Laerryn barely standing until he's out of sight, when she crumples onto her knees at Evandrin's bedside.
Tears on Neal's face that don't belong to him, tears on his hand as Laerryn clutches it against her lips.
An apology, whispered over and over, and Evandrin waiting until she can stop repeating it to say I forgive you.
Not because there's anything to forgive, in his mind. Because she needs to hear it more than he needs to tell her she didn't do anything wrong.
That's what he doesn't see.
When he comes back with Quay, he'll see Laerryn sitting calmly on the cot, stroking Neal's hair absently, less like a mother and more like someone preoccupied by their neighbor's cat. She's not looking at him. He seems asleep.
She glances up when they walk in, her expression as neutral as possible when her eyes are still a little too bright.
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Laerryn barely standing until he's out of sight, when she crumples onto her knees at Evandrin's bedside.
Tears on Neal's face that don't belong to him, tears on his hand as Laerryn clutches it against her lips.
An apology, whispered over and over, and Evandrin waiting until she can stop repeating it to say I forgive you.
Not because there's anything to forgive, in his mind. Because she needs to hear it more than he needs to tell her she didn't do anything wrong.
That's what he doesn't see.
When he comes back with Quay, he'll see Laerryn sitting calmly on the cot, stroking Neal's hair absently, less like a mother and more like someone preoccupied by their neighbor's cat. She's not looking at him. He seems asleep.
She glances up when they walk in, her expression as neutral as possible when her eyes are still a little too bright.
"I think he's gone."