Before he had been blighted he would have taken offense at the unasked-for contact, and the casual intimacy it implied. Since returning from that nightmare, since shaking off the constant rage that had bubbled just beneath the surface, awaiting any excuse to rise, the bard had mellowed on some things. Perhaps it wouldn't last, but for the moment he found the simple act of feeling the warmth from another person to be reassuring, after so long spent chilled to the bone. He didn't even flinch at the light squeeze, though his head remained bowed for a time as he nodded slowly at the reminder of Sam's sometimes twisted memory. "... yes,", he agreed, drawing in a steadying breath. It still hurt, but the alchemist was right. Sam carried an unfair burden of demons, and they had a habit of making everything seem worse than it was. Not unlike the blight in some ways, in its early stages.
Still... Sam was an adult. Jigano would care for him and help him as best he could, but he wouldn't coddle the bookmaker forever, even if sometimes it seemed as though that was what Sam wanted - an eternal childhood, where he received all the love and praise that his parents had never given him, and none of the criticism he had known too much of as a boy.
When Remi pulled away and began shifting uncomfortably Jigano looked up, and it took only a few moments for his own expression to turn to something of resignation, and something of despair. Remi knew something, and for once the bard was silent, not sure he really wanted to know.
He could understand secrets, and appreciate keeping trust. As the words sifted through what Remi could and couldn't tell him the bard's jaw tightened in anxious worry, but he kept a tight rein on his desire to know more now that there was confirmation of something. In the end he only bowed his head, sighing again and giving shake of a head that felt heavier with every breath. "That is... unwelcome news. But thank you for sharing that much. It gives me more time to compose myself before I see him again, at least. Gods..." He felt the shiver ripple through him, not caused by the blight but by honest fear of what Sam might have done that could not be undone.
"Thank you," he said again after a moment, exhaling with a bit more control as he tried to pull back the raw edges of wounds he had never expected to share with the alchemist. Times changed, though. People changed. Sam... Sam had changed, for instance. So much for the better in so many ways, but there were consequences to that, too. "LongNight won't be the best time for that conversation, not with us all stuck inside for a week. I'll try to catch him before then, but if I don't..." He lifted a shoulder in a helpless shrug. If Sam was avoiding him... "I won't let things get out of hand," he promised at last with a sigh. "It shouldn't be too hard, in truth. Not between helping Kiada, and anyone else who would like the company of a lantern in the dark. But either way, I'll do my best to keep the peace."
Still... Sam was an adult. Jigano would care for him and help him as best he could, but he wouldn't coddle the bookmaker forever, even if sometimes it seemed as though that was what Sam wanted - an eternal childhood, where he received all the love and praise that his parents had never given him, and none of the criticism he had known too much of as a boy.
When Remi pulled away and began shifting uncomfortably Jigano looked up, and it took only a few moments for his own expression to turn to something of resignation, and something of despair. Remi knew something, and for once the bard was silent, not sure he really wanted to know.
He could understand secrets, and appreciate keeping trust. As the words sifted through what Remi could and couldn't tell him the bard's jaw tightened in anxious worry, but he kept a tight rein on his desire to know more now that there was confirmation of something. In the end he only bowed his head, sighing again and giving shake of a head that felt heavier with every breath. "That is... unwelcome news. But thank you for sharing that much. It gives me more time to compose myself before I see him again, at least. Gods..." He felt the shiver ripple through him, not caused by the blight but by honest fear of what Sam might have done that could not be undone.
"Thank you," he said again after a moment, exhaling with a bit more control as he tried to pull back the raw edges of wounds he had never expected to share with the alchemist. Times changed, though. People changed. Sam... Sam had changed, for instance. So much for the better in so many ways, but there were consequences to that, too. "LongNight won't be the best time for that conversation, not with us all stuck inside for a week. I'll try to catch him before then, but if I don't..." He lifted a shoulder in a helpless shrug. If Sam was avoiding him... "I won't let things get out of hand," he promised at last with a sigh. "It shouldn't be too hard, in truth. Not between helping Kiada, and anyone else who would like the company of a lantern in the dark. But either way, I'll do my best to keep the peace."
