https://i.imgur.com/TZFDaPS.png This was something very close to affection here and Thomas didn't pretend he didn't enjoy it. He liked being close to Zilrud in a way that was hard to articulate. It wasn't like being close with anyone else he'd ever been with. It felt different. When the orkhai embr...

https://i.imgur.com/TZFDaPS.png Thomas gave an abortive "hey--" to Zilrud's moving of him, setting down his teacup on its saucer with a violent clink lest it spill. His annoyance turned to a more general state of being flustered as the big man leaned over his shoulder in a literal form of perspecti...

https://i.imgur.com/TZFDaPS.png Why is he still here? Wendall had asked him that a few days earlier before departing on business. The two didn't fight about Zilrud, not exactly, because Wendall knew better than to spend a lot of resources on a fight that was going to be resolved quite readily. Zilr...

https://i.imgur.com/TZFDaPS.png 21st Frost 4622 Thomas was fairly certain the staff loathed him, and they loathed nothing more than one particular affectation: a fondness bordering on obsession with Griscian style tea. It was fussy to prepare, and their normally generous young Lord would fuss at th...

https://i.imgur.com/TZFDaPS.png For a moment, Thomas thought he was going to die. He could maintain sang-froid with ease with most people because most people were not question marks to him. Zilrud was. He didn't think the man would hurt him for an accidental indiscretion, but Thomas knew grave insu...

https://i.imgur.com/TZFDaPS.png Thomas nodded. It was good counsel, and he'd planned to do so anyhow. He had a deep respect and appreciation for Wendell, whatever else happened. The man had, after some understandable initial resistance, welcomed Thomas into his home, his marriage, and his bed. Well...

https://i.imgur.com/TZFDaPS.png Do not move backward . That directive sounded much more difficult now than it would have yesterday, because yesterday, he'd felt perfectly fine as he was, or perfectly not unhappy which had been close enough, and now, today, it didn't. For a moment, Thomas thought Zi...

https://i.imgur.com/TZFDaPS.png The thought of Zilrud leaving felt bad. Wrong. somehow. Which was ridiculous; Thomas couldn't very well keep the man here. He didn't belong in Lorien, and he had every reason to hate the country for the snowy prison it had been for him. Still, though -- he'd been tol...

https://i.imgur.com/TZFDaPS.png The orkhai was trying to comfort him. The robe was a bit ripe from having been worn for so long without a wash, and not all of the smells were entirely good. Thomas could have done without the lingering odor of disease, or of meat drippings and stale sweat. Even so, ...

https://i.imgur.com/TZFDaPS.png Zilrud touching him, even in ways meant to be amicable and kind was intense. The man either did not know his own strength or didn't care to adjust it to Thomas' frame. In either case, though, he took the prods at his chest in the spirit they were offered. Perhaps Zil...