"Boreal's always approved," Tal laughed back, following Alys's gaze to their soulbound friends with just as much love in his eyes for both four-legged gremlins. "Somethin' about those treats y'always had in your pockets for her!" The way to the dragon's heart was through her stomach, it was true, though Tal staunchly believed that she would have accepted Alys regardless of the many bribes she had received over the past year.
Had it only been a year? It felt like they'd known each so much longer, after all that they'd been through together.
And though he'd already managed to tell her the hardest thing and it had gone better than he'd dared to dream, he wasn't quite out of the crosswinds yet.
But she waited, trusting, and Tal swallowed hard and found his courage in her patience, steadying himself with the hand in his as he opened his mouth and let the words tumble out in a rush.
"I'm... it's complicated an' there's more'n one reason for it but... I've decided t'leave Halo." The words still hurt. They might never stop hurting, and he swallowed against the lump in his throat and kept going, stubborn and a little desperate. "An'... an' I wanted t'ask if... if you'd come with me. T'King's End." Had Ru spoken with her yet? Did she even get along with Sunjata? Hail, Tal had never really gotten to know the man, but he would soon, one way or another. And still the words kept falling as his thoughts spiralled. "I wasn't jokin', y'know, about sharin' a shop with you. This way we can build it t'gether, the courier station an' seer's shop, just th'way we want 'em. From the ground up. Not anyone else's leftovers or make-do's. If... if y'still want somethin' like that with me?"
His grip had begun to tighten in his nervousness and he had to consciously relax his fingers as he bit down onto his lip instead, watching her expression anxiously from beneath the mop of dark, shaggy hair that was more often windblown than not.
Had it only been a year? It felt like they'd known each so much longer, after all that they'd been through together.
And though he'd already managed to tell her the hardest thing and it had gone better than he'd dared to dream, he wasn't quite out of the crosswinds yet.
But she waited, trusting, and Tal swallowed hard and found his courage in her patience, steadying himself with the hand in his as he opened his mouth and let the words tumble out in a rush.
"I'm... it's complicated an' there's more'n one reason for it but... I've decided t'leave Halo." The words still hurt. They might never stop hurting, and he swallowed against the lump in his throat and kept going, stubborn and a little desperate. "An'... an' I wanted t'ask if... if you'd come with me. T'King's End." Had Ru spoken with her yet? Did she even get along with Sunjata? Hail, Tal had never really gotten to know the man, but he would soon, one way or another. And still the words kept falling as his thoughts spiralled. "I wasn't jokin', y'know, about sharin' a shop with you. This way we can build it t'gether, the courier station an' seer's shop, just th'way we want 'em. From the ground up. Not anyone else's leftovers or make-do's. If... if y'still want somethin' like that with me?"
His grip had begun to tighten in his nervousness and he had to consciously relax his fingers as he bit down onto his lip instead, watching her expression anxiously from beneath the mop of dark, shaggy hair that was more often windblown than not.
