"You make a very good point," he agreed with a smile, taking her correction with a gracious nod. "I think I've been losing sight of that in recent months." When he had first arrived things had been difficult for a host of reasons, but he had enjoyed lending a cheerful hand and found joy in working with the Loreseekers and those who came to their door. Then he had begun taking more responsibilities on himself, shouldering burdens that should have been shared and discovering how frightening it could be to have something to lose and people he cared for again, with all the potential for hurt and loss that came with them.
Perhaps it was time to go back and try to find the man he had been before Caido's gods and monsters had their way with him... without losing sight of the gifts he had gained along the way.
"A piano? I haven't seen one in years," he exclaimed, curiosity shining briefly in the interested blue gaze he turned on her. "I don't know how to play, no, but I'd love to hear one again." Was the bar in Starfall the last place he'd seen one? His subsequent wanderings had taken him mostly to towns and villages too small for one of the expensive instruments to be found, but that had made his own smaller instruments and talents even more welcome.
He shifted aside to give her room, holding the boards steady as she hammered them in place with admirable efficiency, nodding in understanding at her feeling of being out of place and unneeded at times. For all that he so desperately meddled, it seemed as though he rarely helped much... but the company was too fine to sink into brooding on that now, and he gave her a grateful smile as they finished the last temporary shutter against the elements.
"You know Rory?" he asked, brightening at her question. "Yes, it is. I admit, I didn't really know much about farming before I moved in with him, so it's been an education." For someone who enjoyed learning new things as much as he did, it was largely a pleasant one, too if the softening of his expression and the crinkle of quiet happiness at the corners of his eyes was any indication.
The early mornings, not so much. But sometimes sacrifices had to be made.
He turned to the piles Lily had made, kneeling to stir through the tools and separate out the ones that were still usable. It looked to be most of them, and he took an armful to begin hanging them back on their pegs on the wall. "Have you met Jiao?" Something she had mentioned earlier, about lace and buttons, had tickled his memory until he recalled the Fae seamstress.
Perhaps it was time to go back and try to find the man he had been before Caido's gods and monsters had their way with him... without losing sight of the gifts he had gained along the way.
"A piano? I haven't seen one in years," he exclaimed, curiosity shining briefly in the interested blue gaze he turned on her. "I don't know how to play, no, but I'd love to hear one again." Was the bar in Starfall the last place he'd seen one? His subsequent wanderings had taken him mostly to towns and villages too small for one of the expensive instruments to be found, but that had made his own smaller instruments and talents even more welcome.
He shifted aside to give her room, holding the boards steady as she hammered them in place with admirable efficiency, nodding in understanding at her feeling of being out of place and unneeded at times. For all that he so desperately meddled, it seemed as though he rarely helped much... but the company was too fine to sink into brooding on that now, and he gave her a grateful smile as they finished the last temporary shutter against the elements.
"You know Rory?" he asked, brightening at her question. "Yes, it is. I admit, I didn't really know much about farming before I moved in with him, so it's been an education." For someone who enjoyed learning new things as much as he did, it was largely a pleasant one, too if the softening of his expression and the crinkle of quiet happiness at the corners of his eyes was any indication.
The early mornings, not so much. But sometimes sacrifices had to be made.
He turned to the piles Lily had made, kneeling to stir through the tools and separate out the ones that were still usable. It looked to be most of them, and he took an armful to begin hanging them back on their pegs on the wall. "Have you met Jiao?" Something she had mentioned earlier, about lace and buttons, had tickled his memory until he recalled the Fae seamstress.
