“You had no way of knowing.”
It pained Soudan to see Ala so upset, especially over something that the other had little control over. It wasn’t as if he could have known better and he had waited long enough--there were years between Soudan kissing Ala’s forehead goodbye as he lay nestled in their bed, and meeting again in the rain closer to strangers than ever before. He had done nothing wrong, and as much as it hurt, Soudan knew this and couldn’t be angry at the fae.
Soudan’s thumb ran over the back of Ala’s hand gripping his own instinctively, desiring only to comfort the man beneath his hands. His own ailments and struggle meant little when his childhood friend and first love was in pain, and thus when Ala proposed the former sailor speak of the twisting path life had led him down since they’d lost each other, he was taken aback. Momentarily he’d forgotten his own tribulations to the sadness and hurt in Ala’s voice, but the request had him rocking back on his heels before rising carefully.
How he’d missed Ala in his lap, the familiar gentleness and weight of his one and only love a comfort none other was able to provide. Soudan removed the heavy apron he wore so that Ala wasn’t soiled in soot, then sat in his own chair once more. Immediately his arms were open, welcoming the fae into his lap.
“Come, then. I’ll tell you my tale since you’ve told me yours.” He waited for the other to settle in his lap, only then carefully closing his arms about the fae as if Ala might still shatter, much as he kept telling himself that the man in his arms wasn’t a falsehood.
“We were in the Sea of Ice when the ship sunk--I’m not sure what happened, all I remember is that it sounded like thunder from beneath the deck and hitting the water with the force of a battering ram, being dazed but seeing the ship on fire. Things were blurry for a while, but I know eventually the current pushed me close enough to the Pafeld shore that I was seen by fisherman. I’m grateful to them for saving me.
I decided that the sea and I weren’t meant to be for a time, having lost my ship and my crew, but I wrote to you nearly every day, intending to tell you I was alive. But... things happen. I returned to the trades, making small amounts of coin where I could, and joined a few others traveling west. We all made our way in what little ways we could... I think you’d enjoy them. They’re a good bunch,” a small smile broke Soudan’s otherwise somewhat sad demeanor, speaking of what he’d lost. “And alongside them I made my way everywhere we could find to ask for you. But of course, here you are, as I should have known you’d be all along.”
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