did you ever imagine

Their pace had slowed as they began to speak, but that didn’t matter. They weren’t going anywhere, just wandering aimlessly beneath the early summer sky. Deathbelles voice sounded strange - was it just how little he had heard it these days, or was there more to it? The loss of what she had missed in Venom's litter, perhaps. Of Archon and Magnus and those that had been then gone in her life. Sirius sighed softly, looking upwards to the sky, and wondering, wondering. He would have given anything to keep them both from experiencing loss. To hold tight to Zee, to Malalia, to anyone they chose and theirs. Life escaped him despite himself.

How was he holding up? He had given up on his bid to reunite with Zee, had made promises that his conscience forced him to keep. Was tied down and held here against his will by those that he would have done the same to. He sighed again, glancing across at his Empress, at his Phoenix. His Lost Princess of another lifetime. “I’m not, but don’t tell anyone.” He gave her the ghost of a smile. “And you?”

"Speech""Speech"