Nova Peak It's like an apple of temptation

It was his turn to dump his garbage on her this time. Takiyok and he had an interesting, strangely casual relationship. For the amount that he trusted her, one might have expected to have developed romantic inclinations or otherwise feel very close to her, but the friendship kept a healthy amount of space. Though he had kept a theme of forging trusting relationships only with women, they were never confused in nature.
Takiyok offered her support, listening well. He nodded as she suggested he may find comfort in this place, out on top of nowhere. Taikon had very much meant it when he had told Wylla he held no desire for grand adventures. He merely wanted a place where he could be still, be quiet, and help his chosen family.
He was brave, she said. It was hard to defy, she said.
The gold eye contact he gave the evening clouds was hard and challenging. It was as though he willed the moon itself to drop from the sky, so focused was he on not addressing what she had said. He didn't want to answer her because she was wrong.
But rather than switching the focus to her, as he often did, he continued. Actually, I was exiled, he clarified. A moment carried where he felt his saliva thicken. His heartbeat thumped harshly in his chest.
I'm not brave at all, see, he followed. Taikon could not tell her, or anyone, the reason for his exile. It was the same reason why he was unable to forge romantic relationships.