11-11-2015, 12:26 PM
All things are possible, even the worst of things.
As it turns out, he is really, truly terrible at these things. The feelings thing, that is. Accepting and expressing love (at least when it comes to women who are not his mother). And so, it comes to this little mare, telling him plainly of how she feels, blindsiding him with her words.
The last thing he expects when he asks her what is wrong is for her to confess her belief that she might be in love with him. His warm brown eyes rest steadily upon her as she begins her halting speech, silently encouraging and supportive. That is, until about halfway through when he realizes exactly where her confession is headed.
For a long moment, he can only blink at her in surprise. Until reality sinks in and his heart slowly sinks into the pit of his stomach. Hoku has already experienced so much pain in her life. The last thing he wants to do is give her more. He briefly considers lying, but almost before the thought has crossed his mind, he discards it. Not only is he a terrible liar, but neither of them deserve that heartache. But how does he tell her that he is already in love with another?
True, he hasn’t seen the object of his affections in years, has done a piss-poor job in his attempts to locate her. Nevertheless, his heart belongs to her (or so he believes, so he has always told himself, and so, it is).
He had let the moment lapse for too long, he realizes, allowed the silence to stretch for longer than he had meant to. But still he isn’t quite sure what to say to her.
Hoku…
He starts, but pauses as he considers what to say. There is nothing he could say. Nothing that he feared wouldn’t sever the fragile bond of trust and friendship they had already established.
Hoku, you’re a wonderful and beautiful mare, and you honor me more than I can say. You could never make me uncomfortable. Pause. But I… I wish I could return your affections. I value your friendship and wish that it might remain so, but I have already given my heart to another.
He opens his mouth as though to say more, but quickly snaps it shut again. With the regret showing clearly in his brown eyes, he extends his neck to brush a brief touch against her shoulder, as though to say I’m sorry. The next words that come out of his mouth are ones he would no doubt come to regret.
I think that, perhaps, we have allowed our friendship grow too quickly. Pause. I will give you some space, let you explore and get to know the land a bit. I won’t be far if you need me.
He turns and leaves then, the shame of his actions immediately coming up to choke him. For he knows without a doubt that he is running way from her, like a whipped dog with his tail between his legs (if he had a tail, that is).
The last thing he expects when he asks her what is wrong is for her to confess her belief that she might be in love with him. His warm brown eyes rest steadily upon her as she begins her halting speech, silently encouraging and supportive. That is, until about halfway through when he realizes exactly where her confession is headed.
For a long moment, he can only blink at her in surprise. Until reality sinks in and his heart slowly sinks into the pit of his stomach. Hoku has already experienced so much pain in her life. The last thing he wants to do is give her more. He briefly considers lying, but almost before the thought has crossed his mind, he discards it. Not only is he a terrible liar, but neither of them deserve that heartache. But how does he tell her that he is already in love with another?
True, he hasn’t seen the object of his affections in years, has done a piss-poor job in his attempts to locate her. Nevertheless, his heart belongs to her (or so he believes, so he has always told himself, and so, it is).
He had let the moment lapse for too long, he realizes, allowed the silence to stretch for longer than he had meant to. But still he isn’t quite sure what to say to her.
Hoku…
He starts, but pauses as he considers what to say. There is nothing he could say. Nothing that he feared wouldn’t sever the fragile bond of trust and friendship they had already established.
Hoku, you’re a wonderful and beautiful mare, and you honor me more than I can say. You could never make me uncomfortable. Pause. But I… I wish I could return your affections. I value your friendship and wish that it might remain so, but I have already given my heart to another.
He opens his mouth as though to say more, but quickly snaps it shut again. With the regret showing clearly in his brown eyes, he extends his neck to brush a brief touch against her shoulder, as though to say I’m sorry. The next words that come out of his mouth are ones he would no doubt come to regret.
I think that, perhaps, we have allowed our friendship grow too quickly. Pause. I will give you some space, let you explore and get to know the land a bit. I won’t be far if you need me.
He turns and leaves then, the shame of his actions immediately coming up to choke him. For he knows without a doubt that he is running way from her, like a whipped dog with his tail between his legs (if he had a tail, that is).
shahrizai
hestoni x scorch
So I figured I would end this here since so much has happened to them since. We can pick it up again with post-quest Shah and post-baby Hoku, if you want.
