Although Hal didn't visibly encourage the sudden increase in proximity, he did allow it, albeit gingerly. Closeness and all its associations had become for him a Gordian knot of trouble over the years, and he'd been with Leo for more than a decade by the time he allowed any contact beyond the absolutely necessary. When he'd first met Tom and Annie he hadn't been willing to do as much as shake hands.
It was all right, he supposed, or could be; Riley's nearness didn't send the thrum of blood fluttering through his dry veins. Without that trigger it was undoubtedly easier.
Her question caught him off-guard a little, even if it was a perfectly sensible one; he seemed to hover always on the tip of a great melancholy that could spill over at any time. So his tone was both self-deprecating and morose as the years ticked by behind his eyes. Hal never forgot anything, not even - or especially - when he wanted to. "When one's fondest wish is to die, its eternal impossibility does him no favors."
...thank you, Hal. He relented a bit and recounted more specifically. "I was born in the late 15th century. We don't age. You see me now as I was when I encountered the only death I'll ever know."
no subject
It was all right, he supposed, or could be; Riley's nearness didn't send the thrum of blood fluttering through his dry veins. Without that trigger it was undoubtedly easier.
Her question caught him off-guard a little, even if it was a perfectly sensible one; he seemed to hover always on the tip of a great melancholy that could spill over at any time. So his tone was both self-deprecating and morose as the years ticked by behind his eyes. Hal never forgot anything, not even - or especially - when he wanted to. "When one's fondest wish is to die, its eternal impossibility does him no favors."
...thank you, Hal. He relented a bit and recounted more specifically. "I was born in the late 15th century. We don't age. You see me now as I was when I encountered the only death I'll ever know."