Otatso Wetlands You can break me if that's what you want

Xan nodded, accepting the answer given. He had thought to ask about Nemesis, to hear what she might be up to, but hadn’t bothered with it. She was likely busy with her actual children, none of which he had chosen to ask about, either. Though he’d accepted them to a certain extent, having been away from them for so long had left him without the opportunity to really connect with them. They were blood, but were they really family? He’d yet to decide, not knowing if he actually wanted to be in their lives, or vice versa.

He would have continued to stare at the ground had he not been told to do otherwise. It was not without a great deal of hesitation that he’d managed to drag his gaze back up towards Miraak’s own. For a moment, he’d met it, but no more than a second later and he’d lowered his eyes to a different part of the man’s face. He was ashamed of what had happened, and could not even consider focusing on those eyes whilst thinking about it. To think that it had been her very own son that had forced the yearling out, when Meldresi herself had been so inviting. It became harder to not lift his head back up when he’d received his answer, leading to the eventual defeat of himself as he sought out those indigo optics, searching within them to see if the words were true. The Priestess had always been understanding and fair, having accepted the Apaata’s into her home even after the failure of his father’s mission. He should have known that she couldn’t be angry with him, but that had only been realized after her brother had spoken of her. “She was always calm, always had the answers,” added the boy, unable to recall a time when she was anything but collected. “I miss her, and the woods. I wanted you to be her.” He still did. However impossible it was, the thought still crossed his mind that, maybe, Miraak could morph into his sister if Xan wished for it hard enough—and wish he did. Though not a bad man, he wasn’t Meldresi, which was who the Inuk wanted most of all.