[He turns, and Kiritsubo does not shy away. Not from his gaze, or what he might be trying to find in hers, and not from the idea of being seen more fully, having come out of the water slightly to approach him from behind, steam and droplets rolling slow and glistening over heavy, honeyed curves. Over the same tattoos and glint of nipple ring he would recognize despite the different body.]
But you didn't. And you did.
[He did not hurt her. Despite the urges of the room to dominate, despite the superior position she had granted him, almost goading him into taking rather than sharing... He had shared. And he had kept going.]
So where are you now, Link?
[Had he given her his name? She knows it. She asks that, in the same genuinely open way that offered not a single hint of judgement no matter what the answer was. She did not mean "Zenith" or "Meridian", "Highstorm" or "Springstar"...]
no subject
But you didn't. And you did.
[He did not hurt her. Despite the urges of the room to dominate, despite the superior position she had granted him, almost goading him into taking rather than sharing... He had shared. And he had kept going.]
So where are you now, Link?
[Had he given her his name? She knows it. She asks that, in the same genuinely open way that offered not a single hint of judgement no matter what the answer was. She did not mean "Zenith" or "Meridian", "Highstorm" or "Springstar"...]
I am here, curious and caring about the answer.