His lips twitched in an approximation of a smile, appreciating Zavien's steadfast refusal to abandon him even as he continued to wallow in his self-blame like a pig in muck. He was even starting to come out of it a little, right before all the good that had been done snapped like a twig and the whole house of cards came crashing down around his ears.
The hand that returned to his shoulder offered some aspect of grounding, though not much in the way of solace as dark emotions writhed fresh and sharp beneath Tal's ribs.
But in the face of Zavien's earnest goodness Tal had never felt so small or so undeserving of a friend's loyalty. The words tried to find out echoed painfully in his ears and slithered down to coil around his heart, squeezing fresh guilt into him. But just like with Alys, he could tell that his own pain was only making things harder for the Dragoon and he swallowed hard, trying to cram the tangled mess of his emotions down deep into the dark corner where they belonged. Far from the light of day or anyone else having to see what a mess he was.
"Y-yeah, Zav. That... it sounds good. Thanks." He reached up to dash at his eyes - splashing more water from the spring onto his face in the process, but at least it masked any water that might have been there before - and forced himself to stretch out into a normal sitting position in the water again. "Maybe things'll be better in Leaf--ulp!" His word were cut off by a wave of water that splashed over him - and Zavien too, sorry friend - from a thick, scaled tail. Boreal chortled, quite pleased with herself as her human sputtered and coughed and glared at her, trying to get his breath back so he could yowl at the unrepentant dragon.
The hand that returned to his shoulder offered some aspect of grounding, though not much in the way of solace as dark emotions writhed fresh and sharp beneath Tal's ribs.
But in the face of Zavien's earnest goodness Tal had never felt so small or so undeserving of a friend's loyalty. The words tried to find out echoed painfully in his ears and slithered down to coil around his heart, squeezing fresh guilt into him. But just like with Alys, he could tell that his own pain was only making things harder for the Dragoon and he swallowed hard, trying to cram the tangled mess of his emotions down deep into the dark corner where they belonged. Far from the light of day or anyone else having to see what a mess he was.
"Y-yeah, Zav. That... it sounds good. Thanks." He reached up to dash at his eyes - splashing more water from the spring onto his face in the process, but at least it masked any water that might have been there before - and forced himself to stretch out into a normal sitting position in the water again. "Maybe things'll be better in Leaf--ulp!" His word were cut off by a wave of water that splashed over him - and Zavien too, sorry friend - from a thick, scaled tail. Boreal chortled, quite pleased with herself as her human sputtered and coughed and glared at her, trying to get his breath back so he could yowl at the unrepentant dragon.
