Dreams (exchange 36)
He barely listened to her words as the shock of her arrival still made him gape.
"Well... ah." Jaelin ran a hand through his hair and tried to figure out why she was at his door without having to ask. "Hmm. Umm... come in. Please." He widened the door and stepped to the side to allow her entry.
He made sure she was comfortably seated in the den before scurrying about the kitchen in search of his brandy. Once situated with the bottle and a glass for each of them, he sat across the fireplace from her to look over her features in the firelight. She looked dirtier and more solemn than he remembered, yet maybe a little more drawn inward.
"It's been a long time," he said with a distance in his voice. "Many things have changed since we last spoke." He took a sip from his glass and turned to the fire. "And I would like to know what brings you to my home."
Comfortable was one of the last things she felt while sitting in his den. She second, triple, and quadrouple guessed herself in coming here at all. by the time he returned with brandy for the both of them she was feeling like a complete idiot.
"I know it's been a long time, and I'm sorry... for not contacting you before now, for showing up unannounced, and even for that day in the garden." She didn't touch her brandy and did seem much more withdrawn than when they'd previously met. She was thinner, too. There was a worn out quality to everything she did, even her voice sounded tired. But she tried so hard to make it seem otherwise.
"The Baron died recently... not too long after the Baroness returned to town. She turned me out and I couldn't think of anywhere else to go. I..." She paused, her eyes falling to her hands, folded in her lap, "Don't know what to do with freedom."
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