Fall back to you

Jude

Somebody ought to corrupt me on the dance floor
And take me home

Jude remembers her vividly from his childhood, even as ephemeral and formless as those memories might be. Though she shines a little less, her presence is magnetic. He rises without thinking of it, drawn taller in her presence as she moves toward him.

"I'm glad," he admits, cheeks pink as he holds out the earrings in his palms, privately hopeful that she will take them and bless him with her touch. "I don't want to put down my family to make myself seem better but um...I'm glad I stayed. I'm happy to be here, in your region." In your presence. Jude clears his throat slightly, grasping for bravery. "I...I don't have much to offer you. But I was always told you valued loyalty most of all - and I think I get why, now." Something shadowy and sharp that fits a little too well on his young face filters over sharp cheeks and bright eyes. So much abandonment, and for what? The guise of peace through isolation?

"I want something to elevate my voice. To sing and share word of you, but also to protect me." To take his voice from a room-filling sound to a devastating, dismantling scream at his whim. To weaponize the one thing Jude has never used for himself. "If you would give me a quest, I would prove myself to you. I promise." If she will only give him a chance to atone for the sins of his parents. It may not be of much use to the region, or to her, but Jude isn't sure he can do much for her with where he stands now.

Show my all my desires and dark sides
And pretend by night's end you won't leave me alone