Harper
He has no way of knowing how much it means, he can only see the way her shoulders swell with the sharp intake of her breath, see the shine in her eyes when she is done taking in the cave and turns to him. He can read her, and in that he sees the weight of his words. Part of that is training forced upon him, but the rest is simply time. Closeness. Seeing her in every facet of her life until her expressions are memorized to the minutia.
As she steps closer he obligingly tilts their foreheads to rest against each other, closing his eyes and smiling peacefully. “I wanted you to be the first to see them before the public got wind of it. So for now it really is just for us.” It’s murmured into the sparse space between them, existing only because of Jude. He squeezes her hands gently before pulling back, realizing his sentimentality is quite literally keeping her from seeing the sights. Grinning sheepishly he tilts his head towards their feet. “The shallowest parts are safe for Jude, or I can hold him and we can swim a little. The walls and shallow water make it far warmer than the rest of Torchline right now - it’s still a mystery why it’s so cold.” Here he frowns slightly, because that particular hurdle had been infinitely irritating when planning the day.
As she steps closer he obligingly tilts their foreheads to rest against each other, closing his eyes and smiling peacefully. “I wanted you to be the first to see them before the public got wind of it. So for now it really is just for us.” It’s murmured into the sparse space between them, existing only because of Jude. He squeezes her hands gently before pulling back, realizing his sentimentality is quite literally keeping her from seeing the sights. Grinning sheepishly he tilts his head towards their feet. “The shallowest parts are safe for Jude, or I can hold him and we can swim a little. The walls and shallow water make it far warmer than the rest of Torchline right now - it’s still a mystery why it’s so cold.” Here he frowns slightly, because that particular hurdle had been infinitely irritating when planning the day.
When you're lost I'll show you the way back home
I'll stay until the morning comes, and show you how to live again
I'll stay until the morning comes, and show you how to live again
