RORY
i told the stars about you
He was not a bold creature: no matter what others might've been led to think recently, Rory preferred to turn his back on conflict. He did not want to stand up for anything—much easier to roll over. Get out of the way. Not be provocative. Take his beating and nurse his bruises. For the first time in his life he had truly stood up for (against) something, and he had been called a coward for it.And the aftershocks were still going—
So he found himself in this mess of his own making, uncovering victims in the rubble, victims he had not quite realized he should've considered until then. Watching. Waiting. His heart was pounding beneath his ribs, his mind overlaying Deimos's calm face with Ashetta's snarling one for a moment, and he gripped the tankard harder.
But the eyes that returned to his were not the cold and hard of judgment (though perhaps some of the distance still lingered in them), and Deimos's lips did not curl into a snarl, and his voice did not brush Rory off.
(Does that mean I mattered to you?)
At least he was being given a chance to explain himself, now that he had realized he ought to. With a small sigh Rory let his gaze drop, swirling the beer around the tankard and watching it. "A lot of what I've said lately, in public, has been very .. harsh, and unfair, against the Outlanders," he began, uncertain of which words to use. "And not necessarily something I meant, either. See, when Roana put up her notice, about wanting to get into the Spire.. people were restless and upset, and there was very little time to try and stop her. I did what seemed best at the time, and it worked, we stopped her.. even if it was for nothing in the end." He looked up from the beer. "I'm sorry if I hurt you, with what I said. I didn't mean those things. And I'm sorry that it's taken me until now to realize."
[ Five years later . . . I'm ok to archive at any time you feel like enough has been said xD ]
