She was his anchor, keeping him from sliding back into memories of Stormbreak and further still, to the beach on Torchline where he had lost himself. Lost her. His compass, his pole star, ripped from his heart and replaced with violet whispers in the dark. He had not stopped loving her - never that; not even the Infection could change that - but he had also known that the Family's needs came before his own. And if they had asked it of him--
But it hadn't come to that. And for that he held Alys close and shook with quiet tears as she whispered her love and her belief to him, lies that burned and comforted in the same breath. Words that he couldn't believe yet, that might take seasons and years before he could accept them without flinching... except for the ones at the beginning, and the ones at the end. Those not even his guilt and the aftermath of his infection could cast doubt on. He trusted their love and her steadfast devotion above all, and he clung to that even more tightly than he did to her arms. "...'ank you," he whispered into the cloud of her hair, voice rough with tears both falling and yet to be shed, "love. Thank you."
He couldn't say how long they stayed there, huddled together on the floor, humans and companions wrapped as tightly as they could be together. Their family was whole once more, if changed. But there would be time to heal now, time to fix some of what had been twisted out of shape. Thanks to Alys and her Rose, the recovery could begin.
And it began with a sniffle and a rough hiccup some time later, the courier biting his lip before admitting, reluctantly: "I think... my foot's gone numb. Boreal's been layin' on it this whole time..." The dragon rumbled agreement and shifted slightly so that she could bump her horned head gently against his ribs with affection before she finally pushed herself back just barely far enough to free him.
But it hadn't come to that. And for that he held Alys close and shook with quiet tears as she whispered her love and her belief to him, lies that burned and comforted in the same breath. Words that he couldn't believe yet, that might take seasons and years before he could accept them without flinching... except for the ones at the beginning, and the ones at the end. Those not even his guilt and the aftermath of his infection could cast doubt on. He trusted their love and her steadfast devotion above all, and he clung to that even more tightly than he did to her arms. "...'ank you," he whispered into the cloud of her hair, voice rough with tears both falling and yet to be shed, "love. Thank you."
He couldn't say how long they stayed there, huddled together on the floor, humans and companions wrapped as tightly as they could be together. Their family was whole once more, if changed. But there would be time to heal now, time to fix some of what had been twisted out of shape. Thanks to Alys and her Rose, the recovery could begin.
And it began with a sniffle and a rough hiccup some time later, the courier biting his lip before admitting, reluctantly: "I think... my foot's gone numb. Boreal's been layin' on it this whole time..." The dragon rumbled agreement and shifted slightly so that she could bump her horned head gently against his ribs with affection before she finally pushed herself back just barely far enough to free him.
