For a moment there was only Parvati and his breathing that filled the intimate, closed-in cavern they stopped to rest in. Then she spoke – or, tried to, as the exhaustion was dragging at her words – his heart lurched, and he smiled despite the severity of the situation. Parvati had been the best mother, and even in the condition she was now, he wasn’t surprised that she would worry after Devi’s wellbeing. “She’s okay, she –” at that moment the breath Parvati took was deep and restful, and Orphiel immediately cut off into quiet. He peered beneath the fray of her forelock to her eyes and saw they were closed, long lashes resting gently atop her high cheeks.
Orphiel sighed softly and pressed his lips again to her cheek. He held the kiss there for a moment, let him truly soak in the reality of the moment. He would have wished beyond anything their reunion wouldn’t have been brought about by something as terrifying as this, but at the same time… maybe a situation this grave was exactly what it was going to take. Orphiel didn’t care if their blood shared distant similarities, he knew what he felt and he knew he loved her and would until the day he died.
“I wish you could have met my mother,” he whispered, knowing she had slipped so deeply into sleep she wouldn’t hear him, but filling their quiet space with soft love-spoken words anyways. Orphiel didn’t talk often of his mother (it hurt him too much) but any time he had it was with Parvati. She was the only one he’d trusted to know that very carefully guarded piece of his heart. “She would have loved you. She’s… she’s the reason there’s any good in me at all.”
What if he’d turned out like his father? Orphiel revolted inwardly at the thought. (Which was somewhat ironic, considering how many similarities he shared with his father, as much as he was purposefully blind to them.)
Orphiel watched the soft haze of snow begin to fall down outside the opening of the cavern, then was careful as he adjusted his weight so Parvati could support all of herself against him if she wanted to. The peaceful rhythm of her breathing begun to lull him into a comfortable fatigue; the swim and the panicked rush from the Lagoon was catching up to him too. Orphiel’s eyelids felt heavier and heavier, slowly dropping, enveloping him in comfortable darkness. He sighed against Parvati’s skin and then smiled.
When he awoke he would still be here, and just as he’d promised her, he would be with her always.
(ooc: I wanted to write a little wrap-up for him to this! but I’m also planning on throwing up a starter from him super soon to catch him up to current time being her guard ♥)
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