>>6078187I did tell last vote was important, wasn't it?
of course the most important update of the whole second thread comes on a Sunday night. because we just like to suffer, here.# # # # # #
Alright. You have seen Rubida push through this long enough. it’s not like you haven’t learned a lesson or two.
Hopefully.
“If there is anything that would put you in jeopardy, I need to know it,” you state, allowing hand to linger against your wrist. You reach out and hold it, feeling the rough texture of her skin. Calluses, scratches — it’s so different from Rubida’s, and now it’s so different from poor Soralisa’s.
It reminds you so much of your own, though.
“When you say — everything — what do you mean?” You press. Salicera keeps looking straight into your eyes. “Did something happen while I was stunned? I feel like I’ve been coming out of my cage, but I need to know you are fine! You disappeared, Salicera, I saw… I saw you <span class="mu-i">shatter</span> like a piece of glass! Starless Night, and now— now you…”
“It hurt,” she whispers, her gaze falling into her lap. “It was like being stabbed by knives.” her thumb presses against your palm. You let it, even if it makes you feel — weird — your stomach starting to clench in ways you had yet to experience before. Salicera is so close, closer than she used to be even during your bath in the Temple, in a way.
“I could only ever count on myself,” she continues. “I know what you are going to say, that that’s not true. And I do agree, it would be foolish to deny Ansàrra’s greatness after I saw it with my own eyes. Shine through you. But—” she bites her lip. “This is related to that thing I need to tell you. So I can’t tell you everything right now. Just that I admire you. I admire your courage. There is <span class="mu-i">something</span> in you, Argia… not just steel, there is a kind of… I don’t know how to say it,” she stumbles upon words as her other hand reaches for you cheek. It feels warm and you jolt. You are not used to such extended touching.
Struggling, sparring, fighting — but this is different. Even Rubida’s hands felt detached, reminding you of the hands of an artisan. This is different.
It’s like Salicera is trying to reach for something inside you. You squirm as your stomach clenches — perhaps she is indeed reaching.
“A terrifying kindness,” she says. “It makes me so afraid for you. Of you, almost.”
[cont.]
