500+
The woman moved away from Mars to sit alone in the dank spot of the stables, but he wouldn't leave her to suffer alone. He followed her to that spot and as much as she wanted to Orin couldn't make herself feel alone, no matter how sorry she was feeling. He was there for her despite the vein of their conversation, and when he moved to embrace her she didn't stop him. In fact, somewhere in the back of her mind she thought about how much she liked it when he did this – when she got such a strong reaction out of the usually withdrawn Russo man.
But he had said something that made her freeze, her breath catch in her throat and hold for a long moment. Her eyes widened and she stared forward. She had forgotten that she was going to tell him, forgotten that he didn't already know. 'Does that mean they broke up?' Mars wasn't around when Sky left Shawchert. He didn't know they were separated until now... and that means he didn't know that Shawchert was courting Orin. Somehow it seemed suddenly wrong to have to tell him that.
She held onto his words of forgiveness, letting them echo like a mantra in her mind while she pondered just how to tell him. Of course, he hadn't actually said he forgave her now, but to Orin it had been enough. To the girl that molded reality to fit her own fantastical views, he had accepted her apology and that wound in their relationship was on its way to a quick recovery. Now she had to tell him... To tell him the news that at first she thought he would be happy to hear. So much had changed in the few minutes since they entered the stables. It was like reality had sidestepped and turned on her. Somehow it felt inappropriate to tell him now.
Her eyes finally broke their blank stare into the darkness, and she shifted gently until he was in her view. She looked into his eyes and it was obvious that she had something to say that she didn't want to tell him. But she couldn't lie to him, couldn't hold it back. What kind of new start would their friendship have then?
“Sky and Shawchert broke up,” instead of singing it in her usual happy tone it sounded more like she was going to tell him that someone had died. “Sky's with Taliesin now. They're trying to have a family.” The kind of thing she felt cheated on. The kind of thing she thought she wanted from Shawchert... until now.
“Shawchert and I have been seeing each other... for a little while, since I've been back. I was going to tell you that he proposed to me. I won't accept a mating without a ceremony though... we don't have an exact date yet. Some time soon...” She didn't even know why she was still talking. At least she didn't say, 'and you're invited' like she was going to do before.
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