Arrow Lake atemlos

a sigh rushed through him at her touch. why he could not give himself to takiyok, he did not know; there was such a mortal trepidation within mahler that he was only just recognizing. a fear of betraying one's expectations, of finding himself restless again. he had, after all, done poorly by marigold; what was to say he would not do the same to takiyok in the end? 
stigmata had hurt her once. mahler refused to put her through such a second time.
"you have me. ve have diaspora," he said all the same, hoping to prove to her his loyalty in another way, even if it could not at the moment be truly what the winterwhite wanted.