Missteps and Revelations

Azzurra felt her heart in her throat as Balthier seemed to freeze in place as he listened to her, not moving or reacting for a long moment. Somehow the suspense of it was even worse than if he had just immediately reacted and it made her tense as she waited for some kind of response. Eventually she got it when he questioned her in disbelief, his emotions difficult to read as always. The way he said it, the way he declared that she had fucked someone, hurt as if he had slapped her and she winced a little glancing away from him. What she had done with Erys didn’t feel like just fucking. It had felt like it meant something and fed the broken parts of herself in ways she hadn’t known she needed. For him to condense it down like that made sense in his anger but it still hurt.

She was speechless as he got up, looking up at him to see the fixed look of anger and hurt in his eyes. Her ears pinned against her head and her mouth gaping as he started to walk away, willing words to leave her that never did. Her gaze fell back to the sands between her paws with a sigh, her eyes closing as she tried and failed to rein in her conflicted, heart breaking emotions. The twisted parts of her wanted to chase after him, to apologize, but she knew she needed this. She needed to find her own wings and there was no other way to do it.

"Azzurra"