Kiss from a Rose

Bastien had nearly left, stepped away into the dark, when he heard the feeble voice calling his name. If he had any sense, he would have continued leaving, should have known not to trust it. But the last time he had left something similar, he had nearly left Ronin out to die in Longnight. Slowly he stepped back towards the ruins, staying a few feet away but able to see Jigano. The man looked a mess as he had before, but now something was different; there was a hint of human in him, of a person and not just a beast. It was in the way he was kneeling, the cautiousness in his question, which Bastien quickly answered. "I was painting, when you ah...appeared. You seemed rather beside yourself, so I did strike you..." He look at his own hand as if ashamed of it, and in some ways he was, even though it had been unavoidable. "I had thought you lost to the Blight. Jigano, are you back to yourself?" Bastien I must say, it’s nice This pageant of vice For life’s just the rice But sin is the flavour