It wasn't a song he knew, but it was one he listened to intently before joining in with a wordless humming counterpoint, adding a light note to the harmony of his companions as Isuma hunted dust bunnies and drifts of goat fur across the stable floor. There was a serenity to the work, in part because of its simplicity but more for the company and the warm affection that threaded silently between them. It was a strange and precious thing, something Jigano had never really known before, and he cherished it with a distracted sort of wonder for how good it felt.
Was this how it should have been, traveling with his old friends? Friendships that weren't built on necessity and survival and wariness, but instead on choice and love and trust? Was this what Rory meant about the difference between 'wanting' and 'needing' someone? Questions he didn't know how to ask, and was a little afraid to have answered, for what it would reveal about him - to himself as much as to his new friends. And so he kept the words tucked inside for now, losing himself instead in the physical effort to break down the damaged stall.
He grinned at Amalia as she joined him outside with her own load of broken wood, but he was taken off guard when the young librarian wrapped her arms around him in a spontaneous and gentle hug. She'd been wise, catching him from behind so he could return it properly, but for once he didn't flinch, and instead he pressed his hands atop hers where they met at his middle. Such strange things, hugs. He kept expecting to be singed or scratched, remembering other hugs from another person. He missed her terribly...
But Amalia was the opposite of Yohgel in every way, and it was easier to accept her spontaneous affections as he grew more used to them - and as the memories of his former world began to grow more distant. He let her pull away and turned to grin down at her, basking in the smile that suffused her face now, a far cry from her expression on their walk over. It suited her well, and his smile softened at the young woman who was becoming as close to him as Val - the closest person he'd had to a sibling - had been in his youth.
That soft smile warmed with a flicker of a different sort of heat as Rory joined them. The fine sheen of sweat on his brow was a good look for him. Then again, everything was a good look on him, as far as Jigano was concerned. Just being near the hunter was a gift, and the nearer they could be, the better, since even before Long Night.
"Ever at your service," he murmured with a sly grin as he strode along at the blond man's side to help gather and shift the planks into the barn. He might not have been a carpenter, but a bard of his experience had a knack for picking up simple skills quickly, and he soon fell into a rhythm of hammering the wood into place across from Rory as they rebuilt the wall so that it was even stronger than before.
Was this how it should have been, traveling with his old friends? Friendships that weren't built on necessity and survival and wariness, but instead on choice and love and trust? Was this what Rory meant about the difference between 'wanting' and 'needing' someone? Questions he didn't know how to ask, and was a little afraid to have answered, for what it would reveal about him - to himself as much as to his new friends. And so he kept the words tucked inside for now, losing himself instead in the physical effort to break down the damaged stall.
He grinned at Amalia as she joined him outside with her own load of broken wood, but he was taken off guard when the young librarian wrapped her arms around him in a spontaneous and gentle hug. She'd been wise, catching him from behind so he could return it properly, but for once he didn't flinch, and instead he pressed his hands atop hers where they met at his middle. Such strange things, hugs. He kept expecting to be singed or scratched, remembering other hugs from another person. He missed her terribly...
But Amalia was the opposite of Yohgel in every way, and it was easier to accept her spontaneous affections as he grew more used to them - and as the memories of his former world began to grow more distant. He let her pull away and turned to grin down at her, basking in the smile that suffused her face now, a far cry from her expression on their walk over. It suited her well, and his smile softened at the young woman who was becoming as close to him as Val - the closest person he'd had to a sibling - had been in his youth.
That soft smile warmed with a flicker of a different sort of heat as Rory joined them. The fine sheen of sweat on his brow was a good look for him. Then again, everything was a good look on him, as far as Jigano was concerned. Just being near the hunter was a gift, and the nearer they could be, the better, since even before Long Night.
"Ever at your service," he murmured with a sly grin as he strode along at the blond man's side to help gather and shift the planks into the barn. He might not have been a carpenter, but a bard of his experience had a knack for picking up simple skills quickly, and he soon fell into a rhythm of hammering the wood into place across from Rory as they rebuilt the wall so that it was even stronger than before.
