Arisia

[lanternslight]

I'm not sure what to say about it.

She's alive again.

I'm alive again.

She has a ring again. The last time she had a ring, we were living together. And I was very much in love with her.

What changed? Certainly, Parallax's influence can't be discounted, but nor can it be the scapegoat I lay everything on. Parallax twisted my view; he didn't control me like a puppet on a string, not until later.

Carol is married now. She's not even part of the equation. Why am I even thinking of Carol? The rope showed me it's not fair to compare Arisia to Carol; they have been my two greatest loves, but both have been very different. And the man I was around each one was different, too.

I know I need to talk to her. At least to check on her.

She's getting set up at Warriors... I wish I could help her out.

I wish I could talk to her. Like we used to talk.

I need to talk to her, though. She deserves more than what I've given her so far.

To Warriors it is, then.

Comments

[lanternslight.livejournal.com]

"We apologized with the lasso," he tells her. "I wanted you to know that I apologize even without the lasso's influence."

He shifts in his seat unfomfortably. "God knows, my list of regrets is longer than most people's. And what happened to you... and to us... is one of those things on that list." He shakes his head. "But I'm not going to wallow in my regrets. I am moving forward... I've been given a second chance, and I intend to use the extra time I've been given to start setting things right again."

He glances at her ring. "You getting a ring again shows me I'm on the right track."

[elfinlantern.livejournal.com]

"Hal, I don't want to be one of your regrets. Even if there are things that you regret, I don't want to be something you think of that way." Arisia walks over to Hal and bends over a bit and kisses him on the cheek lightly, patting his hand.

"Please. I'd much rather move forward." As she pulls away from him there is a slightly pained look in her eyes, no matter how well she's doing at covering it up.

[lanternslight.livejournal.com]

"You? Never. What happened... well, I won't think that way." He looks her in the eye and smiles.

"So... is there anything I can do to help you settle in?"

[elfinlantern.livejournal.com]

Arisia squeezes Hal's hand in thanks and looks toward the bookshelf. Maybe a little too quickly before she pulls her hand back and steps away from him.

Pulling a breath in and letting it out, "Well. I seem to be a very poor carpenter. Or bad at understanding directions that are entirely in pictures." The last seems unlikely....

[lanternslight.livejournal.com]

"I'll give you a hand," Hal grins at her.

He stays for hours, if she lets him, helping her settle into her new home.

[elfinlantern.livejournal.com]

She lets him, though she is at turns wistful and a little sad but she's always trying to be polite and kind and cheerful. Like she was before. Like she always had been.

When she looks at him, though, it's hard not to remember - one way or the other. Together or not....