I'll be brave when you are frightened
You'll be strong when I am weak in the knees
In that embrace Eulalie understood. They stood chest to chest and she could feel his heart and hear his breath and she knew: this had been weighing on him for far too long, whether he had chosen to speak of it before now or not. She lent her strength to him, her resolve. The sunshine woman felt her love for him in her whole being and she wished it were something more tangible, something for him to hold onto.You'll be strong when I am weak in the knees
Then, he breathed, and then he spoke.
She listened with rapt attention, patiently allowing him the quiet and time he needed to get everything out. His description of their youth reminded her (not so fondly) of her own childhood. Her parents had always favored her elder sister, as though she were their only child. But, to become cold and hardened was a choice. Eulalie had never allowed the actions of her family or anyone else to skew who she was, to mold her into something that she did not want to be. For all the ways they had looked down on her, for all the ways they had treated her like she was less than worthy, the ways they had hurt and wronged her, she had tried not to give them the power. She wondered why, then, had Atreus seemingly given himself over to the jealousy?
When Somnus paused, Eulalie wondered if he might stop speaking. But he pressed a kiss to her neck and continued, and a smile turned up the edges of her lips. She gently brushed her nose along his skin in reassurance, a feather light, adoring touch.
The words continued to flow, slipping off Somnus’ tongue and filling the space around them. Each one painted a picture in her mind. The thought of a younger, curious Somnus and serious Ulric brought another smile to her face. She had never known their origin story, and she thought it suited the pair of them quite well. It made her happy to know that he’d had a friend in Ulric throughout these troubling times in his story. That they’d had friends in each other. But Eulalie could tell this tale was becoming more difficult for him to voice, as each pause came, every breath he took to prepare himself to speak more. She admired him so much, and her heart swelled.
Soon, the images painted in her mind turned dark. Stained with blood and betrayal and darkness. It would be a lie to say that her heart did not ache for what had been done to Atreus, for the trials he had been forced to face in his life. Eulalie could not, and did not want to, imagine how she would react if something were to happen to Somnus and her children, especially done by another’s hand. Would she too go mad? Do anything for revenge? She couldn’t say, and the thought only made her resolve to protect her family even greater.
Then Somnus was done, the last of his story falling to the air and dissipating like a mist in the eye of the sun. She did not move, for a moment, remaining there pressed against him, until finally she did step back, catching his verdant green eyes with her own, dark as earth. “Worried about what he might do while he’s here,” she said and it was not a question because she did understand. If Atreus did destroy a kingdom in his grief and anger, now he was here, tasked with helping to heal their son’s ailment. Even she, too, felt the clawing grip of worry at her heart. “We will keep an eye on him, Somnus. We can leave Alba and Tabbris with him every time he’s with Regis that we cannot be. We won't let any harm come to him.”
Eulalie looked into Somnus’ eyes and had nothing but love and compassion in her. She felt no differently about him, for nothing he could ever tell her could change the way she loved him. She knew him, and if anything the responsibility he felt for all the things that had happened spoke volumes more than anything he may or may not have done. And while she could not know what Atreus’ intentions were here in Delumine, and though she hoped above all that those intentions were good, they would be prepared either way.
She stepped close to him once again, and would gently press her forehead to his and close her eyes. “You are incredibly brave, and caring and good, and I love every part of you,” The words slipped from her lips with ease, filled with nothing but truth and devotion. “You do not need to carry this guilt with you,” she paused, and would press the rest of her muzzle against his, “Somnus you need to forgive yourself for what has happened in the past, or it will haunt you for the rest of your life. You did what you could, and you are enough.”
@Somnus <3
