A warm meal and a quiet night

KIADA we are all just fighting to survive a world, where 'i miss you' doesn't mean I'm coming back. It’s a weight that’s sat on her chest for many years, and when she begins to tell him and meets his silence for a brief moment, all of those just added to the fact that she could just see him getting up and abandoning this nice dinner. But before any words are even said, his hand is reaching for hers again as she twirls some food around her fork, not quite eating but picking at it, waiting for the inevitable. Her eyes lift to finally scan him, as much as she doesn’t want to face what she might see. But there’s no… Real tremble in his gaze, just a serious look that seems to match her own. He tells her she’s strong, though she doesn’t feel like it. She feels like she could crumble at any given moment – perhaps she will, once, when the weight of it all becomes too much. But she can’t right now, too exhausted and too busy doing everything she can to ensure that the Grounders have everything they need. Perhaps that’s why she’s divulged this secret. “I was a child.” She says softly, to accompany the fact that she was naïve and blind to his true intentions. She hadn’t known. “I wasn’t the only one, no… But I am the one most of them blame.” Like Melita’s harbored anger towards her despite how many times Kiada has apologized for it. But his fingers run along the scar, a small shiver sparking through her spine as she closes her eyes now, and reaches up to fiddle with the end of her braid where hair had been singed – not by the catastrophe but by a training session with Weaver. “I was rewarded with armor.” A helmet to match the armor that pierced her skin. But when he poses his own question back, she sighs softly and opens her eyes to meet his. “I never wanted anyone to die. And I’ve apologized to those that I helped take their families away from them.” She admits quietly, reaching across the table to try and grasp for his hand again as if she needs a tether. “I should have told you sooner… Before all of this.” She almost has to choke it out, gesturing with a free hand to the meal – the feelings that shared between them – as she accidentally slips a bit of her uncertainty and worry that he won’t accept her through the bond, the worry that it changes something she hopes grows into something so much more. and 'I love you' doesn't mean I'll stay...