HOTARU
The name is familiar, and her lips purse at the recent memory of meeting the young midwife. She keeps her thoughts to herself, listening instead to the tale he weaves for her. It's not precisely negative, but something about it still bothers her. "That seems rather childish. I understand giving space for everyone to cool their heads, but...it just doesn't strike me right." It's half-mumbled, more contemplative, spoken aloud more for herself than any commentary to provide for him. "But it was good of you to try to help her. That alone should speak of how you honored the time you spent together." Not that she knows anything about the tumultuous times between them, Phoebe's reactions or accusations, Sunjata's indecisiveness. What she does know is what he tells her, and from there she can gather that while he understandably went back to Lusea, at least he had not forsaken Phoebe entirely. He pulls on her hand, tugging her closer, and she laughs softly as she ends up half-drawn across the table towards him, free arm bracing against its surface. She doesn't want to distract from the healing they're both doing, but it's almost impossible to not engage him when he teases back, the smoky nature of his voice drawing her in as surely as any drug. "Yes, one I have carefully cultivated you know." The wry twist of her lips and glimmer of her eyes in the firelight reveals her sarcasm, though her tone remains perfectly untouched and seemingly sincere. "I'll have to reserve it for rare moments then, can't have you spoiled." A sly wink and she drags her nails lightly against the sensitive skin of his inner forearm to punctuate it. If it helps to distract him from darker thoughts, she will let him steer them into whichever kind of conversation he desires.
I am a breathtaking mosaic
of all the battles I've won
of all the battles I've won
