[Amelia looks surprised and touched at Henry's offer. And the words that follow are just uncharacteristically tender that it makes her heart seize and her green eyes well up with tears again. She shakes it off turning to the side so he doesn't have to look.
The witch had been living as if Briar had left. That the spaces that he occupied including within her felt vacant and worse off than before. The witch who had barely grown up despite her age felt abandoned once again.
But he had never left her empty-handed. He drew people into her life, good people who knew and understood her and didn't want to live in mourning.
She never expected after Briar's passing that a stranger from another world would help remind her of this. After several seconds, Amelia manages to speak apologetically.]
I don't suppose it was in your plans this evening to make an old woman cry.
[And there she is still; Amelia Steinbeck, a no-nonsense witch who continued to have a heart despite all the bad hands dealt to her.]
[Henry speaks only what he believes to be true, and possibly from a perspective of man who could twist it up to view it in a negative way. (The past never leaves. The trauma always remains. But the good things, too, are facet he doesn't always recognize: the memories that are precious hold on just as tightly. It's why music circumvents his powers so easily -- because they are often tied to exactly that. Good memories.)
Still, he meant what he said. Briar will go nowhere. He is ingrained in her, now, and if she takes that as comfort? All the better for it, he supposes.
His grin turns rueful.]
No. But my powers tend to do that. They make people emotional.
[It's not wrong.]
Maybe it didn't go exactly as you planned, but thank you for sharing that part of yourself with me. I'll have to return the favor someday.
Only if you wish to. And if you're comfortable enough.
[Maybe it could have gone unsaid, but for two people who have had their boundaries disrupted, the consent was a good thing to depend on and an indicator of where they now stand compared to before.]
[Henry's been around Amelia long enough to know that even though her default state of expression is neutral and deadpan audacity, there has been more to her in the things she does and says.]
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sunfloras2023-04-20 07:42 pm
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The witch had been living as if Briar had left. That the spaces that he occupied including within her felt vacant and worse off than before. The witch who had barely grown up despite her age felt abandoned once again.
But he had never left her empty-handed. He drew people into her life, good people who knew and understood her and didn't want to live in mourning.
She never expected after Briar's passing that a stranger from another world would help remind her of this. After several seconds, Amelia manages to speak apologetically.]
I don't suppose it was in your plans this evening to make an old woman cry.
[And there she is still; Amelia Steinbeck, a no-nonsense witch who continued to have a heart despite all the bad hands dealt to her.]
no subject
Still, he meant what he said. Briar will go nowhere. He is ingrained in her, now, and if she takes that as comfort? All the better for it, he supposes.
His grin turns rueful.]
No. But my powers tend to do that. They make people emotional.
[It's not wrong.]
Maybe it didn't go exactly as you planned, but thank you for sharing that part of yourself with me. I'll have to return the favor someday.
no subject
[His offer to return the favor makes her smile.]
Only if you wish to. And if you're comfortable enough.
[Maybe it could have gone unsaid, but for two people who have had their boundaries disrupted, the consent was a good thing to depend on and an indicator of where they now stand compared to before.]
no subject
[He shrugs a shoulder.]
But we can wait on that. First... [Here, he actually reaches out and gently, gently taps her forehead.]
You need to rest your mind. I might have done the heavy lifting, but yours is the one that went through the wringer.
no subject
[Blinking, Amelia automatically touches her forehead right after Henry.]
I don't think there should be any aftereffects. There wasn't any the first time.
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I meant emotionally, mostly.
[Surely she's not up for yet one more memory-dive so quickly.]
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[She takes a step back, readying to go to bed.]
That's enough emotion for you to witness from me.
[Henry's been around Amelia long enough to know that even though her default state of expression is neutral and deadpan audacity, there has been more to her in the things she does and says.]
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Of course. Can't strip away all of your mystery just yet.
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I have to keep up some pretense of mystery so you can't be bored. I won't allow it.
[She manages a joke too. It's gotten easier these days.]
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Bored? With someone like you. Never.
[Ah, but he stands, all faint politeness and humor.]
I should get ready for bed, I think. It has gotten later than either of us intended.