Filling The Emptiness

BASTIEN i am the remedy to your heart, Adding in shading and hatching to his portrait, Bastien looked up just in time to see Anden drink and smiled distractedly; he had always found it charming that the Ascended continued their habits from their previous lives. He was sure the Voice likely considered it an unfortunate flaw in her creations, but it made them more recognisable as human to the other races. That, and there was a comfort in a regular routine, which was why he (and Azrael) still had a bed time. "Ah-" He had not been expecting quite such a personal question and his pencil paused on the page. "...Once, last year, I would have said yes without hesitation. Now? Well, I am not unhappy, and if I am its certainly not due to my Ascension, but..." A heavy sigh followed, though no tears; he was dry after the seasons of grieving he'd done. "Without my Rexanna I feel like a half of a whole. Incomplete. I continue anyway, of course, but sometimes it is like I have lost my heart. I suspect it will heal in time, and I shall eventually see her, of course, but..." He shrugged, not knowing when that'd be or what it'd look like. At least Anden's words were interesting enough to pull him away from the dark place that beckoned. "Free? Were you not free in your last world? A slave?" I am the carbon collected. I am the printed upon your stars.