With every broken bone, I swear I lived
Company was all she dared to ask for. More than she'd thought she even needed. To willingly offer it, to receive it, felt more precious than any golden trinket or charm anyone could have gifted her. "It's plenty," she assured him, too exalted by what felt like a win to know what to say. Smiling sweetly as he took her hands, Maea wondered what he was up to but let him have them. His hands were warm as they folded around hers, and around the apple; she regretted the moment he withdrew them, but raised the fruit to her lips and took a bite of it all the same. Beneath the bright red peel the flesh was crisp and white and so tart that it was almost painful - once the immediate tartness faded however, the taste was wonderfully refreshing.
Holding it out for him, she offered him a bite. Like he had done for her. It had the feel of a pact or a promise, written not in stone or in sand but in something far more fragile. "I believe in you. We'll figure it out, I'm sure of it." Big words. She meant it, though. It would be a challenge to keep her own happiness in mind while doing what she could to support him, because she knew her own tendency to offer the world and the moon to those she cared for... But he didn't want that, and she had suffered for doing that unbidden in the past.
So for now, all she could do was open up a space for them to share.
"I live in a cottage just outside the Settlement, with a friend," she shared, like it was a secret for only a select few to know. "Another ancient, Ophelia, found it and we've been fixing it up little by little over the past season. It's small, but cozy - there's even a guest room on the loft that I furnished. I don't mean to brag, but I think it's the nicest out of all the rooms." Hint hint wink wink.
Holding it out for him, she offered him a bite. Like he had done for her. It had the feel of a pact or a promise, written not in stone or in sand but in something far more fragile. "I believe in you. We'll figure it out, I'm sure of it." Big words. She meant it, though. It would be a challenge to keep her own happiness in mind while doing what she could to support him, because she knew her own tendency to offer the world and the moon to those she cared for... But he didn't want that, and she had suffered for doing that unbidden in the past.
So for now, all she could do was open up a space for them to share.
"I live in a cottage just outside the Settlement, with a friend," she shared, like it was a secret for only a select few to know. "Another ancient, Ophelia, found it and we've been fixing it up little by little over the past season. It's small, but cozy - there's even a guest room on the loft that I furnished. I don't mean to brag, but I think it's the nicest out of all the rooms." Hint hint wink wink.
maea
