#~500

The wind was whipping at Eskel, his hair flying away from the low tail he’d tied it into when he first began his trek after the young human and his cloak cut only the worst of it. It had been nearly an hour since Cahir had taken leave of them, leaning heavily on the cane he’d taken up since the incident on the Island. He’d been lost when he arrived, having lost his first creed with the abandonment of his position in the Nilfgaardian military and his second when Cirilla denied having anything to do with him. He was still lost. Eskel found him standing at the edge of the ramparts, where the stone crumbled above the river that never froze. He wasn’t going to jump, no. That melancholy had not come for him yet. He did, however, itch to run. To fly.

“I need a reason to stay.” He expected his voice to be lost to the howling wind. Eskel heard him clearly. He continued his approach, only speaking when he was close enough that Cahir could feel him, he could have touched him if he was not so… Adrift. Perhaps he needed to scream? It had never helped before but the last year had been full of experiences. Eskel, when he spoke, sounded sad.

“I can’t give you any. Not any good ones, anyway.”

The quiet resignation tugged at Cahir’s soul. Amazing thing that was, rediscovering such a thing while surrounded by the very monsters said to possess none. His sisters would hug him, tell him what a fool he was. They were safe in the south. He’d never see them again, in all likelihood. He would never tell them he had found happiness in this desolation. Cahir curled his good hand at his side and tipped his face toward the gray sky.

“A bad one will do.”

I need something to hold onto.

Eskel shifted, his boots sending pebbles to the edge and down into the abyss. Cahir’s knuckles were white around the cane, leaning heavily onto it for support and frozen in place. He hardly felt the cold any longer. The transition back to the warmth in his room would be unpleasant, he nearly considered never going back in. He swayed, waiting for Eskel to think of any reason for him not to keep walking away. Maybe that answer would never come. Maybe he was simply too broken.

Eskel swayed forward, hand lingering in the air before falling back to his side. Is this allowed? The Continent was in shambles. Their lives had been well upturned and yet he wondered about proprieties. With caution to the wind he found his voice.

“What about for me?”

Cahir turned his head, just slightly and nowhere near enough to actually look at him but it was an acknowledgement. It was enough to show the smile that tugged on his lips. It was enough.

He turned fully, cane clacking against the frozen stone.