selunite shadowheart after ending her parents’ suffering not quite realizing how immense her daddy issues are. the concept of having a father isn’t something she’s ever craved until now, now that she knows she could have had that experience, felt that type of care and love. as much compassion as she has for the orphaned children halsin has rounded up, there’s a pang of sick jealousy each time she sees them crowded around him, holding his hands or pleading to be picked up.
in all that time she believed herself an orphan, and now that she truly is one, when had she ever received such kindness? such tender love that only a father figure could provide? there’s a guilt that underlies it too— shar should have been enough. now, selune’s embrace should be more than enough to sate her parental longing.
she finds herself falling into step at halsin’s side, wrapping three of her fingers around one of his. she doesn’t protest when her feet ache and he offers to carry her, letting her facade of self-sufficiency slip away. she can’t refuse when he wakes her so gently from a horrid dream, insisting that he’d hold her through the night until peaceful sleep found her.
shadowheart feels weak and small next to him, but not in a bad way that makes her feel degraded or insignificant. when they’re scouting or traveling together, her mind goes quiet and everything fades away that isn’t his guidance or gentle instruction, his hand tugging her back by the waist just before she stumbles over a protruding root, his voice calling her to come admire at a particularly pretty flower or a cute animal sleeping in the meadow.
halsin, so used to interacting with the displaced children that he barely notices his slip up when shadowheart asks him for help and he replies “in just a moment, little one”
