[Rue takes his arm and is happy to chatter idly while they take a lazy stroll through all of the flowering blooms the owlbear has been cultivating around their cottage. The roses are indeed looking gorgeous, full and fragrant and in every color imaginable, as Rue leads Draxum out to their favorite bench to settle upon.]
Something heavy is weighing upon your heart, yes? Tell me, darling.
[The walk doesn't pull back the dread, but it does soothe it. Rue may note Draxum is moving slower than usualโmore stifflyโbut their garden is beautiful, and the owlbear's chatter gives him something else to think on for a little while. Much of the tension has bled out of him by the time Rue leads him to the bench, leaving only a deep weariness as he sinks heavily into his seat.
He nods, quiet for a long moment as he gathers his words.]
Do you recall the time we realized what connection there was between us? Not the first time we met, but after.
[Not when they traded flowers at the station, or when he briefly passed through Rue's dreamscape, but after that. At Satori Hills.]
no subject
[Rue takes his arm and is happy to chatter idly while they take a lazy stroll through all of the flowering blooms the owlbear has been cultivating around their cottage. The roses are indeed looking gorgeous, full and fragrant and in every color imaginable, as Rue leads Draxum out to their favorite bench to settle upon.]
Something heavy is weighing upon your heart, yes? Tell me, darling.
no subject
He nods, quiet for a long moment as he gathers his words.]
Do you recall the time we realized what connection there was between us? Not the first time we met, but after.
[Not when they traded flowers at the station, or when he briefly passed through Rue's dreamscape, but after that. At Satori Hills.]
no subject
I do. I remember it perfectly. That terrible fire bringing the both of us together, while the children were utterly unfazed.
[Spoken all fondly, of course. It had been such a relief they were fine, even if they'd been terrified at first.]