Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 9)

Gaius was limping a bit heavier now; he'd tried to hide it but it was just hurting too much at this point. He picked up the pace, gritting his teeth. The sooner he got inside the sooner he would be able to sit down.

@Shady

(Fully did not get a notif for this haha I was so confused about what was happening)

“…are you okay?” She realized as soon as she said it that it was going to piss him off. But so would apologizing. So.

(Whoops!)

"As well as can be," he replied briskly. It wasn't a lie--he was as well as he could be at that moment. No sense in making her feel guilty about something that wasn't her doing.

“…okay.” She ducked her head and kept pace with him, but was careful not to rush him. Is that how he wanted her to communicate? Lie through omission? Would a nebulous answer suit him better than her other attempts?

He would have to sit down the moment they got inside, he thought. He'd tell her to go ahead and then have a few seconds to suffer openly. Then he'd get up and make himself walk upstairs to Sera and ask for as much poppy milk as she could give him.

Was this her fault? Had he pushed himself too hard to take her on this walk? She felt a bit guilty. Although it’s not as if it was her own doing. He was the one who’d decided to take her outside and walk her around in circles. Though she supposed that was preferable to him dragging her into his office, which he certainly could have.

She briefly considered offering to go get Sera, then decided that would hurt his man-pride “… we can rest again, if you like. There’s no rush.”

(Love our cycle of spiralling)

They were only a couple minutes from the entrance...could he make it? He felt that if he stopped now he'd just crumple into the snow and not be able to rise again. "Best not to," he said after a pause. "Best not to."

(Haha they’re such a hot mess
Gaius: teenagers are confusing >:[
Ky: why are you mad at me?!)

“…okay.” She nodded, deciding that any other offer would definitely be taken as an offense. He could ask her for help if he wanted it. Though she was fairly certain he’d rather gnaw his own leg off before he’d ask her for help. With anything. “… it will be nice to get back in to the fires.”

"Mm." He gave a nod. He might ask for a heating stone as well; that might help with the soreness. And it would be a nice way to warm up after a walk in the snow. He wondered if Ky knew what a heating stone was.

(She does not)

Gods. It was so uncomfortable again. She looked ahead to the Keep. It wasn’t too much further now. Then he’d want rid of her. And she could go collapse. Now that she thought of it, she was absurdly tired. It always took so much effort to be around Gaius.

He would be glad to have some time to himself; he hadn't had a moment alone this morning and it was starting to frustrate him. He needed time to unwind from waking up, time to breathe and think.

Gods. This was oppressive.

And yet she couldn’t think of a safe topic. Still.

The most obvious would be to ask him what he had planned for today. But she didn’t want that question turned back on her… but, well, she supposed even that would be preferable to this awkward hell. “… what do you plan to do today?”

"I'll probably do some reading," he replied. It was difficult to think about much. "Go over some documents from my Counts. There's much to do."

“I’m sure.” Ky agreed with a nod. “Do they provide updates often?”

Would he think her nosey? Hopefully not. She didn’t particularly care about the answer. She just wanted him to talk about something so that she wouldn’t have to.

"Weekly, if they can. I need to stay in the loop."