Broken Boulder i can't tell if the want justifies the need

shall we fade?

it does not really work. alarian's shutters come down, leaving delight stuck trying to steal glances from behind the blinds. this would be the moment where he says hey, i love you, only that's a line he's not ready to cross, even to try and lure alarian back into the light with him. so he tolerates the silence instead, glad, at least, for their lingering closeness.

for a little while the chancellor dozes like that, exhaustion finally winning out. he's not sure how much time passes before they finally part, the cruelty of reality demanding his attention (check the children, check the pack, avoid queenie like the plague). it is only once they're parted that delight feels his own natural tendency towards avoidance flicker to life -- they'd had a fight and an awkward fumble and delight ruined it all with his big dumb mouth, better to just, uhhhhhhhnot think about it again for, a while, you know?