He shifted, awkwardly but with good intentions as he felt her arm trying to slip around him, giving her a few inches of space before he half-collapsed back against the couch cushions. Her cheek was pressed to his chest and his was pressed to her hair, and gods it was going to hurt to let go of her, but at least for now it was almost the same as it had been for the past couple of years: both weak but leaning on the other's strength to get them by.
He didn't want to loosen his embrace but the suddenness of her movement caught him off guard and he blinked in surprise as she was, between one breath and the next, far enough away to look him in the face once more. Pale eyes were wide and, though she could no longer feel it, his heart beat harder and faster in his chest at the full import of what he'd suggested settled around his shoulders. Her words echoed his own thoughts, and he swallowed, giving a slow nod.
For once, however, he didn't reply right away. White teeth bit down hard on his lower lip and his eyes closed again as he turned his own impulse and her concerns over in his mind. "It's... a lot, yeah," he agreed slowly. But there was one thing, at least that he hardly had to think about at all. It was too integral a part of him for the courier to second-guess, and he looked at Ru with one corner of his mouth quirking in a lopsided smile. "But I'll never not be Halovian. Doesn't matter where I lay my head. No one can take that away from me." He leaned forward to bump his nose against hers, not unlike one of his dogs might nudge a beloved packmate. "You, either. Some things're just in th'blood."
The smile faded. "I'll... I'll need t'talk to my sisters, yeah," he said slowly, feeling his way through the words one at a time, like a man walking out over ice, uncertain of its thickness and testing every step for stability. "but 'Lexi's been handlin' th'local dogsled runs anyways since I got th'Peregrine flyin' 'tween th'regions. An' truth is, Ru, I spend more time away from Halo these days than in it, travelin' th'long route 'round Caido." He met her eyes squarely, jaw tightening briefly. "An' part of that's 'cause, sure, it's my home, but I'm not exactly on speakin' terms with th' latest Warden. An' I haven't felt welcome here for a long time. Tolerated, barely. But maybe I'm tired o'keepin' my head down an' my mouth shut in th'place I was born." And the old bitterness was still there, that Halo was ruled by an Outlander and a Grounder - and ones that Tal didn't get along with to ease the sting of it.
He took a deep breath, hands shifting to squeeze the Valkyrie's shoulders as he let it out on a shuddering sigh. "I think I've been runnin' for two years, an' not wantin' t'admit it. But I was just runnin' from Halo with nowhere else t'go, so I just kept goin' round an' round in circles. If you're in King's End, well... I dunno if I'll stay there very long? But at least it's a place to run to for a change." His smile made a ghost of an attempt at reappearing, though it was weak and a little sad. "'Sides, I gotta leave the nest at some point, right?"
He didn't want to loosen his embrace but the suddenness of her movement caught him off guard and he blinked in surprise as she was, between one breath and the next, far enough away to look him in the face once more. Pale eyes were wide and, though she could no longer feel it, his heart beat harder and faster in his chest at the full import of what he'd suggested settled around his shoulders. Her words echoed his own thoughts, and he swallowed, giving a slow nod.
For once, however, he didn't reply right away. White teeth bit down hard on his lower lip and his eyes closed again as he turned his own impulse and her concerns over in his mind. "It's... a lot, yeah," he agreed slowly. But there was one thing, at least that he hardly had to think about at all. It was too integral a part of him for the courier to second-guess, and he looked at Ru with one corner of his mouth quirking in a lopsided smile. "But I'll never not be Halovian. Doesn't matter where I lay my head. No one can take that away from me." He leaned forward to bump his nose against hers, not unlike one of his dogs might nudge a beloved packmate. "You, either. Some things're just in th'blood."
The smile faded. "I'll... I'll need t'talk to my sisters, yeah," he said slowly, feeling his way through the words one at a time, like a man walking out over ice, uncertain of its thickness and testing every step for stability. "but 'Lexi's been handlin' th'local dogsled runs anyways since I got th'Peregrine flyin' 'tween th'regions. An' truth is, Ru, I spend more time away from Halo these days than in it, travelin' th'long route 'round Caido." He met her eyes squarely, jaw tightening briefly. "An' part of that's 'cause, sure, it's my home, but I'm not exactly on speakin' terms with th' latest Warden. An' I haven't felt welcome here for a long time. Tolerated, barely. But maybe I'm tired o'keepin' my head down an' my mouth shut in th'place I was born." And the old bitterness was still there, that Halo was ruled by an Outlander and a Grounder - and ones that Tal didn't get along with to ease the sting of it.
He took a deep breath, hands shifting to squeeze the Valkyrie's shoulders as he let it out on a shuddering sigh. "I think I've been runnin' for two years, an' not wantin' t'admit it. But I was just runnin' from Halo with nowhere else t'go, so I just kept goin' round an' round in circles. If you're in King's End, well... I dunno if I'll stay there very long? But at least it's a place to run to for a change." His smile made a ghost of an attempt at reappearing, though it was weak and a little sad. "'Sides, I gotta leave the nest at some point, right?"
