Jigano released a slow breath as Rory spoke, quiet and intense and growing in anger that the bard could find no fault for. He had been no little angry when he had learned what smelled like the truth. Caged for sins they hadn't committed, living and dying in ignorance among gods who were as fickle as the wind, and meanwhile outlanders were dropped in the same prison with no means or hope of escape...
It wasn't fair, but then, plenty of gods weren't fair, even on his world.
He wanted to catch that waving arm, bring it back to his cheek and offer the reassurance of touch and skin, but Rory... was like him. He was already bound by wounds and bandages. Trapping him further seemed a cruelty to the fox. Jigano settled instead for squeezing the hand already freely given into his, ears canting back in silent dismay at the guilt his friend seemed to feel immediately after the burst of honest words and emotion, and he shook his head sharply in response. "You don't need to apologize," he said, a flicker of fierceness in blue eyes as he found Rory's face again, hoping his friend would meet his gaze. "You never need to apologize to me for being honest." He took a slow breath, reaching up to push loose hair back behind an ear that wasn't where it was supposed to be, and grimacing a little as the tress fell forward again.
"I might have found some of the missing history," he said at last, quietly. "At least, a general idea of what happened." He sighed, glancing behind him towards the door, where other patients lay. Where Amalia was, neither Abandoned nor Ascended, more pious than any of them and still suffering with all the rest of those within the Hollowed Grounds. "Though I still have no idea why so many - Accepted, Attuned, and Outlanders - were Abandoned along with the mages." He slanted a glance back to his friend, lips quirking in a shadow of a smile as he sought something to distract the hunter towards something lighter. "I was a mage, too, upon my world... of a sort. More of a dabbler, really, but when I fell through the portal I lost that part of me." He gave a one-shouldered shrug, trying to downplay the sting of that soul-deep loss. "Though I've never missed my healing magic as much as I did when I saw you burned," he added softly, solemn once more.
It wasn't fair, but then, plenty of gods weren't fair, even on his world.
He wanted to catch that waving arm, bring it back to his cheek and offer the reassurance of touch and skin, but Rory... was like him. He was already bound by wounds and bandages. Trapping him further seemed a cruelty to the fox. Jigano settled instead for squeezing the hand already freely given into his, ears canting back in silent dismay at the guilt his friend seemed to feel immediately after the burst of honest words and emotion, and he shook his head sharply in response. "You don't need to apologize," he said, a flicker of fierceness in blue eyes as he found Rory's face again, hoping his friend would meet his gaze. "You never need to apologize to me for being honest." He took a slow breath, reaching up to push loose hair back behind an ear that wasn't where it was supposed to be, and grimacing a little as the tress fell forward again.
"I might have found some of the missing history," he said at last, quietly. "At least, a general idea of what happened." He sighed, glancing behind him towards the door, where other patients lay. Where Amalia was, neither Abandoned nor Ascended, more pious than any of them and still suffering with all the rest of those within the Hollowed Grounds. "Though I still have no idea why so many - Accepted, Attuned, and Outlanders - were Abandoned along with the mages." He slanted a glance back to his friend, lips quirking in a shadow of a smile as he sought something to distract the hunter towards something lighter. "I was a mage, too, upon my world... of a sort. More of a dabbler, really, but when I fell through the portal I lost that part of me." He gave a one-shouldered shrug, trying to downplay the sting of that soul-deep loss. "Though I've never missed my healing magic as much as I did when I saw you burned," he added softly, solemn once more.
