Continued from here on the 92nd trial of Ashan during the 718th arc...
He stared down at his bowl of stew, lips pursed as he considered what exactly the flutter in his chest was every time he saw Alistair. "No... not quite like butterflies. It's something more... insistent." Desire? Lust? Love? Affection? None of the words seemed to fit, so he shook his head and sighed, smiling wistfully. "I really can't describe it as anything other than that: a flutter."
Hidi absently dipped a small chunk of her bread into her stew once more, nodding slowly. "I think... if we could always describe what were feeling, we wouldn't really have much need for, you know... the word 'feelings'. You feel it, that seems like enough." She popped the bread into her mouth, not stopping to cool it with her breath, and her clear grey eyes bulged for just a tick before she sucked in air through her teeth. "Ho! Go on."
"Ehm... right, we met. He was covered, head to toe, in dirt and he was- he was wearing the most..." Doran shook his head grinning wryly. "Well. It didn't look like he was wearing much of anything, really." Hidi's brows waggled lasciviously at that, but Doran only laughed it off. "It was an undeniably odd meeting."
"Seems like that's a common theme with you, Doran Cooney." They shared a grin before Doran started again.
"He invited me to his home," Hidi seemed to choke on some of her food, but as Doran paused to ask if she was alright, she waved a hand from him to continue, quietly coughing into her other. "Oh? Alright... I wasn't- well, I didn't feel all that comfortable in a stranger's house, but he was..." He cleared his throat, feeling a bit ridiculous. "Quite handsome."
"Oh?" Hidi grinned wide, a little, dark seed caught in between two of her front teeth. "What did he look like, hm?" There was a playful but curious lilt to her voice, and Doran's cheeks flushed a shade darker.
"He's - ah - he's well muscled. Taller than I, by a head, I imagine, and he smells-" Here, he stopped himself, shaking his head, face flushed bright red as Hidi giggled.
"Yeah? What does he smell like, Doran Cooney?"
"...good. He smells very good." His eloquence failed him, and Hidi grinned wide.
She was not bent on his humiliation, however, and as she used her spoon to cut through one of the soft potatoes that floated in her bowl, she winked at him. "I see. So, in his house...?"
Running a hand through his hair, Doran chewed on his bottom lip. He wasn't certain he wanted to share the specifics of what happened with Alistair that night; it wasn't so much he didn't trust Hidi as it was merely unpleasant to think about - let alone give it voice. "Things... took a turn towards unpleasant, but... he allowed me to leave." Quickly, Hidi's expression sobered, eyes glimmering concerned in the now gentle, sighing sunset's light. "There was... a darkness, in his eyes, but..." He pursed his lips, remembering. "But I returned several trials later. He was - is - a troubled man, but... I believe there is tenderness and gentleness and... and love, within him. And it's beautiful." He whispered the last words, more to himself, but plenty loud enough that Hidi caught them without straining.
"You've always been drawn to beautiful things." She spoke softer than before, a reassuring smile on her lips.
Gratefully, Doran nodded. "Yes, that's- I do seek them out, or try to at the very least." Stew finally cooled to his liking, he drew another spoonful of the broth, letting the warm but not burning hot liquid slide smoothly over his tongue, savoring the taste, before he continued. "When I saw him next he was..." His breath caught in a half chuckle, eyes soft and smile warm. "So elated. And the way he looked at me- the way his eyes seemed to glimmer with affection and... and remorse?" He shook his his, a gentle but happy sigh slipping from him.
Hidi nodded, mouth full but eyes never once losing interest.
"We spoke for a long time time after and spent several trials in one another's company. It was during that time he... revealed that he was - he is - a mage." He spoke slowly, deliberately, and as he neared the sensitive subject of magic, his own dusty green eyes took on a sheen of uncertainty.
For a moment, Hidi stopped chewing. The surprise upon her face was apparent, and though she seemed to search his for a facetious tell for a trill or two, when she appeared to realise he was was speaking true, she slowly nodded, swallowing her food but not speaking immediately. "That's a... that's definitely a revelation." She managed, her smile weaker than before but interest seeming to blaze all the brighter. "And?"
Not without a fair amount of chagrin, Doran tore some of his bread off, dipping it into his stew as Hidi had earlier. "And I didn't take it... well. It was at least as surprising a twist for me then as you now, though with him sitting there, right beside me-" He winced, at the memory of it - and of the more recent repeat of such that had been the reason he'd sought out Hidi's help in the first place. "But we discussed what magic was, and..." Again, he pursed his lips, blinking several times in thought as he rested his elbow upon the table, letting the excess broth drip from the now soggy bit of bread. "And I agreed with him, in some ways."
"Hm..." Hidi slowly nodded her head, blonde hair bouncing but - if it were possible - with a more sombre spring than usual. "What ways?" She didn't sound particularly thrown, but it was clear there was doubt in her eyes.
Empathizing well with her uncertainty, Doran spoke unhurriedly. "He described it as a tool... something that is used wholly depending upon the mage. ...for most magics." He added the addendum himself. It was clear there were some magics that here fundamentally different, part of the problem he still struggled with solving. "His was - is - called 'rupturing'. Though... while it can certainly be used much like it sounds, is a magic of travel and exploration."
Hidi's expression had clouded, but she nodded her understanding. "And you... you trust him? This man- this... mage?" Her spoon had all but been forgotten, bowl only half empty.
"That is... part of why I'm here this trial."
Without parting her lips, Hidi clacked her teeth together thoughtfully. "Mmalright. So this man was - is, what ever the proper tense - able to... transport himself? And you?" There was interest there, enough to be considered a natural reaction to something intriguing but by no means a support of the act itself. Doran didn't place a single iota of blame upon her for her hesitance, though all the world's worth of praise for her patience as she continued to try to understand - at least enough for her to help him.
"Well... eventually, I- I traveled through one of his- his portals."
Hidi's eyes grew wide, but she didn't interrupt.
"In so short a time I felt... so strongly. Even now I can't- I don't know why I felt that way, or how it is I still- I still do, but now it's all muddled and-" Getting ahead of himself, he paused to clear his throat. "He took us to a meadow; it was so..." He sighed, his expression alone enough for Hidi to nod knowingly, though her brow remained furrowed with concern even as she offered a gentle smile. "It was there he- he told me that..." Another sigh, though this one far less warm and far more confused. "That he loved me."
There was a small stretch of silence that extended between the two of them. Though initially Hidi's expression was one of surprise, she slowly settled into a pensive frown. "...and what did you say?"
With a glum smile Doran gently, just barely, shook his head. "That I wasn't able to love him back - not then and there, anyway."
Hidi let out a relieved sigh, something that was incredibly soothing on Doran's own raw emotions linked to the event. "Good."
In his own mind, it had been, somewhat, an act of cruelty. To hear Hidi's praise for his decision... it was reassuring. "I did, however, promise him that as long as he would be- be open with me, share his emotions - those that he seems to want to hide away - that I would be there for him. Not as a lover but a-" He paused again, chewing gently on his lower lip as his spoon idly stirred his stew. "A... I don't- well, I don't really know what, but that I'd be there, at any rate."
Pensively, Hidi stared at him, eyes squinting just a tad before she shook her head, a wry chuckle slipping from her lips. "You know, Doran Cooney, I may have seen you at your lowest, but you've never been anything but a kind man. A bit... too kind, sometimes, I think." There was a sadness in her eyes as she regarded him, but as Doran moved to protest, she shook her head once more, hair dancing about as light as ever. "But that's not something to be ashamed of. I just... you should be more careful with those you trust, is all."
Drawing a slow breath in through his nose, Doran carefully nodded - he had nothing to refute such a statement with. He'd trusted Alistair, and though the man hadn't outright lied to him as far as he knew, there was a sort of deception in omission that was unpleasant at the least. "Perhaps you would have been cautious enough to avoid what came next." There was just a hint of bitterness in his airy voice as he cut through a slice of squash with the edge of his spoon. "I met him, in Na'haer, at his home. It was there, speaking with one of his other lovers, that I learned he-" Another breath through his nose. "He is a necromancer."
This time, the shock in Hidi's face didn't fade. "He's a- you're joking?" Though she asked the question, there was no need for an answer. "Cyrene's sagging clit, Doran!"
He couldn't do much else but nod. She reacted in much the same way he had.
"He's a- a corpsefekker? Fates, Doran. And how'd you find that out? His lover just... told you? Jealousy?" There was the suggestion that Hidi thought the man might have lied out a jealously, but Doran shook his head. Though he might have thought the same without meeting the dark haired lapidary's son, there had been no reason to doubt him then nor now.
"So, like you now, I was... distraught."
Hidi snorted a breath of air out through her nose. "I bet."
"I sought him out, confronted him and..." Here, Doran felt quiet, and Hidi's incredulity began to fade in favor of a more understanding and gentle tone of voice.
"And...?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. He told me of his history... abused by his father, seeking a way out, lured in by the- the cautionary tales of our childhood." Hidi raised a brow at the mention of "our childhood", but she didn't say anything on the matter. Doran drew another breath, shoulders slumping some, all the frustrations and uncertainties he'd been juggling slipping into his words as easily as water across a duck's back. "He said he'd stopped, that it had not held the answers-" Interrupting himself, he added a brief explanation, "Magic is... permanent. Once one accepts it into themselves, it seems it cannot be removed. So was the case with him - he claimed to... to want it gone - rid of - but..."
"But you doubt his sincerity." It seemed Hidi had listened well.
"I'm not- I don't know if it's that exactly, but I- I do struggle with the idea that any man or woman - no matter the... the horrific circumstances one might come from - might turn to something like..."
"Like corpsefekking." She spoke so matter-of-factly Doran smiled in spite of himself, though it didn't quite reach his eyes, the humor - however equally depressing - was appreciated. "And now... You're trying to decide what it is you... feel for him? What you owe him- or... no, not 'owe', but... but what you should do. How you can keep that- that promise you made, right?" She clearly disapproved of his hasty commitment, but her clear grey eyes were nothing but gentle.
Heavily, Doran sighed, both hands running through his hair, pressing the wavy locks back to expose the smooth, pale skin of his forehead. "Were I a target and you an arrow: you'd have won the tournament without competition." He let his hands settle back upon the table on either side of his half eaten bowl of stew. "I don't even know what I want, Hidi. I-" He shook his head, the lack of words a clear expression of what it was he was feeling.
"Necromancy is bad, Doran. There's... it's not like a- a sword." Hidi spoke gently; though she could easily have pressed a fair amount of accusation into her voice, she refrained. "If you hold any doubts, even one... let him prove himself." She eyed him, uncertainly. "Not in the- I mean... take time. Watch - or, no... observe. Learn more about him. The promise you made is yours to keep or brake, but you also asked he be open with you. If he has truly cast that... that dark magic aside, and it really, really is only something from his past, you and I both know people are capable of change."
Slowly, Doran nodded.
"If not? If he still holds things from you under the- the pretense that you wouldn't understand?" Here, Hidi let out a contempt filled breath through her nose. "Then he's not worth your time, Doran Cooney, and I'll be damned before I see you settle for anyone or thing."
Her genuine honestly drew forth a tired but grateful smile from his lips. "Hidi..."
She shook her head. "This isn't on you, Doran. Like I said before, you're too kind. No one else in their right mind would give a corpse-" Catching herself, she cleared her throat. "Er, necromancer. No one else would give a necromancer a second chance, and he's mad if he's not falling down at your feet and thanking you for you Fates be blessed heart." She picked up what remained of her bread, unceremoniously dipping it into her stew. "So." Drawing it out, she took a bite, chewing to the side as she continued. "You already made your choice, sounds like. You chose him; if he wants to do the same, he damn well better make sure necromancy and whatever other - I don't know - magical secrets he's got are a thing of the past."
Gradually, Doran's face lightened. "I... I did choose him, didn't I?"
Hidi scoffed a bit at that, "I don't know what else I'd call waltzing up to a known necromancer and demanding to know why."
Finally, Doran chuckled. "He's... he's not that dangerous..."
"Or? Maybe someone just happened to find some bravery these past few arcs." Hidi shrugged, entirely non-committal as she finished off her stew. "But Doran?"
Mouth full, Doran's brows raised in question.
"It'll hurt, if he does betray that trust. I'm not... I don't want to say he will; it's just he- he might. So, if he does? Let it hurt, but don't keep opening up the wound. Just... go." She held out her hand to him, eyes serious. "A promise got you stuck into all of this, right? Then let's make a promise here and now: this man betrays your trust again? You leave, and you don't look back."
For several trills, her hand remained in the air between them. Doran stared at her small but calloused hands, chewing pensively on his lower lip and he considered what she'd asked of him. Hidi cared for him - there was no question about it. And though he might not have been able to understand why when they met, the force of the matter was no longer important. She understood well what it was for him to break a promise - for any Venoran - and still she asked him to make one now. Slowly, deliberately, he took her hand in his. "I promise."
They stared into each other's eyes for several trills after, grips equally tight and reassuring, before Hidi finally broke away with a contented sigh, eyes glittering with either emotion or mischief, Doran couldn't discern which. "Good. Now that we've got out talking out of the way, how about some pie?"
He stared down at his bowl of stew, lips pursed as he considered what exactly the flutter in his chest was every time he saw Alistair. "No... not quite like butterflies. It's something more... insistent." Desire? Lust? Love? Affection? None of the words seemed to fit, so he shook his head and sighed, smiling wistfully. "I really can't describe it as anything other than that: a flutter."
Hidi absently dipped a small chunk of her bread into her stew once more, nodding slowly. "I think... if we could always describe what were feeling, we wouldn't really have much need for, you know... the word 'feelings'. You feel it, that seems like enough." She popped the bread into her mouth, not stopping to cool it with her breath, and her clear grey eyes bulged for just a tick before she sucked in air through her teeth. "Ho! Go on."
"Ehm... right, we met. He was covered, head to toe, in dirt and he was- he was wearing the most..." Doran shook his head grinning wryly. "Well. It didn't look like he was wearing much of anything, really." Hidi's brows waggled lasciviously at that, but Doran only laughed it off. "It was an undeniably odd meeting."
"Seems like that's a common theme with you, Doran Cooney." They shared a grin before Doran started again.
"He invited me to his home," Hidi seemed to choke on some of her food, but as Doran paused to ask if she was alright, she waved a hand from him to continue, quietly coughing into her other. "Oh? Alright... I wasn't- well, I didn't feel all that comfortable in a stranger's house, but he was..." He cleared his throat, feeling a bit ridiculous. "Quite handsome."
"Oh?" Hidi grinned wide, a little, dark seed caught in between two of her front teeth. "What did he look like, hm?" There was a playful but curious lilt to her voice, and Doran's cheeks flushed a shade darker.
"He's - ah - he's well muscled. Taller than I, by a head, I imagine, and he smells-" Here, he stopped himself, shaking his head, face flushed bright red as Hidi giggled.
"Yeah? What does he smell like, Doran Cooney?"
"...good. He smells very good." His eloquence failed him, and Hidi grinned wide.
She was not bent on his humiliation, however, and as she used her spoon to cut through one of the soft potatoes that floated in her bowl, she winked at him. "I see. So, in his house...?"
Running a hand through his hair, Doran chewed on his bottom lip. He wasn't certain he wanted to share the specifics of what happened with Alistair that night; it wasn't so much he didn't trust Hidi as it was merely unpleasant to think about - let alone give it voice. "Things... took a turn towards unpleasant, but... he allowed me to leave." Quickly, Hidi's expression sobered, eyes glimmering concerned in the now gentle, sighing sunset's light. "There was... a darkness, in his eyes, but..." He pursed his lips, remembering. "But I returned several trials later. He was - is - a troubled man, but... I believe there is tenderness and gentleness and... and love, within him. And it's beautiful." He whispered the last words, more to himself, but plenty loud enough that Hidi caught them without straining.
"You've always been drawn to beautiful things." She spoke softer than before, a reassuring smile on her lips.
Gratefully, Doran nodded. "Yes, that's- I do seek them out, or try to at the very least." Stew finally cooled to his liking, he drew another spoonful of the broth, letting the warm but not burning hot liquid slide smoothly over his tongue, savoring the taste, before he continued. "When I saw him next he was..." His breath caught in a half chuckle, eyes soft and smile warm. "So elated. And the way he looked at me- the way his eyes seemed to glimmer with affection and... and remorse?" He shook his his, a gentle but happy sigh slipping from him.
Hidi nodded, mouth full but eyes never once losing interest.
"We spoke for a long time time after and spent several trials in one another's company. It was during that time he... revealed that he was - he is - a mage." He spoke slowly, deliberately, and as he neared the sensitive subject of magic, his own dusty green eyes took on a sheen of uncertainty.
For a moment, Hidi stopped chewing. The surprise upon her face was apparent, and though she seemed to search his for a facetious tell for a trill or two, when she appeared to realise he was was speaking true, she slowly nodded, swallowing her food but not speaking immediately. "That's a... that's definitely a revelation." She managed, her smile weaker than before but interest seeming to blaze all the brighter. "And?"
Not without a fair amount of chagrin, Doran tore some of his bread off, dipping it into his stew as Hidi had earlier. "And I didn't take it... well. It was at least as surprising a twist for me then as you now, though with him sitting there, right beside me-" He winced, at the memory of it - and of the more recent repeat of such that had been the reason he'd sought out Hidi's help in the first place. "But we discussed what magic was, and..." Again, he pursed his lips, blinking several times in thought as he rested his elbow upon the table, letting the excess broth drip from the now soggy bit of bread. "And I agreed with him, in some ways."
"Hm..." Hidi slowly nodded her head, blonde hair bouncing but - if it were possible - with a more sombre spring than usual. "What ways?" She didn't sound particularly thrown, but it was clear there was doubt in her eyes.
Empathizing well with her uncertainty, Doran spoke unhurriedly. "He described it as a tool... something that is used wholly depending upon the mage. ...for most magics." He added the addendum himself. It was clear there were some magics that here fundamentally different, part of the problem he still struggled with solving. "His was - is - called 'rupturing'. Though... while it can certainly be used much like it sounds, is a magic of travel and exploration."
Hidi's expression had clouded, but she nodded her understanding. "And you... you trust him? This man- this... mage?" Her spoon had all but been forgotten, bowl only half empty.
"That is... part of why I'm here this trial."
Without parting her lips, Hidi clacked her teeth together thoughtfully. "Mmalright. So this man was - is, what ever the proper tense - able to... transport himself? And you?" There was interest there, enough to be considered a natural reaction to something intriguing but by no means a support of the act itself. Doran didn't place a single iota of blame upon her for her hesitance, though all the world's worth of praise for her patience as she continued to try to understand - at least enough for her to help him.
"Well... eventually, I- I traveled through one of his- his portals."
Hidi's eyes grew wide, but she didn't interrupt.
"In so short a time I felt... so strongly. Even now I can't- I don't know why I felt that way, or how it is I still- I still do, but now it's all muddled and-" Getting ahead of himself, he paused to clear his throat. "He took us to a meadow; it was so..." He sighed, his expression alone enough for Hidi to nod knowingly, though her brow remained furrowed with concern even as she offered a gentle smile. "It was there he- he told me that..." Another sigh, though this one far less warm and far more confused. "That he loved me."
There was a small stretch of silence that extended between the two of them. Though initially Hidi's expression was one of surprise, she slowly settled into a pensive frown. "...and what did you say?"
With a glum smile Doran gently, just barely, shook his head. "That I wasn't able to love him back - not then and there, anyway."
Hidi let out a relieved sigh, something that was incredibly soothing on Doran's own raw emotions linked to the event. "Good."
In his own mind, it had been, somewhat, an act of cruelty. To hear Hidi's praise for his decision... it was reassuring. "I did, however, promise him that as long as he would be- be open with me, share his emotions - those that he seems to want to hide away - that I would be there for him. Not as a lover but a-" He paused again, chewing gently on his lower lip as his spoon idly stirred his stew. "A... I don't- well, I don't really know what, but that I'd be there, at any rate."
Pensively, Hidi stared at him, eyes squinting just a tad before she shook her head, a wry chuckle slipping from her lips. "You know, Doran Cooney, I may have seen you at your lowest, but you've never been anything but a kind man. A bit... too kind, sometimes, I think." There was a sadness in her eyes as she regarded him, but as Doran moved to protest, she shook her head once more, hair dancing about as light as ever. "But that's not something to be ashamed of. I just... you should be more careful with those you trust, is all."
Drawing a slow breath in through his nose, Doran carefully nodded - he had nothing to refute such a statement with. He'd trusted Alistair, and though the man hadn't outright lied to him as far as he knew, there was a sort of deception in omission that was unpleasant at the least. "Perhaps you would have been cautious enough to avoid what came next." There was just a hint of bitterness in his airy voice as he cut through a slice of squash with the edge of his spoon. "I met him, in Na'haer, at his home. It was there, speaking with one of his other lovers, that I learned he-" Another breath through his nose. "He is a necromancer."
This time, the shock in Hidi's face didn't fade. "He's a- you're joking?" Though she asked the question, there was no need for an answer. "Cyrene's sagging clit, Doran!"
He couldn't do much else but nod. She reacted in much the same way he had.
"He's a- a corpsefekker? Fates, Doran. And how'd you find that out? His lover just... told you? Jealousy?" There was the suggestion that Hidi thought the man might have lied out a jealously, but Doran shook his head. Though he might have thought the same without meeting the dark haired lapidary's son, there had been no reason to doubt him then nor now.
"So, like you now, I was... distraught."
Hidi snorted a breath of air out through her nose. "I bet."
"I sought him out, confronted him and..." Here, Doran felt quiet, and Hidi's incredulity began to fade in favor of a more understanding and gentle tone of voice.
"And...?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. He told me of his history... abused by his father, seeking a way out, lured in by the- the cautionary tales of our childhood." Hidi raised a brow at the mention of "our childhood", but she didn't say anything on the matter. Doran drew another breath, shoulders slumping some, all the frustrations and uncertainties he'd been juggling slipping into his words as easily as water across a duck's back. "He said he'd stopped, that it had not held the answers-" Interrupting himself, he added a brief explanation, "Magic is... permanent. Once one accepts it into themselves, it seems it cannot be removed. So was the case with him - he claimed to... to want it gone - rid of - but..."
"But you doubt his sincerity." It seemed Hidi had listened well.
"I'm not- I don't know if it's that exactly, but I- I do struggle with the idea that any man or woman - no matter the... the horrific circumstances one might come from - might turn to something like..."
"Like corpsefekking." She spoke so matter-of-factly Doran smiled in spite of himself, though it didn't quite reach his eyes, the humor - however equally depressing - was appreciated. "And now... You're trying to decide what it is you... feel for him? What you owe him- or... no, not 'owe', but... but what you should do. How you can keep that- that promise you made, right?" She clearly disapproved of his hasty commitment, but her clear grey eyes were nothing but gentle.
Heavily, Doran sighed, both hands running through his hair, pressing the wavy locks back to expose the smooth, pale skin of his forehead. "Were I a target and you an arrow: you'd have won the tournament without competition." He let his hands settle back upon the table on either side of his half eaten bowl of stew. "I don't even know what I want, Hidi. I-" He shook his head, the lack of words a clear expression of what it was he was feeling.
"Necromancy is bad, Doran. There's... it's not like a- a sword." Hidi spoke gently; though she could easily have pressed a fair amount of accusation into her voice, she refrained. "If you hold any doubts, even one... let him prove himself." She eyed him, uncertainly. "Not in the- I mean... take time. Watch - or, no... observe. Learn more about him. The promise you made is yours to keep or brake, but you also asked he be open with you. If he has truly cast that... that dark magic aside, and it really, really is only something from his past, you and I both know people are capable of change."
Slowly, Doran nodded.
"If not? If he still holds things from you under the- the pretense that you wouldn't understand?" Here, Hidi let out a contempt filled breath through her nose. "Then he's not worth your time, Doran Cooney, and I'll be damned before I see you settle for anyone or thing."
Her genuine honestly drew forth a tired but grateful smile from his lips. "Hidi..."
She shook her head. "This isn't on you, Doran. Like I said before, you're too kind. No one else in their right mind would give a corpse-" Catching herself, she cleared her throat. "Er, necromancer. No one else would give a necromancer a second chance, and he's mad if he's not falling down at your feet and thanking you for you Fates be blessed heart." She picked up what remained of her bread, unceremoniously dipping it into her stew. "So." Drawing it out, she took a bite, chewing to the side as she continued. "You already made your choice, sounds like. You chose him; if he wants to do the same, he damn well better make sure necromancy and whatever other - I don't know - magical secrets he's got are a thing of the past."
Gradually, Doran's face lightened. "I... I did choose him, didn't I?"
Hidi scoffed a bit at that, "I don't know what else I'd call waltzing up to a known necromancer and demanding to know why."
Finally, Doran chuckled. "He's... he's not that dangerous..."
"Or? Maybe someone just happened to find some bravery these past few arcs." Hidi shrugged, entirely non-committal as she finished off her stew. "But Doran?"
Mouth full, Doran's brows raised in question.
"It'll hurt, if he does betray that trust. I'm not... I don't want to say he will; it's just he- he might. So, if he does? Let it hurt, but don't keep opening up the wound. Just... go." She held out her hand to him, eyes serious. "A promise got you stuck into all of this, right? Then let's make a promise here and now: this man betrays your trust again? You leave, and you don't look back."
For several trills, her hand remained in the air between them. Doran stared at her small but calloused hands, chewing pensively on his lower lip and he considered what she'd asked of him. Hidi cared for him - there was no question about it. And though he might not have been able to understand why when they met, the force of the matter was no longer important. She understood well what it was for him to break a promise - for any Venoran - and still she asked him to make one now. Slowly, deliberately, he took her hand in his. "I promise."
They stared into each other's eyes for several trills after, grips equally tight and reassuring, before Hidi finally broke away with a contented sigh, eyes glittering with either emotion or mischief, Doran couldn't discern which. "Good. Now that we've got out talking out of the way, how about some pie?"
