(Untitled)

[ostro_goth]

Teja is by the fireplace, eschewing the sunlight; he has his harp and plays a soft, sad melody, his fingers moving as if on their own while he gazes into the fire and thinks.

Oh, and he has much to think of, and to feel pain for!

Not only has Asher returned, and been hurt so deeply, mere minutes from his entrance, when Teja told him, straight

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[ruinous_fortune]

Ruin grins, flopping into a chair nearby.

"My, my. You've been busy, haven't you?"

[ostro_goth]

"Not very much," Teja says, looking at him grimly.

Pause. Then, he sighs.

"I would not take this out on you; you only do your duty. We all only do our duty. But is painful, upon occasion."

[ruinous_fortune]

"Mmm. You don't even know half of my duty."

Ruin regards Teja.

"Broke Asher's heart, right after trying to explain rape to my sister. Well done."

[ostro_goth]

"But half, I know," Teja says.

Pause.

"It was my fault, utterly, and his right to be offended at me!" he continues. "But all I could do, as things stood. I would not let him suffer, or lie to him, or betray my Charlie!"

Pause.

"Not any more than I would lie to Moon."

[ruinous_fortune]

"She still doesn't understand you, and Asher's heart is still hurting."

[ostro_goth]

"I know he is hurting," Teja says. "It grieves me."

He sighs, and shakes his head.

[ruinous_fortune]

"You're bound and determined to be miserable, clinging to your high ideals. Less of a man because you were raped. It keeps a barrier between you and Charlie."

He tsks.

"Maybe you like barriers?"

[ostro_goth]

"No," Teja says. "Not against my beloved!"

Pause.

"And all my people would have thought so; now I am free of them, but I still miss them."

He still loves them.

[ruinous_fortune]

"You're bound by your past. You can love your people, even in death, but there comes a point when your current afterlife is worth more than the life you left behind."

[ostro_goth]

"And the memory is still painful," Teja says, shrugging.

[ruinous_fortune]

"And how long have you been dead?" he asks with a raised eyebrow.

[ostro_goth]

"Eighteen months," Teja says.

[ruinous_fortune]

He shakes his head, snorting.

"You've managed to lose two lovers and still keep your current one at arm's length. One might think you enjoy your misery."

[ostro_goth]

"I am happy with my beloved!" Teja says. "You can see all -- cannot you see that?"

[ruinous_fortune]

"I see far more than you are willing to see at present, Teja," Ruin says, his tone and expression serious.

[ostro_goth]

"Then you must see how great the joy is that I take in him!" Teja says.