She met his gaze, and wished she could somehow transfer her reasoning to him without words. That she could simply give him the feelings she'd been holding onto for so long. It didn't work that way, though. There was nothing she could do but speak her piece, and hope for the best. Her mouth tightened a bit as she realized she didn't know what the best was anymore though.
Her ears tipped back and forth distressedly as he commented, and confirmed what she already knew. "You would have. And that's exactly why I didn't say anything. You would have stayed because you thought it would be the right thing to do. Not because you actually wanted to be with me."
If he had wanted to be with her, well. The story would have gone very differently, she thought.
He touched her, and she let him, but made no move to return the gesture. His words washed over her likewise, each one a stone in her heart. "Maybe I did deserve better. But it's you I wanted." The admission hurt, even now. Especially now. "Pteron, do you realize what a kick in the belly it was to see you waltz in here with a whole other family, years after I had given you up as dead? If you're happy, then I'll be happy for you. But please don't ask me to be friends with the one who gets to live the life I'd hoped for. Don't insult me so."
With sudden ferocity, the seamare rose to her feet. Several strides took her to the edge of the water where she stopped. It was tempting to escape into the waves again. To pretend that she wasn't living this life. This was her home though, and her family that was being effectedby choices she'd made before knowing better. It wouldn't go away, no matter how long she swam beneath the waves.
"If you want to stay here, to keep working with Hal and whoever else, I don't care. But for the time being I think it's best that we keep our relationship at a distance. I won't be a home wrecker." She turned back to him, expression brittle. "Aegean deserves better, at the very least. There's an islet to the north your family can occupy. Take on the title of Beachmaster, or don't." She shrugged, pawing at the sand aimlessly.
@[Pteron]