#( i'm throwing this absolute IDIOT out here and telling him to get a grip dfhdjsfkh )

[csial]

in the night, your loneliness crushes you, as if the sky itself has swooped down to smother you in its cold arms. for the first time since i can remember, i don’t feel alone. because of you. (two in one, from neuvillette)

The feeling of loneliness is one of the greatest tragedies one can bear. He remembers it well, sweeping him into a cold embrace as he languished beneath the depths, held in place yet unable to reach any at all, restricted as he was by the spears of Morax and his waning powers. The vice it held upon his heart had been agonising, festering and it was only the embers of anger that had allowed him to simmer in outrage rather than tumble down into despair, though the notion often dragged icy fingertips beneath his chin.

So as the hydro sovereign claims a similar feeling, Osial cannot help but allow his hand to find Neuvillette's own digits curling unbidden until there is no space between their palms nor their fingers, his thumb tracing tenderly against soft skin.

"Were it within my power I would wash away all sense of isolation from your very frame until your heart only knew the joys of companionship," he offers quietly, glad that in their shared quietude here in the open there is no cause to be restrictive with words, nor too cautious with gesture. Within the confines of the city he must heed caution, restrain the impulse to offer comfort when the other's brow furrows, a feat that grows more impossible by the day with how his heart swells, emotion coming in waves, begging for a little more each time.

It is a terrifying feeling, the way his affection fills him, it takes all his effort to not allow it to brim over. Should he touch the waters here, he fears that he would overwhelm the sovereign with what lies beneath his still surface. Like the ocean itself he encompasses far more than bleeds through, far more even that that which seeps through the cracks unbidden.

"I am glad that now, in the very least, I can offer you a reprieve from loneliness' cold touch." His thumb stills against Neuvillette's hand, but he makes no effort to detach, simply staring down at their joined hands, lost in his own thoughts. Wondering if perhaps he had been smarter, better, stronger, he might have been have been able to do more sooner to ease the sovereign's isolation. It is a cruel world to wander alone.

Impulse coaxes him then, raising their joint hands until he can press lips to a gloved knuckle in a sworn oath, a promise to himself and to Neuvillette, that he will no longer allow loneliness to take a hold of them. He need not voice it allowed, it is there on his lips as his lids descend over his cerulean hues briefly, there in the look he gives the other as his lids rise once more.

"Together we can stave off the cold embrace and ease the burden of the skies, for your company is the greatest gift you have given me... It is only right I should attempt to do the same."