“I wish to know your opinion...of love.”
Somewhat amusing that this comes right after the aforementioned jealousy potential. Morrigan is staking her claim. :P
Daniel treads very carefully around the situation; he knows how easily he could spook her like a frightened animal, and lose her perhaps forever. “My opinion?”
To his surprise, she looks away with none of her usual confidence, her hands moving in fidgety motions against each other. "We have been...intimate, for one,” she says, the words stumbling over each other, as if they’re emerging before she quite has time to picke them. “We have been... close for some time now. You are...impressive in many ways, and you protected me from Flemeth without any hope for reward.”
He can see the muscles in her throat jump as she swallows. “I feel... anxious when I look upon you. I dislike this sense of dependency. 'Tis a weakness I abhor.” Her voice rises in pitch with obvious agitation, and equally obvious strain to keep it in check. “If this is love, I wish to know that you do not feel the same."
He stares at her. His lips twitch. He knows her uncertainty and fear are very real -- but what she has just tacitly admitted has him too happy to do anything else but smile. “Are you saying that you love me?” he asks, gently teasing, one hand coming up to cup her cheek.
"No!” she sputters, jerking away from him. “That's...not what I'm saying. You need to pay attention!” She backs up a pace, circles the fire restlessly. “What I'm saying is that I... have been foolish. I have allowed myself to become too close. This is a weakness."
She pauses, opposite the fire from him, arms crossed, finally meeting his eyes. There’s defiance in them, a weak version of the old walls that used to divide her from him.
He smiles again, more softly this time. Until recently he never had to know the fears she grew up with, the fear of betrayal, of everything good turning to ash in an instant. But he knows its bite now, and his expression is sympathetic. But nevertheless...he cannot agree to her argument, not with his own feelings so strong. “Love is not a weakness,” he says quietly.
She scowls, throws up her hands in frustration. "You are not listening to me! Do not be such a fool! This is for your own good!” She takes a few quick steps around the fire as if to move towards him, then stops with visible effort.
“I would not... I am not like other women,” she stammers. “I am not worth your distraction.”
There’s a vulnerability in her voice that he has never heard before. And in that moment he is moving towards her without a second’s hesitation, his arms going around her, holding her tightly.
She pushes half-heartedly at his arm. “And you are not worth mine," she objects weakly, but there’s not much heat in the words.
He tucks his fingers under her chin, tilts her head so their eyes meet again. “You are worth my distraction,” he says firmly, and kisses her with all the force and feeling he can muster. He feels her weight sag into him a little, and supports it, steadies her, his free arm around her waist.
When they break apart, she takes a shaky breath, and for a moment, all the posturing is gone from her. She looks young and giddy and afraid and he loves her intensely. “I... you are impossible,” she whispers weakly, and rests her head against his chest. “Have it your way. But I will tell you truly now...you will regret it in the end...”
Perhaps he will. Perhaps he will regret all of this. But right now, in this moment...he does not care.
