K
A
J

Even something so simplistic as their muzzles brushing breathed a sigh into his soul, lifting the dredges of his pathetic attempts to the surface to battle fruitlessly once more. Still, it was a breath of fresh air to see her smiling face, to know that for once he had someone to turn to who wasn't aware of the blood on his hooves or the shadows of his past. Someone who wouldn't compare him to Mirage, fault him for his supposed breaking of Kahlua's heart, or any other thousand things he had done in the past. Did they not see the barbs they made of their words, or the affect they had on the King's psyche? Or did they simply not care, aware that he would merely let them lash him with their nettled whips?

Azaneen's voice seemed to speak the opposite, and he lifted weary eyes to her beautiful gems, trying not to rebel against the mere notion that she presented in her words. Family was family, through and through. The idea that they weren't was simply...baffling. Kaj was built and formed entirely on kinship, on brotherhood. If it was taken from him...he was left with nothing. At least, nothing that the Storm Bringer considered good. But he listened nonetheless, taking comfort in the tone of her voice if nothing else. Someone speaking kindly to him was all he needed in that moment, and so he clung to every syllable that dripped off her lips like it was the sweetest, most expensive honey in the world.

"These people are all I have left," he whispered, begging her to understand, to see that he wasn't wholly rejecting her advice. If it chased her away, it would only serve to put another scar on a heart that was more puckered skin that beating organ any longer. "I love them even when they hurt me. I know no other way to forgive, to love. I tell myself they just need to get it out, they need someone to lash out against who won't hate them afterwards." Whether or not that was true or he was just being taken advantage of was entirely debatable, but Kaj didn't like to dwell on that particular potential ending.

He gave a great shuddering exhale, gazing out across the sea with her, taking strength in the gentle rhythm of the waves that he felt in his very pulse. He was wholly Edge, and the Edge was inside of him. Likely forever. It was all he had ever known. Kaj wondered if that would change, with how the Goddess had betrayed them in the end. How could he feel connected to the land, the people, but not their patron?

"Do you reside there?" A whisper. It was tentative, a child seeking reassurance from its mother that it was loved, that it was worth something. He chanced a look at her, wondering if she would be off-put by such a forthright question. He liked to think that Azaneen was his friend, with how she clearly cared for him as equally as he did her. Would that be enough?

@[Azaneen]