I'll settle for the ghost of you.
There is no denying he likes the way she rolls her eyes just as much as he enjoys her quick wit. He has never met a girl like her before. Mysterious, intriguing, clever. The parts of her that remind him of Lies and Aela make her almost familiar but then there are those other pieces of her that are new and foreign. Like this flirtatious banter which she brings out so easily in him despite never doing such a thing before. He smirks at her response and if it wasn’t for his own reluctance regarding what (or who) he might dredge up from the otherworld… He would test that theory. One day he will.For now, his gleaming saffron eyes flicker with approval and perhaps she might catch the spark of an unspoken promise there. Perhaps she might not.
She proves to be a good listener, something else to add to her many redeeming qualities. She is quiet as he speaks and when she shifts as if to move closer to him, he finds himself regretfully that she ultimately does not. When he wraps up his story, when he is struck with sudden despair over his choice of words, she is quick to retrieve him before he falls into complete melancholy. Immediately he perks up when she says she knows of Aela. It takes him a second to recall where he has heard the names of her parents before. “I know who you are.” He finally says, looking at her with renewed interest. Not her name, but what she was. He had heard of Oceane in the times when he would eavesdrop on the conversations between his mother and the Prince as any self-respecting child would do. He had always wondered what it would be like to meet a proper Queen and now he stands before her daughter, a Princess if he assumes correctly. He thinks of asking about her own family but hesitates, the flames dancing along his shoulders flaring with uncertainty. Surely she wouldn’t be here on her own if her family was whole.
Her whispered promise makes him hold her gold flecked gaze with quiet intensity before he tilts his head slightly at her. “What would a Princess ask in return for such help?” He asks her softly, trying to pull back some of that playfulness they had so easily fallen into earlier despite the darkness of their situation. “Plus… I can’t accept your help if I don’t even know your name.” He manages a faint smile, thinking that it couldn’t be just luck that had brought two glowing orphans of the fallen South together in the middle of the night.
FYR
@Lillibet