"Coulda fooled me," the courier said with a shrug, but his attempted smile had already faded back into the melancholy of their situation. The loss of their Family, and the comfort and freedom those connections had given them. Just the thought of it made him shiver, though the cold no longer touched him and the rain was nothing more than an inconvenience. It was picking up, hitting harder and faster, but he just tugged his Goggles up to protect his eyes, listening to Thal's explanation morosely.
It didn't occur to him to doubt her. She was a Friend and she'd never lie to him about something so important.
Even so, the final words hit like a fresh gut punch into a broken rib and he winced, flinching from the soft regret in her voice as it called forth an answering grief from within him. Or maybe he flinched from the lightning bolt that hit the sea so near at hand? Either way he sighed and pushed his fingers through his quickly-soaked hair, glaring up into the storm as if it was to blame for their loss.
"So... what d'we do now? Go back t'how things used t'be an' pretend like nothin' ever happened? Like they were never here at all?" The last of the daylight was swallowed by the ravenous clouds, turning the afternoon to sudden night lit mostly by the lightning that skittered through the sky overhead or struck the water near and far around them. Tal had to shout his question over the wind and thunder that had become a continuous roar around them, varying in intensity that dipped and cracked but no longer ceasing entirely.
It didn't occur to him to doubt her. She was a Friend and she'd never lie to him about something so important.
Even so, the final words hit like a fresh gut punch into a broken rib and he winced, flinching from the soft regret in her voice as it called forth an answering grief from within him. Or maybe he flinched from the lightning bolt that hit the sea so near at hand? Either way he sighed and pushed his fingers through his quickly-soaked hair, glaring up into the storm as if it was to blame for their loss.
"So... what d'we do now? Go back t'how things used t'be an' pretend like nothin' ever happened? Like they were never here at all?" The last of the daylight was swallowed by the ravenous clouds, turning the afternoon to sudden night lit mostly by the lightning that skittered through the sky overhead or struck the water near and far around them. Tal had to shout his question over the wind and thunder that had become a continuous roar around them, varying in intensity that dipped and cracked but no longer ceasing entirely.
