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A tender line of silence took the small space between Aylin and Tav. The pointed stare meant only for them, full of unyielding care, and concern that could only be conveyed with her wondrous grey eyes. Just as her eyes roamed the rest of them, their demeanor changed, a storm building within them.Her place beside Tav never wavered. She would rather take the hard dirt of the ground beneath her than let them sit alone. Especially as she discovered them, alone and far enough away that no one could hear their soft cries.Aylin crouched beside them, the shuffle of her armor clinking with her short movements as she settled closely.“What ails you?” Her hand brushed over their cheek, clearing away one of the stray lines of tears descending from their eyes. “If you are ready to tell me.” She corrected in a softer than gentle voice.
Tav dipped their head down, staring down at their hands folded across their lap, their hands balled up into fists.Aylin's stare dropped from their face to their fists. Her stormy eyes narrowed, a different side of her bubbling to the surface.
“Is there someone who wishes you ill? Who plagues your mind?” She asked in a hushed tone, a far darker undertone queuing with her concerned expression.
Her assumption would be too jarring for Tav to recover.
And a bit too on the nose.
They felt the oncoming stream of tears spill over, but made no effort to fix themself. To hide it now was to pretend as though a wound didn't exist, even if blood were gushing from their body.“I see.” was all Aylin whispered, before getting up from her kneeled position, suddenly brandishing her sword from its sheath, a soft echo of metal scraping against the scabbard on her back. Tav's eyes widened, the bewildered look in Aylin’s eyes being enough to leave them partly frightful.“Aylin” Tav pleaded with a soft look, speaking in a short, choked back voice. “They're not around to bother me anymore. But sometimes,” they cleared their throat, not liking the way they sounded so weak in front of someone they cared for dearly. “Sometimes, my brain struggles to understand that I am safe. If that makes any sense.”
“Of course it makes sense.” Aylin dropped back to her knees, taking up all the space in front of Tav. “Of course, darling.” She took their face into her hands, their sudden warmth taking Tav aback.Aylin pressed her forehead against their own, her eyes closed, a sense of relief washing over the two of them. Even the thick clouds overhead and their threat of rain could not get between them.“Were you really going to fight someone on my behalf?” Tav's sudden curiosity stopped the steady flow of tears, enough to give Aylin a moment to wipe them away with a shift of her thumbs.
“They deserve far less than a fair fight.”
“And still, you would do something so severe for me?” They reached their hands to her shoulders, feeling the cold metal beneath their fingertips.
A subtle laugh rumbled in her throat, accompanied by a smile that said without a doubt in my mind.