Honey, I'm Home!

"I..." she choked, looking away as her face heated. What foolish thinking. There she'd gone again, circling her thoughts down the drain of anxiety. It felt good to wallow while she was doing it but now she'd seen that she had wasted the past few days with harried worrying. "I'm so sorry. I thought you'd decided to leave for another reason entirely," she murmured. Theory's eyes softened as she saw Thalia stiffen. Death was something that was all too familiar with. "I know family is important to you. I wouldn't have expected anything less than for you to return and mourn. I would have done the same." She tried to stress her words, make Thalia see how alike they might be, but it just came off as wheedling. Theo was completely caught off guard. Her ears flattened and she tentatively moved closer to turn and sit next to her, shoulder-to-shoulder. There was a pleasing and familiar warmth that emanated between them on the chilly fall morning. Together they stared out over the rapids and Theory couldn't help but think of the games she and Noir had played here before he'd made an attempt on Poem's life. Everything had been much simpler then. No one thought at all about how dangerous the coursing waters were. Death hadn't touched any of them.

"How is your family coping?" she asked. They often had their best conversations side-by-side. It helped not having to look each other directly in the eyes when things got tense. Thalia's bright golden gaze was often too much for her to bear, especially when she felt as if she'd made such a fool of herself. Corvus' nursemaid tales of Abraxas occupation must be getting to me... "While you were gone - and I didn't know where you'd went - I... I prayed for your. For your safe return." The words fell from her mouth like rocks into the river before them, casting infinite ripples. There would be no taking them back.