He knew how much she was hurting, but he couldn't help the smile that lifted his spirits at her simple declaration of love. They had been saying it for seasons and it still felt new and precious every time he heard it. He held her hand like a prayer, letting it slip through his fingers like a breath, and watched her climb the stairs into the light above. Even with their grief and the weight of pain she carried she could never be less than beautiful in his eyes, and he let himself hold onto the vision of the moment before he turned to secure their home for the week.
He found his partner in his arms at the top of the stairs and folded her into his embrace, giving her his physical support as well as his heart to lean on while hers was breaking. Broken. But slowly starting to find her way towards a few glimmers of light again. Boreal pressed against both their legs, rumbling her affection for her family, smaller than it had been before and all the more precious for knowing that any one of them might not come home someday, as her cub had not.
The courier followed his seer to the couch and settled down beside her, shifting a little to mirror her, sensing that she wanted to talk. But the box that appeared in her hands had his eyes widening with surprise and a growing delight as he took it in gentle hands and opened it to reveal the painted wood within. He looked up at her face, drinking it in as she explained but as she trailed off he looked down at the gift again. His fingers trailed over the edges of the painting, reverently following the line of the wood as he let his memories of the day they became a couple - the day Alys said 'yes' to a scruffy Halovian courier and changed his life for so much better - rise to the surface, fresh as the day they'd been made.
And there, beside the silhouette of Alys--
His throat closed on the grief that rose, his eyes squeezing shut as he lifted the little painting to his chest, pressed against his heart, love and loss twining gentle vines through his ribcage. "It's beautiful, love. Thank you."
He found his partner in his arms at the top of the stairs and folded her into his embrace, giving her his physical support as well as his heart to lean on while hers was breaking. Broken. But slowly starting to find her way towards a few glimmers of light again. Boreal pressed against both their legs, rumbling her affection for her family, smaller than it had been before and all the more precious for knowing that any one of them might not come home someday, as her cub had not.
The courier followed his seer to the couch and settled down beside her, shifting a little to mirror her, sensing that she wanted to talk. But the box that appeared in her hands had his eyes widening with surprise and a growing delight as he took it in gentle hands and opened it to reveal the painted wood within. He looked up at her face, drinking it in as she explained but as she trailed off he looked down at the gift again. His fingers trailed over the edges of the painting, reverently following the line of the wood as he let his memories of the day they became a couple - the day Alys said 'yes' to a scruffy Halovian courier and changed his life for so much better - rise to the surface, fresh as the day they'd been made.
And there, beside the silhouette of Alys--
His throat closed on the grief that rose, his eyes squeezing shut as he lifted the little painting to his chest, pressed against his heart, love and loss twining gentle vines through his ribcage. "It's beautiful, love. Thank you."
