”It’s not a bother,” he assured Maea with a warm smile. ”Though I certainly appreciate the desire to learn it on your own.” It was exactly the sort of initiative he hoped to see in his colleagues, and he didn’t try to hide the pride in his eyes at the pale woman’s resiliency.
A glance at Sunjata’s illness-raddled figure earned a raised brow and a polite snort of disbelief. ”Healing takes energy, which takes food,” he pretended to scold the bar owner, as if the bard were a worried old mother. ”If you don’t eat at least one scone while you’re here, I’ll be forced to assume you don’t like my hospatility.” A pulse of amusement through the bond would hopefully reassure Sunjata that he was only joking.
Well, mostly.
Maea drew his attention back to her as they worked together to set out the tea service and snacks, but at the mention of Zariah’s name Jigano’s expression grew neutral, a mask of polite distance slipping over it and the Attuned bond grew suddenly frigid. He didn’t interrupt or say anything else at first, listening to what Maea had to say as he pulled out a chair and sank into it, watching her steadily.
Blue eyes flicked to Sunjata when the bartender spoke, an unexpected addition to the conversation, and his brow lifted slowly as the Devil’s Advocate listed his own reasons. Indeed, it seemed he would be getting quite a bit out of Maea’s presence in Halo. But as for Maea…
”What reasons are those?” he asked her first, withholding further judgment until he heard what she had to say for herself.
A glance at Sunjata’s illness-raddled figure earned a raised brow and a polite snort of disbelief. ”Healing takes energy, which takes food,” he pretended to scold the bar owner, as if the bard were a worried old mother. ”If you don’t eat at least one scone while you’re here, I’ll be forced to assume you don’t like my hospatility.” A pulse of amusement through the bond would hopefully reassure Sunjata that he was only joking.
Well, mostly.
Maea drew his attention back to her as they worked together to set out the tea service and snacks, but at the mention of Zariah’s name Jigano’s expression grew neutral, a mask of polite distance slipping over it and the Attuned bond grew suddenly frigid. He didn’t interrupt or say anything else at first, listening to what Maea had to say as he pulled out a chair and sank into it, watching her steadily.
Blue eyes flicked to Sunjata when the bartender spoke, an unexpected addition to the conversation, and his brow lifted slowly as the Devil’s Advocate listed his own reasons. Indeed, it seemed he would be getting quite a bit out of Maea’s presence in Halo. But as for Maea…
”What reasons are those?” he asked her first, withholding further judgment until he heard what she had to say for herself.
