01-30-2021, 10:29 PM
halcyon
a tight-pressed line keeping
a wildfire on the inside
a wildfire on the inside
It's easy to talk about their children; to worry for their safety, to feel pride in their accomplishments, and to reminesce about the time that has come and gone. As soon as he mentions them, Halcyon silently scolds himself for taking the easy way out of a difficult conversation. He knows Titanya will cling to his topic of choice; she is no more comfortable being vulnerable than he is asking her to be, and so their brief diluge into the twins' relationship with their cousin works as an easy buffer to the conversation they should be having.
He even finds it in him to chuckle under his breath, though his brief toothy grin lost in the darkness. “I agree,” he muses softly before another thought hits him, “I'm sure they'll be asking shortly to leave the island.” They had both inherited their mother's wanderlust, and for that he is thankful. While the man has loved his life in the tropics and is content with being tucked to bed each night by the same familiar sounds, he wants his children to see more. To experience more.
He thinks to tell Titanya this, that he is pleased with how headstrong they are, but the silence has drawn on too long now and she has found the courage to breach the topic neither of them had wanted to discuss.
At first, he stiffens. Taut with the desire to vacate this conversation, the feline clenches his sharp teeth and lets a long, slow exhale fall from his whiskered snout. But he stays, and his silence urges Titanya to continue with details he'd rather not hear. Easier, the whole situation is, when he has no context to play in his head over and over.
I do not belong to you anymore than you belong to me. He has known this to be true, has used it as a mantra to settle his jealousy, and yet to hear the woman he loves say it aloud thrusts a sharp knife into his chest. His feline tail flicks with displeasure behind him, but Halcyon is otherwise silent until she is done.
Until she offers to abandon the child, should he desire.
“I will not make such a decision for you,” his words are sharp, barbed. “But I am not so cruel that I would have you abandon your child.” His eyes, hurt and narrowed, seek her out in the darkness, but there is only a faint silhouette for his gaze to settle upon. “I would raise the child as my own, should you have them live with us here.” He pauses, the faint beginnings of a low growl clicking in the back of his throat.
“But I will not have it's father here.”
@[Titanya]
“”
He even finds it in him to chuckle under his breath, though his brief toothy grin lost in the darkness. “I agree,” he muses softly before another thought hits him, “I'm sure they'll be asking shortly to leave the island.” They had both inherited their mother's wanderlust, and for that he is thankful. While the man has loved his life in the tropics and is content with being tucked to bed each night by the same familiar sounds, he wants his children to see more. To experience more.
He thinks to tell Titanya this, that he is pleased with how headstrong they are, but the silence has drawn on too long now and she has found the courage to breach the topic neither of them had wanted to discuss.
At first, he stiffens. Taut with the desire to vacate this conversation, the feline clenches his sharp teeth and lets a long, slow exhale fall from his whiskered snout. But he stays, and his silence urges Titanya to continue with details he'd rather not hear. Easier, the whole situation is, when he has no context to play in his head over and over.
I do not belong to you anymore than you belong to me. He has known this to be true, has used it as a mantra to settle his jealousy, and yet to hear the woman he loves say it aloud thrusts a sharp knife into his chest. His feline tail flicks with displeasure behind him, but Halcyon is otherwise silent until she is done.
Until she offers to abandon the child, should he desire.
“I will not make such a decision for you,” his words are sharp, barbed. “But I am not so cruel that I would have you abandon your child.” His eyes, hurt and narrowed, seek her out in the darkness, but there is only a faint silhouette for his gaze to settle upon. “I would raise the child as my own, should you have them live with us here.” He pauses, the faint beginnings of a low growl clicking in the back of his throat.
“But I will not have it's father here.”
“”