy and happiness. It strikes him then that it has been so long since he heard anyone laugh quite like that. Their days are filled with the struggle of living, yet they push forward with smiles and hopes on their shoulders.
And, yet, none have laughed in such a carefree manner in so long.
A choked laugh escapes him then. His head ducks down, crystallized hand raising to press against his eyes in a hopeless attempt to keep his own emotions in check. How can it be that even after all these years she still has something to teach him? A gentle lesson, one so human that it staggers the mind he has forgotten it at all. Another laugh comes, filled with tangled emotions, but nonetheless one that sticks out the most: ]
... Thank you, K'thisru.
[ Gratitude. Thankfulness. Undying appreciation. ]