Phantom Hollow The ghost of you is close to me

Midar's affection is soothing, but his question has the opposite effect, and the conflict renders him silent for what feels like forever. The pause is suffocating, and his heart begins to pound in the space between his lover's words and his own. Because I'm — I don't know. Broken, He manages finally, swallowing. You deserve better. You should leave me to rot, he thinks, but he doesn't say that; he doesn't want to anger his mate, and he knows by now that the man will not give up on him. Even if he should.