i am the mace, the map, the fall and the high
It is her uncertainty that tugs at him first. He wants to ignore it, but he can’t. Not when he is so attuned to every shift in her now that he could nearly feel it vibrating between them. Reave has never been given to the emotion, never been given to second-guessing himself, so he is forced to wonder why she does now. It doesn’t occur to him she had only been trying to match him, to match the wickedness to which he so easily gives in while protecting herself from it at the same time.
He could have told her that would never work though. He has always given himself over to it so completely, allowing it to rage through him and wreak what havoc it would. There is no shielding oneself from these things. It is what had fueled his visceral response, the anger that she would not give herself over as wholly as he had.
But her uncertainty gentles him, even if he does not want it to. Or perhaps it is the way she breathes her response, telling him so plainly that she wants their paths to twine together. It settles the savage that lingers perpetually beneath the surface, poorly hidden beneath a fearsome mask of bone.
He does not respond immediately, but the corners of his lips twitch. He is pleased, even if he does not say it. He had not wanted her to choose the path in which they parted forever, even if he wouldn’t have said so. Reave, for all his feral emotions, is not so free as that. He knows that she could become someone who could hurt him, if he let her. And the bone-clad stallion is not a masochist.
But when she leans forward, he settles against her. The edges of his armor protrude sharply. They must be uncomfortable to lean on, but isn’t that who he is, both inside and out? He would never be a soft or comfortable companion. When he finally does speak, it is to offer her his name. “It’s Reave,” he replies softly. Thief. He had been born one and remains one to this day. After a moment, he touches her cheek. “Come home with me then. I want to show you something.”
reave
@galadriel