Jigano had been a busy Provost lately, ushering in new recruits, holding meetings with recently returned ones, tidying shelves and re-stocking the perishables, and generally holding up his office of guild leader with renewed determination in the wake of Long Nights and Fiat Luxes, tragedies piled atop failures, insults added to injuries. If he slowed down, if he stopped, if he lingered too long on the memories of death and loss and compounded pain, he knew he might break again beneath the weight of all that was required of him.
So he didn't.
He threw himself into his guildwork and into building up defenses against threats both real and imagined, and into trying to expand the Loreseeker networks and allies within the Hollowed Grounds and as long as he didn't pause too long he made it through each day too tired to have nightmares, wrapped in Rory's arms and trying not to envy his lover's seclusion from the world.
Too much time to think would be his undoing though, he well knew.
He had seen Sam around more often lately, and he had taken that as a good sign. He was glad to see his friend doing less work for the Voice and more for the Guild, and Isuma was happy to have a playmate around. He had been content to work quietly around his Ascended friend and let them find a comfortable rhythm without pushing the boundaries, but tonight as he left his office and locked the door behind him he paused and went to make a cup of tea of his own before joining Sam at the table, nodding companionably to his friend. "You've been making good progress on that," he complimented as Isuma yawned from her spot in a chair near the fire. "When do you think it'll be ready to put on the shelf with the finished works?"
So he didn't.
He threw himself into his guildwork and into building up defenses against threats both real and imagined, and into trying to expand the Loreseeker networks and allies within the Hollowed Grounds and as long as he didn't pause too long he made it through each day too tired to have nightmares, wrapped in Rory's arms and trying not to envy his lover's seclusion from the world.
Too much time to think would be his undoing though, he well knew.
He had seen Sam around more often lately, and he had taken that as a good sign. He was glad to see his friend doing less work for the Voice and more for the Guild, and Isuma was happy to have a playmate around. He had been content to work quietly around his Ascended friend and let them find a comfortable rhythm without pushing the boundaries, but tonight as he left his office and locked the door behind him he paused and went to make a cup of tea of his own before joining Sam at the table, nodding companionably to his friend. "You've been making good progress on that," he complimented as Isuma yawned from her spot in a chair near the fire. "When do you think it'll be ready to put on the shelf with the finished works?"
