Things couldn't return to normal, but the lorekeeper was no longer hiding himself away from the world, whether from sickness or shame or guilt or fear. Not that all of those things weren't still with him, but he had wallowed in them long enough, and had finally begun to move forward again. Or at least, to try to.
Sometimes the trembling in his hands and the snarling whip of his increasing anger made it hard. Knowing what caused it, though, gave him a means of resisting those darker impulses, and he did his best to rein them in when he could.
One of the side effects was a chill to his skin that he couldn't seem to shake. Even when he was wrapped in Rory's arms it lingered, and he dreaded the coming of Deepfrost for entirely new reasons this year. There was one place that was guaranteed to be warm, however. A place he was long overdue to visit, for a multitude of reasons. He pushed open the door to Smitty's forge, sighing and releasing the tight hold on his cloak as the heat of the coals hit him like a dry blanket, and he slowly began to ease out of the grey furred garment while Isuma flew gracefully to land on the countertop.
"Smitty?Caiside ?" he called into the shop, looking around for the either of the smiths, in the hopes that one or both would be there.
Sometimes the trembling in his hands and the snarling whip of his increasing anger made it hard. Knowing what caused it, though, gave him a means of resisting those darker impulses, and he did his best to rein them in when he could.
One of the side effects was a chill to his skin that he couldn't seem to shake. Even when he was wrapped in Rory's arms it lingered, and he dreaded the coming of Deepfrost for entirely new reasons this year. There was one place that was guaranteed to be warm, however. A place he was long overdue to visit, for a multitude of reasons. He pushed open the door to Smitty's forge, sighing and releasing the tight hold on his cloak as the heat of the coals hit him like a dry blanket, and he slowly began to ease out of the grey furred garment while Isuma flew gracefully to land on the countertop.
"Smitty?
