Jade Fern Grove Remember that time you made me smile?

He couldn't tell whether she was pleased with the compliments or if he had weirded her out and he held his breath, ears shifting nervously back until she spoke. The words didn't offend him but instead they brought a wave of yearning and an even bigger wave of guilt. "I think she'd just want us to live happy" he settled on that as a response because it was the truth, he knew Aliac wouldn't want him sad forever but he hadn't had the time to really mourn her loss properly either. "Just not yet...not while the kids barely understand the concept of death and what happened to their mother. Not while I still wake up missing her. I can't do that to her, myself, or any future woman...it wouldn't be fair" he spoke openly, trusting that Steph was someone who wouldn't hold it against him. The conversation paused and after a moment she chuckled and he glanced back up at her. He smiled warmly, his eyes glittering with humor as the sadness faded into the background again "Both. Find a love elsewhere and make him come to you professing his undying devotion" he was joking but on a second thought decided that actually sounded like something kinda romantic.