there's a niche in his chest where a heart would fit perfectly
I know. Something trying very hard to be an easy smile passes over his lips. It’s utterly wordless, but an unmistakable flood of I love you too passes through the bond, rivalled only by the warm, comfortable buzz of contentment that emanates from the attuned.
Perhaps, if he weren’t ascended, he wouldn’t have noticed it. Perhaps, if he just a little less focused, he could have ignored it. But the slightest brush of pale, in among dark hair startles Nate so fiercely he thinks he might have felt his heart skip a beat. Brows knit together even more tightly, the ascended leaning in and letting his fingers move with a touch more purpose. A single silver strand is pulled off of Sunjata’s head with a quick motion, Nate lifting it to his eye, unsure of what exactly he was looking at.
Then the panic comes, a drum-less thump through his chest, echoing through the bond. ”Oh.” It’s hardly more than a noise, Nate’s fingers opening and letting the offending hair flutter away.
It doesn’t help the raw emotion in his eyes, suddenly floating in a sheen of fluid that Nate blinks away as quickly as he can. ”No.” The word comes out loud and between the bond, garbled because of it. Don’t... don't be sorry. I know it was what you... it was what you had to do. Some blush of pride colours his voice, before it fades back into a buzz of sorrow. I just... I thought that this would be all the time we had, forever. I thought that was the last time I’d see you, and... and I... I can’t even really remember it. He remembers the smell of blood, through the rain, he remembers the bite of the muzzle and the eyes all around that he had tried to shrink from, and he remembered the way his heart had dropped out of his chest when Sunjata toppled over the cliff.
Perhaps, if he weren’t ascended, he wouldn’t have noticed it. Perhaps, if he just a little less focused, he could have ignored it. But the slightest brush of pale, in among dark hair startles Nate so fiercely he thinks he might have felt his heart skip a beat. Brows knit together even more tightly, the ascended leaning in and letting his fingers move with a touch more purpose. A single silver strand is pulled off of Sunjata’s head with a quick motion, Nate lifting it to his eye, unsure of what exactly he was looking at.
Then the panic comes, a drum-less thump through his chest, echoing through the bond. ”Oh.” It’s hardly more than a noise, Nate’s fingers opening and letting the offending hair flutter away.
It doesn’t help the raw emotion in his eyes, suddenly floating in a sheen of fluid that Nate blinks away as quickly as he can. ”No.” The word comes out loud and between the bond, garbled because of it. Don’t... don't be sorry. I know it was what you... it was what you had to do. Some blush of pride colours his voice, before it fades back into a buzz of sorrow. I just... I thought that this would be all the time we had, forever. I thought that was the last time I’d see you, and... and I... I can’t even really remember it. He remembers the smell of blood, through the rain, he remembers the bite of the muzzle and the eyes all around that he had tried to shrink from, and he remembered the way his heart had dropped out of his chest when Sunjata toppled over the cliff.
NATE
