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[noburden]

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[noburden]

"I wouldn't have let you," she says. "Even when upset... I never want you gone, Clive."

Not entirely. Her efforts to cut him out here failed hilariously when it felt like she was stabbing herself in the chest. Space is good in a way, she knows, but not in any sort of permanent way.

[rosarianoath]

Not true, given December, but Clive just rests his cheek against the top of her head.

"I'm glad. Is it terrible to be glad that fate insisted I care for you the other night?"

[noburden]

"No, though my hip and elbow beg to differ."

And her pride, but that's a small thing.

[rosarianoath]

Fair.

"How are they?"

[noburden]

"Better," she promises. "I look forward to sleeping on that side once more. But it really wasn't too bad of an injury. Didn't bleed as much as a head wound, for example."

That was much worse.

[rosarianoath]

"Fortunate that you didn't get one of those, then," he says. "A few more quiet weeks and you'll be well again."

[noburden]

"Weeks?" She scoffs. "Days. A day more, perhaps."

[rosarianoath]

"I shall not consider it healed until your skin is entirely unblemished," he replies, but he's fussy and he knows it; a little smile tugs at the corner of his mouth.

[noburden]

His leg gets a pat from her palm. Not quite a smack, but she can hear the smile in his voice.

"That will take far too long and you know it well. I've never said as such to you, with your worse wounds."

[rosarianoath]

"I heal faster," he says, amused. "Blessing of the Phoenix."

[noburden]

"Rubbing it in?" She asks, amused herself. So what if he has a point? Rude to bring it up like that.

[rosarianoath]

"No, just that I'm permitted to worry," he says, fondly.

[noburden]

"I suppose. You do need to keep busy," she says solemnly. Lest he get himself into trouble. He's done enough of that lately.

[rosarianoath]

"I do," he agrees, his hand running up and down her arm gently. "And I'm happy to."

[noburden]

"I can't say I'll endeavor to fall more often, but I can think of more ways to keep you busy. I can think of several garden projects that have been forgotten since Joshua's arrival," she jokes softly. Anything to keep him from the basement.

[rosarianoath]

He looks at her, smiling.

"Did you want help in the garden again? I would like to."

[noburden]

She lifts her head just in time to see that smile. It's so sweet on his face that for a moment, she forgets the cottage entirely. They're in their own world.

"I'd appreciate it," she says. "Injured as I am..."

[rosarianoath]

"Though I cannot claim to have your green thumb," he says, reaching for her chin with his free hand, holding her face towards him for a long, loving second, and then gently letting it go. Some space must be maintained. "I will gladly lift whatever needs lifting, and haul whatever needs hauling."

[noburden]

When he holds her chin, she feels so drawn to kiss him that she nearly does. One moment more and she would have done it, even if she knows she should not. It leaves her looking a little dazed, and she quietly clears her throat.

Their meal is going to be agony.

"That's all I need," she replies, giving his knee a squeeze. "That, and company."

[rosarianoath]

What does it say about him, he wonders, that he can tell she wants to kiss him and that he’d deny her? Does it make him cruel? He pushes it down.

“Company is easy enough.”

[noburden]

"Especially since I've missed yours," she must say, with a little tip of her head. She's missed Dion's, too. Torgal is likely tired of her having full conversations with him.

[rosarianoath]

He hums under his breath, nodding.

"I've missed yours too. I'm sorry to have denied you it."

[noburden]

"Sometimes I wonder if... if we move too quickly. Fall into one another too hard, too fast."

Ever since they've had the freedom to be together as lovers, there's been so much turmoil.

"I don't know how to take it slowly."

Is this it?

[rosarianoath]

This close to her, it's hard not to feel guilty about already inviting her into his arms. He can't claim to want distance if he does this, but not holding her and seeing her upset face feels like a dagger in his side. He swallows his breath.

"I don't know either," he said. "But I can't help but feel we talked more before we made love. We had to fill the silence somehow, even if we avoided anything complicated, everything hard. How can we expect our relationship to be steadfast when we are intimate in body and avoid the rest?"

He trails for a beat, and adds:

"It's my fault."

[noburden]

"And how is that your fault?" She asks, voice gentle. Sitting this close seems to be of no consequence to her as she looks at him. "We were both there. Both given opportunity to steer conversations or start them. Just as we both could have pushed the other to speak to Joshua about Origin."