[SE] So many things I need to say to you

LIAM

Oh, I love it and I hate it at the same time
You and I drink the poison from the same vine

The endearment came so easily that Liam didn't even have to think about it. Perhaps it was that he had been starved of love for so long - indeed, starved for any meaningful human interaction - but it was almost like now he needed to make up for lost time. Hadn't he given up on love, not because he didn't long for it, but because he no longer felt he deserved it? Hadn't he thought he'd been granted his one great love in this life, and that that was all he'd ever have? And yet, somehow, here he was, his partner tucked against his side, just as in love with her as if she was all he'd ever known. He was blessed, truly - and it was that thought that he reflected on as he watched the last of the flames die out.

"Home it is," he agreed, and began to steer her gently away from the remains of the Lial, back towards the way that they'd come, where they could charter a skyship to return to the Greatwood. While he would have been content to fly upon her back in dragon form, he wasn't so sure that she'd be up for it just now, and he was more than happy to arrange everything on her behalf instead. "Honestly? I look forward to being home with you. We can always find more adventure after a rest."

And they would - on a different day, after some time in the Greatwood to simply exist.

fin

Oh, I love it and I hate it at the same time
Hidin' all of our sins from the daylight