07-27-2023, 09:29 PM
“Don’t worry, they’re fine,” he said of the plants, stifling a yawn as he yanked off what he could be bothered of his clothes. The thanks washed over him but he didn’t respond. It wasn’t why he would help with Zeke, or why he didn’t mind the company now. Resentment didn’t burrow deep in Raffe’s bones. He didn’t want to think of Nox curled out in the hallway, torturing himself.
Raffe flattened himself out on the bed, shifted for room, and promptly closed his eyes. His breathing would have deepened if not for the drift of words into the space between them, and after a moment his eyes fluttered enough to observe what Nox wanted to share. It was a ring. The early morning shadows weren’t nearly so deep enough to hide the offering. Raffe’s chest constricted with what he thought might have been the first emotion to cross the threshold since he left Paragon, but he couldn’t have described what it was. He didn’t want to think about the reasons Nox thought an unbreakable ring a better promise than fidelity in the first place. Which was a markedly cruel thought the moment it crossed his mind. But it was just a flex of pain.
He knew the gesture meant something that words could never encompass. He knew he still meant something to Nox. Only Raffe didn’t want to explore his own reaction, or why everything felt like someone had switched the light out in his soul; the latter of which had nothing to do with Nox or what had happened between them. So he took the ring quietly, though he didn’t put it on a finger, just grasped it in his palm after a moment. Nox called it a promise, but for now Raffe didn’t want to know what the promise was. Or rather he did know, but he didn’t want to talk about it.
“Okay,” was all he said. The ring felt solid in his palm. He let his closed fist lay over his chest, shut his eyes again.
Raffe flattened himself out on the bed, shifted for room, and promptly closed his eyes. His breathing would have deepened if not for the drift of words into the space between them, and after a moment his eyes fluttered enough to observe what Nox wanted to share. It was a ring. The early morning shadows weren’t nearly so deep enough to hide the offering. Raffe’s chest constricted with what he thought might have been the first emotion to cross the threshold since he left Paragon, but he couldn’t have described what it was. He didn’t want to think about the reasons Nox thought an unbreakable ring a better promise than fidelity in the first place. Which was a markedly cruel thought the moment it crossed his mind. But it was just a flex of pain.
He knew the gesture meant something that words could never encompass. He knew he still meant something to Nox. Only Raffe didn’t want to explore his own reaction, or why everything felt like someone had switched the light out in his soul; the latter of which had nothing to do with Nox or what had happened between them. So he took the ring quietly, though he didn’t put it on a finger, just grasped it in his palm after a moment. Nox called it a promise, but for now Raffe didn’t want to know what the promise was. Or rather he did know, but he didn’t want to talk about it.
“Okay,” was all he said. The ring felt solid in his palm. He let his closed fist lay over his chest, shut his eyes again.
![[Image: Raffe-banner--scaled.jpg]](http://thefirstage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Raffe-banner--scaled.jpg)