Re: [Closed] I will not ask you
Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2020 5:00 pm
Early Evening, Hamis 32, 2720
Western Port, Isla Dzum
Western Port, Isla Dzum
I want you to be happy here, Aremu wanted to say, most of all, looking down at Aurelie in the circle of his arms, her small face smiling up at him. I know it’s not your place – it’s not mine either, Aurelie, though I don’t know if it seems that way to you. I’ve made it my own, as much as I could have.
It’s been nice, he wanted to say, too, having you here. Aremu wasn’t sure he’d realized, before Aurelie came, just how quiet things had been. In the year and some since Uzoji had died, he’d been alone, not just more nights than not, but nearly every night. Not alone in his bed, though that was true as well, but alone in the house.
For all, Aremu knew, he held himself apart, he’d missed having the opportunity not to do so.
It wasn’t only that; he didn’t think any presence would have done it. It was, he knew, with a sinking ache in the pit of his stomach, Aurelie: her determination, her thoughtfulness, her curiosity, even her strange little quirks.
“There are some other gardens I like,” Aremu said, aloud, over the deafening sounds of the thoughts on his head. “The orchids are my favorite, but there’s a larger one on the edge of the city away from the port with one of the island’s natural lagoons,” he smiled down at her. “There’s a nice restaurant there, though it’s known more for its views than its food.”
There’s a walkway, he might have said, along the edge of the port, which goes from a festival hall along the mangroves. The words were tied, tangled up in sharp memories from Yaris, the flash of a blade and a faint throbbing in his arm. Stabbed, Tsadha had said, wide-eyed in the carriage, and he couldn’t quite think what to make of how Aurelie had looked at him afterwards. She never had asked, in the end, the questions he’d offered to answer.
“… one of the old duri neighborhoods off the southern end of the port,” Aremu was saying, quietly, to fill the space. “There’s a historic temple, there; we don’t have much of a tradition of them here.”
Aurelie’s hand settled quietly on his cheek; her gaze was still tilted up towards him, her eyes wide.
Aremu smiled a little, his words trickling to a stop, looking down at her. He shifted his head, a little, catching the side of her hand with a kiss. The road was softer beneath the wheels now; if they weren’t out of Western Port yet, Aremu thought, then they were nearly so. He tilted his head down, and kissed Aurelie, closing the distance which had lingered between them all day.
It was a soft kiss, at first, almost chaste. He lingered in it, shifting her a little on his lap, well aware of the effect it had already had on him, and aware too that she must know it. Aremu smiled, his thumb stroking her upper arm lightly, breaking the kiss to look down at her once more. “May I kiss you again?” He asked, his voice a little too rough for the question to be taken for anything near as simple as it was.
It’s been nice, he wanted to say, too, having you here. Aremu wasn’t sure he’d realized, before Aurelie came, just how quiet things had been. In the year and some since Uzoji had died, he’d been alone, not just more nights than not, but nearly every night. Not alone in his bed, though that was true as well, but alone in the house.
For all, Aremu knew, he held himself apart, he’d missed having the opportunity not to do so.
It wasn’t only that; he didn’t think any presence would have done it. It was, he knew, with a sinking ache in the pit of his stomach, Aurelie: her determination, her thoughtfulness, her curiosity, even her strange little quirks.
“There are some other gardens I like,” Aremu said, aloud, over the deafening sounds of the thoughts on his head. “The orchids are my favorite, but there’s a larger one on the edge of the city away from the port with one of the island’s natural lagoons,” he smiled down at her. “There’s a nice restaurant there, though it’s known more for its views than its food.”
There’s a walkway, he might have said, along the edge of the port, which goes from a festival hall along the mangroves. The words were tied, tangled up in sharp memories from Yaris, the flash of a blade and a faint throbbing in his arm. Stabbed, Tsadha had said, wide-eyed in the carriage, and he couldn’t quite think what to make of how Aurelie had looked at him afterwards. She never had asked, in the end, the questions he’d offered to answer.
“… one of the old duri neighborhoods off the southern end of the port,” Aremu was saying, quietly, to fill the space. “There’s a historic temple, there; we don’t have much of a tradition of them here.”
Aurelie’s hand settled quietly on his cheek; her gaze was still tilted up towards him, her eyes wide.
Aremu smiled a little, his words trickling to a stop, looking down at her. He shifted his head, a little, catching the side of her hand with a kiss. The road was softer beneath the wheels now; if they weren’t out of Western Port yet, Aremu thought, then they were nearly so. He tilted his head down, and kissed Aurelie, closing the distance which had lingered between them all day.
It was a soft kiss, at first, almost chaste. He lingered in it, shifting her a little on his lap, well aware of the effect it had already had on him, and aware too that she must know it. Aremu smiled, his thumb stroking her upper arm lightly, breaking the kiss to look down at her once more. “May I kiss you again?” He asked, his voice a little too rough for the question to be taken for anything near as simple as it was.