Her offer was met with a thoughtful silence as he considered his current woes. The who and the why of them. And then he raised his head, letting his gaze travel around the plushly appointed restaurant in the heart of Stormbreak's finest brothel. And he remembered what Sunjata had said of his first meeting with Dahlia, in the House of Midnight.
"I will take you up on that," he murmured quietly, emerald gaze falling back to meet Maea's with solemnity and caution - but with gratitude as well. "The next time we meet. I have news to share but... it will wait, for now. Perhaps the Climb?" Or anywhere that was not so gently held in purple coils as their current location. There was no true proof against Vox's eavesdropping yet, but there were places it was decidedly less wise to engage in boasts of recent exploits and further plans.
He took another few, slow, savoring bites of his meal as Maea spoke as a staunch friend, and the expression on Hadama's stoic face lightened, emerald eyes twinkling with appreciation at the compliments. "Mmh. I have mostly retired from the business. But I did run a restaurant once." The Tidepool Bar in Torchline, a cafe that had been built to serve both Mer and humans, with a focus on breakfast, brunch, and lunch. The pressures of kingship and demigodhood had combined to steal his time so that he was rarely able to pursue his two passions of smithcraft and cooking.
So when his friends gave him an excuse to indulge either, he was always grateful.
"I am glad to hear my skills have not been entirely lost." He raised his glass to toast his friend, and a genuine smile lifted the corners of his mouth and crinkled his eyes.
Proof that even in the heart of shadowed territory, they could still make a little light of their own.
~Fin
"I will take you up on that," he murmured quietly, emerald gaze falling back to meet Maea's with solemnity and caution - but with gratitude as well. "The next time we meet. I have news to share but... it will wait, for now. Perhaps the Climb?" Or anywhere that was not so gently held in purple coils as their current location. There was no true proof against Vox's eavesdropping yet, but there were places it was decidedly less wise to engage in boasts of recent exploits and further plans.
He took another few, slow, savoring bites of his meal as Maea spoke as a staunch friend, and the expression on Hadama's stoic face lightened, emerald eyes twinkling with appreciation at the compliments. "Mmh. I have mostly retired from the business. But I did run a restaurant once." The Tidepool Bar in Torchline, a cafe that had been built to serve both Mer and humans, with a focus on breakfast, brunch, and lunch. The pressures of kingship and demigodhood had combined to steal his time so that he was rarely able to pursue his two passions of smithcraft and cooking.
So when his friends gave him an excuse to indulge either, he was always grateful.
"I am glad to hear my skills have not been entirely lost." He raised his glass to toast his friend, and a genuine smile lifted the corners of his mouth and crinkled his eyes.
Proof that even in the heart of shadowed territory, they could still make a little light of their own.
~Fin
