#this was so stupidly domestic and cute im gonna lose it

[heirbane]

[ lean ] sender slowly leans into receiver's shoulder and rests there for a while // from y'shtola uwu

Y'shtola was not one for overt affection - at least, not when it came to their situationship, something that suited Gaius just fine. He was comfortable enough to avoid attention from his Stadium peers, and to allow Allie to simply exist without the weight of her father's sins around her neck.

But sometimes - ... even Y'shtola proved to surprise him, to curl around his ankles like an aloof house cat when she deigned him worthy of attention. Those moments were few and far between, especially when they were involving themselves out in Sharlay proper.

He must have done something right. Whether it was the mug of coffee he had brought to her, sitting on one of the many benches around the campus, or the arm he had so carelessly slung across the back of the seat -

Something had swayed him into her favor, and the gesture he received felt as if it could sustain him for the rest of his life.

"The moon is out already," he stated. He felt her tail around his hips, her ear against his shoulder. His own empty coffee was sitting on the ground near his feet.

"The sun is - ... nearly gone, but not quite. There are stars out. Just a handful yet. And nary a cloud in the sky," he finished. A breeze picked up, fluttering her hair against his neck, the cool autumn air causing a deep ache within his bones that promised foul weather.

"It may rain come mid-night, however. Or snow. What say you?" He mused. "Have you heard elsewise today?"

His words were moot. They were simply to fill the space, to add levity to the closeness she had gifted him - to paint a picture of the world they currently were in. It was not the first time he had tried to lend her sight through his musings, nor would it be the last; a small morsel of gratitude for the intimacy she was giving him.

It was not much to offer, but it was what he had.