bramblepaths

Harper

"I hope you can trust in having it for a long time yet." In leading, in war, in life. She would not lose him any time soon, not if he could help it. Devotion and loyalty come naturally to Harper. Maeve has more than earned it, long before she became his superior. Though they are both willing to make the proper gestures for formality, he suspects it will always fall a little short. They have simply known each other too long, too closely, for it to settle comfortably around them the way that it should.

It's only all the more apparent when talk of governing and councils falls to the wayside in favor of something far more appealing - at least to Harper. As she reaches for his hand, Harper nearly climbs the table in his eagerness to be closer, eventually seeing sense and maneuvering around it. Even the firmness of her belly alone is enough to make his eyes go wide and smile to brighten, amazed by the novelty.

Kneeling by her chair like a loyal knight, Harper stares at her belly with awe, and then jolts when a kick thumps against his palm just as she'd warned. "Amazing," he breathes, and shuffles closer, hoping it would happen again. Laughing brightly, he turns blue eyes to Maeve's face, delighted. "Does it hurt when they do that?" Perhaps he shouldn't be celebrating.

I am water - soft enough to offer life
tough enough to drown it away