The glare might have been more effective if Tal hadn't been scowling down at his feet, but then again he was used to shrugging off the glares of three older sisters. He stiffened as Delia - Delia! - used his full name and his head snapped up to meet her gaze with a glare no less fierce than her own.
Hands clenched around his weapon and he stood ramrod straight as she went on, telling him things he already knew in a lecture that raised his hackles and turned his hot gaze cold. Brick by brick her words built a wall between them until her points were lost in the hurt and resentment that swirled sickly through Tal's gut, but he stood there and took it until she had finished.
"You're right," he said stiffly. "O'course you're right, an' I wouldn't dream of tellin' you anythin' you didn't want t'hear. Don't worry, it won't be happenin' again." Twice now he'd been honest with people who had asked him to be, and twice now he'd had only regrets afterwards.
There wouldn't be a third time. Deimos wasn't the only one who had gone a long time without opening his heart to others. Tal had gone six years without it, and he'd been better off before he'd started letting people get close enough to hurt him again.
"Good luck with your hunt, Miss Limore. But I'd best be gettin' back t'my own work." He kept his tone distant and professionally polite, but there was ice in his voice and atop the tight fire in his chest. Turning on his heel, the courier stalked back towards his sled and the dogs waiting for him there.
Hands clenched around his weapon and he stood ramrod straight as she went on, telling him things he already knew in a lecture that raised his hackles and turned his hot gaze cold. Brick by brick her words built a wall between them until her points were lost in the hurt and resentment that swirled sickly through Tal's gut, but he stood there and took it until she had finished.
"You're right," he said stiffly. "O'course you're right, an' I wouldn't dream of tellin' you anythin' you didn't want t'hear. Don't worry, it won't be happenin' again." Twice now he'd been honest with people who had asked him to be, and twice now he'd had only regrets afterwards.
There wouldn't be a third time. Deimos wasn't the only one who had gone a long time without opening his heart to others. Tal had gone six years without it, and he'd been better off before he'd started letting people get close enough to hurt him again.
"Good luck with your hunt, Miss Limore. But I'd best be gettin' back t'my own work." He kept his tone distant and professionally polite, but there was ice in his voice and atop the tight fire in his chest. Turning on his heel, the courier stalked back towards his sled and the dogs waiting for him there.
