Orianna was silent as he spoke, unmoving, her gaze not straying from the flames. This close to the pyre the stench of death was thick in the air, the aroma of blood near intoxicating, the herbs the other had placed doing a poor job at masking anything. The truth had a way of creeping through lies, through ruses. Whether it be the murder of children or a near-immortal man’s fear of the reality of death, ‘twas all the same in the end.
She wondered what death would be like for her when the day came. If, because of her father’s blood, it would be like what Regis had described - alive but not, her existence trapped between what is tangible and what isn’t. Or, if because of her mother, she would simply die and lose all consciousness altogether. Or perhaps it would be something else entirely. Perhaps death was not meant to be understood by the living, its eerie finality too far beyond comprehension.
“I simply wanted to hear the truth.” She turned to Regis, then, and caught his gaze. Both of their masks had fallen away, no reason for them to hide anything at all. In a rare surge of affection she bridged the gap between them and wrapped her arms around his body. She pressed her forehead into the juncture between his neck and his shoulder. Her words were muffled when she spoke. “That is the way of things, no?” A breath. “I missed you.”
‘ you have it, ’ he exclaims, making a useless outward gesture before his thumb tucks into the width of his belt. his outward expressions are, at times, all he has; talking with his hands can say much more than his words can, with a cluttered vocabulary and a tendency to hide behind it. ‘ every bitter thing. ’
he’s surprised when she hugs him - or rather, to pick more precise words, startled. but not for long. only for a moment. he wraps his arms around her in kind, his chin settling on the crook of her shoulder. regis has always been quietly tactile. he appreciates this more than he can rightly say. he thinks miserably on how at the end of the night he might be broken or dead or both and hugs her tighter, selfishly, needy.
regis manages to keep his voice full of nothing but warmth for her. ‘ i missed you too. ’