[It is all she can ask of him. All that she should ask of him, when she is... what she is, and he is what he is. She is no one's wife, no one's lover, because she had never really allowed herself to even imagine such a future or want to be such a thing when the only examples she has seen are full of ruin and humiliation. She is no one's friend, no one's trusted confidante... at least, as far as she understood the concept, most other aions kept at bay by her high walls, harsh words, and rigid sense of honor. But she is... at least she is a warrior, someone who can fight by someone's side, if she needed to repay a debt, if she viewed another to be like herself or worthy of respect.
And Estinien gives his word on the bare minimum she demands. His eyes look at her... strangely. His lips move upwards in the corners. His hand is warm in hers. And she... something twitches on her face. The death grip on her hearts relaxes slightly, the overwhelming pressure of her failures lightens a single life's worth, and after her defeats and disappointments in Venera...
Something strange happens.
For the first time in months, since even before she had woken up in the crystal-filled Firebrand Shrine in this land she hated and never asked to come to... Hayame feels her lips curl just ever so slightly into something that other people might just call a smile, a confusing, knotted mix of emotions in her chest pulled tight and then loosened just enough to allow an expression like that to show up on her face. A bit awkward and unpracticed... but sincere, and precious in its rarity.]
Good.
[Simple. That was good. And with his word secured, his limbs no longer bound by crystal, his heart and head no longer asleep...]
Then let us away from here, quickly. Here--
[She finally moves her heavier body, pulling in her forelegs from where she had cradled him in her bony "lap", hauling herself back to her hooves and using her tight hold on his hand to help him up after her, in consideration for the fact that he could possibly be weakened after his ordeal... and the hope that perhaps it will excuse her shamelessness and presumption, as if she had certainly only touched him to begin with to help him- not her.]
no subject
And Estinien gives his word on the bare minimum she demands. His eyes look at her... strangely. His lips move upwards in the corners. His hand is warm in hers. And she... something twitches on her face. The death grip on her hearts relaxes slightly, the overwhelming pressure of her failures lightens a single life's worth, and after her defeats and disappointments in Venera...
Something strange happens.
For the first time in months, since even before she had woken up in the crystal-filled Firebrand Shrine in this land she hated and never asked to come to... Hayame feels her lips curl just ever so slightly into something that other people might just call a smile, a confusing, knotted mix of emotions in her chest pulled tight and then loosened just enough to allow an expression like that to show up on her face. A bit awkward and unpracticed... but sincere, and precious in its rarity.]
Good.
[Simple. That was good. And with his word secured, his limbs no longer bound by crystal, his heart and head no longer asleep...]
Then let us away from here, quickly. Here--
[She finally moves her heavier body, pulling in her forelegs from where she had cradled him in her bony "lap", hauling herself back to her hooves and using her tight hold on his hand to help him up after her, in consideration for the fact that he could possibly be weakened after his ordeal... and the hope that perhaps it will excuse her shamelessness and presumption, as if she had certainly only touched him to begin with to help him- not her.]