Once he noticed the gryphon's imitation of himself, he winked conspiratorially at her. He doubted her snack was as tasty, though; wood didn't taste well and wasn't very nutritious. He'd stick to his carrots, but she was welcome to the stick. It hadn't done him much good anyway—he'd meant to whittle a couple of charms, as he usually did for all holidays, but nothing had come out of it except shavings.
No: Jigano was a much better cure than whittling. He was a stray ray of sunshine in Rory's gloomy world, lighting up the dark, chasing the shadows from his eyes and heart. They weren't gone, and he knew that the moment he was alone again, he'd fall back into his bleak mood, but for now, he felt a little better, a little brighter. So he chose not to think of later. He didn't want what he had now to slip through his fingers, because then.. then he'd have nothing.
His hands trembled slightly as he began to cut the vegetables. He knew it was the low blood sugar. Knowing didn't make it go away though, and it'd take a while before his body would understand it had been fed a carrot, so he narrowed his tired eyes and concentrated on not getting his fingers in the way—
When Jigano was suddenly beside him, hovering helpfully. What he said made sense, and Rory knew that if the roles were reversed, he'd hate sitting by idly while someone did all the work. "Mmmh," he hummed in agreement, dropping his knife and producing another. Absentmindedly he felt its edge, deemed it sharp enough, and handed it to Jigano. "Here," he said, and shoved some of the vegetables his way, too.
But as for the request.. he didn't precisely understand it, or know what kind of answer to give, so he chopped up a potato in silence as he thought about it. "It was my mother's," he said after a moment, trembling fingers sweeping the potato pieces aside to make room for a turnip. "And I guess it's mine now, since.. well."
He wasn't ready to talk about Karlia. She was a good, strong woman, she had enough sense, knew enough about Long Night.. surely she was just staying away? But for what reason?
"So, yeah... It's me, the dogs, the ponies, and the goats." Rory and a pack of animals: as it always had been, and always would be. Mind-numb and tongue-locked by hunger, dumbfounded by the fact that Jigano was in his kitchen, and they were cooking. It was too normal, in some way that was difficult to grasp.
He felt like he'd done a shit job of answering the question, so he ducked his head and scraped his chopped-up vegetables into a bowl to carry them to the simmering pot, pouring them in along with the dried goat meat. His stomach gave a treacherous rumble.
No: Jigano was a much better cure than whittling. He was a stray ray of sunshine in Rory's gloomy world, lighting up the dark, chasing the shadows from his eyes and heart. They weren't gone, and he knew that the moment he was alone again, he'd fall back into his bleak mood, but for now, he felt a little better, a little brighter. So he chose not to think of later. He didn't want what he had now to slip through his fingers, because then.. then he'd have nothing.
His hands trembled slightly as he began to cut the vegetables. He knew it was the low blood sugar. Knowing didn't make it go away though, and it'd take a while before his body would understand it had been fed a carrot, so he narrowed his tired eyes and concentrated on not getting his fingers in the way—
When Jigano was suddenly beside him, hovering helpfully. What he said made sense, and Rory knew that if the roles were reversed, he'd hate sitting by idly while someone did all the work. "Mmmh," he hummed in agreement, dropping his knife and producing another. Absentmindedly he felt its edge, deemed it sharp enough, and handed it to Jigano. "Here," he said, and shoved some of the vegetables his way, too.
But as for the request.. he didn't precisely understand it, or know what kind of answer to give, so he chopped up a potato in silence as he thought about it. "It was my mother's," he said after a moment, trembling fingers sweeping the potato pieces aside to make room for a turnip. "And I guess it's mine now, since.. well."
He wasn't ready to talk about Karlia. She was a good, strong woman, she had enough sense, knew enough about Long Night.. surely she was just staying away? But for what reason?
"So, yeah... It's me, the dogs, the ponies, and the goats." Rory and a pack of animals: as it always had been, and always would be. Mind-numb and tongue-locked by hunger, dumbfounded by the fact that Jigano was in his kitchen, and they were cooking. It was too normal, in some way that was difficult to grasp.
He felt like he'd done a shit job of answering the question, so he ducked his head and scraped his chopped-up vegetables into a bowl to carry them to the simmering pot, pouring them in along with the dried goat meat. His stomach gave a treacherous rumble.
