Oh, he did not like hearing that Ru wanted him to spend time with Evie. No, he did not, and his nose wrinkled in immediate, knee-jerk refusal of the idea-- but he kept his protest behind his teeth for once, willing to listen to the Valkyrie even if he didn't agree with her. He followed his gaze to the cake box and managed a jerky, morose nod of acknowledgment that something resembling an effort was being made, however gracelessly on his part and at least partly enforced by his sister.
Pale eyes remained lowered as she continued, however, and he swallowed hard until Ru reached out and turned him to face her properly. He couldn't avoid her gaze when he was already looking down and she, petite and proud and lethal, was looking up. Not, at least, until he turned his head to the side, unable to meet the compassion in her green-and-grey eyes. Disagreement again, but this time despairing that he would have any chance at all with the Warden who seemed to have nothing but disdain, disappointment, and anger for the Natural courier regardless of their previous relationship - or perhaps even moreso because of it.
Her assumption about him struck like a blow and for the first time Tal did flinch, fingers flexing involuntarily and half-crushing the edges of the box and the cake within. Guilt - shame? - and fear flashed briefly across his face before he bit his lip and tried to bring himself under control. Boreal snorted and backed up, pale eyes wide and wings half-unfurling as she crouched and then leapt to the sky with lumbering wingbeats, fleeing for her bonded when he could only stand rooted, wingless and lost. The whirl of thoughts in his head roared louder even than Hotaru's voice for a moment and he didn't react - didn't seem to hear - the blade of honesty that comprised her own tiers of loyalty and where he fell on them.
It was the revelation of Deimos's previous relations with Evie - the meat of them, when Tal had only known in the very broadest stroke that they had been acquainted in the past - that brought him slowly back to the present, a shiver still sliding through him in spite of Frey's cuff upon his wrist that should have blocked the worst of the cold.
But this cold was one of the spirit, and the courier's stubborn core finally reasserted itself though he squeezed his eyes closed to avoid seeing the pitiless honesty reflected in his friend's calm gaze. He could admit to himself that she had a point, but her point came with an edge that cut him to the core. "That can't be right," he protested, his breath quick and shallow. "I can't... can't believe that's right. 'Cause if it is than she... Ru, he knew her before he knew Halo, didn't he? If they were friends before... before the portals brought him here. So he'd be more loyal to her than...than all of us. Halo itself. An' he's the Warden. I know he's not... not like that." Even if Evie was currently a Warden, too, however much Tal avoided thinking about it. Deimos might have been an Outlander, but unlike the Grounder he'd belonged to Halo from the moment he set foot upon the snow, regardless of how long he'd spent in other places before he found his way home.
But throughout the conversation Tal was being forced to confront that perhaps he knew Deimos a great deal less than he had thought. And that was a drought just as bitter as the loss of the man he'd respected more than anyone else still living.
Pale eyes remained lowered as she continued, however, and he swallowed hard until Ru reached out and turned him to face her properly. He couldn't avoid her gaze when he was already looking down and she, petite and proud and lethal, was looking up. Not, at least, until he turned his head to the side, unable to meet the compassion in her green-and-grey eyes. Disagreement again, but this time despairing that he would have any chance at all with the Warden who seemed to have nothing but disdain, disappointment, and anger for the Natural courier regardless of their previous relationship - or perhaps even moreso because of it.
Her assumption about him struck like a blow and for the first time Tal did flinch, fingers flexing involuntarily and half-crushing the edges of the box and the cake within. Guilt - shame? - and fear flashed briefly across his face before he bit his lip and tried to bring himself under control. Boreal snorted and backed up, pale eyes wide and wings half-unfurling as she crouched and then leapt to the sky with lumbering wingbeats, fleeing for her bonded when he could only stand rooted, wingless and lost. The whirl of thoughts in his head roared louder even than Hotaru's voice for a moment and he didn't react - didn't seem to hear - the blade of honesty that comprised her own tiers of loyalty and where he fell on them.
It was the revelation of Deimos's previous relations with Evie - the meat of them, when Tal had only known in the very broadest stroke that they had been acquainted in the past - that brought him slowly back to the present, a shiver still sliding through him in spite of Frey's cuff upon his wrist that should have blocked the worst of the cold.
But this cold was one of the spirit, and the courier's stubborn core finally reasserted itself though he squeezed his eyes closed to avoid seeing the pitiless honesty reflected in his friend's calm gaze. He could admit to himself that she had a point, but her point came with an edge that cut him to the core. "That can't be right," he protested, his breath quick and shallow. "I can't... can't believe that's right. 'Cause if it is than she... Ru, he knew her before he knew Halo, didn't he? If they were friends before... before the portals brought him here. So he'd be more loyal to her than...than all of us. Halo itself. An' he's the Warden. I know he's not... not like that." Even if Evie was currently a Warden, too, however much Tal avoided thinking about it. Deimos might have been an Outlander, but unlike the Grounder he'd belonged to Halo from the moment he set foot upon the snow, regardless of how long he'd spent in other places before he found his way home.
But throughout the conversation Tal was being forced to confront that perhaps he knew Deimos a great deal less than he had thought. And that was a drought just as bitter as the loss of the man he'd respected more than anyone else still living.
