Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 4)

"He's an impressive fellow, to be sure." Tomhas headed down the stairs. "Very impressive. I've heard he's been around the world!"

“I bet he’s got delightful stories,” Tadaaki said. “She didn’t tell me about him until you’d rescued us, so I don’t know much about him. Just the way her face lit up talking about him.”

Tomhas smiled. "Well, you'll see him for yourself soon enough. Ky's so different around him, too; I don't think I've ever seen her talk like that before. She actually got a laugh out of Gaius, if you'd believe it! A real laugh!"

Tadaaki’s eyebrows shot up. He hadn’t thought the grave old man was capable of laughter. “What’d she do?”

"She said she thought he could read minds, and he just lost it." Tomhas shook his head in disbelief. "I'm telling you, Tadaaki, my brother has never once laughed that hard, ever in his life. Never."

Tadaaki grinned broadly at that, thinking about what that must have been like. "I daresay I think she's winning him over."

"I think she'd already won him over. Gaius is just...cautious. And very bad at expressing positive emotions. He comes off as a brick wall most of the time because social situations that don't involve political finesse confuse him. Maybe confuse isn't the right word, but they don't come naturally to him."

"Fair enough." Tadaaki dipped his head. "I'm pretty sure she's convinced he hates her, but perhaps this will convince her otherwise. I feel like the two of them would actually get on quite well, once they get a read on each other."

"I couldn't agree more. I think it's just that Gaius has never been very good with teens in particular, and he's not good at feelings. Ky's afraid of authority figures, too, and Gaius absolutely oozes the 'touch me not' aura of a noble. Her nervous energy spooks him a bit, I think." Tomhas snorted. "They'll come around. If Gaius could stand thirty-two years of knowing me, he can stand knowing Ky as well."

"I'm sure of it," Tadaaki laughed and inclined his head. He sobered a bit. "I think she'll settle soon. It's finally starting to sink in that we're safe now. For me, anyway -- I assume for her, too. I expect she'll find her rhythm before long, and from what she's told me, she used to be a lot different than she is now."

"I'm glad to hear that." Tomhas nodded. "I know these things take time; I'm not trying to rush it. I'll just be glad when they get comfortable."

"No doubt," Tadaaki agreed with a nod. "I know you're very patient. You all are. I can't think of a healthier place for her to heal."

"Thay means a lot," Tomhas said genuinely. "Thank you, Tadaaki. We're trying." He had his doubts, sometimes. He and Gaius, and now Lyra, were never far from an episode, it seemed. Stepping on eggshells was no way for a girl to live her life.

Tadaaki smiled and dipped his head, not sure whether an 'I know' would be a compliment or an insult just then. He did know how much baggage this family came with. And he and Ky sure as hell brought just as much of their own. But they were all trying. And that's what mattered.



Neither Ky nor Zander had sat down when they got to the sitting room. Instead, they were both wandering around, looking at the various trinkets on the shelves as they rambled at each other.

"So Tadaaki was with me when I was with Aleth," Ky said, having realized earlier that the whole 'owned' comment earlier had upset him. "He's wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. But... do try to be calm around him. He's a little nervous still."

They both were. But she at least had the immunity of it being Zander.

Tomhas reached the sitting room with Tadaaki's family and opened the door, holding it for them. "Come in, come in!" He grinned broadly. "Let's all have a seat, make introductions."