Anju
Anju is not the type to be instructed, but as vulnerable as she feels right now it has more sway over her than normal. For once, she's grateful that someone else is capable of making the decisions. He has to half-hold the cup despite her own fingers wrapping around it, overlapping against his own, because she doesn't have the coordination to keep a proper hold on it - but the water itself is cool and refreshing, sweeping away the roughness in her throat and bringing more clarity to her mind as Liam begins his report.
Still, her laugh is croaky and self-deprecating at his pale imitation of a joke, though it doesn't stop her from meeting his hand with her own. "Just trying to keep you on your toes," she teases roughly. Setting the cup down, she sinks into the pillows at her back, and regards him with eyes more unguarded than they've ever been. "Thank you. For helping me." Not that she ever thought he'd leave behind someone in need, but she wouldn't forego her gratitude on the basis of his morals. "I worry that you're out here alone though," she admits quietly, maroon eyes sliding away gracefully to Riya's head on her lap so she doesn't have to look at him as she admits it. "Selfishly, I don't like the idea of our situations being reversed." He has no companion to run for help, and no comrades to notice he was missing. It makes her feel sick to imagine how his letters could have stopped coming, and Anju wouldn't have had any clue why or what had happened.
Still, her laugh is croaky and self-deprecating at his pale imitation of a joke, though it doesn't stop her from meeting his hand with her own. "Just trying to keep you on your toes," she teases roughly. Setting the cup down, she sinks into the pillows at her back, and regards him with eyes more unguarded than they've ever been. "Thank you. For helping me." Not that she ever thought he'd leave behind someone in need, but she wouldn't forego her gratitude on the basis of his morals. "I worry that you're out here alone though," she admits quietly, maroon eyes sliding away gracefully to Riya's head on her lap so she doesn't have to look at him as she admits it. "Selfishly, I don't like the idea of our situations being reversed." He has no companion to run for help, and no comrades to notice he was missing. It makes her feel sick to imagine how his letters could have stopped coming, and Anju wouldn't have had any clue why or what had happened.
this sun inside of me could set kingdoms ablaze
