State of Emergency

Caden

Sorrow infuses his smile, and though it does not wither it is clearly tinged with as much grief as it is love. "Thank you - he was. He was never the fatherly type, but when my parents died he really stepped up." He had been firm on calling himself Caden's uncle however, insistent that they honor his parent's memory no matter how close they had become in later years.

Though their experiences differ, the sentiment is close enough for Caden's expression to turn sympathetic as he looks back and forth between the meat he is skewering and her profile. "I'm sorry. I can't imagine a life like that. Though we hid what we were and what we could do, my uncle insisted we practice nearly daily." Taking the spit, he places it over the fire and sits back down, belatedly wincing as he realizes how condescending that might have sounded. "What I mean is - it's not just a part of us, it is us. I've always felt at war with myself; needing to hide it, but raised to revere it."

Which is why the news of an academy makes him turn to face her more on the log. "That's part of why I've been more open about it lately. When I heard it was opening..." he shakes his head, at a loss for words that could sufficiently describe all the emotions he'd felt for days following that news. "I still can't believe it."

Though I know my heart will break
I'd still tell the surgeon to put it back in