Large, rough, skilled hands reached up to cup her small, scarred, skilled hands. He held them in his, carefully, examining the scars. The fuzziness of his mind was starting to fade away, and despite the blanket of exhaustion trying to lay over him, he listened to her. He lifted her hands to his lips, kissed them each delicately.
"I promise. We will have grace for each other." He would not promise that he would not get mad at her. As much as he wanted to, as much as he hated his own anger, he knew he could never squash it or eliminate it totally. What he could promise, however, was that he would work through that anger with her. Talk to her. Listen to her.
Hear her. He smiled some, a crooked grin.
"I am making statements again. It looks like you've helped break my curse." He had not yet told her about visiting the shrine and coming up empty handed and cursed. He would if she asked.
She asked about rules, and Noah's mind brought back his parents. He thought of the ways they treated each other before him and his brother. He thought of how they were always quick to apologize to the other, and mean it. The "sorry" was never empty, never an excuse for poor behavior, never a lie. He breathed in, kissing her hands again. "We don't lie to each other. We don't keep secrets. We care for each other. We talk to each other. We share our concerns with each other. We apologize. We fight for each other." He released her hands only to pull her close against him again. The questions in his sentences were gone, and the slurring of his words was lessening with every syllable. "What do you think?"
He did not need to give her orders and commands and a job to do within this house. The two of them would work together to decide who's responsibility was what, but Noah did not care about that right now.
But no one comes in and yes, you're alone...
