Love mends even the broken parts
Ronin’s response was unsurprising. The disdainful sigh was a nice touch, as was the blase way he absolved Remi of any part of this. While Loren felt that the accusation about his behavior was entirely accurate, the king’s reading of his husband was totally off. Maybe it was because Ronin hadn’t been there, hadn’t seen the hurt in Remi’s eyes when the summoner revealed who he was to the alchemist, but Remi had been hurting, a lot, and the Launceleyn had tried to do something to prevent further pain. For both of them.
Just because he’d failed didn’t change that.
”You’re right about me. I am tired of hurting and I did not want to cause myself any more harm. Which is why I’ve stopped beating myself up for the past and started focusing on the future instead. On saving who I can from the coming darkness." That came out a bit more harshly than he'd intended. He did his best to soften his expression and his tone, but he wasn't sure how successful he was. "I will say that I am incredibly sorry, for how I treated you, and for how I treated Remi. I screwed up. Big time. Which sucks, because I missed you, more than I can say, still really fucking miss you, if I’m being honest, and would like nothing more than to be your friend again. However, I recognize how selfish that desire is, and don’t have any expectations on that front.” The king was well within his rights to cut the summoner out of his former friend’s life entirely. If that’s how it was, if they were nothing more than passing acquaintances who occasionally worked together, it would be painful. But Loren would find a way to cope.
However, his eyes narrowed, not willing to allow Ronin to brush this off so easily. ”You’re also right that he didn’t remember me. But I think you need to talk to your husband about how much he was hurting. Not me.” Perhaps that was crossing a line, but the king had raised this, and it was best they laid it all out on the table. They might not get another chance because of LongNight, a fact that he was constantly being reminded of. ”I can’t think of anything else.” So unless Ronin wanted to go back and forth a few more times about Remi, there probably wasn’t much left to do or say here.
Just because he’d failed didn’t change that.
”You’re right about me. I am tired of hurting and I did not want to cause myself any more harm. Which is why I’ve stopped beating myself up for the past and started focusing on the future instead. On saving who I can from the coming darkness." That came out a bit more harshly than he'd intended. He did his best to soften his expression and his tone, but he wasn't sure how successful he was. "I will say that I am incredibly sorry, for how I treated you, and for how I treated Remi. I screwed up. Big time. Which sucks, because I missed you, more than I can say, still really fucking miss you, if I’m being honest, and would like nothing more than to be your friend again. However, I recognize how selfish that desire is, and don’t have any expectations on that front.” The king was well within his rights to cut the summoner out of his former friend’s life entirely. If that’s how it was, if they were nothing more than passing acquaintances who occasionally worked together, it would be painful. But Loren would find a way to cope.
However, his eyes narrowed, not willing to allow Ronin to brush this off so easily. ”You’re also right that he didn’t remember me. But I think you need to talk to your husband about how much he was hurting. Not me.” Perhaps that was crossing a line, but the king had raised this, and it was best they laid it all out on the table. They might not get another chance because of LongNight, a fact that he was constantly being reminded of. ”I can’t think of anything else.” So unless Ronin wanted to go back and forth a few more times about Remi, there probably wasn’t much left to do or say here.
loren
