FORGIVE THIS STATE OF RUIN, FORGIVE HOW IT'D SPREAD; HE'D EVER ONLY BEEN A FORLORN DREAMER, LONG TRAPPED IN A WORLD OF DREAD. —- all that they are now. ( she calls the tides in her gaze; he cradles the moon in his heart. ) all that they may ever be. ( COME HOME TO ME. ) —- he relinquishes his breath, still bowed and anchored at the crown. " you are my dream, feyre. " he measures her gaze, reacquainting himself with the stars in her eyes, their dusted path over her cheekbones, her nose. " you. " and though this shift very nearly threatens to buckle his knees, and beyond all thought as it may be, ( perhaps reason, too ), he leans nearer still. his fingers press into the column of her neck, begging to reel; his lips, to steal. " bond or no. " does she hear him? perhaps only the thundering in their chests ... " as it will always be yours to accept or reject. " a muscle flexes in his jaw amidst his careful restraint. —- hear him. " i will love you, still. " he steals one breath, and then another, before drawing back to fight a singularly-familiar headiness, one that'd nearly dismantled him. when he once again finds his footing beneath him, he blinks. " —- and i did write back. " at long last, he draws focus to the paper in his grasp, albeit with a slowly-furrowing brow ... for as he raises it in the narrow space between them, his breath stills, and realization flares.
it had been tampered with. he surveys its edges, their familiar, back-and-forth scrawl; little is beyond what he'd expected to find, minus that scent, and one, long tear at its midline. his voice trails off as he slowly surrenders their note into the palm of her hand. his heart, their proof, see. then, see, again ... " i'd feared, since i'd last heard from you, that i ... failed to earn your trust. " another moment's silence; this time, spent gauging her inspection. has she gathered it? ( her eyes missed nothing; they never had. ) spring had intercepted, had known. had its high lord wanted for this? of course he had. had he waited for this, too? —- . wordlessly, and with weighed apprehension, he reaches for her again. this time: mind-to-mind. ' we should not speak so openly here. ' futile effort, now; as there is so little left to remain unknown. " have i failed in this, feyre? " the violet hues of his eyes darken as night's promise churns in their depths; though even in this, they cannot help but beg to swim in the pools of her own. " please, tell me, " he offers for ears beyond them both, should they strain. ' i wanted more time. to apologize in earnest. ' he bows at that, at hope, slipping from his grasp. ' i suppose my dismissal is to come as swiftly as you'd intended it to. ' for all this facade had become, his heart shone plainly in his eyes. ' your move, feyre. but no matter what you choose to do, make it convincing enough for the both of us. '