Sweet as pie

Segin watched as her small, pale paw carefully settled on top of his, looking back to her face with a deep sympathy in his silver gaze. "I need to get used to having someone care." That statement resonated so deeply with him and he wasn't even sure if he could properly explain why. He had questioned Indigo over and over, trying to understand why he would want to help him when he had nothing tangible to give him in return. It hadn't felt like an even exchange and it still didn't. He had never had someone care about him before. The closest he had gotten was his half-brother, but now that he understood what being loved and cared for really felt like he could look back at those moments and understand that it wasn't love. It wasn't care. He had been in love, but his brother had exploited that. In the end his brother had been the one to pay the price, but he still didn't really understand how much Indigo cared and was still getting used to it in his own way.

When she thanked him for being patient, a small smile pulled at his lips and he immediately shook his head to her statement about being a burden, forgetting for a moment that she couldn't see him. "You're not a burden," he insisted. "And you don't need to thank me for being patient. You're worth it. I just... I just enjoy helping others feel better, I guess," he added with a soft smile. He had learned a lot of patience as he helped his sisters that had been hurt by their father, having to calm them and regain their trust each and every time so that he could get close enough to treat their wounds each time. This wasn't the first time he had laid like this with someone and let them touch him first to help ease them into things and he wondered if it would be the last. Considering Indigo had a way of finding the most hurt and broken wolves there was certainly a chance that he might need to pull this special kind of patience out again in the future.

His head tilted slightly with a bit of curiosity when she began to speak again, bringing up how she had a long, fluffy tail at one point in her life. He glanced at the short, wiggling nub for a moment, realizing that he had never really considered it. He had known wolves that had simply been born with a shorter tail and even a couple that it had been removed in an accident or a fight of some kind. When she elaborated that it had been removed on purpose for better access, dread crossed his expression, his ears falling back against his head as his stomach flipped uneasily. His jaw tensed as he brought his silver gaze back to her sightless, milky gaze, feeling a surprising about of anger and hatred for anyone that had dared to abuse such a sweet, small woman like her. "I'm so sorry you were put through that," he told her softly after a moment, struggling against the temptation to go curl around her and protect her from the world. He looked down at where her paw was resting over his, his gaze softening as she laid down her head and lightly touched her muzzle to his paw. He held still, not wanting to startle her or disrupt this small touch she had allowed him to have.

"I've seen so many wolves be hurt and abused... I've been the one being hurt and abused and it's... it's just not fair. None of us deserved it," he said quietly, partially to her, partially to himself. "I wish I could make it better." But he couldn't take away her trauma, he couldn't undo what had been done. He could only be patient and help her feel a little better and listen whenever she wanted to talk and do things like bring her strawberries. It didn't feel like enough, but it's all he had.

Segin Epsilon