Blood Tells

Opening one eye, he takes the cup and smiles slightly before closing it again and draping an arm over his eyes. Taking a slow drink, he manages to avoid the piercing gaze.

"So how was your dance?" Ishk asks. I shoot her a glare. "It was fine, mother." I say, meeting her eyes in a way that I hope says 'stop, right now.' She smiles. "Good. You two dance well together. A good sign."
I growl a little. "We're both fighters. It makes us graceful."
'You know how the other moves." Ishk says, with a teasing smile. I can feel my face reddening. Mother, why do you have to do this to me.
"It comes of fighting side by side." I state."You know, after all that dancing I think we could use something to eat. Mother, will you come and give me an extra set of hands?" I stare at her meaningfully. She smiles.
Once we're a little way away, I turn on my mother.
"What is this all about?" I growl fiercely. My mother's face is quiet as a still pool. She shrugs. "He's a good man, and he's got good blood. Sidhe blood makes him clever, calm, and the human blood makes him nice and tall. You need a man taller than you." She smiles quietly.
"I do not need help dating." I hiss. My mother eyes me. "Really? When was the last time you had a man? It's been forty years, hasn't it? Or has it been more like fifty now?"
"Yes, and let's remember how well THAT went." I snap. I remember all too well. I'd been fifty, and the boy had been a lad of sixteen. I thought I was in love. I'd taken him to my bed.Then he'd seen me in a moment when I had forgotten my glamours. He saw what I really looked like. It hadn't gone well. Not well at all.
"You're lonely. You could use a mate." she says softly. I hiss. "I am a half-breed. I can't have a mate. I accepted that a long time ago."
"Then you're being a fool." My mother says cooly. "He'll accept you. He wants you. I see it in both of you."
"You know what happens. I-"
"You told me what happened when you were a child."
"I was fifty."
"Yes. A child."
"I....I don't....he...." I stammer, choking on my own emotions. "Why are you pushing this?" I burst out.
"Because you aren't. And you should." she states simply. "I want you happy. He would make you happy. Consider it, ahn ghra." Then she turns. "We need to get food, or your boy will wonder."
"He is not my boy, Mother!"
She doesn't answer me.
We return balancing three plates and bowls.

Djehuty watches the two women leave before catching a glimpse of three of Liv's younger kinsfolk making their way toward him; feeling his shoulders sag, he rises and looks to the door, slipping out into the night air. Finding a small corpse of trees, he falls back on the fallen leaves beneath them, staring up at the stars

I glance about. "Where's Djhuety?" I ask.
"Outside." two voices call from the throng. I frown. "I suppose it's time we were going any road. Thanks for talking."
"You're my daughter." Mother says quietly. "there needs be no thanks. Consider my words, daughter. Consider what I have said."
I sigh. "Mother...let it drop. I don't even know if he's interested."
"Liar." my mother says mildly. "You saw what he felt, as did I."
I roll my eyes. "Humans don't always know what they're feeling, or admit what they feel, mother. I-he may not be interested at all. He's never shown any sign that he was."
"And have you ever let him?"
I chuff a breath between my teeth. "I don't want to muck things up. He's my friend. He's the best friend I've ever had, and I don't want to screw that up."
"Only consider." My mother says patiently. "You may gain more than you fear to lose."
With a sigh, I turn away. "I'll see you again another day, Mother."
"Till then." she replies softly behind me.
It doesn't take me long to find him, out under the oaks.
"The stars are different here." I murmur, staring up. "Took me ages to learn the stars in the worlds of men. They looked all wrong, at first. Not the same."

"They're still the same," he smiles. "You just have to look at them from a new direction. It's like reading a book in a mirror."

"I never realized." I murmur. For a moment, we stare up into the night.
"Perhaps many things are the same way." I say, my voice very soft, "Changing, depending on the one who is looking...." I glance over at him. His head is all full of calm blue...and gold. I look away again, up into the stars.

"It makes things complicated," he musses, shifting uncomfortable as he feels Liv's eyes fix on him. "If there were only one way to look at things..." He tails off in thought.

I swallow. "Then life would be very boring, wouldn't it?"
I can feel him beside me, feel the warmth of his body. Maybe I could...
I stand. "Come on. Let's go home."

He grabs her hand and pulls her back down beside him. "It's a mystery," he smiles behind closed eyes. "Finding out what someone else sees." He sits up and opens his eyes, staring directly into hers. "You've been watching me a lot closer since I got back. What do you see?"

I shrug. "You're just...different. Stronger. I just...I notice. Can't really help but notice things, the way I see emotion, you know." I swallow. His eyes are still holding mine, and I'm having trouble looking away.

"Everyone hedges," Djehuty grumbles under his breath before meeting her eyes again. "Let me ask another way; when I left, why did you kiss me?"

"Because..." I swallow hard. "Because I didn't think I'd see you again in gods knew how long, and...and I wanted you to remember. To come back. And I...it felt right. I just..." I shrug. His eyes are still on mine, and there's lines of amusement and joy running through his head, along with that pure gold.

He reaches out tentatively, pauses, then draws loose hairs from her forehead away from her eyes, his touch soft as it traces the scalp behind her ear. "It made the leaving that much harder."

"I...I'm sorry for that, then."
My chest is aching with all the words I'm not saying. I close my eyes, feeling his hand in my hair.
"I missed you." I whisper. "It was only a few days...and I missed you. That....that scares me."

"I missed you far longer then a few days." He traces the back of her ear with a forefinger, almost absently, as he continues to watch her eyes, his head bowed toward her. "Six months is a long time to be away from those you care for."

"Everybody missed you." I demure, leaning into his touch. I am such a damn coward. If I keep hiding...
"But I don't think everybody missed you the same way." I murmur. I take a deep, shaking breath. "It's been a long time since I....since I let myself love anyone. A very long time. I didn't think..." I swallow. "But then I missed you. And then, inside you, I saw..." I meet his eyes, and they are deep, deep green.

He leans in and touches foreheads. "You know you pay to much attention to other peoples emotions, don't you?" He takes a deep breath, "And as for love... I don't think anything can salt that earth enough to kill all growth."

"Perhaps." I whisper, "Perhaps not all..." I take a deep, shaking breath. "I think I love you, Djhuety."

"Thinking's really not a part of this." He gently pulls her in and touches his lips to hers. Breaking, he again rest his forehead against hers. "Emotions really have very little to do with thought."

"Oh you idiot." I murmur, smiling softly. I lay my lips on his in a long, hard kiss, wrapping my arms around him. He feels shocked...but then I feel his muscles relax, feel his arms around me.
"I love you." I say after a moment, staring into his eyes. "That is how you say it. I love you, Djhuety."

Ishk stands at the door, looking at lights in the dark as Gram slips in beside her, leaning on her walking stick. "Your kit get her man yet?" She says, watching a swirl of gold rise from among the trees.

Ishk smiles, her dark eyes glinting. "It would seem she has. And not before time either. Not before time at all."